Rubottom is the 2023 Rooks County Bankers Award Winner

Darren Rubottom is this year’s Rooks County Conservation District’s Bankers Soil Conservation Award recipient.

Darren’s interest in production agriculture developed as an 8th grader while working on his grandparents’ farm south of Woodston. He farmed with his parents in high school but chose a career with an herbicide company for five years after college.

His opportunity to farm full-time came about when Leo Kollman was interested in retiring, and Darren could buy out Leo’s equipment and rent his land and the land Leo had been renting.

Darren represents the 5th generation of farmers in his family since the place where his parents live was homesteaded back in 1885.

Darren’s operation consists of about 6,000 acres and 3,250 acres of cropland.

With many older farmers in production agriculture retiring in the area and very few young farmers coming in, the operation has grown several times over the years. A diversified crop rotation of wheat, milo, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, oats, triticale, and forage sorghum is used on the cropland in conjunction with a cow-calf operation of about 250 head in which Darren backgrounds his feeder cattle until they are sold.

His operation has been predominately no-till since 2010 for many reasons, including increased water conservation, improved utilization for growing crops, and improved soil health.

Herbicide-resistant weeds have recently forced him back to periodic light tillage within the rotation. Still, it also provides some soil diversification for small grain crops and alfalfa establishment, which tend to do better with an initially tilled environment.

Soil conservation has always been important to Darren’s family. His grandfather, Norman Rubottom, was one of the first producers in the county to build terraces and start windbreaks, as he knew it was essential to protect our land for generations ahead.

Darren says, “Being a good steward of the land not only protects our water quality and soil health for generations to come, but it also maximizes our yields and profit potential of our businesses.

Our land is what we have; they aren’t making any more of it, so we better take care of it.”

Darren’s favorite part of farming is the opportunity to connect with nature daily while watching the crops and cattle grow with all of his hard work and financial investments involved. “The average person would call it crazy to spend the number of money farmers do each year with hopes of getting it all back, but hopefully, some see it more as a reward,” says Darren.

Darren would like to recognize his parents, Darrel and Avonne Rubottom, for their support over the years. He also wants to acknowledge and thank his kids Jesse Tien, Kayson Rubottom, and Kelden Rubottom for helping him on the farm over the years and for those late dinners that had to wait until Dad got home.

Lastly, he would like to thank his past and present employees for the hard work they provided over the years, as well as his landlords, who have diligently weathered the good and bad times in production agriculture with him.

Darren, congratulations on receiving the 2023 Bankers Soil Conservation Award!

Article written by Dustin Kriley, District Conservationist Natural Resources Conservation Service.