Rural Papers

The Kansas Rural Center publishes a newsletter, Rural Papers, five to six times a year. Contributors to the Kansas Rural Center receive the newsletter at no cost. Subscriptions are available for $25/year.

PDF versions of every issue of Rural Papers since
Oct. 2006 may be downloaded here, and you may also read highlights from the most recent issue.

The newsletter offers practical information on sustainable agricultural practices and profiles of Kansas farmers. It includes timely coverage of farm policy and environmental issues from a state and a national perspective. The newsletter also offers analysis and commentary on developments in industrial agriculture, such as biotechnology and genetic engineering, corporate concentration, and factory livestock production. The editor is Mary Fund.   For a complimentary copy or a subscription, contact the Kansas Rural Center at: 785/873-3431 or email ksrc@rainbowtel.net.

Working for Clean Water and Thriving Farms:
Profiles of Farms in the Clean Water Farms Project
Edited by Mary Fund

This report was produced in February 2002 and highlights the efforts of Kansas farmers and ranchers to protect water quality.  The 120 page full color book features 25 of the 36 farmers and ranchers conducting on-farm demonstrations in the Kansas Rural Center "Clean Water Farms Project".  The profiles offer good models or examples of low-cost, management based options for on-farm water quality protection.   A hard copy of the complete report is available for $12.00.  To obtain a copy, call the Kansas Rural Center at 785/873-3431 or email ksrc@rainbowtel.net.

You may download black & white versions of the farmer and rancher profiles from the report in pdf format here.  Profiles of current participants in the program are on that web page also.

Terry Gompert, of Knox County, Nebraska was the featured presenter at the 2009 Kansas Graziers Association Winter Conference in Assaria, Kansas on January 17. In addition to maintaining his own herd of grass-fed beef, Gompert is a Certified Educator for Holistic Management and a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Educator.

Ideas That Make Money for Livestock Producers (2.5  meg pdf file)

Integrating Livestock and Crops (7  meg pdf file)

Ideas I have learned from producers (8  meg pdf file)

The Functional Cow (4.5 meg pdf file)

What the Future Holds for Graziers (323K pdf file)

Sustainable Agriculture Management Guides

The Kansas Rural Center has published a series of Management Guides on a variety of topics. They are listed below. 
All can be downloaded in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).  Most have a very modest file size, but some are larger and may take a little time to download on a slow connection.

Top of page

Click the icon for the podcast of KRC's Dan Nagengast
and Katherine Kelly of the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture
discussing the importance of Farmers' Markets and Community Supported Agriculture.
Original interview by Daniel Dermitzel broadcast September 29, 2008
on KKFI radio in Kansas City.

 NOTE: This is a 5 meg MP3 file.

Cheney Lake Water Quality Project

This free booklet describes on-farm demonstrations and protective farming practices adopted by farmers in the watersheds above Cheney Reservoir, a water supply for the City of Wichita, Kansas.  To obtain a copy, call the Kansas Rural Center at 785/873-3431 or email at ksrc@rainbowtel.net.

Other Titles

• PowerPoint presentation of Rhonda Janke at May 31, 2008 conference on
  "The Future of Food in the Kansas River Valley" in Lawrence, Ks. 3.1 meg pdf file
   

• PowerPoint presentation of Scott Allegrucci at May 31, 2008 conference on
  "The Future of Food in the Kansas River Valley" in Lawrence, KS. 5.7 meg pdf file
   
• Presentation outline of Ken Meter at May 31, 2008 conference on
  "The Future of Food in the Kansas River Valley" in Lawrence, Ks. (160K)
  For Ken Meter's complete PowerPoint presentation, please click the icon,
  but beware, the file size is 17.4 megs.  Even on a DSL or cable connection, this can take awhile to download.  For best results, right-click the link (on a PC, or Command+Click on a Mac) and choose the "save as" option to download a copy to your hard drive.
   
• Comments of KRC, the Eastern Kansas Chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association, and the Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering re: Ventria's proposal to grow pharmaceutical rice in Kansas
  - (81K)
   
• River Friendly Farm Environmental Assessment Tool
  - (749K)
   

• Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group 2004 Membership Directory

- (96K pdf file)

• Starting a Seasonal Open-Air Market in Kansas
  Written by Claire Homitzky and edited by Jana Beckman
  
  This publication provides practical information on how to organize a farmers' market. It starts by helping you identify vendors and concludes with a listing of resources. (678K pdf file)
   

• Kansas Country Living Guidelines
  Written by Marilyn Eccles, Ann Mayo, Brian Rees and Mary Fund. Edited by Paul Ingle.
  
  - (845K pdf file) This informative booklet, to which the Rural Center contributed, is written for urban dwellers contemplating a move to the country.  It presents the differences one can expect in everything from roads and floodplain zoning to wildlife and utilities.
   

• Renewable Energy Quiz (short version)
  Just the basics, handout format (410K pdf file)
   

• Renewable Energy Quiz Background Info
  Includes references and more extensive text (145K pdf file)
   

• August 2007 Farm Tour
  By Jerry Jost.
  
    This is a photo essay with commentary on the Northeast Kansas Bus Tour of Value-Added Enterprises that the Kansas Rural Center hosted on August 23, 2007. 383K pdf file.
   

• Washington County Farm Tour
  by Connie Pantle

  This is a photo essay with commentary on the Farm Tour of the Scheer and Zarybnicky Farms in Washington County on August 23, 2007. 1.1 meg pdf file.

• August 2006 Farm Tour
  By Jerry Jost.
  
    This is a photo essay with commentary on the Northeast Kansas Bus Tour of Value-Added Enterprises that the Kansas Rural Center hosted on August 30, 2006.
   
  (NOTE: this is a 4.2 meg pdf file and will take a long time to download on a slow internet connection)
   

• Subscribing to Change - Starting and Sustaining a Vegetable Subscription Service
  by Jerry Jost

    This is the story of what may be the nation's first major Community Supported Agriculture cooperative, The Rolling Prairie Farmers Alliance.
   
  (NOTE: this is an 8.7 meg pdf file and will take a long time to  download on a slow internet connection)
   

• Oren Long Farm Tour
  by Jerry Jost

  This is a virtual farm tour, documenting the visit to Oren Long's farm near Valley Falls, Kansas that the Kansas Rural Center hosted on October 5, 2006. 1.9 meg pdf file.

Kansas Rural Center Links

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