Delegates to the 2018 State Convention adopted seven Special Orders of Business during policy debate. The orders address a wide range of concerns, from healthcare and mental health services to the rural economy and beginning farmer support. New orders include: On the rural economy, members connect grain surpluses from over-production and high crop yields [...]
KFU proudly honors the legacy of Ruth Hirsh through its award in her name which is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to agriculture and the efforts of the Farmers Union. Hirsh was a strong advocate for a viable education program in Farmers Union; not only for the children, [...]
By Tom Parker Helen Schnoes was on a return leg from western New York State when she stopped in Omaha, Neb., to meet supporters trying to develop a community food system similar to the framework of the Douglas County Food Policy Council, of which she was the Sustainability and Food Systems Planner. It was [...]
Photos by Tom Parker KFU State Convention was held November 29-30, 2018 at the Prairie Band Resort, Mayetta. Special guests for the two-day event were Roger Johnson, Marci Penner, Ron Wilson, & Dale Strickler. Our theme of Rural Resilience appeared many times as we discussed opportunities & challenges facing Kansans: [...]
By Tom Parker In February of 1979, thousands of disgruntled farmers flooded the streets of Washington D.C. with an estimated 900 tractors and hundreds of support vehicles. The uniquely American protest was organized by the American Agriculture Movement, whose members felt that government and industry leaders were out of touch with the needs of [...]
KFU proudly honors the legacy of Ruth Hirsh through its award in her name which is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to agriculture and the efforts of the Farmers Union. Hirsh was a strong advocate for a viable education program in Farmers Union; not only for the children, but also [...]
By Tom Parker As a member of the planning committee for the 2017 Kansas Farmers Union convention, she was instrumental in combining a diverse assortment of speakers, discussions and forums ranging from policy, personal narrative, history and art into a thematic whole, minus the thematic. “Your convention planning team is philosophically opposed to [...]
Before getting into the issues of drafting a new farm bill during tough economic times as Congress is expected to do next year, Bill Spiegel offered his guest panelists the opportunity to draw up their own personal list of things they would like to see included, sort of a Christmas wish list whispered into Santa’s [...]
By TOM PARKER What might have been a fairly routine update on agricultural legislation and the 2018 farm bill was overshadowed by the U.S. Senate’s promise to ramrod through a tax reform bill that would add an estimated $1.47 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, provide corporate America unprecedented tax cuts, and enrich [...]
By Tom Parker When Andi Blair first laid eyes on Comanche County in southwestern Kansas, it was nothing like she had expected. She was heading to Protection to take up a four-year teaching job, but instead of dust devils and tumbleweeds listlessly sauntering under a merciless August sky, the land was green and verdant [...]
