Soil Health Advising Program:
This is a two-year program set to start in January 2025, where farmers can be paired with one of five Local Advisors from across the Watershed. Participants in this program will receive up to 35 hours of 1-on-1 advising to help implement soil health practices on their operation over the course of the program.
Meet the Local Advisors:
Connor Peirce
Connor was raised on the family grain farm outside of Partridge Kansas with a specialization in seed wheat. Connor was given the opportunity to make his own on-farm decisions very early starting in 2014. By 2017, he had started using regenerative practices to reduce soil disturbance and over time, these practices would help him to increase soil organic matter and infiltration rates. Connor completed his education in 2019, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy. It would not be long before he became an advisor for the Reno County Conservation District, holding the role for two years before getting elected to the board in 2023. Connor utilizes diversity in his operation gaining him experience with a wide range of crops including but not limited to wheat, sunflowers, soybeans, corn, milo, cotton, canola, and camelina. Today, Connor focuses on profitability in his operation looking to use soil health practices to his advantage.
Bill Love
Bill is a first-generation farmer and rancher just outside of Partridge, Kansas. He started no-till farming over 25 years ago, but over time he discovered no-till was not enough to unlock the nutrient potential of his soils. Since then, Bill has added diverse mix cover crops and uses his cow-calf operation to integrate livestock. As a student of the soil, Bill has watched a transformation happen under his feet the last few years as the soils build structures and increase infiltration. He will often implement multi-year field studies to track the effects of his practices over time. Through his work, he seeks to increase the biological functions in his soil, with a long-term goal of reducing or even eliminating the need for inputs if he can.
Jami Richardson
Jami farms with her husband on an 800ac dryland farm in southeast Reno County. With a background in teaching and consulting on natural resources, conservation, and agriculture, Jami offers knowledge and experience on transitioning the family farm to a regenerative agriculture system... without breaking the bank! Jami excels in coordination of logistics such as seed selection, crop rotations, custom cover crop blends, managing landowner relationships, seeking out specialty markets, farmer-to-farmer networking, and calculating the return of investment in the implementation of soil health practices. Jami enjoys promoting and protecting our natural resources in Kansas and is proud to serve on the Reno County Conservation District Board of Supervisors and the Kansas Alliance of Wetlands and Streams Board of Directors. Her ultimate goal is to reduce compaction, chemicals, and labor on the farm, restoring degraded systems to healthy, productive lands.
Austin Schweizer
Austin Schweizer is a 5th generation farmer from Sterling KS. After graduating from Fort Hays State University in 2016 with a degree in agronomy, he returned home to his family farm. Austin started farming with no-till and regenerative practices on the rented acres he farmed. Working with his family’s farm, they have continued to incorporate and adopt regenerative practices across their operation. While the last years have been challenging with the drought, Austin has seen how the regenerative practices have helped hold the soil stable, utilize water better, grow the biology in the soil, provide feed for livestock with cover crops, and continue to help reduce fertilizer costs. In his spare time, Austin enjoys spending time with his family and working on equipment.
Grant Kerschen
Grant grew up on the family farm outside of Cunningham Kansas. He would go get his Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness from K-State in 2014 and then return to the area. Upon his return first part of the farm Grant was handed was the finances, then by the end of 2022 Grant had become the decision maker for farm operations. Today, irrigation is a large component of his farm and corn is the primary crop. Grant’s on farm trials have led him to trade out synthetic inputs for fulvic, humic, and even fish emulsions to reach production goals at a lower cost per acre. His next project will be to buy the livestock needed to finish integrating animals onto all his acres.