ountry C Friday, July 16, 2021
cres A Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 8, Edition 27
leave behind What you
Family striving to leave legacy for future generations
PHOTOS BY DIANE LEUKAM
JR (above left) and Colton Leukam discuss the status of tractors in their mechanic’s shop June 25 on the farm north of Sauk Centre.
BY DIANE LEUKAM STAFF WRITER
SAUK CENTRE – Kenny (JR) and Andelee Leukam live just north of Sauk Centre on the farm where JR grew up, with 80 acres planted into a corn, soybean and oats rotation, along with some meadow hay. They also rent 200 acres of land from his uncle near Elrosa, land that belonged to his great-grandparents. There, they grow corn, beans and grass hay. They raise 70 head of beef steers, along with horses and chickens, and they grow a garden. In addition to farming, JR is a mechanic who runs his shop from the farm, working mainly on International Harvester tractors. Andelee teaches third grade in the Sauk Centre Public Schools system. When Andelee works, JR takes care of the kids and when she is home, Kenny works … but not all the time. They spend a lot of time as a family. Colton is 3, Leeandra is 19 months and Baby Leukam will arrive
JR and Andelee Leukam sit on the deck in front of their home June 25 with their children, Leeandra, 19 months, and Colton, 3. The Leukams have chosen a lifestyle on their farm that focuses on faith, family and the environment.
around the end of September. Their two main priorities are faith and family, and those priorities affect their decisions allaround. In fact, in order to live the lifestyle they have chosen, JR sometimes has to turn down mechanic work. “Our main focus is our family and we can only do so much every day; if we do too much there, we are taking time
away from our kids,” he said in his characteristically soft-spoken way. “We want to do our best job possible. I know we need money to live, but we don’t need everything new and fancy, either.” One might say the kids are the spark that has lit a fire in their hearts for the environment that surrounds them. Especially during the winters, JR does a
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lot of research on the topic. “The technology is out there and there are a lot of good people doing good things,” he said. “During the winter, we look up so many university studies, test pilots and trials.” Much of what JR researches has to do with crops, such as tillage options, cover crops and pollinator-friendly pesticides. “Some of the stuff is incon-
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Making her own kind of history Leaf Valley
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A partnership between humans and horses New London
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A new sort of shed Diane Leukam column
14 Tractor tire gardening Cold Spring 17 The gamble of farming Sauk Centre
venient and spendy, even with the crops,” he said. “We have gone to all liquid organic-based fertilizers with no broadcasting and all split applications. It is more work and more costly, but research shows it is better for the soil.” In an effort to prevent the release of carbon into the air, they have reduced the amount of tillage on their land. In Sauk Centre, they no-till corn and beans and for oats, they disc in spring and minimum till one pass after combining before seeding a cover crop. Their Elrosa ground is heavier, so they utilize minimum tillage on those acres. JR said that 30 acres of cover crop takes enough carbon out of the atmosphere to average one vehicle’s CO2 release each year. While on a mission to find a pollinator-friendly pesticide for aphids, JR found one that is being used in the southern states that kills aphids but won’t harm
Leukam page 2 21 Country cooking 23 Developing a crop to clean water Westport 27 What’s this? 27 FFA student
