Friday, May 5, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Farm family finds local market for produce
by Cindy Mathews
by Cindy Mathews Special to the Kansan
A train blows its whistle as it rolls by Bob and Bernice Nehrbass neat front yard garden, parallel to Highway 24. On its way toward Lawrence, the train passes a billboard that claims, "One Kansas farmer feeds 92 people and you!"
After an afternoon of cultivating his corn field, Bob Nehrbass lights a cigarette.
Steve Traynor/KANSAN
Wholesaler buy about half of the family's marketable produce. Another 35 percent is sold from the Lazy Acres Market, a small white shed outside the Nehrbasses' back door.
Bob Nehrbass is one of those Kansas farmers. He and his wife make their living supplying Lawrence and Topeka restaurants, grocery stores and homes with fresh fruit and vegetables.
Although last summer's drought raised concern worldwide, Bob Nehrbass said he wasn't bothered by it. He remembers dry years.
"For me, the drought of 80 was worse. We were places that we didn't get nothing in tat year." Nehrbass said. "The drought went clear to Illinois, and those guys didn't know what a Kansas drought was because they ordinarily have rain."
"Where we could get water, we did pretty good. You've got to take your priorities," he said. Strawberries, his biggest crop, were a high water priority last summer.
He said the crops he grew could survive a dry summer better than those of a farmer who depended on one large wheat or corn crop.
But his other crops fared well, allowing Nehrbass to do better financially than some other farmers.
Still, he lost about half of last year's crops of sweet corn, squash, pumpkins and watermelon. He estimated his losses to be about $10 million.
Strawberries are a big part of his business. Customers pick their own berries or pay a little extra and let Nehrbass and his farm hand do the picking. Strawberries take 14 months of nurtured growth; the vines are picked bare in one month.
big enough to cover the whole patch. You're kind of left to the mercy of God," Nehrbass said.
"Our irrigation system wasn't
Despite recent rain, Kansas remains below average in precipitation. This year Lawrence has received 6.88 inches of rain, which is 1.54 inches below normal according to the RU Weather Service.
Rainfall in Lawrence last summer was 6.08 inches, which was 7.8 inches below normal, according to the weather service.
Rainfall during summer 1980 was about $3 \frac{1}{2}$ inches below normal, and temperatures were above normal, said James Hayes, weather service specialist at the Weather Service in Topeka.
Although last summer's average temperatures were not as high as those in 1980, Lawrence received almost 8 inches less rain than in
Thirty years of farming grains near Osakaksa owlhead Thnegrbass the high price an unusually hot and dry year could exact on crops.
"We bought too much land, the price of grain fell, insurance rates went up, and we went broke so we threw in the towel," Nehrbass
He moved across Jefferson County, going from a 1,700-acre farm to his present 90-acre farm near Perry. He said that he was learning how to grow produce but that it was a lot of work for him with hands and knees than to harvest wheat atop a John Deere combine moving 5 mph.
The Downtown Lawrence Farmers' Market is one outlet for the Nebharras' produce, which includes asaparagus, spinach, radishes, rhubarb, cabbage, eggplant and other salad specialties.
The market has been in Lawrence for about 14 years, said Kala Patterson, farmers' market manager. This year it will open Nov. 11 in the parking lot southeast of 10th and Vermont streets.
Jennifer Benorden, Hutchinson sophomore, likes having a fresh vegetable option.
"I like the farmers' market because the vegetables are fresh and taste better," she said. "The
tomatoes don't taste waxy, and they're not as coated with chemicals and dye as those in the store. Plus, I like the idea that I'm not feeding into the Dillon's monopoly."
Nehrbass expects his business to do all right this summer, and he hopes it will improve as word gets around about Lazy Acres Market. Most of his customers live nearby in Perry, and others make the 20-minute drive from Lawrence for fresh produce.
The farmers' market will be open Tuesday nights this year, and Nehrbass said he expected it would take a while to get established. But he will be there in a stall alongside 64 other stalls full of fresh, Kansas-grown produce and homemade baked goods.
Bernice Nehrbass tends the Lazy Acres Market on those days, and the market manages to sell most of its produce.
At least for this year, Bob Nehrbass has survived the drought.
"Well, we're still here," he said.
Farm hand Carlos Orozzo, a migrant worker from Durango, Mexico, picks spinach from one of Nehrbands' fields.
Via satellite, sports agent to speak here
by Mary Neubauer Kansan staff writer
A gong-screen television in the Kansas Union Ballroom will be the only place today in Lawrence where people can watch a live teleconference with the man Sports Illustrated with the most powerful man in sports."
Mark McCormack, author of "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School," is founder of the International Management Group, a prominent firm in the representation of sports celebrities.
He will discuss such topics as the philosophy of management, the way to attend and run a meeting, the importance of communication, the agreement and the secret life of a deal.
McCormack began his career by representing then-unknown golfer Arnold Palmer.
The School of Business and five Lawrence companies are sponsoring the teleconference.
Charlene Tilford, program assistant for the business management program, said that the University of Kansas became involved with teleconferences through Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. In November, KU broadcast a teleconference with author Tom Peters.
Subscribers pay a fee to Old Dominion University and "tap into" teleconferences, Tillard said. McCorvay's conference costs subscribers $1,000.
Lawrence corporate sponsors are Columbia Savings, whose main office is at 901 Vermont St.; FMC Corporation, Ninth and Maple streets; Hall-Kimbrell Environmental Services, 4840 W. 15th Street, Laird-Noller Motors, 23rd and Alabama streets; and Paster Plastics, 2330 Packer Road
Lindsay Olsen, senior vice president at Columbia Savings, said that Joe Ritez, associate dean for external affairs, called him and asked Columbia Savings to help sponsor the institute. He said that his institution would pay $250.
"We just want to help the University bring the teleconference in," he said. "I attended the Tom Peters broadcast and thought it was a good program. The people there got a lot out of it."
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