Tanner Colvin

Simone Elder, Executive Director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, is working to preserve and sustain rural Kansas culture while helping communities recognize their strengths and build a future of their own. A lifelong advocate for rural communities, Simone brings years of experience in economic development, entrepreneurship, and community building to her work across the state.

Hurricane Polo began thousands of miles away in the Pacific, but its journey eventually brought tropical moisture, torrential rain and tornadoes to Kansas. On September 30, 15 tornadoes were reported across central Kansas as Polo’s remnants helped create an unusual and active day of severe weather.

For 50 years, The Land Institute has been imagining a different future for agriculture—one built around perennial crops, healthier soil and more sustainable ways of feeding a growing population. At this year’s Prairie Festival, researchers, farmers, artists and visitors gathered in Salina to celebrate five decades of work and explore what the next 50 years might look like.