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ADAPTING TO CHANGEPITTSBURG Wednesday, December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) – Chris Burris, Scribe
The KARL Class VIII members met in Pittsburg at the Kansas Technology Center which is part of Pittsburg State University. The day started with a tour of the facility by the Dean of the Tech Center, Dr. Bruce Dahlman. The Tech Center was impressive to say the least. The 278,000 square foot facility was occupied with classrooms and laboratory space for programs such as woods technology, graphic and imaging, automotive, diesel/ heavy equipment, plastics engineering, construction management, high tech manufacturing, technology education, and a foundry program. The Technology Center has strong ties with industry corporations that help provide some of the latest in technology and equipment. The University is attended by 7,000 mostly in state students.
After a short break the class listened to presentations on water quality issues. Robert Haughawout, President of the Kansas Resource Council pointed out some of the issues his group was concerned about. At the top of his list was the proposed expansion of Sunflower Energy’s coal fired power plant. Other concerns included the ethanol expansion and water consumption expansion for large industries like agriculture and processing.
Next we heard from Ron Hammerschmidt who is the Director of Environment for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He described water challenges that existed in different parts of the state. The state is physically 6 states geologically with rainfall varying from 43" average in the southeast to 16 inches average in the west. This leads to unique opportunities for water quality in each region. For example, the southeast corner has a clay pan less than a foot down that leads to a great deal of runoff. The central region around Stafford and Hutchinson is sandy and salty. Each requires unique approaches to management to reduce point and non point source pollution.
That evening the class enjoyed dinner which was sponsored by Diana Endicott, a class IV graduate from Bronson. She presented a program about niche marketing of agriculture products. Diana told how she got started in niche marketing by selling tomatoes through the local grocery store. The Endicotts helped create a co-op named Good Nature Family Farms which owns a federal inspected processing plant that processes 30-50 natural cattle per week and 500 free range chickens per week. Much of the co-ops products can be found on shelves of 15 different Hen House stores thought Kansas City. The cooperatives gross income last year was $7 million wholesale.
Thursday, December 8th – Don Beesley, Scribe This morning we ate breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and promptly loaded the bus for the 75-mile tour of Cherokee and Crawford County mining districts. Ted Wary and Scott Williams were our tour guides for the scenic drive.
Ted Wary spent 37 years as a County Extension Ag. Agent in Butler, Woodson, and Cherokee Counties. In the 25 years he worked in Cherokee County he was involved in some of the reclamation of the strip pits left from coal mining. He now has 3 radio programs a week on KKOW in Pittsburg and does soil sampling and consulting as well as some catering. Scott is the District Conservationist for NRCS. He has also worked on reclamation of the strip mines. Ted filled us in on the agricultural dynamics of the area. He explained that wheat and soybeans make up most the acres planted each year, but that there has been a growing # of corn acres going in each year. Ted explained that even though this is the wettest part of the state, they are always a week away from a drought. Apparently, the top soil is only 6-8 inches deep and has a clay bed under it. If they don’t get timely rains during the growing season the crop will burn up because the soil does not store much moisture. About 2/3 of the area is in cropland and the balance is pasture.
Scott and Ted then gave us a little background on the coal mining industry of the area. The mining began in the late 1800 and early 1900 with horse and slips. They later move to cable slips, and finally to the electric shovel know as "Big Brutus". Brutus is the second largest electric shovel ever built. He stands 160’ tall and weighs around 11,000,000 lbs. Brutus was in operation for 11 years and is now "Biggest Attraction in Southeast Kansas". After driving by Brutus, we visited some of pits that he dug, and the large piles of clay, rock, and soil that he left in his wake.
Ted and Scott explained that Kansas Mining Laws of 1969 put an end to Brutus and most of the mining in the area. Kansas did not ban mining, but it did require the mining companies to restore the land back to the way it was prior to mining. This affectively took all the profits out of coal mining in Southeast Kansas. Since then, Cherokee and Crawford Counties have gone form some of the wealthiest in the State to some of the poorest. One struggle that the Counties are faced with is a large # of wasteland left from the strip mines, with very little tax base on them. At this point Ted gave us his opinion of the local politicians and they way they have handle the local tax dollars. (There some mention of a lack of male genitals and basic mathematical skills).
