Multimedia Reporting (Utsler)

by Scott Toland

Citizens of Douglas County can now register to vote for upcoming elections without having to leave their homes. An online system was implemented to provide more accessibility for people in the county and could potentially lead to an increase in the number of registered voters.

For the first time, citizens will be able to access voter registration forms online by accessing Douglas County’s Web site, which will allow them to save time and the effort of going to pick up a paper form. The system was implemented about a month ago. County Clerk Jamie Shew said that some people have already used the online method and that the system might result in more registered voters.

“It may, just for the pure fact that it provides more access to our office,” Shew said.

Shew said that accessibility was one of the main factors that went into the decision to add this new system. He also said that the system did not result in any additional expenses for the county.

Because a signature is still required, the form must be printed and filled out before it is sent to the county clerk’s office. Forms can then be faxed, mailed, or scanned and e-mailed to complete the process. If people choose to e-mail or fax their forms to the office, then they can save time and possibly money for gas by not having to mail their paperwork.

“We have a very transitory population in Douglas County with commuters and the large amount of students in town,” Shew said. “It gives them the chance to access our office without coming directly to our courthouse.”

Douglas County is not the first Kansas county to install such a system, but instead is following the lead of one of its neighbors.

Johnson County began lobbying with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office for an online voter registration system two years ago. Around the start of this year, the state decided to allow the system to be put into place.

“We like to think we’re the trailblazers,” said Brian Newby, Johnson County Election Commissioner. “When we got the ‘yes,’ we were ready to go.”

Newby said that the online system is even more important for Johnson County than Douglas County because of the amount of people in the area. He also said that it allows his office to save time and money because the whole process can go much faster.

“It’s a bigger deal for us than Douglas County,” Newby said. “We were probably more ready to do it because we were the ones asking them to do it.”

No official figures exist that document the number of Kansas counties that now have a similar system in place, but one state official said he thinks this number is on the rise.

Brad Bryant, who is in charge of Elections and Legislative Matters at the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, said he definitely sees a trend when it comes to voter information available online. He also said that paper voter registration forms can still be obtained in every county in the state.

“There’s still a demand for that, but everything’s moving more towards the Internet,” Bryant said. “People demand it to be on the Internet because it’s more accessible.”

The process of accessing forms online may become popular with students at the University of Kansas, who will not have to leave their dorm rooms or apartments to register in time to vote.

Damon Lang, Oskaloosa junior, said he thinks it is a good idea and is certain that the system will lead to more registered voters.

“I’m sure it will,” Lang said. “It will make it a lot easier.”

Bryant said he is unsure just how many Kansas counties now offer forms online, but said voter information is now entered onto computerized databases instead of being filed in a catalog system.

“I think there are a number of other counties who have the registration card on the Web site,” Bryant said. “In recent years, everyone has moved to a computerized list.”

Although the online system has been met with success so far, paper forms are still available at many locations in Douglas County, including post offices and the Veteran’s Affairs Office.

Newby said he thinks the system is beneficial for both the public and his office and said that Johnson County has already been processing hundreds of forms each month. He said that the system requires a little extra effort for voters to get the form to the office, but said that it makes it easier for both parties involved.

“It’s really good for everybody,” Newby said. “I’m glad to hear Lawrence is doing it too.”

The Kansas Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program is in its fifth year and going strong.

By Ariel Tilson

On Saturday at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, Karen Pendleton is as busy as the bees that circle her intricate home-grown bouquets.

She barely has time to grab a bottle of water during the rush of customers, but she makes sure to get fresh produce to those who need it the most.

“Seniors know how to cook, so they appreciate the vegetables,” Pendleton says.

Pendleton, along with other farmers involved in the Kansas Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (KSFMNP), takes pains to make sure seniors are eating well. She says the benefits for both her and her customers are well worth the extra effort.

The program is an initiative passed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide low-income seniors with fresh produce. It is designed to promote better nutrition among seniors and to expand the revenue base for local farmers.

