By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

The two children, ages 13 and 11, peeled potatoes over a trash can while the mother busied herself with preparations for a large evening meal at their rural Ellis County farm home Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the father fielded several calls on his cell phone from hired hands out in the milo field.

Sound like your typical farm family from the 1960s?

Well, maybe not the cell phone part.

Otherwise, the Lance and Cathy Russell family of 2008 probably isn't all that different -- other than a lot more conveniences -- than those of years gone by.

Sure, machines of all kinds are bigger, stronger, more efficient.

But the goal of a farm family still remains the same -- to enjoy working with the land while making a living for the family.

Earlier this month, the Russells were named the Kansas Farm Bureau Farm Family of the Year for District 6 that encompasses 11 counties in north-central and northwest Kansas.

They are the first Ellis County residents to win the award for the farm family of the year program, revamped in 1994.

"The farm family (award) is one of the most important things we do, because it is truly a reflection of why people belong to Farm Bureau," said Mike Matson, director of communications and public relations for Kansas Farm Bureau in Manhattan.

"All of the qualities that are good about farmers and ranchers you will find in the (farm family) winners," Matson added. "And Lance and Cathy Russell epitomize that type of family."

Established in 1919, Kansas Farm Bureau represents grassroots agriculture, and that's what Lance said he likes about it.

Lance said he was attending a Farm Bureau conference in the early 1990s and was impressed with the method of how policies were being discussed.

"I thought, 'That's an organization I'd be proud to be a part of,' one that listens to the people who it directly affects," Lance said.

Both Lance and Cathy grew up on farms -- Lance just 7 miles from where he has made a home for his family, and Cathy in Graham County.

"I grew up on a farm and said I'd never marry a farmer. I guess you should never say never," Cathy said with a laugh.

Following a stint in Colorado, where Lance worked for a seed sales company, the Russells moved back to Kansas to farm in 2000, and they said it's been a good move for their family.

"Living on the farm, kids have to be creative," Cathy said. "You also have a lot of responsibilities."

"And," she added, "we know where the kids are."

Their children, Brooke, 11, and Lyle, 13, are in sixth and seventh grades at Felten Middle School and are active in extracurricular activities.

Lyle and Brooke play for Hays Soccer Club, where Lance served as a coach last year, and both also play on traveling basketball teams. Both the Russell children also are members of the same Ellis County 4-H club, Good Hope, in which their father participated in his younger years.

When Cathy isn't busy cooking meals, she is at her day job as Lifeline coordinator at Hays Medical Center, and the entire family is active in the First United Methodist Church in Hays.

The Russells, no-till farmers, rent and own about 3,500 acres that consist of grass, dryland and irrigated crops such as wheat, milo, soybeans, oats, corn and sunflowers.

However, those numbers have little, if anything, to do about the criteria for being nominated for Farm Family of the Year.

"What I like about this award is that it's not based on how many acres you farm or how much equipment you own or how much money you make," Lance said. "It's based on your involvement in the community."

The Russell couple has served in a wide range of leadership capacities for Farm Bureau, both at the county and state levels. They served their district as representatives to the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, and Lance currently serves as elected board member to the Kansas Farm Bureau Political Action Committee.

He has hosted Kansas Farm Bureau no-till conferences at his farm and also participates in the annual Kids Ag Day at the farm of his parents, Harold and Virginia Kraus.

Informing youngsters about the farming operation and safety on a farm is just all in a day's work for Lance, who answered yet another call from the field Wednesday evening.

He announced he soon would have to be heading back to the field.

It was about 6:30 p.m., and Cathy and the kids also needed to get a move on if they were going to get supper finished for their family and its handful of employees.

Expecting eight for supper explained the large dining room table, at first glance much too big for a family of four.

"We feed the hired help at night," Lance said.

"They're college kids," Cathy added. "This way, they get a good meal."

Matson wasn't surprised at learning that fact.

"If you were to design a Farm Bureau family from scratch," Matson said, "it would be Lance and Cathy Russell and their kids."