Scott and Ted also mentioned that some of the area was "undermined" in tunnels and the small rooms 20’ x 100’ and that some of these tunnels are caving in. Sometimes the cave inns are under farm ground, but sometimes have been under homes or business. After returning to the hotel, we had a chance to discuss some of the cost involved in reclaiming the land, (app. $1600/acre) and how to pay for it with very limited tax dollars. After at great lunch of "Ted’s Grilled Turkey" hosted by JCB Farms, we had a panel discussion on "The Environment".
The first speaker was Mr. Craig Volland of the Sierra Club. Mr. Volland chairs the committees on Conservation and Agriculture of the Kansas Chapter. He is also a member of the Sierra Club’s national committee on Human Rights and Environment and Responsible Trade. Craig is president of Spectrum Technologists a consulting firm specializing in environmental research. Mr. Volland’s main focus seems to be on confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Mr. Volland biggest concern was with the swine industry over dairies and beef cattle. He said, because of dry years, the waste off of hog lagoons needed to be spread over more acres. He later said to solve this problem we need to limit the size of the hog farms. (Although if you have the same # of hogs, I’m not sure how this would help). Mr. Volland also stated how wind power is a better alternative to the expansion at Sunflowers coal fired plant in Holcomb. He said that new technology and redesigning of the wind chargers have made wind farms more efficient and safer to the bird population then some of the older farms were. Mr. Volland's speech could be summed up with "Pigs stink and wind chargers are pretty to look at".
Chris Wilson then gave a presentation on "The Benefits of Fertilizers, Ag-Chemicals and Bio Technology". Chris is an Ag law specialist and consultant for numerous agricultural organizations in Kansas. Chris served as Director of Public Liaison for the US Dept. of Agriculture under Secretary John Block before moving to Kansas with her husband Ron.
Chris explained that for centuries human labor was the primary way of killing weeds. With the increased use of tractors, the need for manual labor was greatly reduced. However, tractors and farm equipment have their own set of problems and limitations as well. 1. They cannot be used close to the crop, thus limiting the effectiveness of killing weeds. 2. Tillage can lead to higher erosion and 3. Soil conditions (to wet or to dry) can limit when you can get in the field, thus making it hard to control weeds in a timely manner. She explained that with the use of chemical herbicides the cost of raising crops in the US has drop substantially. She went on to explain of 99.9% of pesticides the humans ingest are naturally-occurring. Also, farmers are not adding fertilizers to the ground. They are replacing nutrients that the plants use and are lost at harvest. After a panel discussion, it was apparent that Mr. Volland was basing most of his opinions on his emotion and how he feels about the environment, while Mrs. Wilson shared mostly scientific facts.
Next, it was off to the Turkey farm of John and Carolynn Burns. Carolynn explained the operation to us on the bus ride out to the farm. JCB Turkey Farm is a contract grower for Butterball (which was recently bought by Smithfield from ConAgra). John and Carolynn have been raising turkeys for 12 years along with daughter Lynn and Son-in-law Jerry Moore. They start out with 11,000 2 day old birds and they get in a new flock every 8-9 weeks. When the birds first arrive they are placed in the Brooder House where they will stay for the next 6 weeks. At first they are placed in rings to keep them from bunching up when they get scare and hurting each other.
After 6 weeks in the Brooder they are moved to the Intermediate House. By this time the temperature of the building is about 75 degrees. In the Brooder they start between 85 and 90 degrees and try to pull the temp down 2 degrees each week. By the time the birds get to the Range Houses (they are about 14 weeks old) they are able to handle the colder temperatures. The birds are then shipped out around 19 weeks of age.
John then took us over to their farmstead to show us the shop and explain farming practices in Southeast Kansas. He also shared with us how they utilize some off the latest GPS technology in there farming operation. Then it was off to Pichler’s Chicken Annie’s for a great Fried Chicken Dinner sponsored by Frontier Farm Credit’s Chanute office.
