With most crops now in the bin and livestock settled in for the winter, Kansas farmers and cattlemen are taking time off work next week to gather for industry meetings.
From the Kansas Commodity Classic in Garden City to the Kansas Livestock Assn. convention in Wichita, the state's major farm organizations will be tackling an array of new challenges facing each particular industry.
Whether they grow crops or raise animals, producers are dealing with volatile markets, changing regulations and new threats to their livelihood.
The nation's first case of soybean rust, found in Louisiana, is prompting concern among growers across the nation. Meanwhile, the livestock industry is still dealing with the aftermath of the nation's first case of mad cow disease.
The Commodity Classic, which begins Tuesday, brings together the state's biggest commodity groups: the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, the Kansas Corn Growers Assn., the Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Assn. and the Kansas Cotton Assn.
Whether it is wheat or cotton out in the field, growers face many of the same weather, market and risk management problems, the groups contend. Many producers also grow more than one crop while also raising livestock.
Sen. Pat Roberts and Rep. Jerry Moran, both Republicans, will speak at the Commodity Classic on the postelection outlook for agricultural issues.
Roberts serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Moran serves on both the House Agriculture Committee and leads the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
Other sessions deal with pesticides, marketing, irrigation, herbicides and risk insurance. State Sen. Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, will talk about the Kansas legislative outlook.
The focus shifts to Wichita Dec. 2-3, when cattlemen from across the state will meet for the annual Kansas Livestock Assn. convention. Nearly a year after the discovery of a mad cow case in Washington state, that issue is foremost on the agenda.
Kevin Varner, a veterinarian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, will answer questions about the mad cow testing.
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