When his father died in 1988, LeRoy Lenning briefly considered leaving the family farming business. But his love of the land led him to buy his own farm the next year and to continue the tradition with his family.

“It’s so hard when you get out of it to get back on,” he said. “So far we’ve made it work.”

Raised on a farm in Johnson County, Lenning helped his father farm for years before buying a 160-acre farm east of Baldwin. He now farms about 2,200 acres of soybeans, corn and wheat for various landlords in Douglas, Johnson and Miami counties.

Lenning earned a Kansas Bankers Assn. Conservation Award for his conservation techniques. He said he was surprised to get it.

“A lot more people are probably more deserving of it than me,” Lenning said. “I appreciate it, and I’ll just keep on doing what I’ve been doing.”

Conservation techniques Lenning employs include crop rotation and no-till farming. Even though he has always used conservation techniques to some extent in his farming, Lenning said, he didn’t begin no-till farming in Douglas County until about five years ago.

“It depends on what works best on the ground,” he said.

With no-till farming, farmers don’t significantly disturb the soil by plowing or disking. Lenning said this allowed the soil to retain more moisture. Earthworm activity also increases with no-till farming, he said, which leads to more pores in the ground and more moisture and nutrients.

Leroy Lenning will receive a Kansas Bankers Assn. Conservation Award today at the Douglas County Conservation District meeting. Lenning farms about 2,200 acres for various landlords in Douglas, Johnson and Miami counties.

“It takes five to six years before you start seeing tremendous benefits,” he said. “It’s been so dry that it’s been hard to make anything work.”

Lenning said even though recent dry conditions have made it difficult to see significant changes, there have been improvements. In the coming years, he said, he would continue to use conservation techniques.

“We’ll just pray for good weather and hang on tight,” he said.