COLBY -- Rhonda Janke will be the first speaker of the school year hosted by the Max Pickerill Lecture Series at Colby Community College. Her lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Northwest Kansas Cultural Arts Center.

Janke has more than 25 years experience in sustainable agriculture research and Extension work in sustainable cropping systems.

A graduate of Cornell University, she worked at the Rodale Institute for eight years, overseeing cropping experiments and later as a research director. She is teaching sustainable and organic agriculture at Kansas State University.

Janke and her husband also have a 10-acre organic farm near Wamego where they raise and sell lamb, wool, eggs, vegetables and fruit crops. Her professional interests combined with her personal interest in farming motivated her to write the book "Farming in the Dark."

Being a small, part-time farmer coming home to feed the sheep after the sun had gone down, and realizing that many of her farming neighbors were doing the same thing inspired the title of the book. However, she believes there are many other issues that are being kept "in the dark," such as the systematic problems with a farm bill that subsidizes some crops and not others, and farmers being used simply as a pass-through for subsidies. She believes farmers do not really gain by the current farm policy.

"Energy issues will play a bigger role in the future of agriculture and are another area that we'll all be 'in the dark' about soon if we are not motivated to a more proactive approach," Janke said.

Interviews with fellow farmers are published verbatim in the book. An introduction and conclusion written by Janke helps the reader understand efforts to create a more sustainable agriculture.

Janke's book will be available to purchase at an informal reception following the lecture.

There is no charge to attend. The Max Pickerill Lecture Series is funded annually by anonymous donors.

For more information contact Linda Davis-Stephens at (785) 460-5528.