Project Overview
Annual Reports
Information Products
Commodities
- Agronomic: barley, canola, corn, cotton, millet, oats, rye, sorghum (milo), soybeans, sunflower, wheat, grass (misc. perennial), hay
- Animals: bovine
Practices
- Animal Production: grazing management, grazing - rotational, stocking rate, feed/forage
- Crop Production: crop rotation, continuous cropping, cover crops, double cropping, intercropping, multiple cropping, no-till, nutrient cycling, ridge tillage, tissue analysis, conservation tillage
- Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, focus group, mentoring, networking, workshop, youth education, technical assistance
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning
- Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, biodiversity, soil stabilization
- Pest Management: economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting
- Production Systems: holistic management
- Soil Management: earthworms, organic matter, soil analysis, nutrient mineralization, soil microbiology, soil chemistry, soil physics, soil quality/health
- Sustainable Communities: partnerships, public participation, analysis of personal/family life, social capital, social networks, sustainability measures
Proposal summary:
As a group project, we offer a brief description of the farming operations of 5 producers who are actively engaged in the implementation of sustainable agriculture practices and methods and who are active members of the South Central Kansas Residue Alliance (SCKRA). Additionally, we provide you with a brief overview of the Alliance area and some of the challenges that we face.
* Project Leader. Leon Sowers and wife Carmen farm 3,000 acres of cropland and run a 100 head cow/calf operation in Kingman County, KS near the community of Murdock, KS. Using a diverse crop rotation, they produce wheat, milo, soybeans, sesame, corn, and forage sorghum. In recent years, the use of cover crops has become an important component in the building of residue, conservation of and better utilization of moisture, increasing organic matter, and suppressing weeds with the goal of less chemical weed control. Leon and Carmen are avid proponents of no-till and have been 100% no-till since 1999. No-till has allowed for the production of summer crops that were rarely successful under tillage in the shallow soils found in many of their fields. Cheat and rye -- a growing problem before the implementation of rotations and no-till -- have been alleviated. The holistic systems approach that has been adopted on the Sowers farm will continue to build soil health, improve profits and allow for more time with family and friends, as well as other outside interests.
* Gene Albers. Chairman of the SCKRA, and wife Sharon, are active members of the Cunningham, KS community where they live. The Albers own and operate a total of 1320 acres; 720 acres being in crops and the remainder in range, pasture and wildlife habitat. They run a herd of 50 cow/calves which they now have on a May, June calving interval. The Albers raise crops consisting of wheat, milo, soybeans, forage sorghum and cover crops. They too have converted to a no-till systems approach after many years of moldboard plowing, which remains the primary "method" of preparing for the next crop in the Alliance area. Legumes of cowpeas, mung beans, along with sudangrass are being used as a summer cover crop, with radishes, winter peas, turnips, triticale, oats and barley being used as a winter cover crop. Gene and Sharon like the grazing option for some of their cover crops providing some diversity in the use of cover crops
* Jim Robb and wife Trish of the Danville, KS community in Harper County, KS own and operate 1120 acres, of which 890 acres is cultivated land. The balance is in range, pasture and wildlife habitat, areas serving as waterways to cropland fields along with riparian areas adjacent to Bluff Creek, a main watercourse through Harper County. Crops consisting of cotton, sunflowers, milo, wheat, soybeans and corn are grown. Double cropping and the use of cover crops are common practices on the Robb Farm The Robb Farm is listed as a "Century Farm" in the State of Kansas. All pasture and rangeland are currently being leased for recreational hunting and fishing. The Robbs have also been no-tilling since 2000 and have a current Conservation Stewardship Program contract on their land. The Robbs use a combination of approximately 15 custom operators. This results in a high level of advance technology plus an experienced operator. The "timeliness factor" has greatly increased their crop production and easily paid for whatever perceived extra cost may have been incurred.
* Jerry and Debbie Clasen and son Jake, of the rural Nickerson, KS community in Reno County, KS own and operate Clasen Farms Inc. Clasen Farms uses both strip-till and no-till on the 2,600 acres that they own and/or operate. A cropping system of dryland wheat, com, and milo along with irrigated crops of soybeans and alfalfa in rotation with wheat are grown. Son Jake manages the 320 acre pasture which is stocked with a cow/calf herd. Alfalfa hay is marketed locally to back-grounding lots, feedlots, and dairies out of state. The farm has a variety of soil types, from fine sands along the Arkansas River to heavy dark soils 13 miles west, making for some real challenges. Jerry has served on the local co-op board for 6 years, 16 years as a township trustee, currently serves on the Reno County Conservation District board and is also currently on the Reno County Wind Task Force board trying to bring wind development to Reno county. Jerry recently graduated from the Kansas Environmental leadership Program (KELP) through Kansas State University. Jerry and Debbie are also small business owners, owning a Steel Fabrication business for the past 18 years.
