HUMBOLDT — For Blake Mueller, farming is all about family.
He always hoped to return home after college and take over the farm where his father, Curt, had raised dairy cattle. It’s a legacy that already spans three generations. Mueller hopes to pass it on to his children.
Mueller’s efforts earned recognition with the 2024 Kansas Bankers Association Conservation Award. He will receive the Key Bankers Award Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Allen County Conservation District Annual Meeting at the North Community Building, 505 N. Buckeye St.
MUELLER grew up on the farm and graduated from Humboldt High School before earning a degree in animal science from Kansas State University in 2009.
Wife Cassie is a nurse; they have two sons, Mason, age 11, and Maxton, age 9. Both are involved in 4-H. Mason already has developed a love of farming and helps on the farm as much as possible.
“It’s important to keep the family farm going. I always wanted to come back and farm,” Mueller said. “Farming is more like a way of life than a job. The lifestyle drew me to it.”
Returning to the farm after college, Mueller knew he wanted to make some changes. Mostly, that meant transitioning from a dairy farm to a cow-calf beef operation and row crops.
“The dairy thing never spoke to me. I was always more into equipment,” he said.
The transition was easier than Mueller expected. He and his father own and rent land, tending about 2,500 acres with corn, soybeans and wheat. They run about 400 pairs of Simmental cows and calves.
From the beginning, Mueller was committed to 100 percent no-till farming practices. It’s now been 15 years since he introduced those conservation measures, making the farm among the earliest in the region to adopt strict no-till.
“Soil conservation is kind of my passion. We’re so close to rock here that we don’t have a lot of ground left to give, so we have to save all that we have left. The main goal is to give the next generation their opportunity.”
NO-TILL farming has been a learning process.
“It’s evolved. It’s not easy. You have to adapt to change,” he said. “Every year is different and there’s no cookie-cutter way of doing it. The weather changes enough that you have to make different decisions involving weed control, and you have to adapt to whatever Mother Nature throws at you.”
Mueller uses cover crops such as rye and turnips. His cattle graze cover crops, and he keeps a close eye on field conditions. If it gets too wet, he moves the cattle to a different field.
“There’s definitely a yield bump on cover crops. The main benefit is keeping that soil alive through the winter” he said.
