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Busy Hands with a Purpose – Mid-Kansas Co-op Farm Women’s Meeting

By Deb Ohlde, Central Kansas Corn Crew Representative

Farmer’s hands are always busy.  There is constantly something to fix, drive somewhere, feed, or fuel up.  On our family farms, those hands might be young, old, male, or female.  Most often, getting the job done involves many hands working together.

Before the annual MKC Women’s Meeting in Hutchinson on May 3, attendees got busy with their hands and assembled hygiene kits for the Mennonite Central Committee (https://mcc.org/).  This amazing organization responds to basic human needs all around the globe. Their contribution to the health, education and nutritional needs of people is inspiring. I was happy to be there representing Kansas Corn and working along side several of our members.  We learn best about your farms when we meet you close to home.  It gives us insight into what services you value most from us as an organization

After a great meal, the guest speaker for the evening was Cristen Clark of Runnells, Iowa.  She keeps her farmer hands busy raising pigs, cooking, and writing for her blog, https://foodandswine.com/ .  Cristen has embraced the idea of ag advocacy and encouraged us to, “tell people what we want them to know about farming”. We all seek information and accept it best from our peers.  Be ready to share your farm story.  You don’t have to be an expert.  Just be willing to start the conversation.

By chance, I met Margaret Scheufler, a KCGA member from Sterling, Kansas .  Her daughter Ann, loves the diversified central Kansas farm where she grew up.  Even though she doesn’t live there any longer, she is still telling the story of their farm.  Her message combines her knowledge of nutrition, she’s a dietician, with her affinity for the land and sustainability. Plus, she has cute t-shirts.  You can find out more about her entrepreneurial venture at http://peasandhoppiness.com/ .