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General Contact:
Mary Fund, Communications Director, 785-873-3431,
ksrc@rainbowtel.net
NEWS
RELEASE - April 19, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More information, contact
Mary Fund, KRC,
ksrc@rainbowtel.net,
(785) 873-3431
or Cole Cottin,
colecottin@gmail.com, 785-842-4665
KDA Food Regulations Run into Farmer Resistance
Whiting, Ks. - Earlier this
year, the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) proposed a series
of four regulations impacting food businesses and food sales. The
first three proposed regulations received little resistance, but
the fourth generated a flood of calls and letters from concerned
farmers market managers, farmers, food businesses, and consumers
across the state. That regulation (K.A.R. 4-28-35) would adopt
requirements for exempt food sold directly to the end consumer; in
other words, direct sales to consumers from farmers market type
settings.
“The flood of concerns has moved KDA to announce that it will
table the fourth regulation (K.A.R. 4-28-35) in order to fully
address the public comments received,” stated Cole Cottin Local
Food Field Coordinator for Kansas Rural Center. “KRC received a
lot of phone calls and e-mails on this issue, and we are pleased
with KDA’s response to the public’s concerns.”
KDA’s scheduled public hearing for all four of the proposed
regulations will go on as planned on April 23, but they have
stated they will not pass the fourth regulation at this time, as
they anticipate proposing a revised version of it in the near
future.
But why all the worry? K.A.R. 4-28-35 proposed to “clarify what
foods could be sold by exempt food establishments directly to the
end consumer at farmer market type settings.” What foods are
those? The proposal states, “Exempt foods may include: cookies,
breads, cakes, cinnamon rolls, and fruit pies; cereals and
granola; popcorn and popcorn balls; cotton candy; roasted coffee
beans; candy; whole fresh or dried fruits and vegetables; herbs;
nuts; honey; dried mixes from a licensed processor that are
repackaged; jams, jellies, and fruit butters; and bottled flavored
vinegars.” That list includes many but not all types of food that
farmers and food businesses currently sell to end consumers across
Kansas. But that is not where the concern lies.
According to several farmers’ market vendors, it is K.A.R.
4-28-35’s attempted governance of how those exempt foods should be
sold that has generated the most resistance. The draft regulation
reads: “Exempt food shall be sold only in a package or wrapping
that protects the food from contamination and shall not be sold
from a bulk container. Each package or wrapped item of exempt food
shall be labeled with the following information in a color that
contrasts the background and in at least eight-point font…”
Upon reading this language, Lawrence produce and grain farmer,
Jill Elmers, threw her hands into the air and declared, “Well,
that would be the end of my career selling at farmers markets!”
Farmers and food entrepreneurs are concerned about more than the
logistical challenges of marketing 100% packaged and labeled foods
to the end consumer. Tamara Werth, a baker from Lawrence,
submitted the following laundry list of negative impacts K.A.R.
4-28-35 could have: “increased environmental waste, increased
expense to vendors, increased cost to consumers, hindrance of
small businesses development, damaged product quality, compromised
spirit of farmers markets…”
Werth adds that the proposed requirement for un-licensed food
vendors to display a sign reading “the home kitchen or facility
where the exempt food is prepared is not subject to routine
inspection by the Kansas Department of Agriculture,” is fear
based. She sees no evidence of food safety risks posed by
unpackaged foods sold at market.
Did the proposed regulations really intend to transform “farmer
market type settings” across Kansas into seas of plastic or other
labeled packaging, covering everything from tomatoes and basil to
cotton candy and local chestnuts? Did KDA envision an end to
vendors’ cascades of abundant zucchini, onions, potatoes, or other
items typically sold from bulk bins?
“No,” commented Rick Scheufler, a KDA staff attorney interviewed
for this article. “It was never the intent for KDA to require the
bagging of every sweet potato or squash.” Scheufler conceded that
the deluge of public comments revealed a flaw in either the
drafting of the regulation or in the method of disseminating
information to the people this proposal would effect, or both.
“That is why we will not move forward with adopting 4-28-35.”
KDA invites the public to submit written comment on the proposed
regulations prior to the public hearing, scheduled for April 23,
2013, 1:30 p.m, at the Department of Agriculture. Public comment
will be accepted for all four proposals. K.A.R. 4-28-6, 4-28-33,
and 4-28-34, would adopt risk levels, fees, and other requirements
for licensed food establishments and define food businesses exempt
from licensure. But the fourth proposal, K.A.R. 4-28-35, will not
be passed at this time. KDA anticipates proposing a revised
version of it in the near future.
