By Cheryl Christian
K-State Research and Extension news service
cchristi@ksu.edu
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Six couples will be honored on March 21 as the 2024 class of Kansas Master Farmers and Master Farm Homemakers in recognition of their leadership in agriculture, environmental stewardship and service to their communities.
Among those to be honored are Marlyn and Kathie Spare from Stafford County.
Marlyn and Kathie Spare have farmed in Stafford County in central Kansas for 37 years. After graduating from St. John High School in 1976, Marlyn attended Garden City Community College for two years, then attended Kansas State University and earned his degree in agronomy in 1980. After that he worked for a commercial crop input company in Garden City for six years.
Kathie also graduated from St. John High and attended Kansas State University. She graduated from the University of Kansas Medical Center School of Nursing in 1982. In the spring of 1987, Marlyn and Kathie were invited to become partners in the operation with Marlyn’s dad, Richard, and his brother, Bernie.
Spare Acres is exclusively a cropping operation, with center pivot irrigation and dryland acres. Corn, wheat, alfalfa, forage millet, grain sorghum and soybeans are staple crops. They farm using minimum tillage and no till. The Spares were early GPS system adaptors. Input overspray and over-application has been eliminated as a result. They use local weather station data to schedule their irrigation passes with optimum precision.
Marlyn served on the county Farm Bureau board for 18 years. In 2022 he was elected to the Kanza Cooperative Association Board of Directors as well as the Big Bend Groundwater Management District #5 Board. Kathie served on the Stafford County Extension Council. Putting her nursing expertise to work, she has worked for Stafford County Hospital Home Health Services.
The Spares have also been called to service far away from home, making three church mission trips to conduct vital work at an orphanage and a hospital in Mexico. Kathie served as the on-site coordinator for all three.
The statewide awards program is in its 98th year and is sponsored by K-State Research and Extension and Kansas Farmer Magazine.
The complete list of this year’s honorees include:
Tim and Terri Bornholdt, Inman (McPherson County).
Larry and Boni Butel, Overbrook (Osage County).
Korby and Mary Effland, White City (Morris County).
Ben and Leah Giger, Elmdale (Chase County).
Marlyn and Kathy Spare, St. John (Stafford County).
Doug and Arlene Thiessen, Beloit (Mitchell County).
The annual awards banquet will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 21 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan. Reservations for dinner are required by March 12 and are available by contacting Cheryl Christian at 785-532-5820 or cchristi@ksu.edu.
