From an early age Lon Frahm was taught to give back to his community. Frahm's grandmother, who he calls the most influential person in his life, always pushed him to provide service to others.
"A quote I use is from my grandmother. ‘Service is the rent we pay for space we occupy while we're on the earth.' I think it's critical to give back to communities and give back to others. That's what makes the world go around, really,” he says.
Today Frahm is involved in state, regional and local activities that range from serving on the Kansas Water Authority, Midwest Energy, to Citizens Medical Center. Much of his service is long term, he still serves on the board of High Plains Public Radio, which he helped start 25 years ago. An ardent supporter of the arts, as well as being an accomplished pianist and vocalist, he was also named by then-Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to the Kansas Arts Commission.
That dedication, however, also goes a great deal into making Frahm Farmland excel in management. "For example, serving on the utility board I learned how they trade and update equipment, including trucks and pickups. I looked at that and said "Ok, how can we apply that to the farm.” Is the same mileage and trading schedule for ¾-ton trucks going to apply on my farm as it does for our rural electric utility?”
Frahm has also adapted ideas in the areas of insurance, compensation, and employee benefits from the organizations that he serves to the farm. "There's just no end to the benefits of the cross fertilization of ideas and practices from one industry to another. You find out how much you don't know the more you serve.”