20-Year-Old Twins Reinvent a High Plains Farm After Loss

Alex and Paul Mitchek grew up on a farm near Kit Carson, CO. During their senior year of high school, the brothers lost both of their parents to cancer. Determined to keep farming together, they began implementing regenerative practices and launched a cattle company. In addition to farming, Alex is earning an agronomy business degree and Paul purchased, remodeled, and reopened a cafe and motel in town.

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Meet the Mitcheks

Kit Carson is a community of around 250 people in the High Plains of eastern Colorado. “There were nine kids in our graduating class, and we were two of them,” Alex said. 

Just after senior year started, in September 2022, the brothers lost their mother, Maria, to cancer. Then, in January, they lost their father, Ervin, to the same disease. Ervin had been in the hospital since summer. When Maria’s cancer progressed, the couple was moved into hospice together, about 20 minutes from home.

“We could go over and visit them whenever, and the community stepped up a lot. It was really nice. We got a lot of nice text messages. Heck, Paul and I probably had seven lasagnas in the freezer,” Alex said. Neighbors also offered to help with anything the brothers needed on the farm.

Once they were able to regroup and think about their future, Alex and Paul made a decision: they were going to keep the farm going, and they were going to do it together. And although they learned countless lessons about farming from their father, they agreed they weren’t going to just keep doing things because that’s the way they had always been done.

“We’re minimum till and no-till in certain spots. My dad was a big, ‘put the sweep in the ground and go’ kind of guy,” Paul said. “It was just wheat – fallow – wheat – fallow, and they’d one-way everything. They must have gotten twice the amount of rain we get today because I can’t even imagine working the ground that hard and still growing the crops they did.”

Forging a Future Together

The brothers still grow wheat, but have added corn, milo, and proso millet to the mix, along with sorghum, sudangrass, and rye for cattle feed. “We had a really cool project this year. We planted milo into growing rye — the whole ‘plant green’ movement — and it’s really good milo.”

They also planted a multi-species cover crop into their wheat stubble to increase organic matter and improve infiltration. “I think diversity is a big, big deal out here,” Paul said. “Our farm is one big experiment. We have so many different things going on.”

The brothers have added cattle to their operation, raising Charolais, black and red Angus, and Speckle Park. When trying to come up with a name for their new endeavor, Alex said he was playing around with their initials, A.M. and P.M. “It just clicked, and I chose Day-Nite Cattle Company. I think it has a good ring to it, and we use our dad’s brand, which is from the 1940s,” he said.

Paul has also invested in the Kit Carson community. Ervin had set his sights on buying the closed motel and adjacent cafe in town, but wasn’t able to complete his plans. Paul picked up where his dad left off and bought them himself. After extensive renovations, both are now open. He said the cafe gives locals a place to enjoy a meal and catch up with each other, and it has attracted visitors from across the state.

Looking Ahead

Paul and his wife, Faith, are expecting their first child later this year and he said he’s looking forward to instilling the lessons he learned growing up on the farm. “We want to teach our kids that you have to work hard to get things you want, and you improve yourself when you do that,” he said.

Alex is earning an agronomy business degree from Fort Hays State University in Kansas, about 3 hours from the farm. He comes home to work whenever he can. Paul regularly attends no-till conferences and other industry events to learn about the latest practices. “That’s my college,” he said.

After graduation in fall 2027, Alex plans to return to the farm full-time. “I love my brother even though we don’t say it, and I’m really excited to be teamed up full time,” he said. “There’s nothing better when we both leave the house in the morning and he’s out spraying and I’m out planting. I can’t explain it, the feeling of gratitude. It’s great when your business partner is your twin brother.”

Episode Highlights

• While seniors in high school, the Mitchek brothers lost both parents to cancer. They are continuing the family farm near Kit Carson, Colorado.
• Their main crop is wheat, but they also grow corn, milo, and proso millet, along with sorghum, sudangrass, and rye for cattle feed.
• They planted milo into standing rye this year and seeded a multi-species cover crop mix into wheat stubble after harvest.
• Alex has added 20 Speckle Park calves to their herd of Charolais and black and red Angus cattle.
• Paul purchased, remodeled, and reopened Kit Carson’s closed cafe and motel, attracting visitors from across the state and giving locals a place to congregate.
• Alex expects to graduate from Fort Hays State University in Kansas in fall 2027 with a degree in agronomy business, a certificate in animal science, and AI certification.
• Paul learns about new practices by attending multiple conferences and industry meetings throughout the year.

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