Submitted

As you discuss their farming operation, it’s easy to see the appreciation Lief and Eric Weyer have for the positive influences they’ve experienced in their farming career. The soil conservation influences have encouraged a long list of projects over the last 15 years and earned them a 2025 Kansas Bankers Association Soil Conservation Award.

Influence number one was a long family history of conservation. Their father wasn’t afraid to try things, including adoption of no-till and the construction of multiple watershed ponds, exposing the boys to multiple conservation examples. Work continues on some of those farms, including one homesteaded by their great-grandfather and a family partnership that continues to invest property income back into conservation efforts.

Influence number two was a landlord. She introduced them to tile in the mid-80s when she started installing tile outlet systems on her own farms. Impressed with how they worked, they started looking at it on their own farms.

Influence number three: a good contractor – namely Kim Bramhall. From the early tile outlet projects on landlord acres to multiple projects on their own properties, their collaborative efforts have now spanned over 15,000 feet of pipe and 75,000 feet of terraces.

Much of the conservation work was undertaken to take properties to the next level. While waterways constructed in the 50s were still doing their job, replacement projects helped increase farmability of many tracts. While often requiring farms to be completely redone, the increased time and cost associated with these projects has made farms fit newer, larger equipment while increasing property values. Much of their conservation work is preceded by a wheat crop and when completed it is followed by cover crops for soil retention and organic matter enhancement. It’s a sequence of management before, during and after conservation work they have fine-tuned over time – with great results.

Reducing soil erosion has long been a goal of the Weyer family, and work continues today on land of their own as well as family ground in partnership with sisters Dianna and Myra. It’s work that has certainly been effective with Eric and Lief sharing examples of moisture savings, reduced sedimentation around outlet pipes, and even a willingness to delay planting while allowing a cover crop to do its job.

The power of positive influences is easy to see in the Weyer Brothers partnership. They count among their farm advisors people like Alan Bruna, a trusted equipment advisor during their farming career, as well as retail crop consultants who continue to help them with regular grid testing programs and soil test recommendations. The influence of their soil conservation advisors is also evident in a long line of practices helping them achieve desired conservation efforts on their farm.

Congratulations to Eric and Cathy Weyer and Leif and Casey Weyer of Weyer Brothers Farms, 2025 Kansas Bankers Association Soil Conservation Award winners.