His goal is simple: to leave the land better than when he purchased it.
Today, Kansas soybean grower Lewis Unruh strives to do just that through defined conservation efforts that have helped make his farm sustainable from generation to generation.
With sustainability practices implemented on 100% of his acreage, the veteran farmer continually works to lower input costs while decreasing soil erosion through no-till, cover crops and water management strategies.
Bound by stewardship
Lewis Unruh is no stranger to land stewardship. The now 70-year-old veteran farmer says his farm’s conservation story initially began with contour farming as his grandfather worked to slow the flow of water down the hills.
Unruh’s roots trace to 1874 when his Mennonite ancestors immigrated from the Ukraine area in Russia.
“The Mennonite immigrants brought hard red winter wheat to America, which transformed central Kansas into what is known as the breadbasket of the World,” Unruh says.
“As my dad started farming, he built one short terrace at his own expense to prove to my grandpa and the landowner that terraces work,” Unruh says.
The strategy was successful, and the landowner told Unruh’s dad that he could build more terraces under the same arrangement — that he would do it for free!
According to Unruh, his father spent the rest of his life building hundreds of miles of terraces, first on their farm – many without government cost share – then on neighboring farms throughout Marion and Harvey counties in Kansas while working as a farmer/contractor.
“Most of those terraces are still working as designed to this day,” Unruh says. “Some are more than 70 years old.”
Now, maintaining the terraces to ensure each works as designed is an important part of Unruh’s conservation plan.
As a youngster, Unruh grew up on the farm, following his dad around. He first drove a tractor at the age of four, a skill that would serve him well. By the time he was 10, his father was severely injured in a construction accident. With enough tractor driving experience under his belt, a young Unruh was left to do most of the field work that spring while his father recovered.
Later, 4-H and FFA projects helped Unruh further test his farming skills.
“My dad didn’t feel like he had to own everything which allowed me a chance to do my own farming,” Unruh says. “We traded my labor for using his machinery and fuel for many years.”
When Unruh joined the operation with his dad, the goal of slowing the water flow down the hills and reducing soil erosion is what led to the use of stubble mulch as an alternative to plowing and eventually to adopting no-till and cover crops.
Located about 30 miles northeast of Wichita, Unruh and his youngest son, Jason, organized the operation as County Line Farms LLC in 2019. In addition to growing soybeans, wheat and corn, the present operation includes about 25 acres of the perennial grain Kernza.
Wary of water
Reducing water runoff to cut back on soil erosion of fragile prairie soils is the focal point of Unruh’s conservation practices. The operation’s infrastructure includes gradient terraces, diversion terraces, grass waterways and concrete structures.
“A watershed dam and numerous small ponds help hold back water to reduce flooding and provide water for cattle, wildlife, fishing and recreation,” Unruh explains. “The main cultural practice is using no-till and other methods that make no-tillage successful.”
Over the years, land Unruh’s family purchased came with no or very few terraces already installed. Hillsides were badly eroded as well. Unruh estimates restoring around 100 acres into production that had been abandoned when purchased. The result from installing structural infrastructure and using good farming practices has allowed those acres to be able to grow crops again, he says.
“I have experienced the before conservation and after conservation,” Unruh explains. “Conservation practices have been a tool that we use to improve our farmland.”
Eye on erosion
On the western edge of the Flint Hills, the region’s rolling topography brings with it creeks and small, irregular fields. The result is little topsoil along the slopes.
“It has eroded through the years before conservation efforts like terraces helped stop the erosion,” Unruh explains. “The farm has some creek bottom ground as well, which has benefited from those topsoil deposits.”
Still, low bottoms are prone to flooding and early frosts, which can bring damage to crop yield and quality. According to Unruh, many of the area’s soil types are clay with very slow infiltration rates.
“My biggest challenge is not local to me,” Unruh says. “It is the inconsistent rainfall that central Kansas receives. Often, it is not enough rain and not enough at the right time, or too much rain and not at the right time.”
Unruh has a plethora of reasons tucked in his memory bank of how erosion events can destroy precious soil: his grandfather’s 80 acres that incurred severe wind erosion, blowing topsoil to and fro; a June 1965 severe flood that washed away loose, tilled soil from fields along creeks and deposited silt in other areas.
“After the flood, neither area could be farmed for a year,” Unruh notes. “These events and their detrimental effects would not have happened with good soil stewardship practices.”
Because Unruh’s farm is on the very western side of the Flint Hills, about one-third of the family’s acreage is still in original native prairie. Yet, two-thirds of the land is cultivated ground that Unruh says should never have been plowed up from native prairie.
Undoubtedly, working with those soils has been a challenge for the veteran farmer.
“My dad taught me to never farm over a terrace for any reason so the spaces between the terraces were treated as a separate field,” Unruh says. “This was very inefficient as the width varied a lot and caused many turn-arounds to get the wider areas and double up the narrow areas. Since we no-till, we don’t strictly follow each terrace, which has helped become more efficient with our field operations.”
The soybean grower’s focus on cover crop use to increase water infiltration rate of the soil has helped in reducing nutrient movement. Unruh says as the cover crops grow, excess nutrients available in the soil are captured and stored in organic form.
Double crop soybeans are planted on the farm’s more productive wheat stubble fields. Marginal wheat stubble acres are seeded in a cover mix of sudan, pearl millet, mung beans, cowpeas, buckwheat and sunflowers.
“Our goal is to grow residue to protect the soil and increase organic matter for next years’ corn crop,” Unruh says.
Focused on profits
Lewis Unruh knows land stewardship is the key to profitability for his family farm. Without it, sustainability for the next generation could not be achieved.
The operation has been able to rent one farm that had no conservation practices applied on it. According to Unruh, the landlord chose him because he encouraged them to get a conservation plan in place so he could help them implement it to conserve and improve their farm.
“It gives me great satisfaction to see the changes and improvements to our farmland over the years,” Unruh says. “The conservation efforts have allowed our farm the chance to be profitable.”
Realizing many other farmers are doing great things with conservation and sustainability practices, Unruh is deeply humbled to be honored by the American Soybean Association for his stewardship efforts. “I hope that other farmers see what I am doing, and that will inspire and encourage them to try conservation practices on their farms.”
