Rick McNary

As I watch farm and ranch groups in Kansas respond with aid to those impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton, I am reminded that farmers and ranchers have much to teach all of us about the value of community. 

When I started writing about farmers and ranchers in 2015, I began to discover their hidden qualities that create value in quiet ways. 

It is my opinion, after having traveled the world in providing food aid in disaster relief, that farmers and ranchers understand the purpose and value of creating a community. 

I’ve been involved in providing hunger relief for domestic and international crises for more than 20 years, so I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of disaster relief.
Therefore, I have a few practical tips to give if you want to help the survivors of the hurricanes.

How to give

If you are compelled to give financially, here are questions to ask. 

The Caldwell Market of Farms will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Caldwell Community Center, 119 E. First Ave.

In our ongoing effort to support rural communities, Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) and Shop Kansas Farms (SKF) sent Kylee Stout, KFB’s business development manager, to the National Rural Grocery Institute Summit in Montgomery, Ala. this summer.

Hosted by the Hunger Solutions Institute out of Auburn and the Rural Grocery Institute out of Kansas State University, the summit brought stakeholders from across the nation to showcase creative efforts to solve the challenge of rural grocery stores. 

It’s common to see the entrance to a ranch with the cutout of a brand in an arch over the drive or mounted to posts along the side. If you drive into the ranch, you will most likely see that brand on saddles, cattle, coolers and barns. That brand is that ranch’s identity and legacy.

Farmers, ranchers and growers have many enemies. From the time they plant that seed in the ground until it is harvested, numerous perils come their way. One might be insects so small and hard to detect that a farmer can lose hundreds of acres of crops before they even see the pests. Another might be too much rain or insufficient rain at the right times. Yet another might be weeds like the pigweed, which has 500,000 to 700,000 seeds in each head and can grow so tall it keeps the regular crop from receiving sunshine.

My phone rang at 2 a.m., and the voice on the other end was desperate.

“Pastor,” the man groaned. “I’m going to end it all. I left the door unlocked. I want you to come take care of my remains.”

It was in the early 1990’s and, although he didn’t attend the church I served, when you’re the only minister in a town of 400 souls, everyone calls you in an emergency.

We stepped into the surgical waiting room at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita to wait for our daughter during her surgery. The room was packed.

The inaugural Oxford Farm Tour on Saturday, June 29, was attended by more than 100 people from as far away as Kansas City who toured each of the five farms in the Oxford area. Organizers of the event all agreed the enthusiasm and number of attendees exceeded their expectations.  

If you’ve ever gardened, the idea of raising eight acres of green beans may seem overwhelming since picking green beans is a labor-intensive job that stretches out over days because it ripens at various stages. However, Warren and Eileen Sutton of rural Norway in Republic County have figured out a way: by using a green bean variety that ripens all at once then is picked by a machine.