Hello,

I’m delighted to introduce myself as the new Program Coordinator for the IVE Project, Sunflower Stories, and generally assisting KRC with other work too.

I’ll never forget calling Kansas Rural Center, about twenty-two years ago, while living in San Francisco, to ask about organic, sustainable agriculture in Kansas. It was learning of Cuba’s sustainable farming while earning a MA in International Relations that prompted me to pursue transitioning my parents’ 200-acre crop farm southwest of Topeka along Mission Creek, where I grew up on the back of a horse. Shortly thereafter, I moved back to KS and worked for The Land Institute when I attended my first KRC board meeting in Minneapolis Jan. 2001.

Since then, I have continually valued KRC as an irreplaceable resource for education, not only for my own personal farming endeavors but also for policy/political issues and civic engagement involving communities working together. By June 2001, I realized if I’m going to farm, I can’t live 100 miles away, so I moved in with my parents on the farm and completed KRC’s River Friendly Farm notebook. I received $3500 of EPA/KDA funds to implement an extended crop rotation with legume cover crops. This was my tool to transition to organic, prioritizing covered fields year-round, with an on-going emphasis on diversity. Ed Reznicek, organic farmer who worked for KRC at the time, came out and walked the farm, which helped convince my mother that there was help and other people doing it. Ed helped me with a rotation plan and by the time I was ready to apply for organic certification in ’04, I had been successfully recruited to proudly serve on the KRC board.

Coinciding with the vast knowledge I’ve gained from KRC conferences, workshops, farm tours, networks, etc., has been my educational experience working as Administrator since 2003, for the Eastern KS chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Ass. (OCIA Int.), a certifying agency. I’ve mostly assisted first-time applicants with the certification paperwork and connected them to the chapter’s solid group of farmers. My duties have also included organizing annual educational meetings with farm tours, conducting new farmer training and hosting the 30 Year Anniversary Celebration/Farm Tour for 40 attendees!

While living in California, I toured many different types of farms and worked with diverse cultures. I did volunteer work for the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) which involved planting garlic/beans for low- income housing residents and weeding the Cesar Chavez grade school raised beds. I’ve traveled to eight countries and lived in the Italian countryside for six months. These past adventures have helped shape my ability to work with a variety of audiences and create relationships. Many other experiences have afforded me dialogue with various interest groups and farmers outside regenerative agriculture circles. These include serving on the FSA County Committee since 2011, three lobbying trips to D.C., testifying at the KS State Capital and numerous conferences- KS Farmer’s Union, Women in Agriculture, Women for Kansas, Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth.

Renting out most of my farming operation, Mto-sa-qua Farm (named for Pottawatamie woman on 1868 deed), has freed up time and energy for me to work in other capacities for the long-term health of the land and its people. I am confident local and regional food systems can be made stronger to positively impact community health and resiliency. The idea of amplifying and sharing the stories of farmers to impact policy is very exciting to me!

With gratitude,

Jackie Keller

If you have ideas to share or questions, regarding her work, please reach out to jackie@kansasruralcenter.org