Released: March 07, 2002

Resource Guide for Producers Now Available

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Have you ever wondered how to find information about agricultural loans, marketing assistance or regulatory issues? Or maybe your mother needs information about water quality in her area.

To help producers who are searching for ways to increase their profitability, improve their natural resource conservation or strengthen their communities, the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops (KCSAAC) has published a resource guide of programs to help farmers and ranchers.

The Kansas Family Farmer and Rancher Resources and Services Guide, currently available at local Extension offices in Kansas and on the World Wide Web, provides contacts for agencies and organizations that help farmers.

"Every organization or agency has a primary role or mission to complete while serving Kansas agricultural producers," KCSAAC coordinator Jana Beckman said. "Imagine each organization or agency as being a piece of a puzzle. In order to make informed decisions, agricultural producers must collect many puzzle pieces."

Beckman said the guide directs producers to the departments and professionals that will be able to help them. She said it brings all the agencies that help agricultural farmers and ranchers together.

"The guide is a reference tool to find the right person on the first call," Beckman said, adding that even if the first call doesn’t provide the answer to the producer’s question, agencies throughout the state are able to use the resource guide to recommend the appropriate agency.

"I have already seen increased communication among the groups and agencies listed in this book," Beckman said. "Overwhelmingly, the response has been positive from both the people listed in the book and producers."

The guide contains sections on farm and ranch development, farmstead and home management, conservation and resource management, production protection and disaster assistance, animal/wildlife and pest management issues, Indian lands assistance programs, and direct marketing/value-added enterprises and small business development programs.

Beckman said producers frequently ask her how to finance conservation programs and make business plans. She said one of the biggest challenges producers face is that they have to have knowledge in many areas, from production to marketing and financial planning. She expects the book to benefit producers who are examining their management strategy, looking for opportunities to adjust their business to meet current and future needs and trying to improve both profits and the environment.

"Farmers seeking to take control of the marketing of their own production will find this a comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to all the resources and services available to them in Kansas," said Dan Nagengast from the Kansas Rural Center. "The Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops provides the ultimate networking tool for the independent agriculturalist."

The guide is supported by KCSAAC and K-State Research and Extension, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program/USDA-CREES North Central Region and the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

Free copies of the Kansas Family Farmer and Rancher Resources and Services Guide are available by contacting local Extension offices or by calling 785-532-5830 (fax order requests to 785-532-7938, or send e-mail to orderpub@lists.oznet.ksu.edu). The guide can be downloaded from the Web at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/kcsaac.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Rebekka Martin, Communications Assistant
rmartin@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News