According to U.S. Census Bureau results from 2000, seniors 65 years and older comprise 7.2 percent of the Lawrence population, compared with 13.3 percent of the total Kansas population. Not all seniors are eligible for the program, however. Their household income must be below 130 percent of the federal poverty level and already be eligible for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) or Commodity Supplemental Program (CSFP).

Eligible seniors receive 15 checks of $2 each from local helping agencies to exchange for locally grown vegetables and fruit at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market or roadside stands, such as Pendleton's Country Market.

Tamara Tiemann, nutrition and community service manager for the Kansas Department on Aging, said seniors should have no difficulty receiving their checks.

“They get the KSFMNP checks at local helping agencies that administer the Commodity Supplemental Program, such as the Ballard Center, E-KAN or Babcock Center,” Tiemann said.

This year, Tiemann said, the program targeted up to 7,470 eligible seniors in Kansas, with 200 of them in Douglas County alone, compared with the previous years indicated on the graph to the right.

Seniors enrolled in the program give feedback in annual surveys conducted by the Kansas Department on Aging and have mostly good things to say. Some respondents advised better publicity or an advocate program for immobile seniors. Of those who responded that they were enrolled but didn’t use their checks, 39 percent said it was because couldn’t find a ride.

Karen Pendleton says she hasn’t heard many complaints from seniors and that they seem to easily get rides from friends or family. Although her farm isn’t one of the bigger markets to accept checks, she says she receives at least $30 a week in KSFMNP checks. At a recent Saturday Lawrence Farmers’ Market she had already received $10 in checks by 8:30 a.m.

Pendleton values the extra support the program gives to growers’ markets like hers, and because she can’t give cash back when checks are used, she says she always makes sure to stick in an extra tomato or two.

She says the program only has minor glitches, such as the hassle of training online once a year or having to refuse seniors' requests to use checks on anything other than fresh produce. Farmers are also able to give their feedback in the program's annual survey and the majority, like the seniors, have responded positively, as seen on the chart to the left. Of course, Pendleton says she would love to give seniors her freshly made blue corn chips, but they usually understand that she can’t.

“That would be convenient, but we swear that we will follow the rules,” Pendleton says.

Source: Kansas Department on Aging and Graphic by: Ariel Tilson

By: Ashley Leidigh

This summer 40 students joined an educational program at the University of Kansas.

Upward Bound, a federally funded program, encourages high school students to enter post-secondary education. The program helps the students develop the skills that are needed to have a successful college career.

Students work in the classroom five days a week to prepare them for college.
Photo From: University of Kansas

"This is not just a pre-collegiate program that assists high schoolers," said Mica Slappy, Project Coordinator. "The program also provides assistance in financial aid, parent workshops, FASHA workshops, and we have academic advisors that meet with the student once a month to keep them on track to graduate high school and enter college."

The Upward Bound Summer Program at the University of Kansas prepares high school students academically and socially for college. With a number of different classes offered, each student has an opportunity to bring something special to the classroom.

Upward Bound is one of seven programs under the TRIO umbrella.
Photo From: Coenet

The six-week program sparks the student’s curiosity to learn by offering a wide range of courses. Science, Computer Science, Reading, Math, English and career and personal development are available to each student.

The Federal TRIO Programs are an educational opportunity outreach programs designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The US Department of Education states "the program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits."

US Department of Education Funding Status for Upward Bound

Academic enrichment sessions and weekly tutoring sessions are provided to help the student outside the classroom. Although, tutoring sessions are not required, it is highly encouraged. The tutors are current KU students and meet twice a week with their student(s).

The students get to experience what it is like to be away from home and in college during those six weeks. McCollum and Lewis student halls become their home for the time being. The students are responsible to class on time and also manage their time between the social life and study time.

The students come from Lawrence, but also surrounding areas like Topeka and Kansas City. Students have come from a different background, which enables them to offer something to the program that another student cannot.

The diversity in the program adapts the student to the culture he or she may be exposed to in college. Every student learns that beliefs and thoughts are not going to be the same across the board as they grow. Today being able to understand the difference and how to interact is what is most important.

