American Farmland Trust Releases Improving Grazing Networks in Kansas, A Needs Assessment
(Salina, Kansas)- American Farmland Trust (AFT) has released Improving Grazing Networks in Kansas, A Needs Assessment, which analyzes barriers that limit ranchers access to supportive technical assistance (TA) and financial assistance (FA) within the state of Kansas. Understanding the existing barriers and support needs may enable AFT and project partners to improve outreach and program designs to better meet the needs of the Kansas grazing lands community.
“The Kansas needs assessment highlights the important work that American Farmland Trust and our partners are doing in the Great Plains,” said American Farmland Trust Agriculture Conservation Innovations Director Brian Brandt.
AFT co-authors, Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, Kinzie Reiss and Ellen Yeatman, asked the following questions: 1) How can Kansas grazing networks expand?, 2) How can access to grazing management technical and financial assistance in the region expand?, 3) Which are the largest barriers to accessing TA and FA for grazing management and do these vary depending on the ranchers?, 4) Which topics and formats might work best to reach a diverse cadre of ranchers? 5) Which networks are people already a part of and how can they improve? The authors organized a listening session with project advisors, hosted seven in-depth interviews with ranchers and service providers, and administered a statewide survey with over 100 respondents.
The assessment was part of AFT’s Expanding Grazing Lands in Kansas project, which is funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Grazing Lands Coalition Initiative (GLCI) grant through 2028. Over the project's duration, AFT will engage partners, ranchers, service providers, and others involved in grazing management in Kansas to foster a more connected network that delivers programming to improve technical assistance and engagement with ranchers, while also improve grazing management and resource stewardship.
“The Kansas Soil Health Alliance is a farmer and rancher led organization formed to educate growers on the value of soil health practices in Kansas. We are excited to utilize this needs assessment in future outreach to producers across the state,” said Kansas Soil Health Alliance Executive Director Jennifer Simmelink.
The full report can be found on the Farmland Information Center website at the following link: Improving Grazing Networks in Kansas: A Needs Assessment - FIC To learn more about our work in Kansas, contact Kinzie Reiss, program manager, at [email protected].
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms No Food® message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.
