Friends,

Saturday was National Farmers Day, a day with deep roots where we take time to recognize and thank farmers for their hard work and contribution to the economy.

Agriculture is the largest economic driver in Kansas, accounting for 44.5% of the state’s total economy. The agriculture sector employs 13% of Kansas’ workforce through direct and indirect careers.

Kansas is the nation’s 7th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $4.8 billion in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2017. Agriculture in Kansas is not just about growing crops and raising animals, it includes renewable energy production, food processing, research and education, agribusiness and more. I am proud to represent the farmers of Kansas that provide the food, fiber, and fuel that sustain our great nation.

So make sure you thank a farmer?

Dairy Margin Coverage Program

Enrollment for the 2020 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program has been opened by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The DMC was authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill and is a program designed to help producers manage economic risk brought on by milk price and feed cost disparities.

The DMC program offers reasonably priced protection to dairy producers when the margin between the all-milk price and the average feed cost falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. So far in 2019 dairy farmers have earned more than $300 million from the program.

Enrollment is open until December 13, 2019. If you want more information on the program Click Here. You can also visit the USDA’s DMC program homepage Here.

Supporting Rural Transportation

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao announced the Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative, with a goal of dedicating discretionary U.S. DOT resources to improving the safety and usability of the nation’s rural infrastructure.

The roads in Kansas and other rural states are vital to the movement of goods and services across this country. But many of the rural transportation systems – roads, bridges, and highway-rail crossings – lack the investment necessary to keep them safe and usable.

U.S. DOT will assist rural stakeholders in better understanding and utilizing the grants and funding programs to identify critical rural transportation concerns and coordinate efforts among DOT’s different modal administrations. To learn now about the ROUTES initiative, Click Here.

Disaster Aid Coming to Kansas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development recently announced $150 million in additional funding to help communities hardest hit by adverse weather and natural disasters.
The counties included in the 2019 FEMA disaster declaration, highlighted in the graphic, can apply for funds through the Community Facilities Program to make improvements to buildings, infrastructure, and public facilities using USDA grant dollars.

The Community Facilities program can help rural communities in their recovery efforts by ensuring they have the facilities and infrastructure to support their residents and businesses.

Interested communities are encouraged to contact a USDA Rural Development Community Programs Specialist in Kansas. A list of specialists in Kansas can be found Here.

Combating School Violence

Morris County Public Schools has been awarded a grant of $452,913 by the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office. Recipients were given the grants under the School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) which granted $32.5 million dollars across 103 grantees.

The SVPP program provides funding directly to states and units of local government to be used to improve security at schools and on school grounds. Money can be used in a variety of methods, from coordination and training with local law enforcement to the placement of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures. Thank you to the COPS office for their investment in the safety of the next generation of Americans.

USDA Roundtable

USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Mindy Brashears and Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) Administrator Carmen Rottenberg traveled to Kansas last week. They meet with small protein production facility managers and provide plant operators an opportunity to hear updates from FSIS leadership as well as ask questions about proposed changes and labeling requirements.

Under USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue’s leadership, the agency has placed a large emphasis on customer service and removing unnecessary regulations. Events like this week’s roundtable are part of the reason America has the safest and most affordable food supply in the world.

Following the roundtable, Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Brashears traveled to Manhattan to meet with veterinary medicine students at Kansas State University to discuss career opportunities within USDA.

National Co-Op Month

October is National Co-Op Month. Kansas is home to more than 525 co-op locations serving 600,000 members and generating millions of dollars for local economies.

These member-owned and member-driven organizations are an important part of the Kansas way of life, providing everything from farm credit to electric power.

For more than 100 years, these organizations have been serving communities across the district, and will continue to be vital to Kansas’ growth and success.

National 4-H Week

Last week was the Inspire Kids to Do National 4-H Week. From October 6th through the 12th counties all across the country have been celebrating everything 4-H and showcasing the incredible experiences that 4-H offers young people. The Inspire Kids to Do theme was chosen to highlight how 4-H encourages kids to take part in hands-on learning experiences in areas such as health, science, agriculture and civic engagement.

During my time in Congress I have had the opportunity to meet with many 4-H groups and am continually impressed with the leadership and drive that I see in these young Kansans. 4-H equips our youth with the skills they need to reach their full potential and I am proud to celebrate 4-H Week with them.

Rural and Independent Innovators Conference

The Kansas Small Business Development Center will be hosting one of their Rural & Independent Innovators Conferences (RIIC) at Fort Hays University on October 15th. These conferences are modeled around supporting Kansan entrepreneurs and innovators with information and education, with the goal of fostering connections and business opportunities.

Executive Director of Grow Hays, Doug Williams, will be the keynote speaker at this upcoming RIIC and will be speaking on “Growth Through Innovation.” There will also be presentations on business growth, market access, and raising capital. This is a great opportunity to network and learn, and I hope many of you have a chance to attend.  Additional information, along with registration details, can be found on their website Here.

Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.

After sorghum harvest, many producers want to move their cattle onto milo stalks to graze. With an early hard freeze, it is a good idea to be aware of prussic acid in sorghum, and if you are concerned, have your forage tested. A quick test now can give you peace of mind when you turn your livestock out to utilize the stalks and grain that are in the field.

Below are some key considerations: 
 
1.  Prussic acid (HCN) poisoning is more of a concern when grazing sorghum than when harvested for hay or silage because HCN will dissipate in harvested forages if properly ensiled/cured. For grazing it is best to wait approximately seven days after the hard freeze to graze.
 