Image Created By: Ashley Leidigh
Information From: Coenet

"All of the students each have their own uniqueness," said Alex Rock, KU student and second year teacher.

After the program is completed, the students return to high school or head to college in the fall. The students and their families seem to find the program beneficial in all aspects, academics or finically.

Next summer, nearly 40 more students will join the program to experience Upward Bound.

by Casey Miles

In an old building on the outskirts of campus, two women meet every Friday afternoon. The small upstairs room they always use is sparsely furnished and decorated. A large round table with a blue top dominates the space, accompanied by two chairs; a map, a small poster and a digital clock provide the only wall decoration.

Armed only with a red pens and a stack of newspapers, the women begin working 30 minutes early. They skim through the papers, marking away, the shuffling of the newsprint interrupted by the occasional chuckle.

Eyes begin to flick toward the clock as it closes on 2 pm. Water cups are filled, and lozenges are unwrapped. The hour strikes, and their program begins with Carole Smith’s voice.

“Good afternoon, and welcome to Newspapers of Central and Western Kansas. Today, Nancy Colyer and I will be reading…”

Nancy Colyer reads from The Salina Journal.
Photo: Casey Miles

Volunteers at Audio-Reader help offer a unique service to the blind and print-disabled in Kansas. The Audio-Reader program broadcasts readings of books, magazines and newspapers across the state. After going through a short audition, the volunteers are scheduled for a weekly reading. Carole Smith and Nancy Colyer both read “Newspapers from Central and Western Kansas” every Friday at 2 pm.

Audio-Reader is run out of the east wing of the Kansas Public Radio building on the University of Kansas campus. It will enter its 37th year of operation on October 7 – the second oldest program of its kind in the United States. It serves around 6,000 residents of Kansas and Western Missouri. The service depends heavily on volunteers, who do the vast majority of the actual reading for the station.

Carole Smith reads a newspaper for Audio-Reader. Smith spends 10-15 minutes reading each paper during the program she shares with Nancy Colyer.
Photo: Casey Miles

Jennifer Nigro, coordinator of volunteers, said that about 350 volunteers contributed their time to Audio-Reader. Most of the volunteers come from the Lawrence area; several drive in every week from Topeka or the Kansas City area. Some volunteers are even able to read from their homes.

Most volunteers come to her to help and work at Audio-Reader, Nigro said. She said that Kansas Public Radio broadcasts a lot of promotions for the Audio-Reader service, so many volunteers probably first heard about the service from KPR. Nigro also said she does a few volunteer fairs every year – her most recent was in the Kansas Union – to attract volunteers to work at the station. She also said that many volunteers learn about Audio-Reader from their “For Your Ears Only” sale – the largest sale of used audio equipment west of the Mississippi, Nigro said.

When volunteers start working at the station, Nigro said, they first have to go through an orientation session. Also, they are required to take a 100-word pronunciation test, and record a section of reading from some of Audio-Reader’s materials. In addition to reading national and local newspapers, the station offers a wide selection of books and magazines. Nigro said that volunteers and the programming manager collaborate to determine what will be read on the air.

Look at Audio-Reader's Programming Schedule:Download PDF

There are a wide variety of magazines, covering subjects from cooking to politics to pornography. Books are varied as well. Many are read by special request of the listeners. Nigro said the most volunteers read books in one hour segments, and that many volunteers could get through approximately 30 pages in an hour. Large books, then, take a long time to read: a volunteer reading Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power by Robert Dallek was going to take well over a year to read the book from cover to cover. Nigro said most of the books the volunteers read had been published within the last two years.

“Our mission is to keep people current,” she said.

When Carole Smith began working at the station around 10 years ago, she started out reading books using Telephone Reader, a service used to pre-record segments so that listeners can dial in using their telephones and listen just like they might on the radio. She said that her current program was nice because by reading with a partner, she didn’t have to read for a solid 2-hour block; instead she and Colyer alternate back and forth between reading different newspapers.