Proposed regulations may be found at
http://www.ksda.gov/statutes/id/249. Written comments on the
proposed regulations may be directed to the Secretary of
Agriculture, 109 S.W. 9th, 4th Floor, Topeka, 66612, or by e-mail
at leslie.garner@kda.ks.gov
 pdf version of this
News Release
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NEWS
RELEASE - April 19, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More information, contact
Mary Fund, KRC, at (785) 873-3431
Mom, Apple Pie and
Conservation: Women’s Only Conservation Tour Set for May 15 in NE
Ks.
Whiting, Ks.- A Women’s Only
conservation tour, “Mom, Apple Pie and Conservation”, will be held
Wednesday, May 15, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. covering conservation
practices on farms in southwest Brown, southeast Nemaha and
northern Jackson counties. The bus tour will include morning and
afternoon stops to view conservation practices at several farms
plus lunch and a short program at the Red Rock Guest Ranch near
Soldier, Ks.
The bus tour and free lunch are sponsored by the Brown, Nemaha and
Jackson County Conservation Districts and the Delaware WRAPS, and
the Kansas Rural Center (KRC) for women in the area. Registration
will begin at 8:30 a.m. on May 15 at the Glacial Hills Enterprise
Center at the corner of Kansas and Second Street in Wetmore, Ks.
The bus will return to Wetmore by 3:30 p.m.
“We are doing a series of these tours/learning circle workshops to
reach women who might be landowners, or maybe even are farm wives
and daughters, but who have not had as much direct involvement in
the farm management as they would like,” stated Mary Fund, KRC
project coordinator. “Statistics show that women often end up the
landowners or heirs to farmland, but lack the knowledge of farming
practices and conservation programs to make good management
decisions or work with tenants and other heirs. Research has also
shown that women feel more comfortable asking questions around
other women. We hope this tour and others like it will provide a
comfortable setting for women to share information, ask questions
and pick up practical pointers for managing their farms.”
Women conservation professionals from the Brown, Jackson, and
Nemaha Conservation Districts, along with staff from the Kansas
Rural Center and Delaware WRAPS, will be on hand to provide
information and answer questions on conservation programs and
management practices. Presenters on hand will include Marlene
Bosworth, Delaware WRAPS; Roberta Spencer, Jackson County
Conservation District; Holly Wilkens, Pheasants Forever; Anna
Fredericks, Nemaha County Conservation District, Lisa French,
Cheney Lake Watershed; and Mary Fund, KRC. There will also be a
roundtable discussion about conservation and management challenges
and questions, and to identify other information and resource
needs.
Conservation practices on the tour include a riparian forest
buffer, alternative livestock watering system, an intensive
grazing system, grassland management, cover crops in cropland, a
solar powered livestock watering system, and a stream bank
stabilization project. Restroom stops will be available along the
way. Lunch and a brief program will be held at the Red Rock Guest
Ranch near Soldier, KS.
The bus tour and lunch are free to participants who pre-register
by May 9, 2013. For more information, and to pre-register, contact
Mary Fund or Diane Dysart at the Kansas Rural Center at
785-873-3431, or
ksrc@rainbowtel.net or
ddysart@rainbowtel.net.
pdf version of this
News Release
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NEWS
RELEASE - March 25, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More information, contact
Mary Fund, KRC, at (785) 873-3431
KRC Encourages Public
Vigilance as Corporate Farm Debate Continues
Whiting, Ks- “Nothing less than
who will own and control the state’s natural resources and who
will have a say in our local communities was at stake in last
week’s pitched debate over repealing the state’s corporate farm
law,” stated Mary Fund, Kansas Rural Center (KRC) Policy and
Program Director. “The Legislature did the right thing to table
the bills and recommend an interim study and judicial review. This
action effectively slows corporate investment in Kansas
agriculture and farmland, and continues the policy allowing Kansas
residents a voice in what kind of operations locate in their
communities.”
“The current law offers counties an option to allow or reject
corporate swine and dairy operations. The proposed bills would
have taken away that remaining vestige of local control over mega
swine or dairy operations in rural communities,” stated Fund. “Now
we can have a full, transparent discussion of the issues, but that
will require vigilance on the part of citizens to ensure their
concerns are heard.”
“Supporters claimed this will help rural communities and offer
young people a rural alternative,” Fund continued. “ But we argue
that these changes would grease the wheels for more of the same
concentration of farms and outflow of revenues away from rural
communities that we have seen for years, as well as remove the
hard won right for local control.”
KRC also points to several other bills now before the Legislature
that remove “barriers” to animal agriculture, but do so, they
claim, at potential risk to water and air quality and to a
neighbor’s right (farm or
non-farm) to protest new facilities.
