KDA Re-Opens Kansas Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Initiative

The Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Conservation announces the re-opening of the Kansas Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Initiative. This initiative provides a onetime incentive payment for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) contracts for the following practices:

The 2018 Kansas Legislature allocated $281,312 to the KDA Division of Conservation to help promote the reduction of nutrients and sediment through the CCRP program. The initiative has been open since June 2019 to targeted watersheds specified for sediment and nutrient impairment, and funds still remain at this time which has allowed KDA–DOC to re-open the initiative to qualified applicants. Incentive payments range from $162.50-$225 per acre, depending on level of the impairment as identified by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

 

The following counties have watersheds that fall within these targeted areas: Atchison, Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Dickinson, Douglas, Ellis, Geary, Harvey, Jackson, Jefferson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Morris, Nemaha, Osage, Pottawatomie, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Saline, Shawnee, Wabaunsee and Washington.

 

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.