Contact
NickKansas Beginning Farmer Coalition & Kansas Farmers Union
785-527-0941
kansasbeginningfarmers@gmail.com
Central Kansas Family Farm Specialty Products Tour
Kansas Farmers Union and Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition will host a Central Kansas Family Farm Specialty Products Tour, on Saturday, October 11 in the McPherson and Newton, KS areas.
KFU and KBFC representatives were very impressed by the diverse number of producers and products available in central Kansas, and felt it would be an ideal location for an educational tour for members and the public.
Tour Schedule
10:00 am Johnstown Farm + Grammy's Pumpkin Patch
11:30 pm Potluck Lunch
12:45 pm Unruh Farm
2:30 pm Janzen Family Farm + Little Red Hen Bakery
3:15 pm Grazing Plains Farm
4:00 pm Prairie Harvest
about Johnstown Farm
Johnstown Farm, located at 1365 Quivira Rd. McPherson, KS 67460, prides itself in producing beef that is fully grass finished. Johnstown Farm meat is labelled as natural meat with no added hormones and animals are not fed any starchy feeds, i.e. grains such as corn, milo, or soybeans. Antibiotics are used only if a health issue arises. The farm’s animals are solely bred, live, and gain weight on forages–grasses, pastures, triticale, etc., and hay.
The farm also features Grammy’s Pumpkin Patch, which this year contains approximately six kinds of pumpkins, decorative gourds and pie pumpkins. The patch is planted by a state of the art planter created specifically for Grammy’s. Weeding is still done the old fashioned way – by Grammy and her staff.
Grammy’s offers packages for groups. Grammy and her staff are certified educators with expertise in early and elementary education. Grammy’s Lil’ General Store is stocked with local products. For more information on the farm, go to the website.
about the Potluck Lunch
Plan to join the group for a potluck lunch at 11:30 am. KFU & KBFC will provide pulled pork sandwiches, table service, and drinks.
Please bring a side dish to share.
about Janzen Family Farm
Janzen Family Farms (JFF), located at 15076 NW 180th Street Newton, KS 67114, a diversified livestock and grain operation that utilizes sustainable practices, including organic crop production. JFF sells 100% grass-fed beef from their Angus herd of about 40 head that is pastured year-round on native prairie, cool-season grasses and winter forage and stubble fields. JFF also produces and markets certified organic wheat, milo, and soybeans, and freshly stone-milled wheat flour from an on-farm micro-mill, Henry Creek Flour Mill.
KFU member Norm Oeding has managedthe farm since 2007. He is known for Norm’s Flour and the bread he bakes with it sold under the Little Red Hen Bakery label. Norm plants, harvests, feeds cattle, and does other day-to-day operations, including selling at farmers markets. He takes a lead role in the decision-making process on the farm and lives in the Janzen farmhouse. For more information, go to the farm’s website.about Grazing Plains Farm
Jason Schmidt, a 5th generation farmer from rural 
Newton, moved back to his home community three years ago with his wife Carol to carry on the family dairy farm that his parent have operated. Prior to returning home, Jason gained experience with a variety of farming systems having worked with organic vegetable farmers, grass-fed beef producers, and conventional grain and livestock farmers in the U.S. and abroad. Jason has a Master’s degree in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University researching grass-finished beef. Before moving back to the family farm, Jason worked for the Kansas Rural Center as a field organizer for the Clean Water Farms project.
Currently, Jason and his parents operate a 75 cow dairy, and Jason has a small grass-fed sheep flock. Jason is slowly taking over the family dairy as he and his parents generally follow the New Zealand share milking model where each year he gains a larger share of the dairy income as he buys out his parents. As he takes over the family dairy, Jason envision new paths for the dairy including transitioning to managed grazing with Jersey cows instead on Holsteins, exploring value-added markets such as direct marketing and organic, and diversifying farm income.
Order when you RSVP and
we'll bring your book on October 11!
Contrary to popular belief, a good living can be made on an organic farm. What’s required is farming smarter, not harder.
In The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall shares advice on how to make your vegetable production more efficient, better manage your employees and finances, and turn a profit. From his twenty-seven years of experience at Cate Farm in Vermont, Wiswall knows firsthand the joys of starting and operating an organic farm—as well as the challenges of making a living from one. Farming offers fundamental satisfaction from producing food, working outdoors, being one’s own boss, and working intimately with nature. But, unfortunately, many farmers avoid learning about the business end of farming; because of this, they often work harder than they need to, or quit farming altogether because of frustrating—and often avoidable—losses.
A companion CD offers valuable business tools, including easy-to-use spreadsheets for projecting cash flow, a payroll calculator, comprehensive crop budgets for forty different crops, and tax planners.
Contrary to popular belief, a good living can be made on an organic farm. What’s required is farming smarter, not harder.
In The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall shares advice on how to make your vegetable production more efficient, better manage your employees and finances, and turn a profit. From his twenty-seven years of experience at Cate Farm in Vermont, Wiswall knows firsthand the joys of starting and operating an organic farm—as well as the challenges of making a living from one. Farming offers fundamental satisfaction from producing food, working outdoors, being one’s own boss, and working intimately with nature. But, unfortunately, many farmers avoid learning about the business end of farming; because of this, they often work harder than they need to, or quit farming altogether because of frustrating—and often avoidable—losses.
In this comprehensive business kit, Wiswall covers:
- Step-by-step procedures to make your crop production more efficient
- Advice on managing employees, farm operations, and office systems
- Novel marketing strategies
- What to do with your profits: business spending, investing, and planning for retirement
A companion CD offers valuable business tools, including easy-to-use spreadsheets for projecting cash flow, a payroll calculator, comprehensive crop budgets for forty different crops, and tax planners.
- See more at: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_organic_farmers_business_handbook/#sthash.xo7OoEZ6.dpufabout Kansas Farmers Union & Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition
Kansas Farmers Union Foundation was awarded a grant from our friends at Farm Aid to support KFU’s Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition through the Cultivating Connections: Creating a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Network in Kansas project.
This project will engage and inform beginning farmers and ranchers through the developm
ent of online resources, and encourage producers to explore innovative production, management and nance strategies. This project will empower farmers and ranchers to seek solutions to shared opportunities and challenges while becoming stronger advocates for state and national policies and programs that support beginning farmers and encourage financially viable land transfers.
Additionally, the project launches a campaign to increase awareness among current KFU members of opportunities to support and mentor beginning farmers and maximizes the development of relationships across generations and experience levels.
For more information, please visit our website.
