Rick McNary

In my work in the international hunger space over the past two decades, I discovered the important role that supporting smallholder farmers had to do with ending hunger and providing food security. A smallholder farmer is defined as someone farming on five to 10 acres of land, and there are more than 570 million smallholder farmers who provide about one-third of the global food supply. I personally know many of them through the work I have done in Central and South America as well as various parts of Africa.

The Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH) has hired Jennifer Kern as its executive director to manage the day-to-day operations of the local food system along with the new BQHH commercial kitchen. 

Kern will work closely with producers, processors and distributors, helping consumers connect with local farmers, coordinating town hall meetings and sharing information and benefits of the Hub. 

Construction will soon begin on a public-use commercial kitchen in the Caldwell Workspace thanks to a grant from K-State 105 given to the Sumner County Economic Development (SCED) as part of the Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH). The remodeling will be undertaken through a combination of volunteer opportunities and the use of local professional services.

Tips to Take Your Family on a Farm and Ranch Tour During the Holidays
By Rick McNary

My wife, Christine, and I decided to take our grandchildren to farms in our area in 2017 after reading a report that more than 16 million Americans believed chocolate milk came from brown cows. Although neither one of us grew up on a farm, I worked for farmers and ranchers when I was in high school and her dad, Tom Wallace, managed the Circle E Feedlot.

The Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH) Lunch and Learn is Tuesday, Dec. 10 at noon in the Upstairs at KanOkla, 21 North Main, in Caldwell. It is a bring-your-own brown bag luncheon.

Troy Leith of Midwest Meats in Abilene will talk about his mobile meat processing unit.

Caldwell Market of Farms Fall 2024

The second Caldwell Market of Farms was another success, especially in the eyes of the 16 different vendors who set up that day. The first Market of Farms, held in March this year, was so well received that community leaders decided to host another one.

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

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.

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.