2.  Sorghum silage – Most of the HCN will dissipate within 72 hours following warm weather after a hard freeze. However, if HCN levels are high at the time of harvest, wait at least four weeks before feeding the forage. The HCN will volatilize during the fermentation and feed mixing process.
 
3.  Hay – The curing process for hay will allow the HCN to dissipate as a gas, reducing the HCN content to safe levels.
 
Testing for Prussic Acid
 
1.  If high prussic acid concentrations are suspected prior to grazing or at harvest, forage should be tested before grazing or feeding. There are quantitative and qualitative tests available to learn more about the potential for prussic acid poisoning in a particular forage.
 
2.  If HCN levels exceed 200 ppm on an ‘as-is’ basis or 500 ppm on a dry basis, the forage should be considered potentially toxic and should not be fed as the only source of feed to animals.
 
3.  Contact the forage lab that will conduct the HCN analysis prior to sending in samples so that proper handling procedures can be followed. 
 
To monitor the freeze conditions in Kansas, go to the Kansas Mesonet Freeze Monitor tool:  https://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/freeze/
For more information on how to use the Freeze Monitor, please read the recent eUpdate article, “Fall has arrived and the Mesonet freeze monitor returns”, in Issue 712.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, you can contact me by calling 620-793-1910, by email at [email protected] or just drop by the office located at 1800 12th street in Great Bend. This is Alicia Boor, one of the Agriculture and Natural Resources agents for the Cottonwood District which includes Barton and Ellis counties. Have a good week!

By BENJAMIN MARCUS
Freedom Forum Institute

Earlier this month, thousands of people gathered in Houston to mourn the death of Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal, who was shot dead during a routine traffic stop in a non-hate crime-related ambush, not only served and protected his community as a law enforcement officer — he also served his religious community and country as a champion of religious freedom.

In 2015, Dhaliwal became the first turbaned Sikh law enforcement officer in Harris County after the county added a religious accommodation policy to its uniform regulations. The change was made thanks to advocacy by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Sikh Coalition and Dhaliwal’s colleague, Deputy Navdeep Singh Nijjar. Previously, on-duty officers could not have a beard or wear a turban — forcing some Sikhs, including Dhaliwal, to make the heart-wrenching decision between their careers and their articles of faith.

Dhaliwal and his colleagues’ success in Texas had a domino effect: the same year Dhaliwal was finally allowed to come to work as his whole self — turban, beard and all — the New York City Police Department (NYPD) reached out to Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia to find out how the NYPD could change its own policies to better accommodate observant Sikhs.

But members of minority religious communities have not always been invited enthusiastically to serve without comprising their convictions. Shared experiences of exclusion from public spaces bind marginalized communities together in an “inescapable network of mutuality,” borrowing a phrase from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Richard Foltin, senior scholar at the Religious Freedom Center, explains: “Just as Sikhs are confronted with workplaces that place obstacles to their wearing a turban and beard, even though their dress and grooming presents no real impediment to the performance of their jobs, so also observant Jews sometimes face the danger of losing or being denied jobs because they are obligated to wear a yarmulke or a beard or, in a more frequent situation, must take days off from work in observance of the Sabbath or holy days.”

Indeed, an observant Jew pushed down a domino on behalf of religious freedom before Dhaliwal. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Goldman v. Weinberger that a Jewish Air Force officer did not have a constitutionally protected right to wear a yarmulke while on duty and in Air Force uniform.

In response, Congress included a provision in the 1988 version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act that permits “a member of the armed forces to wear an item of religious apparel while in uniform, except when the secretary of the military department concerned determines that: (1) the wearing of the item would interfere with the performance of military duties; or (2) the item is not neat and conservative.”

Nevertheless, some members of minority religious communities are still forced to decide between serving their country and honoring their religious identities. According to the Sikh Coalition, the U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy still have policies that prohibit Sikhs and others from wearing certain articles of faith.

But the dominos set in motion by Goldman and Dhaliwal continue to fall. After Dhaliwal’s death, 98 former and current Sikh service members and law enforcement officers delivered letters to the U.S. Department of Defense and national police agencies to advocate for policy changes that would allow members of minority religious communities to serve with dignity.

We all benefit when our workplaces — public or private — become more diverse. In fact, research shows that Americans who personally know someone from a religious community express warmer feelings toward members of that community and they answer more questions correctly about that community on a religious knowledge survey. And as the American Academy of Religion argues, decreasing religious illiteracy can decrease the bigotry and prejudice that plague our communities and fuel violence.

That’s why we need people like Dhaliwal, who fight for everyone’s right to participate fully in public life. In the words of Arsalan Suleman, the Muslim-American president and chair of America Indivisible: Dhaliwal’s story “is significant because he made the Harris County Sheriff’s Office better — better because it had him on the team, better because their policies now were more consistent with U.S. constitutional protections and better because the sheriff’s office became more welcoming to and representative of Houston’s diverse residents. His service, and his triumph, also made his city of Houston better and our country better — because every time there is a triumph like Dhaliwal’s, as a society we get closer to that more perfect ideal to which we aspire.”

On Friday, Sept. 27, America lost a First Amendment hero who reminded us that we serve our entire country when we stand up for our rights. Do you feel a gentle nudge? That’s Deputy Dhaliwal’s legacy pushing you to knock down barriers against religious freedom for the next generation.

Benjamin P. Marcus is religious literacy specialist at the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. His email address is: [email protected].