Both Smith and Colyer said they thought that sports readings were some of the most difficult to do, mostly because of the unfamiliar names they had to pronounce.

Smith said that when she started working at Audio-Reader, she came in with a lot of public speaking experience, so reading over the air came naturally for her. Colyer said that she was personally motivated to do well.

“It’s a personal best thing,” she said. “Kind of like a long-distance runner; it’s a one-on-one competition with yourself.”

Nancy Colyer chuckles at something she read while she unwraps a throat lozenge. Behind her is a map of Audio-Reader's broadcasting area.
Photo: Casey Miles

The program that Smith and Colyer read now, “Newspapers of Central and Western Kansas,” reads newspapers as large as The Emporia Gazette to papers as small as the Clay Center Dispatch. When Smith and Colyer get there, they start by looking through the papers they are going to read, and marking the stories that they want to go through. They evenly split up the two-hour block between newspapers – each newspaper typically gets anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes of time.

When they select the stories they will read, they are most concerned about making sure the stories keep a local focus. They will read stories about what’s happening in that town, not about bigger stories – unless they have some local focus. Sometimes they try to describe pictures if they think it might help tell a story or think it might be important to the listeners.

Carole Smith marks up a newspaper before reading. The marks help them find continuation pages, determine what order they will read stories in, and point out anything else of interest while reading.
Photo: Casey Miles

When Smith and Colyer mark their stories, they also have to go through and mark all of the continuations of that story on different pages. Occasionally they hit snags. Their copies of the papers – sometimes a day old – may be missing the continuation pages because someone threw out some pages. This often happens when a page contains mostly ads, Smith said. She said that it makes it difficult while reading if she can’t find the continuation of a story.

“Someone is hanging at home on the end of an article,” she said, “and you’re stuck here trying to find it.”

Continuations are just one of the hurdles Smith and Colyer have to overcome every week. Pronunciation is always an issue – Colyer remembered one instance where she said “saline” (SAY-leen, like saline solution) instead of “Saline” (sa-LEEN, as in Saline County).

“I’m not a native Kansan,” Colyer said, laughing.

Smith and Colyer also said they try hard not to editorialize. They try to avoid hot-button topics unless they have a local focus. If they do read something from the Opinion page or something with a bias, they try to balance it out by reading an opposing opinion. They read the stories just as they are written, without any additions or omissions on their part.

One issue with reading smaller newspapers, they said, was the editing of the papers. Sometimes they would run into something that might trip them up while reading – a subject that doesn’t match its verb, for example, might sound awkward over the air to someone listening and might make the story harder to understand.

Both Smith and Colyer said that they liked their program because they learned a lot about Kansas through the newspapers they read. Colyer said that she could follow stories from week to week and learn more about who was involved in the stories. Smith said she thought listeners valued hearing their local news.

They also said they thought that they Audio-Reader was very important to the people it served. Smith said that at her first volunteer recognition event with Audio-Reader, she had the chance to meet one of the listeners. This woman had just gotten married, and had requested that some of the volunteers read a cookbook she had bought. She wanted to know how to cook, Smith said, and so Audio-Reader helped her make that a possibility.

Nancy Colyer reads for Audio Reader.
Photo: Casey Miles

“You just don’t think about things like that – about how much that can affect someone’s everyday life,” Smith said. “When I read, I try and think about who is listening and how important it might be to them.”

Colyer said she thought Audio-Reader was useful because of the wide set of programs it offered, from grocery ads to national newspapers to technology magazines.

“It’s a comprehensive set of services – not a whole lot of people use it, but for those who do, it’s very important,” she said. “It’s their eyes and ears on the world.”

Horticulture Therapy
by Realle Roth

Libby Best, homemaker, suffers many sleepless nights. She has recently moved to Lawrence and it has taken her awhile to adjust to living in a larger town. One thing that reminds her of home is her garden.

Best has been gardening since her children were little. She has grown tomatoes, beans and cucumbers in her gardens. She has considered volunteering for a school gardening project.

