Kansas Association of Conservation Districts (KACD) board President, Bill Simshauser, stated that, “Kansas was very well represented at the recent National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. We were honored as being in the top 10 in the total amount of dues paid by Kansas Conservation Districts. Kansas also received an award for completing training for Supervisors.” In other business Ronald Brown, KACD board member from Fort Scott, Kansas was recognized for his four years of being on the NACD executive board. Bevin Law, KACD board member from Longford, KS was sworn in to the executive board as the Northern Plains representative to the NACD executive board. Other KACD board members attending the NACD Annual Meeting were Allen Roth, KACD Vice-President and Jerry Clasen, Secretary/Treasurer.

Kansas presented several resolutions that were approved at the KACD Annual meeting held in November in Wichita, KS. The Kansas resolution to restructure the CRP rental rate so the highest erodible ground has the highest rental rate was passed by NACD. NACD will now make efforts in Washington D.C. to see if they can get USDA to make the appropriate changes. The Kansas resolution to raise the cap on CRP to at least 36 million acres failed because NACD already has policy to keep the cap at least 40-45 million acres. The Kansas resolution to allow companion crops to be an insurable practice was passed by NACD. NACD will now work with USDA to ensure the changes are made.

Brent Van Dyke from New Mexico was elected as president of NACD, Tim Palmer from Iowa was elected 1st vice president, Michael Crowder from Washington state was elected 2nd vice president, and Kim LaFleur from Massachusetts was elected secretary/treasurer of NACD

Bill Simshauser said, “He was extremely pleased with the number of Kansas Conservation Districts participating in the NACD convention and the KACD Board of Directors appreciated everyone there from Kansas and the support they showed.”