Kansas Farm Bureau

The capstone session of Leadership KFB in Washington, D.C., was the culmination of our year spent across the state developing our leadership skills and agricultural understanding by learning from producers and other leaders working in and with agriculture. With the Senate Ag Committee vote on the latest draft of the farm bill happening during our time in the city, the Hill was abuzz with folks doing exactly what Leadership KFB aimed to teach us.

Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) is supporting water rights holders in Groundwater Management District (GMD) 4 and backs efforts by Clayton and Lori Janicke and Conrad and Pamela Popp to intervene in the Local Enhanced Management Area (LEMA) 5-year review in Groundwater Management District 4. “First in time, first in right has been the law of the land since the Kansas Water Appropriation Act was signed into law.

Kansas Farm Bureau has named Crystal Bashford of Morton County and Dalton Black of Harvey and Marion counties as the 2026 recipients of the Rural Minds Matter (RMM) Advocate of the Year awards. This is the third year of the program, which was established to recognize Kansans who demonstrate outstanding leadership, compassion and commitment to improving mental health awareness and support in rural communities.

Fall harvest continues into another month on our farm. All of the dryland and irrigated corn and popcorn have been picked and either binned or delivered to the local elevator. We’ve also fenced off and opened up the corn field bordering our pasture ground to allow the cattle to graze on the stalks this fall following a hot and dry summer that has definitely impacted the availability of good grass and ample natural water sources.

A few weeks ago, I headed to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson with a group of Collegiate Farm Bureau students. We took in the 4-H and FFA projects, watched livestock showmanship in the ring and, of course, made our way through the birthing barn. The birthing barn is one of my favorite stops — not because there is anything particularly novel about a calf being born, but because I love watching the faces of people who aren’t involved in agriculture as they see those little hooves start to appear.

Sept. 21 through 25 is National Farm Safety and Health Week. To help honor this, I thought I’d share a true experience that happened to me a few years ago. I was fortunate that day, and the experience was a good reminder that there’s no such thing as being too careful around farm equipment. They called me to say it was my turn to use a fertilizer spreader. It was supposed to rain the next day; the timing could not have been better.

A few things have been lost in the recent beef-industry beef over imports and the size of the domestic herd. Yes, the cattle herd is at a seven-decade low, but we’re producing about the same amount of beef as when the herd was its largest in 1975 and imports are vital for making the modern system work for everyone. Yes, recent drought conditions have certainly played a role in reducing the herd size, but the overall trend has been a smaller herd producing roughly the same amount of beef.

Saturday, Dec. 5 Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Ticket price is $60 Put on your cowboy boots and join us to support the Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) Foundation for Agriculture’s End Hunger Program. Our Night with the NFR will be an evening of fun, fellowship and fundraising efforts to End Hunger across the state.

The combines are rolling and the grain trucks are traveling the roads to get corn delivered to our local elevator. While we actually started picking corn in August, the hot summer days have continued into September. The thermometers have shown triple-digit temperatures for many consecutive days now. Add in the consistent Kansas wind and you have what feels like a blast furnace outside most days.

Seneca-based Ag Partners Cooperative, Inc. is hiring three operations specialists through Kansas Farm Bureau’s (KFB) award-winning Rural Kansas Apprenticeship Program (RKAP). The operations specialist apprentices will receive paid, hands-on training across Ag Partners’ grain and agronomy operations, including grain handling, scale procedures, fertilizer and anhydrous operations, equipment maintenance, customer service and safety. Apprentices will also work toward earning a Class A CDL.