“Gardening is calming for me. It’s like my therapy,” Best said.

Horticulture therapy is not a new thing it is just not well known. A few elementary schools in North Eastern Kansas will be participating in an after-school program called projectPLANTS. The goal of this is project is to promote lifelong activity and nutrition.

Right now four schools, Amanda Arnold Elementary, Frank V. Bergman Elementary, Ogden Elementary and Theodore Roosevelt, are building high-tunnel greenhouses in Ogden and Manhattan. The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. Students will begin participating in the project in September.

Dr. Richard Mattson, Kansas State University professor, said projectPLANTS hopes to emphasize nutrition, exercise and other important issues including economics. He said Riley county has often been identified as one of the poorest counties per capita in the state of Kansas.

“Growing locally produced food can be a significant supplement to limited family budgets in these hard times,” Mattson said.

Dr. Ted Carey, associate professor at KSU, is a vegetable crop specialist and has built a number of high-tunnel greenhouses. He has contributed to the Web site hightunnels.org.

According to the Web site, “Unlike commercial greenhouses that cost up to $20 per square foot to construct, high tunnels can cost as little as $0.50 per square foot.” This makes gardening accessible to people on low budgets. High tunnels are year-round sources for produce because they naturally produce a warm environment.

Patty Zehl, projectPLANTS program manager, is taking applications for volunteers to help out with the new program. The program is looking for people that enjoy kids, gardening, eating fresh fruits and vegetables and being physically active.

Some of the benefits from volunteering in projectPLANTS include having fun, reducing stress and grow lasting friendships in the garden. Training begins in August. Volunteers will be placed in positions that match their skills, interest and availability.

After learning about projectPLANTS, Best said she'd like to apply to volunteer.

"I think it'd be great help kids learn about gardening while getting therapy for myself," Best said.

To apply to help with projectPLANTS send an e-mail to: projectPLANTS@ksu.edu

For more information about high tunnels go to www.tunnelbuzz.com

Illustration: Becka Cremer

High fuel and food prices have hurt hog farmers when they go to market.

Early rain led to late planting. Late planting led poor crop yields. Poor crop yields led to higher grain prices. And, it's those high prices that have Larry Sorrell worried.

Larry Sorrell
Photo: Becka Cremer

"You see ups and downs all the time," Sorrell said. "That's what you need to remember. In the 50 years I've been raising hogs, though, this is the worst."

With fuel and grain prices high, Sorrell, like most hog farmers, is just hoping to break even. Profit, he said, will have to wait.

High input costs are threatening farms like Sorrell's. Though grain prices are falling some, experts say they will remain higher than usual. If hog farmers are to survive the current market, they have to change their approach and hold out for a drastic change.

Corn, milo (grain sorghum) and soybean meal are the main ingredients in a hog's diet, said Mike Tokach, Kansas State University swine specialist and professor of Animal Sciences and Industry. The ingredients to feed a pig have all increased to more than double the normal price — from about $50 per pig to about $100 for the same pig, Tokach said. This means that feed, which is normally about 55 percent to 60 percent of what it costs to raise a pig, is now about 75 percent to 80 percent of the cost to raise a pig, he said.

Crop prices are high this year because yields are expected to be low. Heavy rains and flooding, especially along the Mississippi River, delayed planting in the spring, said Mike Woolverton, Extension Grain Economist and professor of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. However, farmers expecting a weak yield planted about 1.3 million more acres of corn than the 86 million acres the USDA originally estimated.

"The question now is, 'Is it a good crop?'" Woolverton said. "It was planted late, in compacted soil, and the rain leached out fertilizer before it was planted."

Woolverton said the corn price has backed off in the past few weeks. It has dropped from about $7.50 a bushel to about $6.50 a bushel. However, Tokach said, this is well above historical prices of $2.50 or $3 a bushel.

"In the past few weeks, we've had nearly ideal conditions for growing corn: periodic rain, mild temperatures, high humidity — which corn loves," Tokach said. "What farmers need now are continued periodic rains."

