KBFA PARTNERS

To inquire about becoming a partner of KBFA click here.

USDA - NRCS

NRCS – NRCS’s natural resources conservation programs help people reduce soil erosion, enhance water supplies, improve water quality, increase wildlife habitat, and reduce damages caused by floods and other natural disasters. NRCS has agreed to provide staff training, specialized meetings, and workshops. NRCS will consult with staff and the executive director on new programs, loans, and grants.

Kansas State University

College of Agriculture Diversity Programs Office, has been involved with the camp since its inception in 2005. Dr. Zelia Wiley, Assistant Dean has provided an on-campus pre-college visit experience, introducing the young campers to all aspects, departments, and majors connected to Agriculture, Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics (A-STEM). The College of Agriculture has agreed to provide continued support of the Agriculture Camp for Youth. They will provide financial support, materials, staff, curriculum, staff training, pre- and post-assessments, and share results on a local, state, and national level.

Vital Farms

Our mission is to bring ethical food to the table. We do everything we can to improve the lives of people, animals, and the planet through food. Whether it’s giving the girls outdoor access, supporting family farmers, enabling you to trace your eggs back to the farm, or setting the record straight in the egg aisle, you can always trust that Vital Farms® is Keeping it Bullsh*t-Free. Our eggs and butter from family farms are delicious, ethical food you don’t have to question.

 

Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops (SARE)

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program was created by the 1992 Farm Bill and defines the target audience for the professional development program as agricultural professionals, including extension educators, Natural Resource Conservation Service staff, state and federal agency workers, and educators in the profit and not-for-profit sectors serving the food and fiber system.
Each year, Kansas is eligible to receive funds from the North Central Region SARE (NCR-SARE) for professional development programming for the target audiences. Kansas SARE is managed by K-State Research and Extension and is located at the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops on the K-State campus in Manhattan, Kansas. The Kansas SARE office will provide workshops on Sustainable and Conservation best practices and provide by workshops on grant writing each year of the 2501 grant life.

Rural Coalition-Coalición Rural

Together, we seek just and sustainable food systems that bring fair returns to our diverse small farmers and ranchers, tribal and other small communities; fair working conditions and dignity for farmworkers and food chain workers; protection of mother earth now and for our children’s children; safe, adequate, and healthy food for all, especially the elders, youth, and most vulnerable of us.

KBFA has chosen to participate with Rural Coalition and partners in their larger Climate Smart proposal cohesive effort to advance and align our shared efforts to assure the largely historically underserved producers we serve have the opportunity to test a comprehensive suite of regenerative farming practices, to participate in ecological assessments and other verification methods to understand the value of these practices to our land and production and to communicate and track that value to the markets that we reach, through outreach and technical assistance. This opportunity highlights our need to partner with Rural Coalition and like-minded organizations serving historically underserved producers.

Rural Coalition will provide three (3) monthly meetings per year, provide staff training and support, help create evaluations processes and forms, provide guest speakers for the Podcast interviews, help develop two (2) town halls per year and support our farmer Climate-Smart best practices and write farm plans. Rural Coalition will also help KBFA provide the information in Spanish for our non-English speaking members.

KRVN (Nebraska Rural Radio Association)

KRVN (Lexington Nebraska) is America’s only farmer-owned cooperative radio station whose only programming focus is agriculture. It will efficiently and economically share with underserved farmers and ranchers (and all farmers in Nebraska and surrounding states). The USDA programming output we will promote in our workshop, podcast, and camps.

Frontier Farm Credit

In-person training on farm financial management, credit, and business planning by Frontier Farm Credit experts. This would include periodic training held during KBFA monthly meetings or quarterly workshops. 

  • Support of attendance at our in-person or virtual Growing On series of meetings that cover important topics within commodity marketing and agricultural risk management (USDA-RMA). 
  • Access to learning content on topics important to farm/ranch financial management through our Learning Center, including e-learning on key financial skills.
  • Inclusion with online workshops focused on young and beginning farmer topics, agricultural economics, financial skills, and business planning.
  • Support of connecting urban and rural youth ag education programs through our affiliation and connection with 4-H and FFA.
  • Leveraging our network of experts in ag commodity marketing and risk management to provide presentations, seminars or workshops.

Kansas Rural Centers (KRC)

To support this project the Kansas Rural Center can offer assistance with Beginning Farmer Training. We are planning to offer an annual 8 to 10-week workshop series for beginning farmers focused on these core learning components; whole farm planning, financial planning, marketing, business planning and management, and connecting with resources. We will make these workshops available to socially disadvantaged farmers across the state and we can provide special sessions specifically for Black farmers and other socially disadvantaged producers in Kansas. KRC are also working to develop a curriculum on farm transition, and we can work to connect Black farmers and landowners to resources about that topic, and related issues like heirs’ property. Additionally, they will provide publicity for KBFA’s work and technical assistance through our statewide newsletters, email lists, and social media presence. 