That evening J.T. Knoll, a local poet and folk singer and songwriter, entertained us. He shared some of the history of Southeast Kansas and stories from his childhood. Later that night Santa appeared to help with the gift exchange and even did a little "Pee Wee Herman" dance. We closed the evening with Christmas Karls, some of which in no way could be mistaken for singing. The star of the show was hands down group 2 with their rendition of Jingle’d Bells (featuring Gary and his Bells).
Friday, December 8th, 2006 -- Doug Bassett, Scribe As we met for the final day of seminars in Pittsburgh, emotions were running high and anticipation was even higher. Most of my classmates were not yet fully prepared for the upcoming session. After Jack's brief overview of the upcoming seminar he introduced Dirk Barker, Investigator for the Citizens Committee of Creature Protection. I could feel the tension in the air but I couldn't tell who was more nervous, my classmates or the presenter. With a shaky voice and a bit of trepidation, Mr. Barker rummaged through his bag looking for his notes on this morning's subject matter all the while detailing how he "lives" out of his car. After he settled into his presentation it started to become clear that he was as uncomfortable with us as we were with him. He first laid the groundwork by disparaging the fact that all animal rights activist are "wackos and clueless". He went on to describe that most are very intelligent and would know more about the industry then most of us sitting in this room. He discussed how "Animals should be treated equally as humans" and also touched on the "acceptable death loss" which he referred to as an oxy-moron. He went on to describe how his sole purpose in life was to hunt out animal injustices and bring them to justice. He described how easy it was to find abuse and photograph that abuse. He also mentioned that he actually infiltrated a few meat packing plants and described how simple the process is. Towards the end of his presentation he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere." As the Q and A session began I could feel the tension mounting. As my fellow classmates started shooting questions at Mr. Barker I felt a bit uneasy as most of the questions were more like statements then questions. I was aware of my surroundings and could tell that almost all of the questions were trying to catch Mr. Barker off guard and prove a point as opposed to trying to understand Mr. Barkers point(s). There was a time when Jack had to step in and force a question from one of my classmates after a 5 minute soap box run. After Mr. Barker left, Jack reminded us of how we need to control our feelings during any and ALL presentations no matter what the subject matter. We are the ones who invited Mr. Barker not the other way around. This is neither the time nor the place to try and change someone's personal opinion so the best defense is to gather all the information necessary and make an informed thought out inquiry to better handle any confrontations that may arise in the future with others from his side of the industry.
Our next presenter was Craig Beardsley, Director for the National Agriculture Biosecurity Center, KSU. Mr. Beardsley had a very well thought out and well prepared power point presentation. His main focus was on protecting the food supply in the US as well as how to respond if something did happen to that supply. He emphasized how all responses to a terrorist event begin at the local level. He was quick to point out how his entire life and business changed on 9.11 and that it will never be like it "was." The only way to really deal with and protect our agriculture is to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. There really isn't a question of if our food supply will be compromised in the future it is more of a question of when.
He also discussed the new Kansas State University Biosecurity Research Institute and how once it is up and running in 2007 will be the most technologically advanced Biocontainment research facility in the US. It is a level BL-3 which is the second highest protocol; the next level would include all non-curable dieses and threats, BL-4. The Q and A session was productive and informative: Q: Why can't the US seem to get a
Mandatory ID system for livestock? Q: Play "Nostrodamous"
and tell us when and where the next attack will be? Q: You mentioned other countries violating the BWC (Biological
Warfare Convention), is the US violating that same pact? Q: You mentioned a few ideas on how an attack could be carried
out on a livestock herd (a simple spray bottle into the nose of a few cattle).
Is it wise to give ideas to terrorists and also the media? Q: As we prepare to go to Africa, what can we do upon our return
to ensure we haven't brought "Anything"
back with us? He rapped up his session by explaining that although 9.11 was the worst terrorist attack in history, we learned a great deal from it and are more prepared to deal with it in the future. Now agencies like his are sharing information with each more readily and as the future comes we will be more prepared for what it has to offer. Although both of these sessions may have been a little intense, all in all they were well thought out and gave everyone something to talk about on the ride home. Merry Christmas... |
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"With Leadership Comes Responsibility" |
