They raised angus beef cattle and later crossed them with a Simmental bull. Both Joe and Lucy worked in the fields to tend to crops, always working together to make ends meet.
They raised around 100 chickens each year that were dressed and frozen to help feed their family. Each summer they planted a huge garden with corn, potatoes, peas, green beans, lettuce and cabbage.
Joe and Lucy raised 5 children – 2 boys and 3 girls, thus the name of the farm now – Bacon 5 Ranch. All of the children worked on the farm alongside our parents, running tractors or combines, hauling grain to the elevator in town, tending the cattle or garden, canning the vegetables they grew or cooking meals to feed the family at the end of the long day’s work.
The Bacon 5 Ranch History
This family farm was established in 1945 when our parents, Lucile “Lucy” Deer married Kenneth “Joe” Bacon.
Lucy was 17 and Joe was 20 at the time. They stuck together through thick and thin and were married 69 years when Joe passed in 2014 at age 89.
Joe’s father, Leslie Bacon, helped them get started in 1946 with the purchase this 80 acre farm. Joe remodeled and updated the original house many times over the years with the current kitchen area being the only part of the original house that remains.
Then:
Now:
Joe and Lucy planted row crops such as corn, milo, wheat and soy beans. They also had a dairy cow herd and sold milk each week. The cows were milked each morning and evening. They eventually stopped the milking operation due to new government regulations. Remnants of the milking operation still stand today on the east side of the barn located to the southwest of the house.
With the passing of our mother in 2023, at the age of 95, we wanted to keep this property in our family and share this beautiful land with others.
Our parents taught us the importance of family and friends and we truly hope that you enjoy your stay here at the
Bacon 5 Ranch!
Extended family gathering 2024
In 1989, Joe and Lucy sold the farm equipment and retired, but they continued to raise beef cattle for another 10 years.
While they worked hard, they played equally as hard. As a young man, Joe played baseball and was quite good. He played on a team from Bronson, KS. Joe and Lucy supported all of their children by attending school, sporting and family events. They loved to bowl and did so on a regular basis. They loved to go fishing and play golf. Joe was an avid hunter of quail (back when there were some), pheasant and whitetail deer. Some of the antlers are hanging on the east wall of the living room.
They eventually sold the cattle and became “snowbirds” living in Texas during the winter and Kansas during the summer.
