KRC celebrates board member Karen Willey. Karen Willey is a PhD scientist and 3rd District Douglas County Commissioner who manages a 115 acre farm in eastern Kansas raising grass-fed beef cattle while restoring native pasture. She also has experience in no-till crops, cover crops, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys and bees. As an entrepreneur, Karen has created and led a variety of successful businesses including an engineering and manufacturing business, Bluestem Machine Works, Inc., with her husband and business partner Scott Eudaly. Recently Karen and friend Brad Bradley have created FarmTender, a land-linking website seeking to connect regenerative farmers with eco-friendly landowners.

Kansas Rural Center staff share their accomplishments of 2023 and give insight into what they’re looking forward to next year.

The Kansas Rural Center’s mission is to promote the long-term health of the land and its people through research, education and advocacy that advance an economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just food and farming system. The three tools at the heart of KRC’s mission are research, education, and advocacy. Perhaps no piece of our work more perfectly ties those three tools together than the efforts of our Policy Analyst, Paul Johnson.

Enjoy this look back at the start of the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops. Kansas Rural Center has been a proud supporter of this from its inception and enjoys seeing Kerri Ebert’s continued work.

Ryan Goertzen-Regier discusses his recent urban ag tour in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Kansas Rural Center is excited to address that need and is happy to announce that enrollment is open for our very first “Farm Beginnings” training, which will run for eight weeks from January 15 – March 10.

Dr. Elizabeth E. Heilman, Ph.D discusses mental and physical strategies to thrive through the Winter months and beyond.

Learn about leaves with direction from Katie Schmidt. This article was orginally published in Dyck Arboretum’s “Best Management Practices Blog.” Find more at dyckarboretum.org

In advance of the Kansas Common Ground screenings, Carey Gillam chats with Charlotte about her journey from ag reporter at Reuters to investigative journalist exposing secrets in the agriculture industry.