Released: March 02, 2007

Roger and Sue Pine Named Master Farmer, Master Farm Homemaker

LAWRENCE, Kan. – When it comes to agriculture, Roger and Sue Pine have probably tried it. Green beans, cattle, popcorn, turf grass and agritourism, they’ve tried it all and then some. Some of their efforts have been what might be called learning experiences. Others have been incredibly successful.

For that willingness to adapt and capitalize on their strengths, and for service to their community, the Pines of rural Lawrence in Douglas County, have been named a Kansas Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker for 2006.

The award program dates to 1927 and is sponsored by Kansas State University Research and Extension and Kansas Farmer Magazine. The Pines and five other couples will be honored at a 6 p.m. banquet March 16 at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Junction City.

Roger, who is a state senator, and Sue, along with their son Brian Pine, and daughter Shawn Pine Bay, operate Pine Family Farms. It’s a diversified business that spans 3,100 acres in Leavenworth and Douglas counties. The crops currently grown are corn, soybeans, turf grass (sod) and wheat. Most of the land is rented and about 30 percent is irrigated.

Roger had farming in his blood from childhood, having grown up on some of the same land his family now farms. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1961 at K-State and graduated from Texas A&M University’s Executive Program for Agricultural Producers in 1994.

Agriculture was not second nature to Sue. She was born in Hays and later moved to Lawrence, where her father ran the municipal airport. When the family moved to a home across from the airport, Roger and Sue met. She was a freshman at KU – he a graduate of K-State.

On a dry, dusty and windy day, Roger was working the field next to her parents’ home, Sue recalled. Clothes were hanging outdoors on the line. Roger came to the door to suggest that the family take the clothes off the line and Sue answered – with “pop-bottle rollers” in her hair. That night Roger called and asked for a date.

“I always figured that he was curious to see if it got any better,” Sue said.

Once married, the couple settled into a business relationship with Roger’s parents and had two children. Today, Brian and Shawn are partners in the family business.

“Not everything we’ve tried has worked,” said Roger of the crops and business ventures the family has tried, which included growing chrysanthemums, hogs and cauliflower.

For years, potatoes were a primary crop for the farm, with as many as 350 acres planted.

“Potatoes were always a high-risk crop, but with the floods of 1993, almost half the crop was lost with no insurance available,” Roger said. “After 25 years of growing potatoes for Frito Lay and other potato chip producers, the enterprise was discontinued.”

Over the past 40 years, plenty of other changes occurred. Some have worked very well. The couple is candid about the factors they believe contributed to their success – “living on the farm, illness, family counseling and a strong faith and prayer life.”

Being able to raise the children right on the farm, Sue said, helped instill in them a desire to come back to work on the farm. Shawn and Brian both graduated from K-State – she with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and he with a bachelor’s in agribusiness.

Roger is in charge of the traditional side of the farm, including soybean, wheat and corn production, while Brian runs the turf grass operation. Sue uses her accounting skills to handle the farm’s balance sheet and cash flows. Shawn markets the turf grass and landscape products, as well as the traditional grains, and handles the farm’s participation in government farm programs.

“When Brian was six months old, Sue fell seriously ill and was limited in her activities for four years,” Roger said. Both sets of grandparents stepped forward and helped with the children. Though Shawn and Brian were very young, the impact of their mother’s illness and the love and assistance given by grandparents demonstrated the strength and importance of family.

Even the closest of families have disagreements, but especially those in a family business, Sue said. When, in the 1990s, Shawn and Brian expressed a desire to farm with their parents, Roger and Sue agreed on one condition. Mindful of problems faced when she and Roger farmed with his parents, Sue insisted that the family participate in ongoing “preventative counseling.” Early on in the partnership, the family met monthly with a Christian counselor. They now meet several times a year with an accountant and a conflict resolution professional.

“Often they wished they would be hit by a snowstorm and the meeting would be called off, but the meeting would always take place and at the end, concerns, goals and direction would be clear,” said Roger of the sessions held over the years. “You learn to communicate at all levels. And hopefully, your listening skills become sharper.”

The couple said that all family members, including their grandchildren, have a strong Christian faith, which has been a factor in their success.

One of the innovative steps the Pines took involved the original farm home. With each part of the family living in other houses, the family decided to turn the original farm home into a daycare facility for the grandchildren, complete with living quarters for a nanny.

Shawn and her husband Chris, have two daughters – both adopted from China. They are 8-year-old Lily and 5-year-old Addie. Chris is an elementary school principal in Lawrence. Brian and his wife Kathy, have three children – a son Hayden, who is 8, a daughter Jordan, 6, and a son Carson, who is 4. Kathy is a high school computer teacher in Lawrence.

Roger has held numerous national, regional and local posts. Roger was named a K-State Alumni Fellow in 2000. In 2005, he was elected to the state senate, representing the 3rd District – a position he still holds. He has been president of the National Corn Growers Association, and served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology and on the U.S. Grain Council, among others.

He served an eight-year term on the Kansas District 497 School Board, including two years as president, on the agricultural advisory board for governors Hayden and Graves, Douglas County Extension Board and Douglas County Horizon 2020, an environmental quality and natural resources task force.

He and Sue have been active in the Free Methodist Church and 4-H.

Like her husband, Sue has taken on many roles in her community. She served on the Lawrence/Douglas County Planning Committee (one year as chairman); the Douglas County Economic Development Board, Douglas County Horizon 2020; and on the Douglas County Fair Board, for which she served as treasurer and president. She also served on the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center’s board of directors and was chair for a year.

Sue said her work on the planning commission was particularly important as she was the only representative from agriculture on the commission.

At one time, the Pines tried their hand at agritourism. In cooperation with another area farmer, they hosted farm tours with visitors from as far away as Switzerland.

“We did it as a money maker – but it wasn’t,” Sue said. Although it was much work, with Sue and her neighbor doing all of the cooking, it was a great way to meet some wonderful people.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter-Blecha,
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News