Colorado Conservation Tillage Association

is a non-profit (501-C5) organization whose mission is to serve the conservation and no-till farmers of the High Plains.  The High Plains encompasses Eastern Colorado, Northwest Kansas, Southwest Nebraska, and Wyoming. To disseminate both local and national information variables affecting optimum production such as conservation, tillage, water conservation, residue management, fertility, and erosion control – all resulting in greater profit and less expense. 

CCTA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the conservation and no-till farmers of the High Plains. For more than 30 years, we have partnered with producers, University personnel, and ag industry professionals to facilitate the exchange of ideas related to preserving soil and water resources at the annual High Plains No-Till Conference, and we recently began supporting producers through our USDA-NRCS On-Farm Trials Soil Health Demo project “FARMS: Farmers Advancing Regenerative Management Systems.” 

Common Ground Producers and Growers (CGPG)

For seven years, the Common Ground Mobile market has made a significant impact on providing fresh produce to the food desert and food insecurity areas in our region. The mobile market collaborates with a growing network of local producers who work together to provide fresh, locally grown food for distribution in these areas. 

CGPG has committed to providing hands-on farm training and internships for Veterans, Beginning, and Women farmers.  At the Pearson Urban Farm, Wichita, Kansas, our membership will be provided demonstrations, marketing, product development, row crop, specialty crop, livestock and other best practices, techniques, new or improved equipment, high tunnel farming, with Climate Smart and Soil Health best practices. 

Other Partners

USDA – FAS
General Mills
Cargill

Supporting Organizations  

Peoples Foundation Has committed to collectively working together to positively impact our community, and veterans, youth, and young adults’ lives daily. Peoples Foundation will provide workshops and also conference presentations to help guide our Veterans. 

Family Farm Action Alliance – Has committed to providing advocacy, provide workshops on the 2023 Farm Bill and other legislative issues affecting the farmer.  

Nebraska Future Farmers of America (FFA) – Has committed to working with the Youth Camp program and integrating the two-state program and youth. NFFA will also provide assessment and evaluation processes to support the work of the camp in young lives. 

National Sorghum Producershas committed to providing 1) serving either virtually or in-person as a speaker/trainer/presenter on marketing and/or climate-smart agriculture for at least two events (whether monthly meetings, quarterly workshops, the annual conference or a combination thereof); 2) providing bimonthly social media posts (six annually—most likely on Twitter) promoting the effort and raising awareness for the issues it addresses; and 3) hosting one podcast episode overviewing the effort. We believe our significant reach will be an asset for you in your effort and look forward to assisting you in leveraging it. 

Central Plains Organic Farmers, our experience and knowledge with cooperative development and action is, perhaps, the best we have to offer KBFA in conducting its project.  We are pleased to offer and provide workshop presentations, cooperative counseling, and any other co-op related services to KBFA or your Participating farmers, individually or as groups.  We will offer workshops to your participants on organic grain production practices and cooperative marketing as well. 

The Land Institute has committed to KBFA through project activities such as conferences, field days, agriculture camps, hands-on training, and digital resources. We look forward to providing 1) educational materials, technical assistance, and learning experiences related to perennial grain agriculture, and 2) opportunities to engage in civic science research and collaborative husbandry related to perennial grain crops. 

Our “On-Call” Partners: 

Lawrence Clark, USDA/NRCS (retired) 

Alfonzo Drain, USDA/NASS (retired) 

Darla Juhl, USDA/NRCS, Solomon Valley RC&D (retired) 

Julus Moody, Lincoln University/MANRRS (retired) 

Merle Vigil, USDA/ARS Akron, Colorado (retired) 

Barbara Norman, blueberry farmer, Michigan 

Lean’tin Bracks, Fisk University, English Dept (retired) former Cargill merchant 

Chiquita Briley, Louisiana State U. Ag Center Region Dir (formerly of Nebraska) 

Preserving Black land ownership, the farming legacy, and creating a sustainable future

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Preserving Black land ownership, the farming legacy, and creating a sustainable future
Preserving Black land ownership, the farming legacy, and creating a sustainable future
The Kansas Black Farmers Association team is constantly looking for grants that will benefit low to medium farmers.

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Preserving Black land ownership, the farming legacy, and creating a sustainable future