The USDA has raised estimates for the corn crop yield, and, Woolverton said, the USDA will probably raise estimates again in the next report, which will be released mid-August.

"This is still below the trend line — below normal — because of late planting," Woolverton said, "but it's looking better for livestock farmers."

Until grain prices return to near-historical levels, hog producers are looking for alternative options.

A red wattle piglet.
Photo courtesy of Kansas Heritage Meats

Tokach said distillers grain, a byproduct of ethanol production, is one viable option. Distillers grain has increased in price, but not as much as other grains, he said. Farmers are also looking at ways to increase efficiency by changing the grain delivery systems so less is wasted. Breeding hogs that are genetically predisposed to be leaner and grinding grain into smaller sizes so it can be digested more efficiently are other techniques Tokach said are being employed.

Sorrell said his farm has cut back on the sow herd and is delivering meat less frequently to cut costs. This will work for a while, he said, but eventually the small herd will also mean less money coming in.

Neither Tokach — the swine specialist — nor Woolverton — the grain specialist, has encouraging words for livestock farmers like Sorrell.

"We don't expect corn prices to come back down to historical averages, and we don't expect this to be a short term problem," Tokach said.

Eventually, though, pork prices in the grocery stores will go up, which will put some producers out of business. This will reduce the amount of pork available so prices will go up and the remaining farmers may be able to make a profit, he said.

Woolverton said breaking even, or at least staying open, until prices change is the key.

"The situation is: Can they last long enough, stay in business long enough, for it to become profitable again?" Woolverton said. "They are bleeding money with grain prices so high. It's two early to tell about this crop, but at least we're moving in the right direction."

by Zach White

LAWRENCE, Kan.--

    From the time that Jo Shmo’s, 724 Massachusetts Street, opened it has taken pride in its unusual entertainment options with its slogan “Burgers Beer Bocce.” Yet it offers another diversion that remains stranger still among local bars. The restaurant and bar allows its patrons to play a Nintendo Wii, on which customers have to option to play a simple bowling game or the recent musical gaming sensation, Guitar Hero. And other businesses are beginning to offer similar options.

    Yet the growing interest in bringing what have traditionally been personal gaming experiences to the public should not be chalked up to some kind of foresight or marketing skill on the part of Jo Shmo’s. Rather the phenomenon is more the product of generational shifts.

    Video games became a tremendous cultural force, primarily for youth, more than 20 years ago. As such, the people raised being entertained by this industry has now reached the drinking age, or more technically, become a very important customer base for businesses like Jo Shmo’s, businesses like the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire Street.

    The Bottleneck has recently begun holding a regular video gaming night on Monday nights. They have multiple video game consoles set up in different parts of the bar, and invite patrons to engage in computerized competition with each other, while they have a DJ play music for the whole event.
     For the past month that DJ has been Sean Wilson, a radio DJ for student radio station KJHK and video game enthusiast. Wilson believes that this idea is a most interesting one.

     “It actually caught my attention, and I talked to the curators of this event about how neat it was. And then I got involved and became a DJ and then started bringing in video games myself. “ Wilson explained, “I think its neat because it’s something you don’t really see everywhere, but at the same time its nostalgic, because people remember going to arcades, playing games in an arena, where other people get to see how good you are at video games.”

     Bert McCormack, general manager of Jo Shmo’s, has made similar observations in his gaming bar.

     “Sometimes people will come in to play Guitar Hero and you’ll hear the same song a couple of times, because they’ll compete with each other to see who can do it the best,” McCormack said, “Sometimes they’ll make a game out of it. Like, the loser has to buy the next round of beers or something. And sometimes when we have a lot of people out here at night, one group will be playing, and then people will start asking if they can play, and it ends up in a sort of round robin tournament.”

     He also mentioned that Jo Shmo’s was planning on purchasing a copy of the more ambitious musical game Rock Band, which has multiple guitars, drums and a microphone for a singer, all combining into one extremely glorified karaoke machine.

