Rural Resilience: Opportunities and challenges facing rural Kansans is the focus of the 2018 Kansas Farmers Union state convention to be held November 29-30 at the Prairie Band Resort, Mayetta. In addition to building resilient communities, conference sessions will focus on economic opportunities with food systems development, alternative financing for food and ag projects, healthcare, [...]
By Tom Parker Like many farmers, Rod Flaman spends a fair amount of time thinking while sitting in his combine. Recently, hemp harvest had just begun, and he wondered if it would be on the upslope or the downslope of the seesaw trajectory that defined his experiences with growing industrial hemp since it [...]
The opportunity to grow a new specialty oilseed crop in Kansas offers potential for diversification for Kansas farmers looking for an alternative crop, or for new farming enterprises interested in cultivating industrial hemp. In a series of meetings across the state, Canadian farmer Rod Flaman will share how the Canadian hemp market has evolved and [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
By Tom Parker When Jason Schmidt returned to his family farm to take over from his parents, he was experienced in sustainable and regenerative agricultural systems from South Africa to Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas, and filled with an unwavering optimism that the knowledge and ideas he espoused would transform their conventional dairy operation [...]
By Tom Parker Sarah Green wanted to discuss semantics. And bridges.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 [...]
