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Filing Now Open for Commodity Commission Candidates

By
Anita Stuckey
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Grain growers in central Kansas who plan to campaign for a seat on one of the state’s five grain commodity commissions — corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat or sunflowers — should be gathering petition signatures now to meet the November 30, 2025, filing deadline. Voting will take place in January-February 2026. The 2026 election will cover districts IV, V, VI — or the central third of Kansas.

District IV: Clay, Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Smith, and Washington counties.
District V: Barton, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Rice, Rush, Russell, and Saline counties.
District VI: Barber, Comanche, Edwards, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Sedgwick, Stafford, and Sumner counties.

To be eligible to run, candidates must have been actively engaged in growing that commodity (corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat or sunflowers) within the preceding five years and must reside in and represent the district where they maintain their primary residence. To be included on the 2026 ballot, candidates must gather 20 signatures from eligible growers, with no more than five signatures from any one county. Eligible growers are Kansas residents who will be at least 18 years old by January 1, 2026, and who have actively grown corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers or wheat for the last three years.

Candidates may choose to collect signatures either on paper or online, or by using a combination of both. The online petition portal is available at: https://portal.kda.ks.gov/enrollment/CommoditiesCandidatePetition. After creating an account, candidates will receive a unique URL to share with eligible signors, who can then provide their contact information and sign the petition electronically. Paper candidate registration packets are also available from the Kansas Department of Agriculture or the grain commodity commissions.

Commodity commissions are grower-led organizations committed to supporting the economic viability of their industries and fostering continuous improvement in their respective commodities. Commissioners serve three-year terms, which will begin on April 1, 2026. They oversee how check-off funds are invested in areas of market development, education, promotion, and research.

For more information on Kansas commodity commissions, including voter registration, please visit the Kansas Department of Agriculture website at www.agriculture.ks.gov/CommodityCommissions.

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Filing Now Open for Commodity Commission Candidates.pdf

Vegetable Crop Rotation

By
Guest Columnist
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Success in the garden requires planning. To give your plants a healthy start next year, rotate crops within the same family to a different location than where they’re growing this year. This is known as crop rotation and offers several benefits.
Plants in the same family are typically susceptible to similar pests. Some pests overwinter in the soil; some are able to survive on debris. If the same host is available when the pests emerge in the spring, they will be able to continue feeding and multiply the problem. Crop rotation breaks the cycle of these pests.
Plants in the same families have similar nutrient requirements. Rotating crops prevents the soil from becoming depleted of those nutrients. Also, the varied root system depths from one plant family to the next contributes to the health of the soil.
Now is the perfect time to make a map of the vegetable garden so you can switch things up when you plant next year. For example, in the location where tomatoes are growing now, avoid planting anything from the Solanacaeae family (eggplant, pepper, potato) next year.
The Kansas Garden Guide has a helpful table of common vegetable crop families and an example of how to rotate these crops. You can access a digital copy of the Kansas Garden Guide here: https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/kansas-garden-guide_S51.pdf

Kansas Department of Agriculture Boards to Meet Sept. 11

By
Guest Columnist
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Several advisory boards which serve to guide the work of the Kansas Department of Agriculture will meet on Thursday, September 11, at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. The meetings will be held on the Kansas State Fairgrounds, and all meetings are open to the public.

The boards which will meet on September 11 are:

Kansas Board of Agriculture
1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Kansas State Fair Administrative Office Boardroom
Contact: Auburn Wassberg, [email protected] or 785-564-6799

Kansas Board of Animal Health
8:30 a.m. to noon
Prairie Pavilion conference room
Contact: Justin Smith, [email protected] or 785-564-6601

Kansas Marketing Advisory Board
1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Prairie Pavilion conference room
Contact: Suzanne Ryan-Numrich, [email protected] or 785-564-6704

State Conservation Commission
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Cottonwood Court building: upstairs meeting room
Contact: Division of Conservation, [email protected] or 785-564-6620

Individuals who have questions about any of the meetings can contact the Kansas Department of Agriculture at 785-564-6700 for more information.

Persons who require special accommodations must make their needs known at least two days prior to the meeting.

