Harold and Olympia Lonsinger Sustainability Farm

Overview

Harold Lonsinger initiated his donation of 2300 acres of farmland to the College of Agriculture through the K-State Foundation in September of 2017. Mr. Lonsinger’s vision was to institute a model for teaching and learning the best ways to grow food while preserving the health of the land for years to come. Research on the farm addresses water and nutrient management, wildlife conservation and habitat preservation, control encroachment of woody species, effect of added water sources on grazing distribution, and building integrated sustainability management systems while focusing on restorative and regenerative agricultural practices for both crop and livestock production systems.

We are dedicated to Mr. Lonsinger’s interest in growing food while maintaining soil health and producing crops and livestock in concert with protecting the environment. The farm helps train undergraduate and graduate students and addresses continuing education through Extension programs for producers and outreach to K-12 students about sustainable agriculture.

Day-to-day management of the facility is through the K-State Agricultural Research Center - Hays.

Acknowledgment

Kansas State University and the College of Agriculture are grateful for this generous gift and the opportunity to use it as a keystone in integrating crop and livestock in sustainable agriculture systems. We are grateful to the Lonsingers for their vision to develop a site where methods for production agriculture and environmental concerns can be studied side-by-side and proven complementary.

In the News

Harold Lonsinger and his wife, Olympia, originally purchased a small farm 30 miles east of Alton, Kansas, eventually expanding it to 2300 acres. In 2017, Harold initiated a process to donate the land to Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture to study ways to raise food sustainably. Read the full story at the K-State Research and Extension News.

Facilities / Land Resources

This station comprises approximately 2,300 acres in extreme northwest Osborne County near the Smith and Rooks County lines. The headquarters for the station lies 3 miles north and three miles west of Alton, KS. The land includes cropland (~1500 acres) and rangeland (~700 acres). The research facilities at the Lonsinger Farm consist of 5 buildings and land used for cropping and livestock research and education.

Class	Owned	Leased	Total
Cropland	1300	0	1300
Rangeland	900	0	900
B-R-W <1>	100	0	100
Acres	1300	0	1300
<1> B-R-W=Buildings, Roads, Waterways

Ongoing Research

As research is initiated, we will share those stories here. Current efforts:

• Podcat - K-State Research Facility at Lonsinger Farms
• Insects and indicators
• Wildlife abounds
• Regenerating the soil
• Sustainable beef

 

Improvements

 

Building, Roads, and Infrastructure

• Built a new entrance west of the main headquarters.
• Established a new entrance road to the primary buildings.
• Renovated and repaired all roofs, sidewalls, and doors of buildings.
• Add electricity, lighting, and internet to all buildings.
• Clean up the property and buildings.
• Tree removal adjacent to the buildings.
• Rock the yard area of the headquarters
• Expand Rural Water to all buildings

Rangeland

• Assess and repair perimeter fences.
• Addressing musk thistle control and other invasive species
• Develop a large-scale plan that will incorporate grassland and cropland for sustainable grazing studies. Including fencing in cropland.
• Assess pasture conditions, internal fencing, corrals, waterers, and ponds.
• Adding winter waterers so cropland grazing is feasible during winter months
• Establishment of avian reference points.
• Documentation of grass and forb species composition.
• Survey of wildlife present.
• Creation of permanent photo-point references.
• Survey of insects present on rangeland.

Cropland

• Purchased a used combine, disk, skid steers, and other equipment for research/farming purposes.
• Planted a baseline crop of corn on two fields this past season.
• Soil sampled the property to assess future research plans.