Meet Our Growers: Splitter Family
Meet Our Growers: Splitter Family
Meet some our growers that farm hard winter wheat, prized for its use in bread.
Matt and Janna Splitter are the fifth generation to farm this land in Rice County, Kansas but they hope they will not be the last. Through sustainable practices, they believe their daughters, Laikyn (6) and Landry (3), will be the sixth generation of Splitter farmers.
Matt is a young farmer and like many others of his generation, grew up surrounded by technology. His interest in agriculture and the use of technology to reduce impact on the soil led him to connect with Lee Scheufler, a pioneer in sustainable farming and the regenerative agriculture movement.
After picking up information from Lee, he began experimenting with different practices on his own farm. Later, he joined forces with Lee and 130 other farmers in Kansas as participants in the Southern Plains Wheat Project, a sustainable agriculture program that measures natural resource management efficiency for Southern Plains winter wheat production using Field to Market™ metrics. Through this program, the agricultural community is working together with support from ADM and food manufacturers to implement environmental improvements in an effort to create a more resilient supply chain.
He says being involved in the program has opened his eyes to realizing there were opportunities to improve their practices, increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
“Certain metrics like water quality, land usage and nitrogen use weren’t where we wanted them to be,” said Matt. “Being involved in this program has allowed us to step back, re-prioritize and take a broader look at our inputs.”
When asked what sustainability means to him, Matt stated, “It’s our heritage and legacy. The decisions we make today directly affect the future of our children’s well-being and our farm’s well-being. My wife and I have said multiple times that we are just a chapter in this book, and we don’t want to be the last chapter, that’s for sure.”
He continued, “We have to get out there with the true story of production agriculture. We have great things to share. I want the mom in Chicago buying food for her family to realize that I have the same concerns for my family as she does hers. I want people to realize we are all working towards the same goal and that is to provide nutritious, affordable and responsibly grown food for our families.”