Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend is recognizing groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This Appreciation Month is highlighting farming.
The fourth generation of the Milton family is now in charge of Milton Farms near Hudson. Brothers Bill and Ivan Milton grow crops and raise livestock on about 3500 acres of land near Hudson. Eagle Radio spoke to Ivan and his wife Lisa for this story about what it is like to farm in central Kansas in 2021.
According to Lisa, the relationship between the two Milton brothers is an important factor in the farm’s success.
"Bill and Ivan are complementary of each other," Lisa observed. "I just am amazed at how well Bill and Ivan can work together. They know what each other’s needs are and they can help each other without even knowing they’re doing it.”
For Ivan, farming has always been a way of life.
“I had to go out and bottle-feed about 20 baby calves every morning and then go to school," Ivan recalled. "That was my job. And then after school, whenever I got home, my brother and I, not just me, we would bottle-feed calves, feed cows. From when we were able to walk, we’ve always worked. I had a good bringing up.”
Ivan graduated from St. John High School in 1984 and continued his work on the farm.
Lisa was raised in Great Bend and graduated from Great Bend High School, also in 1984. Lisa’s parents were from a farming family near Hudson. In the spring of 1986, she attended a pig feed at the Hudson Community Hall with some of her family members.
“My cousin came and told me, ‘Hey, this guy is asking about you,’” Lisa remembered.
That guy turned out to be Ivan. Her cousin introduced them.
“That is how we met," she said. "I thought he had a pretty smile.”
They were married a little over two years later. They now have two grown children, Christa and Jacob.
Lisa now shares Ivan’s love for farming. She is in charge of the farm’s bookkeeping but enjoys helping with the other farm work as well.
“Swathing is my favorite and raking hay, but I can run the combine, tractor and disc," she noted. "I can drive the trucks.”
Both Ivan and Lisa say the fortunes of a family farm can fluctuate significantly from year to year. They are pleased with this year’s growing season, thanks in part to the amount of moisture the farm has received.
“We put up a little over 1200 acres of alfalfa, and alfalfa has really been a good product for us, and we’re going to come out pretty good on it,” Ivan said.
But the livestock business has had some unique challenges, especially during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Meatpacking plants were closing," Ivan said. "Because of COVID, they couldn’t keep workers in there. It hammered us pretty good there for a while.”
Bad weather also brings some of the worst problems farmers have to face.
“Last winter when it got so brittle cold out, we were 24-7 with our cattle because we were calving at that time.”
Keeping the farm going has always been a family enterprise. Ivan and Lisa’s son Jacob and Bill and his wife Tammy’s son Billy are now part of the fifth generation of the Milton family to farm the land.
Lisa explained why life on the farm is so rewarding.
"Some of the most enjoyable times is when we’re out baling hay." she recalled. "A couple of us are raking hay and then all the guys are baling hay, and we're all out there working together. When I joined the farm, I told my husband, ‘You don’t realize how fortunate you are to be able to work alongside your family.’”
Read the previous Appreciation Month stories by clicking HERE.