KFMA Podcast

Dr. Elaine Johannes is the Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor in Community Health for KSRE and is a state Extension Specialist. We sat down to talk about mental health in agriculture and rural communities. While it's just the tip of the iceberg, we discussed issues and concerns regarding stress and mental wellness for agricultural producers and their families, as well as opportunities and resources.

There has not been a publication in relation to the referenced survey conducted by K-State's Ag Safety and Health program. Information provided in this podcast is based on preliminary findings from this survey.

Resources:

Surgeon General's report on the epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness

You have most likely heard people promoting the idea of deducting excess/residual fertilizer when buying farm ground. So, what does it mean? Is there a deduction available? If so, what documentation do you need? We invited Kristine Tidgren, Director for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, to discuss and help us understand this popular topic.

Resources:

https://www.calt.iastate.edu/blogpost/considering-residual-fertility-deduction

The 2018 Farm Bill was extended in December of 2024. With the deadline to sign up for ARC/PLC approaching in April, we sat down with Robin Reid to discuss the programs and what to consider when making program decisions. Also included in the bill were ad hoc payments, currently being referred to as Economic Assistance Payments, for farmers. We discussed some details related to these payments and how they are calculated.

Resources:

ARC/PLC Decision Tool: https://agmanager.info/ag-policy/2018-farm-bill/tradeoff-between-20252026-arc-and-plc

Economic Assitance Payment Calculator: https://agmanager.info/ag-policy/2025-economic-assistance

The 2024 Kansas Land Values Book was released in December. We sat down with Robin Reid to discuss trends across the state, how the farm economy is affecting land values, and her predictions for the coming year.

Resources:

2024 Kansas Land Values Book: https://agmanager.info/land-leasing/land-buying-valuing/kansas-land-values-book-2024

The 2025 Women Managing the Farm Conference is just around the corner! Lori Rogge and LaVell Winsor, co-chairs of the conference committee, joined me for this episode of the podcast. We discussed how Women Managing the Farm originated, what people can look forward to at this year's conference, and so much more.

The KSU ag econ department offers an online course called Finances and The Farm. This is a self-paced course to help enhance farm management skills. We sat down with the instructors, Robin Reid and LaVell Winsor, to talk about what this class offers and why it is valuable to producers of all sizes and levels of experience.

Resources:

https://agmanager.info/events/finances-and-farm-online-class

In 2024, several KFMA producers filled out a survey regarding utilization of various conservation practices. The data from this survey has been used for research by Dr. Jenny Ifft and graduate student Delide Joseph to evaluate how conservation practices relate to farm profitibaility. They joined us for this episode of the KFMA podcast to discuss their preliminary findings as well as ideas for future research.

Resources:

https://agmanager.info/events/risk-and-profit-conference/previous-conference-proceedings/2024-risk-and-profit-conference/3

Dr. Jenny Ifft joins us to discuss high coverage crop insurance options available to producers, specifically SCO (Supplemental Coverage Option) and ECO (Enhanced Coverage Option). These are growing in popularity and may become more of a necessity as farmers navigate low margins with the farm economy downturn.

Resources:

SCO and ECO Payment Calculator: https://agmanager.info/crop-insurance/crop-insurance-papers-and-information/2024-supplemental-coverage-option-sco-and

Dr. Ifft's Crop Insurance Presentation: https://agmanager.info/events/kansas-crop-insurance-workshop/2024-kansas-crop-insurance-presentations/high-coverage

A topic that applies to everyone: social security! We receive numerous questions about social security benefits. For this episode, we sat down with David Seymour. David is a Senior Public Affairs Specialist with the Social Security Administration, serving the Kansas City region. He covered many topics, including full retirement age, the earnings limit, disability and survivors' benefits, and much more.

Resources:

https://www.ssa.gov/

As the dealine for PRF (Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance) is approaching, we thought it would be a good time to sit down with Dr. Jenny Ifft to discuss various forage insurance options for producers. In looking at forage risk management, producers continue to have more options available to insure against loss on their forage crops. Some have been around for years and are growing in popularity, while some are new within the last couple years. In this episode, we discuss the multiple options available for producers and how each type of insurance works.

Tools and resources:

https://agmanager.info/hay-inventory-calculator

https://agmanager.info/events/ag-lenders-conferences/2024-ag-lenders-conference-presentations/forage-risk-management