Kansas Commodity Classic to Bring Together Corn, Wheat, Soybean, Sorghum Growers

Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat.

Join fellow Kansas corn, wheat, soybean and sorghum growers for Farm Bill updates, market discussions, weather and climate outlook and more during the 2024 Kansas Commodity Classic on Friday, January 26, 2024, in Salina.

The Kansas Commodity Classic is the annual convention of the Kansas corn, wheat, soybean and grain sorghum associations. The meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Salina, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. The event is free to attend and includes a complimentary breakfast and lunch, but pre-registration is requested. 

Greg Akagi, agriculture director with WIBW Radio and the Kansas Agriculture Network, will emcee the day’s general sessions, which will start at 8:30 a.m. with remarks from Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam. 

Ross Jansessn, KWCH chief meteorologist, will continue the morning session by sharing his outlook on the weather for the 2024 growing season and long-term climate trends. The discussion will then turn to examining the grain markets with an update and 2024 outlook from Jim Minert, agricultural economist and director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University. 

Following a networking break, members of the Kansas Congressional delegation — including Senator Roger Marshall, Representative Tracey Mann (KS-01), Representative Jake LaTurner (KS-02) and Representative Ron Estes (KS-04) — will share their updates and perspectives on the work taking place in Washington, DC. In addition to this national update, the convention will include a discussion of specific issues before the Kansas legislature that could impact growers. 

Attendees will then have networking time during lunch before taking a deeper dive into farm policy with a panel of representatives from the national commodity organizations, including Chris Tanner with the National Association of Wheat Growers, Wayne Stoskopf with the National Corn Growers Association, Kyle Kunkler with the American Soybean Association and Craig Meeker with the National Sorghum Producers. Each panelist will bring a different perspective to the table to answer questions for attendees. 

Specifically for wheat growers, Tanner will discuss NAWG’s advocacy to officially classify winter wheat as a cover crop as part of his presentation on national priorities and policies. According to NAWG, cover crops and other practices that have been termed “climate-smart” have been regarded as emerging tools to help farmers continue to be the best stewards of their lands, but winter wheat has been overlooked as a vital tool in both conservation and food security. 

NAWG recognizes the soil and environmental benefits of wheat in a crop rotation and therefore supports intentionally seeded winter wheat being eligible for classification as a cover crop for NRCS and other climate-smart programs, while not impacting its eligibility as a harvestable cash crop insurable through crop insurance and other safety net programs.

To learn more about NAWG’s policy priorities on this topic and more, visit https://wheatworld.org/. And make sure to come listen to Tanner and the other pertinent speakers discuss markets, the weather, legislative actions and more at the 2024 Kansas Commodity Classic. 

Thanks to sponsors, the event is free to attend and includes a complimentary breakfast and lunch; however, pre-registration is requested for food count purposes. View the agenda, find location information and register at http://www.kansascommodityclassic.com.