Roger Wayne Wolfe, from Baltimore, passed away last week at the age 77. He loved farming, his family and sharing his passion for the soil. He was a neighbor, a friend and mentor to me. If Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881-1913) is the Father of Soil Conservation and Louis Bromfield (1896-1956) is Conservation’s Prophet on Mt. Jeez, then Roger Wolfe (1936 -2013) is Fairfield County’s Farmland Evangelist on the Mounds. And what a conversation those three are likely having…

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A list, because: 1. It's the last full week of school. Which means we're running to town every day for class plays, assemblies, lunches, baseball, carnivals, and more. Actual school work is rapidly winding down. We're staying out too late in the evenings because it's nice and we don't want to come inside, which is fine and dandy except for the school bedtimes. The kids are so done. And so are we. But still, we have two more days this week, one full day next week…

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There have been 48 long hours now to try to grasp the magnitude of what happened to Moore, Okla. Just 24 hours before a massive tornado struck the town about 200 miles to our south, my family and I were hunkered down in the basement of my northeast Wichita home while we listened to updates of a “massive, destructive wedge tornado on the ground approaching Mid-Continent Airport.” The home that I own in West Wichita sits on the northwestern final approach path to…

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The T-shirt my wife purchased for me one Christmas reads: “Vancouver, Not BC. Washington, Not DC.” The idea is to remind people that the little Vancouver just across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore., is indeed a U.S. town, unlike the city of the same name 300 miles north in British Columbia. And, that we are in the state rather than the nation’s capital. But, when old Capt. George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy left MY Vancouver, he…

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One of the most annoying things about Farm Bill debates is that the majority of discussions are about money, not policy. Activist groups that I like to call – anti-farm or anti-food security – make farmers out to be free-loaders, loudly spouting off about direct payments and subsidies. I venture a guess that nearly all of these folks who like to use farmers as punching bags are not hungry or homeless. They probably enjoy hearty meals each day, thanks to guess who? Our nation has…

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 Yes, this is an unusual thing to be blogging about. In recent months, I've gone to funerals of two farm friends, and came away from both thought-filled and inspired. That's as it should be. Like most of you, I'm not fond of funerals. I don't even want to attend my own! But a funeral or wake can be a wake-up call with redeeming value. That's why I'm writing this. I was reminded of a few things, none of which the preachers preached. The "few things"…

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Ever wonder what the grounds at the Farm Progress Show look like after the show is over and everyone has gone home? Usually it takes a few weeks for the few remaining pieces to be removed off the property, but after that, the show site is a ghost town. That is, except for this past Friday night. I was on my way up to Boone, Iowa on Friday afternoon when I got a text from my boyfriend reminding me that Lazerfest (a hard-rock and heavy-metal concert) was going on. He kindly reminded me of…

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I emailed my personnel chief the other day to find out how many vacation days I had left for 2013 and was shocked to discover there were weeks and weeks I could take off. Now, I could take the full boat at once, and just hang in my hammock with a good stock of Scotch, or I could take a few days off here and there and fix fences and plant flowers. But I opted for a week off in May, yet to be determined by my work schedule for Western Farmer-Stockman. As you read this, I may already be…

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High school graduates around farm country will receive lots of advice from family, friends, teachers and neighbors over the next few weeks during their commencement ceremonies. Valedictorians will bid their old high schools and hometowns farewell, and offer well wishes for classmates as they begin the next chapters in their young lives. Graduates will hear hometown folks say things like, “Go out and make something of your lives.” They’ll hear advice like, “Get out…

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As a writer and a farmer, there are some stories that will just never make it to print. Some are too personal; others can't be told without offending someone. If you farm with family, you surely know just what I mean about either case! Others would raise the ire of the farm safety folks, who do good work every single day but who would be astounded that some of us ever made it through our childhoods. Still others, I just never thought I would tell. That's the case with my…

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