Fellow Kansan,

Agriculture is the heartbeat of the Big First District. Each month, I highlight the life and work of Kansas ag heroes – the people who make our state the pilot light of America and who inspire me to continue fighting for Kansas agriculture. 

Yours in service,

Kansas Ag Heroes of the Month:

Laura and Ryan Haffner

The Haffner Family

Kansans understand well the deep call that comes with seeing combines rolling across the state. For many Kansas families, harvest is a time of year when extended families return to the family farm to help reap the year’s hard work. Ryan and Laura Haffner are one of the thousands of Kansas families that participate in this tradition. However, their harvest time is unique.



Ryan and Laura farm in Sheridan County, Kansas where they raise wheat, corn, and grain sorghum. Ryan, a fourth-generation farmer, has been involved in agriculture his entire life. While Laura didn’t grow up on a farm, she was inspired by her father’s career as an agronomist and the work ethic she saw from agricultural professionals in her community. Laura found it particularly inspiring that her community took care of and looked after one another. When she and Ryan married, they knew that they wanted to pass that tradition on.

What started out as a summer job and a love for harvesting, turned into a business opportunity for Ryan. For over a decade, the Haffners have packed up their entire family and crew and traveled from Texas to the U.S.-Canadian border to run their custom harvest business. On the road, they help farmers harvest corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, and pinto beans, and other crops. When the summer concludes, the Haffners return to Kansas to harvest fall crops and prepare to do it all again the next year.

Despite the demand of uprooting an entire family and traveling the country for six months of the year, the Haffners have made it their norm. 

Laura says that it has allowed her family to build friendships across the world. While Hays is their home, her children still get a small-town experience and are able to develop a broad view of the world because of their time on the road. They also get to witness the joys and discomforts of agricultural life.

While they realize there are parts of being involved in agriculture that may be tough to talk about, the Haffners don’t run from it. They lean into it. Laura has spent years working to reassure the agricultural community that it’s okay to lean on the others and ask for help. In a tough industry, no one has to go at it alone.

Whether it’s their involvement in Kansas Farm Bureau or their children’s local 4-H club, or the passion for shining a light on mental health for agricultural producers, the Haffners’ life mission is to give back to their communities. As products of small towns, Ryan and Laura see the importance of helping people understand the positive experience that comes with growing up in communities like theirs.  

Laura and Ryan will tell you they aren’t doing anything special, they are simply doing their part to give back and care for those around them. That care, service, and humility is why they are this month’s Kansas Ag Heroes.

Thank you, Laura and Ryan, for your dedication and commitment to the agricultural community in Kansas and beyond. It is an honor to serve you in Congress and on the House Agriculture Committee.