* Darren and Jill Hodgkinson and son Dalton, of rural Pratt County, KS own and operate a family farm made up of 1850 acres of cropland and 1500 acres of range and pastureland. Their farm is 100% no-till using a rotation of 2 years wheat, 2 years milo, and 1 year soybeans. Reasons for going no-till, according to Darren, were to stop wind and water erosion, build soil health, save labor, eliminate equipment, and the fact that it allows for more time with family. The Hodgkinson farm runs a 110 cow/calf operation using a rotational grazing system and the utilization of some of the crops (milo for stubble grazing and wheat for winter grazing) for the cattle. Darren has just started the use of cover crops in his rotation this past summer, using a cocktail mix of sudangrass and yellow sweet clover on wheat stubble, leading to a spring crop in 2011. Custom planting and harvesting of several hundred acres in nearby communities is a business that the Hodgkinsons offer as a way to supplement their farm income and help out in the community where they live.
South Central Kansas has long been known for its conventional farming practices: moldboard plowing, continuous wheat, fencerow to fencerow farming, 6-7 trips over each acre to prepare a seedbed, etc., it's old ideas such as tilling to cover up erosion, tilling to dry out the soil to plant, tilling a whole field to control only scattered weeds, or burning as a means to control weeds. These practices and ideas are deeply embedded in the minds of a majority of the producers in the 10 county Alliance area. We estimate that only 7 - 10% of the producers in the Alliance area have adopted some form of sustainable agricultural practices to their land. It is troubling to see such valuable and productive land being used and abused to the extent that we see in our region. The basis for decision-making seems to be driven and geared toward "habit" rather than a holistic approach to production agriculture that should take many other variables into consideration.
The brief descriptions of five members of the Alliance outlined above are just a sampling of what one could expect to find on a typical farm that has made changes to a sustainable agricultural system that is the focus of this project. Certainly other members of the Alliance could have brought forth other aspects of diversity in their operations and progressive thinking that drives them to do great things. The members of the SCKRA are committed to sharing the sustainable concepts that they are applying to their land with others. This will be done in hope that others may better understand the consequences of intensive tillage and change, instead of just tilling because "that is the way we have always done it all our life." The members of the South Central Kansas Residue Alliance have collectively identified what they believe to be a long-standing and major problem in this region of the Midwest and more specifically within the boundaries of the Alliance area. The problem is two-fold: 1) lack of understanding of agronomic principles and 2) lack of help in making the necessary changes to abate the continuing destruction.
THE PROBLEM: If the conventional farming practices and the age-old mentality that “this is the only thing that will work in this part of the country” is not stopped, then we must be willing to shut our eyes and let the destruction of some of our greatest assets, those being the most productive soils and cleanest waters known to man, continue to be depleted beyond what is reclaimable. It is heartbreaking to see the good people of this region; unconsciously, continue to apply century old practices because they do not understand that there are proven and sound sustainable practices and ideas that will work for them if they would only open their eyes and minds to what is happening in regards to the degradation of our land, environment and the communities in which we live today. We’re hopeful that in the “description” section of this proposal that we gave you a snapshot of what we believe to be the current situation in-regards to the conventional practices, old ideas, and attitudes mentioned here. In the past, all members of the Alliance have used some form of conventional farming practices and methods themselves. However; in the not so distant past they “came to their senses,” realizing the damage that was being caused and how important it was that a different and better way be found. This “finding a different and better way” has resulted in the adoption of new and innovative practices, and techniques that reduce erosion and conserve water. The Alliance is a group of producers who are committed to helping those who are reluctant to adopt new practices, methods, and techniques that are working for us today. We believe this “helping others” to be a part of the solution to the problem as we have identified it and we are ready, willing, and able to begin today.
THE SOLUTION: We believe that as SCKRA members we must serve as “A Vehicle for Change” using the following strategies: 1) develop a professionally created video of producer success stories that will be distributed throughout the region, 2) create an Alliance website for the dissemination of information related to the current and changing issues in sustainable agriculture today, 3) provide workshops, field days, coffee shop meetings, farm tours, and other venues for gathering, and 4) use a creative and innovative “Framework for Change” model which will help in the struggle to break away from old ideas and practices and help others to begin to adopt proven sustainable agriculture practices and techniques which will ultimately abate the problem. Some of the sustainable agriculture practices and techniques that will be recommended in addressing the problem are: soil quality improvement, cover crops, pest management, soil erosion control, water quality improvement, nutrient management, beneficial insects, wildlife preservation, crop/landscape diversity, proactive weed control (e.g. crop rotations) and a holistic/systems approach to name a few. A copy of the “Framework for Change” model that will be used, along with the Plan of Work and Action Plan that accompanies the model are available upon request.
Project objectives from proposal:
We believe that as SCKRA members we must serve as “A Vehicle for Change” using the following strategies:
1) develop a professionally created video of producer success stories that will be distributed throughout the region,
2) create an Alliance website for the dissemination of information related to the current and changing issues in sustainable agriculture today,
3) provide workshops, field days, coffee shop meetings, farm tours, and other venues for gathering, and
4) use a creative and innovative “Framework for Change” model which will help in the struggle to break away from old ideas and practices and help others to begin to adopt proven sustainable agriculture practices and techniques which will ultimately abate the problem.