     Where they considered, other bars across the country have purchased the game. In fact commercial interest in the game has been so great that the manufacturers of Rock Band have released a multi-thousand dollar expansion set that adds amplifiers, lasers and smoke machines to the setup.
The entertainment seekers of Lawrence seem to be content with just the one guitar, as multiple businesses have attempted to use the game to draw people. The Applebee’s restaurant on Iowa Street has held at least one Guitar Hero tournament.

    The University of Kansas has held numerous tournaments for Guitar Hero and other popular games in both the Kansas Union and the dormitories. Some of which actually yield cash prizes.

    Although the University’s objective is to deter drinking the opposite is mostly true of the others.

    As Sean Wilson put it:

“People love playing games when their drunk, and video games kind of the top factor as far as nostalgia goes.”

Challenging the Cash Cow
Switch to grass-fed beef a painful lesson in economics

by Lauren Keith

The evils of economics have ensured a steady supply of grain-fed beef in the United States through corn subsidies and a seemingly insatiable appetite for hamburgers, even though grain prices have increased. However, some farmers have seen the benefit — but unfortunately, usually not monetarily — of keeping cattle grass fed their entire lives.

What their meat munched on is still consumers' choice, but what are cattle really eating? (Click to view facts.)

Thanks to federal corn subsidies, the price of corn is about 75 cents less than the cost to grow it. Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” writes that because of this, the U.S. Department of Agriculture helps farmers easily dispose of their surplus corn by having animals convert as much of it as possible into protein for people to eat.

Grass-fed calves don’t usually need antibiotics, but after switching to a diet of corn, Pollan said they become prone to sickness.

“The shift to a ‘hot ration’ of grain can so disturb the cow’s digestive process that it can kill the animal if not managed carefully and accompanied by antibiotics,” Pollan writes in his article “Power Steer.”

But as demand for beef grew after World War II, the then-fledgling beef industry found a powerful tool in corn.

“Compared with grass or hay, corn is a compact and portable foodstuff, making it possible to feed tens of thousands of animals on small plots of land,” Pollan writes. “Without cheap corn, the modern urbanization of livestock would probably never have occurred.”

And neither would have McDonald’s.

“Farmers would optimize grass production to sell cattle at the end of the fall,” Larry Hollis, who specializes in cattle health at Kansas State University, said. “That used to be the way it was sold in the olden days, but that’s not how McDonald’s operates. They sell hamburgers 365 days a year.”

Local farmer Joyce Williams raises grass-fed cattle, but, at first, not because she saw the potential negative effects on the cattle.

“We have never fed them grain because we never realized that they needed it,” Williams said. “The cattle looked healthy and tasted good, so why did they need grain?”

Williams, co-owner of MJ Ranch in Lawrence, said the business has never made a lot of money from its grass-fed beef.

“The market is all about dollar signs,” Williams said, “but it’s not the right thing to do for the animals.”

Most cattle start their lives in the field, but some must later eat grain, causing some health problems for cattle but ensuring a steady supply of beef. Photo by Bryan Dykman.

However, market demands have changed, and more consumers look for grass-fed beef.

MJ Ranch has already sold out of its grass-fed beef for the year, the first time this has happened this early in the season.

Hollis estimated about 5 percent of cattle consumed in the United States were entirely grass fed, but said this niche market is developing.

Williams said the ranch has had a lot of visitors.

“People come to us and see that what we’re doing is what we say we are doing,” she said.

However, for some farmers, the cost of having more land for grass-fed is far more expensive than spending more money on pricier feed.

“You have to own a lot of grass or buy a lot of feed,” Hollis said. “Feed cost is extremely high, and it has affected the price of owning grazing land. This is driving up the price of grass-fed cattle because we are growing less corn.”

In the end, it boils down to an economic showdown, but the consumer seems to gradually be accepting a cow like No. 68 that is slower grown but more naturally raised.

Most cattle start as grass fed, even if they end up as grain fed.

“The grain gives the cattle the extra energy they need in the winter,” Preston said. “But they get good grass all through the summer.”