Bending Branch Barn

The 2025 Linn County Kansas farm tour was an overwhelming success. The weather was perfect. The individual stops were welcoming and informative. It was a 10 out of 10!

Joining Lisa and me on the tour were our good friends, Thom & Lisa Tomlinson and Stan & Judy Levrets.

Our first stop was Castle Farm, run by Eric & April Castle. I was unable to take the walking tour (bad back), so I stayed behind to enjoyed a biscuit smothered in fresh pork gravy chased by my third coffee of the morning. I am not exaggerating when I say both the biscuit & gravy and the coffee were fantastic!

Next stop was Skyview Micro Dairy run by Sheri and Bill Noffke. As we arrived we were ushered to the barn to meet the girls. Below is a picture of the newest member of the team, Blitzon. All the cows have names, which they know and come to. According to Bill Noffke, they also know the routine each morning, waiting in line at the gate to take their typical milking station. Skyview milks 15 Jersey cows daily using a 3-station milking machine.

Sheri gave a wonderful tour of her post processes (next steps beyond raw milk) where she makes various yogurts and cheeses. As more folks are taking notice of our current industrial food processing methods and how it affects their bodies (allergies, inflammation, gut health), putting more effort in sourcing their food from farms like Skyview is growing in popularity. Understanding what happens when you remove bacteria from dairy before post processing is certainly worth a look. Many who claim lactose intolerance are actually not intolerant to raw milk, or yogurts or cheeses made from raw unpasteurized milk.

Of course we stopped in to enjoy a pulled pork sandwich at Rocky Sun’s Farm, where Dustin gave a wagon ride tour of the fields. Again, because of my bad back I got to ride with him in the cab of his Kubota side-by-side. He explained that he is now working full time on his farm. He’s not rich, but the change has been 100% worth it, as he’s getting to spend much more time with his kids and doing something he loves. My hats off to him!

In our stop at Courage Farms, run by Crystal and Beau Stude, we were sad to hear the Crystal had been in a accident that put her on the sideline for the 2025 farm tour. Although they had a few of her amazing baked goods for sale, it was clear that the team of Crystal and Beau were not hitting on all cylinders with Beau pulling double duty taking care of the farm and his wife. Their produce and pies are worth the wait till later in the season when the two of them are back at full strength.

Courage Farms always does a nice job of offering photo ops with some fun vintage equipment and a petting zoo, which is supposed to be for the kids, but you can’t keep the adults away. Below are our tourmates, Thom & Lisa Tomlinson.

And of course Lisa and me. Just and FYI… my wife is not a hippy, irrespective of the shirt. She loves that shirt because it is black and white (no color) indoors, and when she steps into the sun, it morphs to full color. It confuses me. I keep wondering where my wife went!

As we were in Linn County, we had to make a stop at the McCracken bee ranch and micro orchard. Below is a picture of my buddy Dennis Stone, who was gracious enough to help with the been ranching (and mowing) ahead of our stop at the McCracken farm. Thank you Dennis!

And the final stop was of course McBees, home of the world’s best bratwurst. We all loaded up on sausages and grabbed a drink for the ride home.

All in all, a most excellent adventure!