By CARLA ECKELS

Kansas News Service

The number of black farmers in the U.S. is shrinking — down to less than 2% of total farmers — and many are losing their land.

Members of the Kansas Black Farmers Association are working with the state in hopes of reversing that trend.

JohnElla Holmes, the group’s executive director, comes from a long line of wheat farmers in Graham County near the historic town of Nicodemus. Holmes’ great-great grandparents settled in the area in 1877, on pieces of land the family still owns.

However, more than 2,000 farming acres in Nicodemus alone have been lost in the last five years.

“Land loss is a real concern,” Holmes said. “That’s our way of life in Nicodemus. We’re an agriculture community and that’s our main product. That’s our lifeline, that’s where we have our jobs, that’s where we have our livelihood … through the farming community.

“If you no longer have the land to farm, what do you do? How do you survive? How do you make the transition forward?”

Several issues are driving the loss of land: high debt, years of less-than-stellar crop production, and minimal support from federal agencies. Lack of access to funding is a major problem.

From left, KBFA member Maurice Parks, Kansas Rep. Willie Dove, Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers, KBFA executive director JohnElla Holmes, and Kenya Cox, executive director of the Kansas African American Commission. Courtesy

Members of the black farmers group recently met with state officials, including Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers, to learn more about the new Office of Rural Prosperity to see how the two can work together.

One of the issues they talked about, Holmes explained, is how black farmers can get more loans, grants and subsidies from the USDA Farm Service Agency. She says many black farmers struggle to access those resources, including one of her relatives who quit his job in Arizona to return to the family’s farm in Kansas.

“Even with a farmer who would mentor, provide equipment and train him, he still could not get a farming number so ultimately there was nothing we could do but sell the land,” she said.

Holmes says her group’s meeting with the lieutenant governor shed light on needed support for black farmers.

“Our issues are one in the same,” she said. “Land loss, grants, providing education for those farmers, identifying those farmers and their needs, and that’s exactly what this office is going to be doing.”

The Office of Rural Prosperity has designated a representative to work with black farmers in Kansas to help address some of their needs. Holmes says she appreciates having a direct line of contact at the office.

“I think their wanting to work with diverse populations is sincere,” she said.

Holmes says there is a real passion and surge for farming, and it includes the African American farmer.

The 2017 ag census showed there were 210 black farmers in Kansas — though Holmes estimates the number is much smaller than that.

“One of the things we asked the lieutenant governor was, ‘Who are these farmers? Where are they at? How did you identify them as African Americans?’” she said. “Because even if we went county by county, we couldn’t find that many black farmers here in Kansas.”

Carla Eckels is director of cultural diversity and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

The Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF) on Wednesday implemented temporary housing measures for 466 women housed at the facility, according the Kansas Department of Corrections.

These measures were necessary after the smell of natural gas was reported on the grounds and the subsequent confirmation of a leaking gas line leading to the facility. Crews from Kansas Gas Service, P1 Group, Inc., alongside TCF maintenance staff worked to repair the line throughout the night and that work is ongoing at this time. The cause of the leak is undetermined.

Overnight the women from five housing units were moved into temporary housing areas where gas service is online and the heating systems are functioning normally. These areas include the gymnasium, educational facilities and other buildings. All the temporary housing areas are located within the secure perimeter of the facility.

TCF is the only state facility for women and has a current population of 905 women.

Soto photo Shawnee County

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a man after he caused a disturbance at a local church and became combative with officers.

Just before 8a.m. Tuesday, the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center began receiving reports of an individual who was being disruptive during mass at Holy Name Catholic Church, 1114 SW 10th Avenue in Topeka, according to police spokeswoman Gretchen Koenen.

While officers were responding to the scene, church officials evacuated the roughly 100 individuals and children who were partaking in the mass.

Officers located the suspect Edwin N. Soto Jr., 32, of Topeka. While officers were speaking with Soto, he became combative, threatening them with a large candlestick. Soto was taken into custody and was booked on requested charges of Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Criminal Threat, according to Koenen.

WICHITA, KAN. – A California woman was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of smuggling more than 60 pounds of methamphetamine into Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Maria Alvarez-Buenrostro, 46, Los Angeles, Calif., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped Alvarez-Buenrostro for a traffic violation on I-70 near Hays in Ellis County. Troopers found 33 heat-sealed bags of meth hidden in a rear quarter panel and both rear doors of her Ford Explorer.

If convicted, she faces a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $4 million.