More than 70 attended the 98th Annual Allen County Kansas Farm Bureau meeting at Iola High School on Thursday night. Attendees were treated with a special presentation from Iola High School graduate Chase Regehr, who spoke about his time in Taiwan. Several farmers were also recognized for their achievements with awards later in the evening.
The local Farm Bureau helped fund Regehr’s trip last December. Regehr, who will be a freshman at Kansas State University, said his trip was eye-opening.
He explored different parts of Taiwan, experiencing different methods of teaching and cooking, to seeing the street food scene and nightlife, as well as a different blend of people.
What stood out the most to him was the lack of farms in comparison to Kansas. In Taiwan, a typical farm would be five acres where Kansas farmers have hundreds of acres.
“There’s no room for farming,” Regehr said. “Everything is built out and straight up. I was just shocked how different the farming is from us here. I can understand why they have to import so much from us. They just can’t grow it.”
AWARDS:
– Area 2017 high school graduates Kyla Drake, Kira McReynolds and Chase Regehr were recognized for their involvement in agriculture. They were each awarded a $150 scholarship with several contributions to their Future Farm Association (FFA) affiliates.
-Craig and Denise Mentzer were recipients of the 2017 Farm Family of the Year Award. The Mentzers have run a dryland operation with corn, soybeans and small commercial black Angus cows with the help of purchasing and renting land in northwest Allen County.
