The Kansas Rural Center will conduct a Women's Only Farm Planning Workshop and Farm Tour Thursday November 14 in Linn, Kansas. The workshop, which will be held at the Linn American Legion from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is free of charge.  Participants are welcome to come for just the morning or just the afternoon session, or both. Register by November 11 by calling 785-873-3431, or emailing ddysart@kansasruralcenter.org. Lunch will be served.

   Morning Farm Planning Session with the RFFP. The morning session (9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) will focus on "whole farm planning" using KRC's River Friendly Farm Environmental Assessment notebook (RFFP) and planning tool.  

Women will be provided a copy of the RFFP notebook and are asked to bring copies of their farm's aerial maps and pertinent farm records of crops planted, conservation work done, etc. so they can get started on their own farm assessment and plans. Dale Kirkham and Ed Reznicek, former KRC field assistants, will be on hand to provide an overview of the planning process and how it works, and then conduct a group working session to help the women get started on their own farm plans. (A second meeting will be held later to meet as individuals with staff to answer questions and complete the plans.)

Afternoon session: Leasing and Tenant Agreements and Estate Planning. After lunch from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the workshop will feature presentations from Kansas State University Ag Economist, Mykel Taylor on leasing and tenant agreements, and pasture and cropland leasing price ranges as well as an update on land prices. Following Taylor will be Forrest Buhler, staff attorney for the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Service (KAMS) who will provide an overview of estate planning do's and don'ts.  

Farm Cover Crop Tour. From 3:30 to roughly 5 p.m. there will be an optional  tour of forage cover crops at the nearby farm of Lucinda and Sheila Stuenkel.  We will travel by private vehicles to the Stuenkel farm to take a look at their no till and cover crop fields. 

   This meeting is a follow-up to KRC's June tour and workshop on Women and Conservation in Linn. At that workshop, many of the women expressed interest in learning more about the whole farm planning tool described by Lucinda Stuenkel, our tour host. Lucinda and sister-in-law Sheila's testimony that having gone through the notebook helped them know more about the farm and be better organized when tragedy struck their families, sparked interest.

   The RFFP is a notebook organized to guide you through questions and answers to do a self-assessment that helps inventory and rank the state of the farm's natural resources, its pastures, cropland, and the management practices used, and what existing problems or potential problems or changes need to be made. The process leads the participant to a farm plan complete with identified technical assistance and resources to help implement the plan. An important part of the plan is the family goals section that helps think through roles and quality of life goals as well as farm goals.

Co-sponsors include Tuttle Creek WRAPS, Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops, KSU River Valley Extension, and KSU Research and Extension.

   To register, call 785-873-3431 or e-mail Diane Dysart at ddysart@kansasruralcenter.org. Please indicate if you will be attending the full day or half day, and if you want to be included in the lunch count.