From unforgiving drought to finally seeing rain, Whitney Larson has learned to cope with the extremes of farming.
“We have been in a catastrophic drought for five years,” says Larson, who farms with her husband, Bart, near Sharon Springs, Kan. “So, seeing rain has finally been this reminder that our faith finally paid off.”
The storms have brought drinks of water that quenched the soils, but they also brought another brutal blow.
“We did have some very bad hail last week, and then more hail maybe three weeks before that, and so that’s kind of been disheartening,” she says.
Neighboring fields were ravaged by the hail, with corn stalks barely even recognizable, while other fields were barely touched – yet another reminder that farming in far western Kansas requires one to plant with seeds of hope and faith.
“When we first started farming, I found that your faith really has to grow,” she says.
First-Generation Farmers
The Larsons are used to dealing with challenges, especially considering this is a first-generation farm. She shares her journey on social media where she’s known on Instagram as FarmWifeGuru.
“We call ourselves first generation,” says Larson. “So, I’m actually third generation removed. My granddad farmed but skipped my mom. She had already grown a family and done all that, and so my granddad had his farm sale the year I started dating Bart. It was a very funny turn of events that was like, ‘Dang, I should have done that a little earlier.’”
Larson has some memories of being in the combine when she was little, but her childhood was filled primarily with sports.
“I grew up doing all things sports. Basketball was my life, from as small as I can remember to then when I played in college,” she says.
Her parents and her siblings also played college sports, but her husband’s childhood was full of nothing but farming and ranching.
“It’s been in Bart’s blood his whole life, and so it was his dream. And it quickly became mine after I saw how passionate he was about it,” she says.
Farming is all Bart ever wanted to do, and a farmer is all he ever wanted to be. But as the youngest of four boys, returning to the family farm wasn’t an option.
“We decided to try the realm of custom ground rig spraying, and that’s how it was kind of born. He started that business which led to us meeting new people and building relationships,” she recalls. “We were able to eventually start custom farming, and then we were able to rent some ground of our own.”
Resenting the Farm
The Larsons started their custom spraying business in 2012. Ten years later, they purchased their first piece of ground. It’s a growing farm with a growing family.
“Our oldest just turned 10, our daughter is 8, our youngest is 4, and I’m 28 weeks pregnant. So, everything’s growing,” she says.
But as the operation and family were both growing, Bart was also working around the clock. And Larson says growing up in a family that always ate dinner together and parents who worked more normal hours and were always home at night, she started to resent the farm.
“So, coming into this where I wasn’t in agriculture, I felt very distant or disconnected from this lifestyle,” says Larson. “I had actually resented our operation for probably a solid year or two, and finally Bart started pushing me to try more things.”
Learning She Could Do Hard Things
Larson says that’s when her view changed.
“Once I finally got over my fear of thinking I couldn’t learn this or that, and believing I didn’t belong here, I really started to flourish in the fact that I can do all these hard things just like he can,” she says.
First, Larson learned to drive a truck, and from there, she’s learned to do so much more. Now, she admits, she’s come a long way.
“I do find pride in the fact that if we have something go down or a guy can’t come for the day, they’ll say, ‘Hey, Whitney, go hop in the combine’ and they’ll have you run it. I learned to run a combine when Rowdy, our youngest, was a baby. He was 6 months old when I learned how to run the combine.”
Larson says everything she’s able to do is thanks to her husband for believing she could.
“I really thank him for the fact that he pushed me and made me learn things, because it has been something that I rely on every day. I say ‘cultivate courage’ all the time but really, for me, that’s learning to do all these hard things,” says Larson.
Cultivating Courage
It’s that courage she wants to help instill in other women.
“It started out as event for women in ag, but it’s really flourished into an event that basically all women can feel called to come to, and it’s called Cultivating Courage,” she says.
Started in 2019, Cultivating Courage was also thrown some curveballs when the pandemic put her in-person event on hold. She moved it to a virtual event, and in 2022, she was finally able to host her first in-person program.
“Just knowing that they can come and be empowered and welcomed in a place where they are not judged, and just find a space inside this industry, was a really big deal,” says Larson.
The event this year drew more than 300 women. While she says it was humbling to see that many people come together, Larson’s dreams grew even more.
I actually started a women’s retreat that I’m going to try to do twice a year, and it’s called ‘Cultivate.’ So it’s basically a spin-off of Cultivating Courage, and I just hope that more women can hear that words ‘cultivate courage,’ and just do the things I know they can do, but are a little bit scared to try.”
From a podcast with her now best friend Kiley, to even starting an ag women connect chapter in Kansas, Larson is on a mission to inspire others.
“Twelve years ago when there was social media, that support wasn’t there for me. And I just want to be that light for others and let them know that, ‘Hey, just because you didn’t grow up on a farm, or just because you’ve never tried it, doesn’t mean you can’t do it,’” she says.
Larson is proof that even when farm life isn’t easy, it’s worth it, as she continues to cultivate courage any way she can.
