No-till farming practices were gaining popularity 30 years ago, largely because it provided a cost-effective way to reduce wind and water erosion on sandy soils and rough ground.

Comanche County farmer Darrol Miller was growing wheat and grain sorghum on his sandy soils in 1990. He said his experience taught him that he was spending more money on herbicides to go no-till, but that was offset because he was not spending money on building terraces and waterways. 

He said no-till also decreased his costs for buying and maintaining machinery.

65 years ago

Kansas schools were allocated a total of $545,000 in February of 1955 to help them purchase milk for school children for the next two years. Schools were eligible for the milk program whether or not they chose to participate in the school lunch program.

Schools were told that they could use some of the money to purchase a refrigerator or “milk chest” to keep the milk cold and at a high level of quality.

55 years ago

The first building of the Agricultural Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs was completed and occupied in February of 1965. An active, statewide fundraising drive was underway to provide necessary funding to complete all 10 planned buildings for the site.

With the first unit of the complex in use and the 275 acres of land paid for, the hall of fame had unencumbered assets of $500,000, an amount estimated as about 10% of the total estimated final cost.

45 years ago

A four-year study showed that no-till farming systems minimized erosion and produced better yields of corn than conventional tillage.

The researchers got about 4 more bushels to the acre than they did on similar land that was conventionally tilled. They noted that no-tilling also reduced fuel usage and held the average annual soil loss to 0.6 tons per acre.

40 years ago

A series of public meetings conducted by the Kansas Railroad Work Group was looking into the impact of the failure of the Rock Island Railroad and allow Kansans to comment on the impact that failure was expected to have on Kansas rail shippers and communities.

The Kansas Railroad Working Group was formed by Gov. John Carlin to study how the railroad failure would affect the former customers of the Rock Island.

Goerzen is executive director of the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita.