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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

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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.

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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.

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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

  • 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.

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- ANNOUNCEMENTS -

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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:

  • Problems and opportunities for more than 500 crop sequences

  • Characteristics of more than 60 crops and 70 weeds

  • Crop diseases hosted by more than 80 weed species

  • Modes of transmission for 250 diseases found in 24 crops

  • Thirteen sample four- and five-year vegetable and grain crop rotations

  • 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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