“Let’s not kid ourselves about who would really benefit from the
changes,”
Fund stated. “ It will be large animal agriculture corporations
who come in with contract production opportunities that offer
limited benefits to a few producers, and it will be the outside
investors who take their profits out of state—while externalizing
the costs of any problems like air or water contamination. It will
also be the outside non-farm investors who buy farmland—removing
it from the market for local new or beginning farmers.”
Fund acknowledges that the high costs of farmland and of doing
business present challenges to new and old farmers alike,
regardless of whether or not there is a corporate farm law in
place. Entering farming or maintaining an existing farm for future
generations is hard regardless of farm size or type of enterprise.
However, the “new markets” being promised are highly concentrated
among a few corporations, who call the shots for the
producers—whether there are corporate restrictions in place or
not. The difference Fund says will be how capital enters the
state, and who benefits from it, and who ends up owning Kansas
farmland.
“What the state and agribusiness interests tried to do was open
the doors to ensure that larger farms can find buyers so they can
sell their operations, or get even larger with outside investors,
and that corporate interests or investors can invest in contract
production of swine, dairy and poultry,” Fund stated. “ We are
promised jobs and opportunities, but this is the same old song,
same old story.”
The Kansas Rural Center is a non-profit organization that since
1979 has promoted the long term health of the land and its people
through research, education and advocacy that advances
economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just food
and farming systems.
pdf version of this
News Release
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NEWS
RELEASE - March 15, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More information, contact
Mary Fund, KRC, at (785) 873-3431
Pasture and Range Evaluation and Recovery
Planning Workshops Set for April
Whiting, Ks.- Cattlemen across
much of Kansas are in a quandary. As grass managers, they are
asking themselves how many cattle will their ranges and pastures
support after twenty to thirty months of drought. What steps can
be taken to protect the grazing resources while maintaining enough
cattle numbers to be financially viable? Will we get enough runoff
to fill the ponds?
The Kansas Rural Center (KRC) and USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) have teamed up to lead producers on
four “pasture walks” during the first week of April to help
graziers evaluate the impacts drought has had on pasture
conditions and to plan grazing strategies for the coming season.
Each session will begin at 1:30 PM and will last 2 to 3 hours. A
NRCS rangeland management specialist will lead the sessions. The
schedule of the pasture walk events is:
-
April 1—Pottawatomie County
with Dennis Schwant as host, located from Blaine, Ks. 2.8 miles
east on Hwy 16 and 1.8 miles south on Clear Creek Road with Tim
Miller as session leader.
click the icon for
the event flyer
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April 2—Reno County with
Norman and Cindy Roth as hosts at intersection of Hwy 50 and Avery
Road one mile north of Plevna with Dusty Tacha as session leader.
click the icon for
the event flyer
-
April 3—McPherson County
with Roger Koehn as host at 22nd Ave and Smokey Valley Road (4.5
miles east of I-135 at exit 72) with Doug Spencer as session
leader.
click the icon for
the event flyer
-
April 4—Coffey County
with David and Jan Kraft as hosts at their ranch 2 miles west of
Gridley with David as the session leader.
click the icon for
the event flyer
Evaluation of plant composition
and vigor will be a focus of each session along with soil moisture
conditions as a basis for planning grazing strategies through the
2013 growing season. Alternate forages and condition of livestock
water supplies will also be discussed.
As NRCS State Rangeland Management Specialist, David Kraft
emphasizes to producers that “the beginning of the growing season
in early April is one of the critical dates to make stocking
adjustments that will maintain or improve your native pastures
during the ongoing stress of drought conditions.” He advises that
participants should be prepared to be in the field for hands-on
exercises.
For additional information contact Dale Kirkham at 620/344-0202
(email dalekirkham@msn.com)
or the KRC website (www.kansasruralcenter.org), or the KRC office
at 785-873-3431.
pdf version of this
News Release
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- ANNOUNCEMENTS -
###
Classes Offered at the Flint Hills
Sustainability Center
The Flint Hills Sustainability Center is
offering a variety of classes of interest through the Flint Hills Technical
College Community Connections catalog this Spring. Examples include:
Lighting Technologies, My Green Baby: Cloth Diapers, Do It Yourself (Mostly)
Bike Repair, Rain Barrel Workshop, Knitting for Beginners and Refreshers,
Knitting: Simple Projects, Intro to Home Cheesemaking, Wild Edibles Trek,
Solar Cooking, Beekeeping for Beginners, Organic Gardening, Jams and Jellies
for Beginners, Harvest Preservation Introduction, Harvest Preservation
Party, and Building Technology for Energy Efficient Homes. For more
information, and to enroll please visit
http://flinthills.augusoft.net/
or call 620-341-1392.
