It was five years ago on April 28 that I launched the Shop Kansas Farms (SKF) Facebook group after my wife told me the meat counter was empty at the grocery store, a result of supply chain interruptions due to COVID-19.
Recent pauses in government grant funding — which helps food banks buy food from local farmers — have left many growers facing tough challenges. Growers had purchased machinery and planted crops in anticipation of a profitable harvest; they had purchased equipment to help them process the crops such as freezers and cool storage; some had taken out loans on buildings and vehicles to distribute their products.
My wife, Christine, and I decided to take our grandchildren to farms in our area in 2017 after reading a report that more than 16 million Americans believed chocolate milk came from brown cows. Although neither one of us grew up on a farm, I worked for farmers and ranchers when I was in high school and her dad, Tom Wallace, managed the Circle E Feedlot.
As I watch farm and ranch groups in Kansas respond with aid to those impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton, I am reminded that farmers and ranchers have much to teach all of us about the value of community.
When I started writing about farmers and ranchers in 2015, I began to discover their hidden qualities that create value in quiet ways.
It is my opinion, after having traveled the world in providing food aid in disaster relief, that farmers and ranchers understand the purpose and value of creating a community.
I’ve been involved in providing hunger relief for domestic and international crises for more than 20 years, so I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of disaster relief.
Therefore, I have a few practical tips to give if you want to help the survivors of the hurricanes.
If you are compelled to give financially, here are questions to ask.
The Caldwell Market of Farms will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Caldwell Community Center, 119 E. First Ave.
In our ongoing effort to support rural communities, Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) and Shop Kansas Farms (SKF) sent Kylee Stout, KFB’s business development manager, to the National Rural Grocery Institute Summit in Montgomery, Ala. this summer.
Hosted by the Hunger Solutions Institute out of Auburn and the Rural Grocery Institute out of Kansas State University, the summit brought stakeholders from across the nation to showcase creative efforts to solve the challenge of rural grocery stores.
It’s common to see the entrance to a ranch with the cutout of a brand in an arch over the drive or mounted to posts along the side. If you drive into the ranch, you will most likely see that brand on saddles, cattle, coolers and barns. That brand is that ranch’s identity and legacy.
Farmers, ranchers and growers have many enemies. From the time they plant that seed in the ground until it is harvested, numerous perils come their way. One might be insects so small and hard to detect that a farmer can lose hundreds of acres of crops before they even see the pests. Another might be too much rain or insufficient rain at the right times. Yet another might be weeds like the pigweed, which has 500,000 to 700,000 seeds in each head and can grow so tall it keeps the regular crop from receiving sunshine.
My phone rang at 2 a.m., and the voice on the other end was desperate.
“Pastor,” the man groaned. “I’m going to end it all. I left the door unlocked. I want you to come take care of my remains.”
It was in the early 1990’s and, although he didn’t attend the church I served, when you’re the only minister in a town of 400 souls, everyone calls you in an emergency.