7-generation farm focuses on sustainability and succession

Conservation isn’t just a fad for Chandlerville, Ill., farmers Luke and Morgan Clark. It’s good farming.

The Clarks farm 8,100 acres of corn, soybeans, pumpkins, popcorn, potatoes and beets. Most of that ground is irrigated sand in Mason County, requiring the Clarks to rely heavily on minimum tillage and cover crops to keep their topsoil intact.

“We always put cover crops behind the pumpkins because the sand will blow,” Luke says. “If the soil is too bare, you’ll end up getting some of Mason County in your county.”

To accommodate the sandy acreage, the Clarks have 91 irrigation pivots — all run via phone.

“In the summer, I’m more stressed than the spring or fall — no question about it,” Luke says. “When it’s dry like it was this June, managing irrigations is a challenge.”

Luke and Morgan farm alongside Luke’s father, Jeff, and his brother, Logan. Their daughters — Madison, 7, and McKayla, 4 — are the seventh generation to call Clark Farms home.

Succession planning, although difficult, is a necessity to preserve the farm for the next generation.

“You have to talk about it even though it’s uncomfortable,” Luke says. “I have a trust. My dad has a trust. My brother and I both know what to do if something happens to Dad.”

Luke adds that farming has been his goal since he was in junior high. “I always knew I didn’t want the family farm to end with me,” he says. “I wanted to continue what my family started.”

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Morgan works full time for the ag tech company Bushel as an implementation coordinator. Her on-farm knowledge, she says, has undoubtedly helped her build rapport with customers.

“When I talk with farmers or grain elevators, it puts them at ease knowing that I farm,” Morgan says. “I am not sitting in a city cubicle somewhere telling them how to do things. This is my life.”

In addition to the farm, the Clarks run a trucking business where they haul grain, rock and lime.

“Trucking really goes hand in hand with the farm,” Luke says. “During harvest when we need trucks, we don’t have to worry about finding drivers because we already have them”

The Clarks employ 10 truck drivers, three full-time farm employees, and five seasonal workers for planting and harvest. Building strong employee-employer relationships, they say, is key to retaining good help.

“We’re like family here,” Morgan says. “We’re definitely employee-oriented.”

Looking forward

The recent market downtown has resulted in management tweaks to keep the farm profitable — like reduced inputs and careful communication with landowners.

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“We’ve been blessed with some of the best employees and landlords working with us,” Luke adds.

Plus, now more than ever, diversification is the name of the game for the Clarks.

“It’s good not to put all your eggs in one basket,” Morgan says. “That goes for everything — seed, chemical and even contracts to diversify how we’re marketing grain.”

Luke and Morgan are part of the Cultivating Master Farmers Class of 2026. The program features two years of networking and mentorship opportunities between young farmers and Master Farmer recipients, sponsored by Farm Credit Illinois, Compeer Financial, Illinois Farm Bureau, Growmark, Bayer and Prairie Farmer.

“We’re proud of what we do for a living,” Morgan says. “We’re excited to bring what we learn from the program back to the farm.”