MASTER FARM FAMILY: Tim and Terri Bornholdt are members of the Class of 2024 Kansas Master Farm Families. The couple farms and ranches near Inman, Kan.
For Tim and Terri Bornholdt, there’s always something that can be done to improve the farm and community.
Whether it’s working on farm equipment, adopting new cropping and grazing strategies, or figuring out a way to make charitable giving go further, the Bornholdts of Inman say there’s always room to do more.
This spirit of innovation and community service is one of the reasons Tim and Terri Bornholdt were named to the Class of 2024 Kansas Master Farm Families.
Today’s Bornholdt Farms LLC was established by Tim’s grandfather, Harry Bornholdt, in 1921 after he returned from his service in World War I. Tim’s father, also named Harry, farmed the land next, and Tim joined him after he completed his ag mechanics courses at Hutchinson Community College.
Tim and Terri married in 1984 and started building onto the farm, raising their two children, Cody and Katie, and supporting Terri’s off-farm career in the crop insurance business.
Switch to no-till
Tim has always had a mind to improve things around the farm. Take the Bornholdts’ foray into no-till farming. In 1999, Tim attended a meeting where the farmers were challenged to consider how much water they could conserve by infiltration using no-till residue. That fall was the Bornholdts’ first no-till wheat crop. Since then, they’ve noticed higher organic matter in their soils.
However, that switch to no-till required more spraying for weeds. Tim, who performed mechanical work on their farm and their neighbors’ as well, knew they needed a spray rig. So, they started with a pull-type sprayer with 50-foot booms. Then, he built a rig using a pickup truck, booms and a tank.
“I did my own mechanizing for 25 years until the more expensive equipment with computers came out, and I couldn’t work on them,” he says. “I’m probably the proudest of a 42-foot grain trailer I built with my dad.”
Next comes covers
The Bornholdts have started adding cover crops within the last decade to their conservation efforts. “Early on, the purpose was to avoid as much herbicide as we could, so we started with planting rye in the fall ahead of our soybeans,” Tim says.
They also started planting triticale as a cover crop that they will chop for silage for their cow herd. They can graze their cover crops or crop residue in late fall or winter, reducing their feed costs and adding to their soil fertility.
Tim says their goal is to keep a growing root in the ground so that they can reduce wind and water erosion. Today, their cropping rotation includes wheat, corn, soybeans, sorghum-sudangrass, alfalfa, rye, triticale and prairie hay.
When son Cody returned to the farm, the family started to rethink their Angus cattle enterprise. Cody says they are again using artificial insemination on their herd, which allows them to bring in a balance of terminal and replacement genetics. They also started implementing rotational grazing on their native grass pastures, which Cody says is helping improve their grass and calf weights.
Doing what they can to help their neighbors is important to the Bornholdts. Tim served for years on the Hayes Township board, keeping the roads maintained. He also served on the McPherson County Planning and Zoning Board for 16 years.
Helping those in need
Terri volunteered for many years with the McPherson County Foundation Board, which led to her involvement in establishing the Inman Community Foundation. The foundation raises funds for neighbors in need, from the older generations on fixed incomes to single parents trying to feed their children and work in the community. Today, she’s the coordinator for the Inman Food Pantry.
AG IN THE CLASSROOM: The Bornholdts are supporters of McPherson County’s Ag in the Classroom program. Recently, Tim, Terri, son Cody and daughter-in-law Ashley hosted second graders at the farm for hands-on education about the calving process. (COURTESY OF THE BORNHOLDT FAMILY) 
For the Bornholdts, they say it’s their Christian duty to serve their neighbors. That drive led the family to establish an endowment in the foundation to stretch their charitable giving and make sure that funds can regenerate and help more in the future.
There’s always something that can be improved, whether on the farm or in the community, they say. And the Bornholdts are doing their part to leave their farm, their family and their community better off.
The Bornholdts in 3 questions
What are you passionate about? For Terri, it’s quilting. For Tim, it’s dirt-track racing. The two also have amassed a collection of family artifacts that tell the story of the generations who came before them. One is Tim’s grandfather’s World War I uniform, which they display in a special cabinet in their home. They took it to the WWI Museum in Kansas City, and the curator there helped them learn about the uniform, its patches and insignia, and tell the story of his grandfather’s service.
Who do you cheer for? The Bornholdts are Kansas City Chiefs season ticket holders.
What’s a piece of advice for young farmers? “Follow your dreams — they know the way,” Terri says. “I guess I’d say put your head down and just get to work,” Tim says.
