Rick McNary

Rick McNary

Rick McNary became intensely aware of hunger on a mission trip to Nicaragua when a starving girl asked him to feed her. He dedicated himself to fighting world hunger and recruiting volunteers to help. He is also a fan of farmers and understands that to combat world hunger we must all work together.  

  • Connor Peirce in canola field

    Meet the Peirce family

    By Rick McNary on June 27, 2017

    From the time they were small, Connor and Hayden Peirce have risen early each morning to help their mom, Jeanne, and dad, Cameron, on their family farm. Cameron and Jeanne Peirce are the fifth...

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  • crop dusting plane over a field

    Calling the crop doctor

    By Rick McNary on May 25, 2017

    Did you know that you can plant turnips from an airplane? According to Ken Bixenman, owner of Great Plains Aerial Spraying of Colby, planting turnip seeds is one of the many uses of his specially...

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  • lamborn barn repaired

    A Beautiful Barn (re)Born

    By Rick McNary on May 12, 2017

    Have you ever wondered what a barn would say if it could talk? Imagine the tales it would tell after being around for 140 years. The Lamborn Barn in Leavenworth could tell some stories, and one...

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  • Fighting Fire

    Fighting Fire

    By Rick McNary on May 8, 2017

    D ennis Ricke scans the Gypsum Hills near Medicine Lodge for smoke each day, a ritual he has performed for more than three decades. As a farmer and a volunteer firefighter, even the sight of smoke 18...

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  • Joe and Kim Mertz

    A Farm Family's Story

    By Rick McNary on March 29, 2017

    Joe Mertz couldn’t help but notice the three female college students attending Kansas State University move in the dilapidated house near his family’s farm. The year was 1978. One of those three...

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  • wildfire

    How you can help with fire relief

    By Rick McNary on March 13, 2017

    I recently traveled the area affected by the Anderson Creek Fire of 2016 with Dennis Ricke – a local farmer/rancher/volunteer firefighter so I could write Neighbor Helping Neighbor. A year after the...

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  • Dennis Ricke

    Neighbor helping neighbor

    By Rick McNary on February 24, 2017

    Dennis Ricke scans the Gyp Hills near Medicine Lodge for smoke each day like he has for more than three decades. As a farmer and a volunteer firefighter, even the sight of smoke 18 miles away causes...

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  • Griggs Family Farm

    A Business of His Own

    By Rick McNary on February 3, 2017

     The Griggs Brothers Farm in Augusta began after two middle-school boys, Talon and Colter Griggs, came home from school with questions about capitalism. “I explained the basics of capitalism and...

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  • Michael and Christy Springer

    Growing a family and piggies

    By Rick McNary on January 6, 2017

    If you ask Christy Springer whether she refers to them as pigs or hogs, her answer is simple: bacon. “I’m writing a cookbook: I Married a Hog Farmer; Now What the Heck do I do With all This Pork?”...

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  • cotton boll

    Growing cotton in Kansas

    By Rick McNary on November 21, 2016

    Kent Goyen smiles as he gazes over his field of snow-white cotton framed against a navy-blue sky. Like a proud parent cheering on a child crossing the finish line, he applauds the crop he loves.  “...

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