About Light Way Farms
“You been farming long?” The answer is a resounding “Yes”.
Steven has been farming all of his life and I, Julie joined him 25
years ago. During that time we have raised three children, teaching
them everything that we know about integrity, the business and the
hard work that brings about a good return for our investment.
Farming, in our opinion, takes all the money, time, energy, patience
and passion that we can muster up; but it’s worth it. Because you
can visibly see your work well done, enjoy the harvest and have the
freedom of being independently owned.
Currently our two sons farm with us, which helps tremendously as
they and their father do all of the outside work. That leaves the book
work, ordering supplies, answering the phone and marketing our
products for me to do. In 2012 we became Light Way Farms LLC in
which all five of us are team members. Our daughter resides in
Kansas and has little to do with the work here; however if we ever
need a counselor, then she will have us covered.
On our small farm, we raise conventional crops such as corn,
soybeans, wheat and rotate with oats and milo. In 2014 we tried our hand at raising a few acres of organic crops such as corn, soybeans and food grade white milo. It’s always a learning process to venture out and try new things and we are still working at that.
Cattle have been a long time passion of ours, and in 2012 we started transitioning our herd to predominately Red Angus. We raise calves for replacement heifers, feeder and to sale cow calf pairs. The guys work very hard to keep our herd tame to be able to handle them better. It’s the same way with the horses we keep.
We can’t have horses which are green broke or wild, They have an important role to play at Light Way Farm. We use our horses for round ups, to check cows, search for hidden calves and to check fences. Two of the guys are working on their roping skills so that they can assist in helping us give a sick cow or calf a vaccine.
Our farm uses sustainable practices in the raising of our animals. We care about the animals quality of life. We eat the meat from our farm which includes cattle and a couple of hogs each year. One hog for the freezer and one for the hog roast with friends and family. A few chickens are kept on so that we can have our own fresh eggs. And every year we raise a big garden and can our goods, so there’s plenty of hearty food, and laughter at the table.
Included in our family are our three older dogs, with the oldest being 19 years old. Our son has his own Blue Healer dog, which he plans to train to work cows. We also have two cats and a litter of kittens joined us the end of May. We have a picture on our dining room wall that says: “If someone were to give me a million dollars, I reckon I’d just keep on farming ‘til it was all gone.” And that pretty much sums it up.
