Managing the nation’s largest totally irrigated farm show site was not Roger Luebbe’s first choice. Actually, when offered the job, he turned it down.

After a major supporter of the show insisted he try it out, Luebbe relented. In 1986, he became farm manager for Husker Harvest Days.

“I was 41 back then, and didn’t know if I could handle it,” he once told Nebraska Farmer. But time and expertise proved him wrong.

“Roger has been so dedicated to Husker Harvest Days,” says Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress national events director. “He worked hard to care for this farm show site like any farmer and land steward, making decisions to keep it sustainable throughout the generations.”

Over the years, Luebbe oversaw the operation from crops to irrigation. Before the pivot corner system was perfected, lateral irrigation systems were popular.

“You could irrigate a square field with little dryland areas. There were six of those systems at HHD in 1986. Two of those were an open ditch with a diesel motor and pump that traveled with the system to provide the water,” Luebbe recalls. “These systems were very labor-intensive. Now, the new GPS-guided lateral systems are easy to run and work very efficiently.”

But it wasn’t just the advancements in farm technology at HHD that interested Luebbe.

More than a farm

Luebbe took an active role in the show itself, which begins the second Tuesday after Labor Day weekend in September. Luebbe was often spotted in the tractor cab at field demos with his signature HHD red hat, along with a constant smile.

“While it was work, Roger seemed to love every aspect of his job,” Jungmann says. “It was like he invited the whole state to his farm for a day full of fun. And Nebraskans enjoyed it so much that they returned year after year with the next generation.”

TIME TO RETIRE: Farm manager Roger Luebbe and office manager Suzy Allan Kleeb worked together to make Husker Harvest Days a premiere farm show for more than 30 years.

To that end, in 2010 to honor his 25th year of service, Husker Harvest Days staff dedicated a place where people gather in his honor. Named the Barb and Roger Luebbe gazebo, it still stands near the bus parking and show office.

Succession plan

This year, Husker Harvest Days is moving forward with its own farm succession plan. Luebbe is turning over the farm manager role to his son Jason.

HHD staff thank Roger for his years of dedication and service. But like any retired farmer, there is a good chance you will still see him around the showgrounds — after all, it’s a family tradition.