2024 Bankers Award Winner is Gasper Farms

Gasper Farms, consisting of father and son Dan and Joe Gasper of Stockton, is this year’s recipient of the Rooks County Conservation District’s Bankers Soil Conservation Award.

The farm has been operating since the mid-1980s, beginning with traditional tillage and planting practices and transitioning to No-till practices in 1995. Most recently, more regenerative agriculture concepts have been implemented into the operation.

A diversified crop rotation of wheat, milo, corn, soybeans, forage sorghum, and multi-species cover crop is used on the cropland in conjunction with a Red Angus cow-calf operation managed to graze rangeland, cover crops, and crop residues.

In addition, Gasper Farms has installed multiple grassed waterways on cropland fields to control ephemeral gully erosion through USDA and state financial assistance programs like CRP and the Water Resources State Cost-share Program with technical assistance provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

When asked why conservation is important to them, Dan says, “The land is our most valuable asset and is necessary to provide food for people and animals. We have learned over time that not following good farming practices can have detrimental effects, such as erosion, which has resulted in a significant loss of topsoil around the world. We are trying to do the best we can to conserve the soil so that, in time, it can provide for us as well.”

Gasper Farms enjoys being part of Mother Nature, trying to work with her rather than against her. They also enjoy that farming is always changing, and they enjoy learning about all the new innovations related to soil health.

Dan and his wife Lois have three children: son Joe, who is an attorney and operates the farm with Dan; daughter Laura Moffet, who teaches at Stockton Junior High School; and daughter Anna Larson, who is a chef.

Joe and his wife, Megan, have a son, Jack, and a daughter, Meredith, who attends Stockton High School.

Dan and Lois’ remaining grandchildren are Maddy and Max Moffet, who attend Fort Hays State University, and Finnegan and Sullivan Larson, who attend Stockton Grade School.

Congratulations to Dan and Joe Gasper of Gasper Farms on being the recipients of the 2024 Bankers Soil Conservation Award!

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