Scott City Couple Named Master Farmer, Homemaker

SCOTT CITY, Kan. – Whether working on the farm or lending a hand to community organizations, Dave and Sherry Novak operate with a driven work ethic.

"The best way to be a leader is by doing and setting an example for our boys and others to follow," Sherry said. "Things don’t get done until someone does them. Business success is built on the same principle."

The Novaks will be recognized as a 2002 Kansas Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker during ceremonies at the Holiday Inn in Manhattan on March 14 at 6 p.m. Friends can make banquet and program reservations for $22 a person by calling 785-532-5820 by March 3.

The program, which recognizes six Kansas families every year, is co-sponsored by Kansas State University Research and Extension and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Nominated by the Extension Council in Scott County, the Novaks will become lifetime members in an association dating back to 1927.

Dave graduated from Goodland Technical School in farm and diesel mechanics in 1974. He returned to his family farm in 1977, after marrying Sherry in May 1976.

Sherry earned a degree in medical technology from K-State and an allied health degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center. She worked at the Wichita County Hospital for several years before making more time for family and the farm.

"My most important responsibility has been raising my three boys and helping with the farming operation as much as possible over the years," she said.

The farm dates back four generations in the Novak family, to Dave’s great-grandfather who homesteaded the land.

"I started with my dad and things expanded from there with custom farming opportunities to get a good start with the cash flow," he said. "From growing up on the farm, I knew what to expect."

Currently, the Novak operation includes nearly 3,500 acres, evenly divided into wheat, sorghum and fallow. Nearly 600 acres are irrigated. Since 1979, they have custom farmed another 3,000 acres for a landowner who farms in another area of Kansas.

"We receive a set dollar per acre, rather than a share of the crop," Dave said. "We are not responsible for the harvest, but we take care of all other operations."

The family had a feeder pig operation for 10 years, but sold out of it in 1992 due to eroding profits.

Conservation practices have been a vital part of the farm. Dave terraced three quarter sections and regularly no-tills sorghum into wheat stubble.

Equipment upgrades help to keep the Novaks current with new practices. They use a Rowcat sprayer with global positioning system capabilities. Each member of the family carries a cell phone for instant communication when working in the field. Variable rate planters and yield mapping combines are additional examples of the family’s environmental focus.

"It has helped us cut back on chemicals since we are not overlapping," Dave said. "It takes five to six years of yield mapping to get consistent records to justify changing fertilizer and seeding rates."

The Novaks raised three boys who were involved in 4-H, athletic teams, scholars bowl, science olympiad and Holy Cross Lutheran Church.

Brian graduated from K-State in 2002 in chemical engineering and currently attends Notre Dame University working on an advanced degree.

Matt studies horticulture and landscape design at K-State. He has operated his own garden center business selling poinsettias, annual bedding plants, perennials, vegetables and pond plants from a 18 by 80 foot greenhouse on the Novak farm.

Nick attends Wichita County High School as a sophomore. He participated in the 4-H entomology project for nine years, collecting more than 200 insects. He is also the junior leader for the geology project.

"We were able to do more things as a family since we lived on the farm," Dave said. "Rather than having to make family time, it is just always there."