Some more northwestern Illinois farmer news

The Prairie News

Cattle keep family busy

Children, actively involved in Leezer family farm.

By Ben Steinbach

TOULON – On a beautiful Sunday in May, the rolling rural countryside south of Toulon lacked the typical tranquility you would expect in such a serene setting. As summer approaches and the polychromatic patchwork of wildflowers and prairie grasses bursts to life, a cow barn was the last place I expected to find the birds and the bees.

I arrived at the home of Tyler and Leah Leezer to find A.I. technician Jay Iliff and Emily Smith of the Stark County Farm Bureau on scene and realized things were about to get interesting. They were expecting Kyle Cantwell, who owns a neighboring farm, to deliver the necessary ingredients to breed six heifers. The very new experience that unfolded before me was just another day in the life of the Leezers.

Over the last seven years Tyler and Leah have quickly built quite the herd on their family farm. Along with raising their two children, Brady and Brenna, the couple has amassed 25 cows, starting with none.

When I asked Tyler what got him into raising cattle, he explained that local farmers John Michael Castagna and Chris McMillan had piqued his interested in agriculture when he was in high school. A few years after moving to their farm, they decided to start off raising a single bucket calf. The next year they got another, and things quickly escalated from there. “When Tyler said he wanted to raise cattle, I didn’t know what to think,” Leah explained. “I had never really been around all this before.”

Tyler described Leah’s change of heart by saying, “I told her to feed a calf you just stick your finger in its mouth until you can get the bottle in there. She thought I was joking with her. Now she’s the first one to get the stubborn calves to eat.”

Explaining Brady and Brenna’s part of the operation, Leah said, “The kids have really stepped up and taken on a lot of chores. They’re pretty much in charge of the bucket calves, now!”

Tyler added, “A lot of our cattle are for show. We’ve kind of slacked off this year not knowing if there will be a 4-H fair with all the state restrictions. I can tell you we’ve done a lot of fishing.”

To keep all those mouths fed, the family also farms 15 acres of corn, and plans to add hay to their list next year. “The hardest part of all of this is working 50 hours a week and coming home to work every night,” said Tyler, who works at the Leezer Agency in Toulon. “If I didn’t have a full time job this would be easy (laughs).”

In all seriousness, Tyler continued, “We wouldn’t be where we are now without the help of John Michael Castagna, Nate Cox, Randy Rumbold, Jim Kinsella, Kyle Cantwell, Jay Iliff, and the Horsley’s, just to name a few.”