Oct 28, 2025
By Sedgwick County Harvest Hub
Michael Speer always knew he wanted to be a farmer. His ancestors began to farm near Clearwater in 1873.
“My challenge is to take an 1800s farm and make it a 2025 farm,” Michael says. “A massive change on our operation was switching to no-till when I took over. That has evolved to include cover crops and grazing cover crops as well. Our farm is a diversified no-till operation that includes wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, milo and hay. We also have a cow-calf herd.”
In order to adapt to those challenges, Michael attended Kansas State University, which is a land-grant university whose primary function is agricultural research and education. When Congress established the Homestead Act, they also established the Morrill Act to create land-grant universities in each state. He studied ag technologies with a focus on agronomy.
After finishing college, he worked in the agricultural sales. Slowly, he acquired enough land until he was able to fulfill his dream.
Along the way, Michael married Amber and they have two children, Ellie and Weston. The Speers won the Kansas Farm Bureau Farm Family of the Year in 2023 and are like most farm families — all are involved in the operation.
“The kids like to ride with me in the tractor,” he says. “For Weston, he likes to learn all about the equipment and farming. For Ellie, it’s a social outing with dad, and she just wants to chat.
“Innovation is the key to making sure our children and grandchildren, if they so choose, can farm for the next several generations,” he says. “When we think about sustainability, we think about doing what we can the best we can. No matter what we do, it needs to be the best decision for our animals, for our soil and ultimately, when those things are doing well, it’ll be advantageous for our bottom line, too. As farmers and ranchers, our goal is to leave the land and environment in a better place than when we took it over.”
Michael attributes his involvement in Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) as a key strategy to maintain innovation. He currently serves on the Sedgwick County Farm Bureau board, which has more than 900 farm-based members and is a past chair of KFB’s Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) state committee. That role connected the Speers to other farmers across Kansas and the nation.
“YF&R exposed us to ways other farmers are innovating,” he says. “I’m on a Snapchat with several farmers and we keep each other informed of what we are doing, make fun of those who use different colored equipment and talk about the latest news that impacts us.”
The life of a farmer is tumultuous with numerous variables that impact their livelihood. Mother Nature can be their kindest and worst friend; one minute providing rain and sunshine, then within minutes a hailstorm can wipe out thousands of acres of crops. Currently, farmers struggle with the challenges of five years of drought combined with China threatening to stop purchasing soybeans. On the other hand, those who own cattle are seeing record prices for their livestock yet the proposed purchase of beef from Argentina will impact their profitability.
I asked Michael the same question I have asked each farmer since I began writing for Kansas Living in 2015: Why do you keep doing what you’re doing knowing the huge risks that are involved?
His answer was the same as all others: they love to watch things grow.
“I love watching the soybeans or wheat I planted pop up out of the ground and grow to a healthy crop we can harvest. The best part is when we get to bring life into the world. There’s nothing like a new baby calf standing on their own for the first time and seeing them grow up healthy.”
In addition to raising crops, community involvement and education is important to the Speers. In April 2025, Michael stopped planting corn to drive his tractor to Clearwater so school children could meet a farmer. Then, on May 7 of the same year, the Speers hosted students at their farm who were a part of a pen pal program.
You can follow along with the tremendous work Sedgwick County Farm Bureau does by joining their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SedgwickCoFB, and check out their website: https://www.scfbaa.org/. You can also meet Michael on our Sedgwick County Harvest Hub video.
Thanks, Michael, Amber, Weston and Ellie; you are part of the 2 percent of the population who feed the world!