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WHO:            Kansas Department of Agriculture advisory boards

WHAT:          Regular board meetings

WHEN:          September 11, 2025; times vary

WHERE:       Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson; specific locations vary

 

Kansas Department of Agriculture Boards to Meet Sept. 11.pdf

Annual KWEC Butterfly Festival set for Sept. 20

By
Guest Columnist
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HAYS, Kan. – The Kansas Wetlands Education Center’s 12th annual Butterfly Festival will be held on Saturday, September 20, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Each year, millions of monarch butterflies undertake their annual fall flight to Mexico. Nets and tags will be available during the event for those who want to capture and tag monarch butterflies.

Participants head out into the flower-filled fields and shelter belt around KWEC to capture monarchs, with tagging leaders stationed along the trail to help with the tagging process. For the past several years, monarchs tagged at the event were recovered at three Mexico roost sites.

On the way to Mexico, data collected from tagged monarchs helps support the research of Monarch Watch. Tagging helps answer questions about the origins of monarchs that reach Mexico, the timing and pace of migration, mortality during the migration, and changes in geographic distribution.

Egg. Larva. Pupa. Butterfly. That’s magic! Steve Craig will have a butterfly magic show that makes learning this basic science fun using magic, puppets, and humor. The Butterfly Magic show is designed for family audiences – enjoy the metamorphosis at shows at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:15 a.m. Make sure to claim free tickets on your arrival at the festival.

Larned-based Kellie Honey Farm will be present with a demonstration hive on display in the exhibit hall to educate about the importance of honeybees.

Grassland Groupies, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring the conservation of grassland ecosystems, will be at the festival. Depending on the availability of insects, they may have their Bumblebutt Petting Station, an all-male (so they won’t sting), bumble bee interaction display, or a walk-in butterfly tent.

KWEC will also feature an invertebrate zoo, with giant walking stick insects, butterflies, caterpillars, chrysalises, fluorescing scorpions, a tarantula, and more.

Kids can make a butterfly tealight lantern at the craft station and a monarch butterfly rest stop to assist the butterflies migrating through your own backyard. Race through a pollinator obstacle course and earn a temporary butterfly tattoo. Use a sling shot to shoot seed bombs full of potential pollinator blooms out into our prairie and take home your own packet of seeds.

Partnering with the Kansas Wetlands Education Center and the annual Butterfly Festival, the Central Kansas Partnership’s Suicide Prevention Task Force Walk and Remembrance Ceremony will occur early in the morning at 7:15 a.m. to ensure it is completed by the time the Festival is set to begin.

Each individual will be able to write the loved one’s name on a painted butterfly to stake in the ground during the festival for attendees to see. The Task Force will also have a booth during the Festival, sharing information on Suicide Prevention.

Explore the Melody Marsh, an interactive play area in the KWEC Pollinator Garden. The garden provides wildflower planting ideas to use at home and features a variety of native and adaptable plants that serve as hosts for different species of caterpillars and provide nectar sources for pollinators, including butterflies, birds, beetles, and more.

Pollinator seed packets will be available for free until they run out. For more information, contact KWEC at 1-877-243-9268 or visit: wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu.

 

Garlic Planting Time

By
Guest Columnist
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Lots of lawn and garden projects and tasks are typically done in September. One of these is planting garlic. I have grown to love planting garlic probably because not only is it very tasty it is also very easy to grow. It may be one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Planting garlic (Allium sativum) in the fall allows the cloves to go through a chilling period which is important for bulb and flower growth. October is a good time to plant because the cloves can begin to develop roots and shoots before freezing weather arrives.

 

Purchase large, mature garlic bulbs from a reputable grower rather than the grocery store. Separate the bulb into individual cloves just before planting. Larger cloves tend to yield larger bulbs at harvest. Mix three pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet into the soil prior to planting. If a soil test is available, fertilize according to those recommendations. Plant each clove one to two-inches deep spaced six-inches apart with the pointed end of the clove up. Water the cloves in well and apply a layer of mulch to insulate the soil.

 

Bulbs should be ready to harvest next summer when the lower third of the foliage is yellow. Carefully dig one area to check the bulbs for maturity. The bulbs are ready for harvest when the cloves are beginning to separate.

 

Kansas’ climate is suitable for growing a variety of garlic types. Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum) has a milder garlic flavor. Varieties of Allium sativum that are good options include: Inchelium Red, Chesnok Red, Armenian, Music, Purple Glazer, Carpathian Mountain, Metechi, China Strip, Ajo Rojo, Asian Tempest and Silver White.

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