In 1917, William Koch of Lancaster County, Nebraska purchased 160 acres south of Haxtun, with his son Louis settling on the land and building a house with the help of his brother.  A year after he started farming, Louis sent for his wife Reka. They planted trees and windbreaks and raised numerous crops including wheat, millet, oats, and corn and had pasture land for their Angus cattle, milk cows, sheep, hogs, horses, and chickens. Cream was sold to a local creamery in Haxtun as an additional source of income.Water and land conservation were important to Louis, and he was instrumental in forming the Haxtun Soil Conservation District and served on the board as the first President for a number of years. Louis’ son Merl and grandson Gary have also served on the Board and have continued Louis’ philosophy of being good stewards of the land, building additional dams and terraces to those built by Louis and his son-in-law Lloyd Ensminger.  In recent years Merl and Gary have implemented rotational cell grazing for their Angus herd; the family have been members of the Angus Association since the 1930s. Today Merl and Gary and Louis’ grandson and great grandson Rick and Michael Ensminger primarily raise wheat, with some acres of millet and oats.