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Tire Tank for
Livestock Watering Installation Guide Available
Interest in alternative livestock
watering options is high around the state. In response, KRC, KSU and several
WRAPS watersheds have sponsored tire tank installation demonstration
workshops. The tank installations provide cleaner water for livestock and
give ponds a longer life, and help protect water quality in area streams and
reservoirs.
KRC field staff Lyle Kohlmeier has
developed an “Illustrated Guide to Tire Tank Installation” based on
KSU Watershed Specialist's Herschel George’s guidelines. The Guide is now
online here.
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Douglas County Food System
Report Released
The Douglas County Food Policy Council, in collaboration with
re-searchers at Kansas State University, have released an analysis
of the food systems of Douglas, Jefferson, and Leavenworth
counties in Kansas. The report, “Building a Deep-Rooted Local Food
System”, identifies the benefits, challenges, and opportunities
for creating a sustainable local food system in our region.
Dr. Rhonda Janke and her team at KSU researched current
agricultural production, spending habits of regional consumers,
key health indicators, food access issues for low income community
members and the economic impact of agriculture on the region. “The
most striking findings,” according to Janke, “were the significant
gaps that exist between what we currently produce in this region
today (primarily corn, soybeans and beef) and the other staple
food groups our community members eat (eggs, fruits, vegetables,
other proteins).” The acres in fruit and vegetables in the region
account for only 0.1% of total agricultural production.
Other key findings in the study were that processing
infrastructure is a key missing ingredient in the region’s local
food economy. The lack of food infrastructure enterprises: cold
storage, light processing, packaging and small meat processing
plants make it difficult for schools and restaurants to
participate in the local food economy. Also food access for the
low-income community members is an issue. Over 10,000 residents in
the tri-county area live in neighborhoods defined by USDA as “food
deserts”, where they lack access to healthy food options.
The Executive Summary and the full report can be found online at
http://douglas-county.com/depts/ad/su/su_fpc.aspx?category_id=
or at the KRC website.
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Loans available for Non-Organic Hoop Houses
If organic production is not the strategy that
you want to pursue for your farming operation, as is required by
the USDA NRCS EQIP Organic Initiative, the Kansas Department of
Commerce’s Agriculture Value Added Loan program is an
excellent resource for expanding your operation. For those
interested in greenhouses or hoop houses to extend their
production season, the Value Added loan is available. This loan
charges no interest for the first two years and then the rate is
locked in at 1 percent over the prime rate for the remainder of
the loan. There is no penalty for early payment. If you would like
more information about the loan program, contact Mari Tucker at
(785) 296-6080 or
mtucker@kansascommerce.com
Agriculture
Value Added Loan program flyer
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New Book on Crop Rotation on Organic
Farms
"Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual" helps farmers use
rotations to build better soil; control pests, weeds and diseases; and
develop profitable farms. Consulting with expert organic farmers, the
authors share rotation strategies that can be applied under various field
conditions and with a wide range of crops.
"The purpose of this book is to help
growers and farm advisors use crop rotations to build better soil, control
pests, and develop profitable farms that support satisfied families," says
editor Charles Mohler, a senior research associate at Cornell University.
"Crop Rotation on Organic Farms" is most
applicable for the Northeast but will also be useful in other regions.
Published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service (NRAES)
and funded in part by SARE, the 154-page book includes instructions for
making rotation planning maps and discusses the transition to organic
farming.
Other features include:
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Problems and opportunities for more than
500 crop sequences
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Characteristics of more than 60 crops and
70 weeds
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Crop diseases hosted by more than 80 weed
species
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Modes of transmission for 250 diseases
found in 24 crops
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Thirteen sample four- and five-year
vegetable and grain crop rotations
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Step-by-step procedure for determining
crop rotation plans
Download Crop Rotation on Organic Farms
for free at
www.sare.org/publications/croprotation.htm. To order print copies
($24.00 plus $5.95 s/h) visit
www.sare.org/WebStore call 301/374-9696 or send check or money order to
SARE Outreach, PO Box 753, Waldorf, Maryland 20604-0753. (Please specify
title requested when ordering by mail.) Discounts are available on orders of
10 or more. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more
information on bulk, rush or international shipments.
The Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education (SARE) program is supported by the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA) USDA. SARE's mission is to advance - to the
whole of American agriculture - innovations that improve profitability,
stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and
education. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the
University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and
disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. Visit
www.sare.org for more information.
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