Lonnie Mengarelli is no stranger to agriculture. Recently named the newest agent of K-State’s Southwind District, his focus will be on pasture management, leases, pond management, wildlife damage, forages, and small acreage management.
Mengarelli simplifies the job description by saying, “I’d like to help farmers who have questions about getting rid of problems like weeds or pests.”
Raised on a family farm, Mengarelli’s life has been intertwined with agriculture as far back as he can remember.
Growing up, he raised cattle with his family. “When I was younger, we had pigs and sheep too,” he added. His grandparents lived just a mile down the road and he would spend his summers helping them with haying. Naturally, this upbringing would translate into his life’s work — agronomy.
Mengarelli’s interest in ag was also fostered through his participation in organizations like 4-H and FFA. “My dad was Crawford County’s 4-H extension agent for my entire upbringing. He started in 1985 and retired in January 2016,” he noted. Mengarelli often accompanied his dad when he met with farmers and those in the industry.
“I took a behind-the-scenes approach to 4-H,” he said. “I was good at working in the background and making sure that everyone else’s fair project went well.” In FFA, he mostly showed cattle at fairs in the region.
After high school, Mengarelli received a bachelor’s of science degree in Ag Technology Management in 2013. He also minored in agronomy and animal science.
Following graduation, Mengarelli worked at the K-State Research and Extension Center in Parsons as a field technician until November 2022. In this role, he was mainly in charge of crop production studies.
“I was the lead on crop varieties of corn, soybeans, wheat, and oilseed sunflowers,” he said.
The last two-and -a-half years he has worked as an agronomist at Producers Cooperative Association in Girard, fulfilling a wide range of duties.
In his new role in the Southwind District, Mengarelli hopes to discover the major needs of the area and address them. “That could be a range of things, including weed identification and termination,” he said.
In his personal time, Mengarelli lives and works on a cattle farm in Hepler with his high school sweetheart and wife, Hannah.
The pair have been married 12 years and have four children.
Taking after her father’s passion for agriculture, his 10-year-old daughter Heidi, is currently “obsessed” with 4-H. “She’d show at fairs every day if she could,” he said. “The other kids enjoy it, but they are not as passionate about it as she is.” Heidi, along with her two younger sisters, show goats and cattle at area fairs.
Mengarelli’s vision for his new role is to help farmers work as efficiently as possible. It’s a personal goal for himself, as well. “With the price of land, all I’ll probably ever own is the 160 acres I have,” he said. “My outlook is to make what I have better instead of looking somewhere else. I want to see what I can fix here.”
