Good leaders serve. If you need a bit of guidance or motivation in your dealings with others, you may enjoy reading The Heart of a Leader: Insights on the Art of Influence by Ken Blanchard. This little book is packed with pithy quotes to help you learn how to be a leader who serves. Just to give you an example: People with humility don’t think … Continue reading The Heart of a Leader
Between 1929 and 1932, the net income of the average farm operator fell 69%. Prices for agricultural products were at their lowest since the 1890s. Wheat sold for only 25 cents per bushel. Much of this drop in prices was due to an agricultural surplus. Harvests had been bountiful before the drought hit, and a considerable amount of grassland had been converted to cropland to … Continue reading The Agricultural Adjustment Act in the Great Plains: Part 1
There are many reasons why Charles Jesse Jones could be an interesting person to read about. He grew up on the Illinois frontier when Abraham Lincoln was still a backwoods lawyer. He became a pioneer, a cowboy, and a rancher, but still lived a remarkably clean life, never touching caffeine, let alone spirits. He was a founding member of Garden City, Kansas. He rubbed elbows … Continue reading Buffalo Jones
January is a great time to plan for a new year! Take some time to shape your philosophy and develop a farming or gardening approach. Plan a garden. Discover community-supported agriculture. Learn the pros and cons of gardening in Kansas. Study the farming practices of the Plains Indians. Define sustainable agriculture. Preserve Kansas heritage. Evaluate the interstate highway system. Find out how compost gardening works. … Continue reading Get Ready for January 2017
Hard to believe that November is already just around the corner! Take some time on those chilly fall evenings to learn from nature and pull inspiration from innovative farmers and gardeners. And while you’re sitting at the table with family this Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks for the simple things. Learn lessons from the bison. Discover that you can farm. Eat your egg yolks. Explore … Continue reading Get Ready for November 2016
Now that we know what brix is and how to measure it, we’re ready to find ways to apply this knowledge. So what is an ideal brix level? Most plants show markedly improved vitality and pest resistance when their brix levels hit 12 degrees on a refractometer, although with care many can go far higher than that. Increasing Brix in Produce and Pasture Proponents … Continue reading Brix: How Do We Use It?
October is just around the corner! Are you ready to start a business, explore nature, and live by faith? Start and run your own small farm business. Find out how livestock are upgraded. Explore options for super-small-scale farms. Identify the wildflowers and grasses of Kansas. Love God with all your mind. Save money on seeds. See the stars. Understand the importance of the 100th meridian … Continue reading Get Ready for October 2016
Agripreneurship Young people continue to enter agriculture, according to the last USDA census. Most young farmers have limited capital to work with, and they frequently find outside financing difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. With land prices remaining high, they typically buy small properties when they first start out and purchase additional land as they save money. This paradigm leads naturally to the rise of … Continue reading The Changing Face of American Agriculture: Part 2
There’s a new farming technique on the Midwestern prairie. It’s innovative, it’s sustainable, but it’s also readily available to farmers of all stripes. This tool is the prairie strip, a strip of native prairie plants grown right in the middle of a grain field. Benefits The idea behind prairie strips is to create a buffer zone between the field and the land downhill, holding … Continue reading Prairie Strips in Field Crops
Imagine starting out in western Kansas as a young farmer in the year 1929. The economy is booming, the first crop of wheat is ripening beautifully, and prosperity is just within reach. Then the wind begins to blow. Farming the Dust Bowl: A First-Hand Account From Kansas by Lawrence Svobida is the narrative of a young farmer grappling with dust and drought on a Meade … Continue reading Farming the Dust Bowl
