By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University/Photo: Jim Sipes courtesy Ron Wilson
“We need to fight so that it is possible for future generations to come back to the farm.”
That statement came from a fifth-generation rural Kansas farmer who is working to make it possible for future generations to farm successfully.
Jim Sipes farms in Stanton County. Five generations ago, his ancestors came west and settled in southwest Kansas to farm. “It would have been nice if the wagon wheel had fallen off in a place where it rains more often,” Sipes said with a smile.
The Sipes family made their home in Stanton County, which would become one of the hardest hit Dust Bowl counties in the nation. But, the family persevered.
Sipes earned a degree in agronomy from Kansas State University. He was interested in coming back to the farm, but his mother encouraged him to gain some off-farm experience first. Sipes spent a year as a traveling consultant for his fraternity and then returned to K-State to get a master’s degree in agronomy.
Through his sister, he met a young woman from Tennessee who was also attending K-State and pursuing a master’s in grain science. They were ultimately married. He and Kelly moved to the farm near the rural community of Manter, population 132 people. Now, that’s rural. They have a son and daughter.
The Sipes farming operation consists of wheat and grain sorghum production. The grain sorghum is used for livestock feed or ethanol. The wheat is primarily used as certified seed which is marketed to other wheat producers through Sipes Seed Sales. The business now offers seed delivery as an added service. Sipes Seed also functions as a seed wheat cleaning and conditioning business.
As a young producer, Sipes observed the importance of federal crop insurance programs in sustaining farm operations through challenging times. He also observed an increasingly urbanized Congress where it was becoming more difficult to pass farm bills providing for such crop insurance.
“I got involved in Farm Bureau to fight for these programs so that future generations could come back to the farm,” Sipes said. He became active at the county level and advanced to serve on the Kansas Farm Bureau Board of Directors where he has been since 2009.
Drought continues to be a serious challenge that demonstrates the need for crop insurance. “Five of the last eight years, we’ve had no wheat crop or less than 20 bushels per acre,” he said.
The importance of service was ingrained into Sipes from an early age. “We grew up as a 4-H family and we were taught to give back,” he said. “I’ve grown to love advocating for farmers and ranchers.”
“One of the best things we’ve done is create a health care benefit through Farm Bureau,” he said. The Kansas Legislature passed legislation making it possible for Kansas Farm Bureau to offer a program that provides health care coverage at a reduced cost.
“It’s reduced the cost for young farmers and ranchers,” Sipes said. “Some families might save as much as 60% on insurance.”
Kelly Sipes worked in the school system in Stanton County. Having been a state FFA officer in Tennessee, she knew the value of a local agricultural education program, which Stanton County did not have at the time.
“She really worked to get the school to start the ag ed program,” Sipes said. Kelly is now an award-winning agriculture instructor at the high school.
Their daughter Bailey earned a degree in agricultural communications and leadership at K-State and now works for Texas Wheat. Son Caleb went to West Texas A&M in Amarillo. He, too, followed the family advice and worked off the farm for a year before returning to join the family operation.
Caleb also married Kylie, who was a fourth-grade teacher. Kylie stepped down from teaching when she and Caleb recently had their first child, a little boy.
“He would be the seventh generation on the farm,” Sipes said. “We need to encourage that next generation of farmers.”
We commend Jim and Kelly Sipes and family for making a difference in agriculture. Theirs is truly a family farm.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at https://www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
