History

For thirty-five years the name Kerr has been associated with progressive ideas in agriculture. Robert S. Kerr was Oklahoma's first native-born governor, a wealthy oilman, and eventually a powerful U.S. senator. However he never forgot the lessons of land stewardship he learned as a boy growing up on a small farm. Enchanted with the beauty of southeastern Oklahoma, Senator Kerr came to Le Flore County in the 1950s. He built what was to be his retirement home and established a ranch and prize herd of registered Angus.

Senator Kerr believed strongly in the promise of Oklahoma, and that it was possible to heal her land and conserve her natural resources. After he died suddenly in 1963, his wife and children established a private non-profit foundation in his name to engage in scientific, educational, and charitable activities.

The Agricultural Division-1965-1985

In line with this purpose, the Agricultural Division of the Kerr Foundation was established to provide farmers and ranchers in the area with free technical assistance and information on how to improve their operations. Wise stewardship was emphasized.

The "ag division" was headquartered on Senator Kerr's ranch, and its focus was largely on cattle. The organization led a hard fought local (later national)educational campaign against brucellosis, a serious cattle disease. Before long, the foundation gained a reputation as a source of honest, reliable, science-based information. (Oklahoma was certified brucellosis free in 2001 and Kerr Center was honored for its part in this victory).

The Kerr Center-1986-1996

In the mid-80s, foundation trustees recognized that Oklahoma agriculture was in crisis. Environmental and financial problems on the farm needed to be addressed with fresh ideas that emphasized long-term solutions. So in the best Oklahoma pioneering tradition, the organization made a fresh start, reorganizing as the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

The Center runs on the earnings from its own endowment, grants, and donations. (It has no connection with the energy company co-founded by Senator Kerr, the Kerr-McGee Corporation.)

By adding the word "sustainable" to the organizational name, the Kerr Center joined the search that is going on worldwide for new farming practices and better marketing and food distribution structures. A sustainable agriculture will preserve our natural resources, protect our natural environment, and improve the quality of life for farmers and ranchers. The result will be strong, resilient rural communities that will be a source of strength for the nation as a whole. (Read the Kerr Center vision statement, mission, and core values).

The Center continued to do a variety of educational activities during its first years, including hosting field days and tours, producing a newsletter, and continuing the brucellosis campaign. The center of operations continued to be the ranch south of Poteau. However in 1986, the Vero Beach Research Station (now the independent Florida Center for Agricultural Sustainability) was established in Florida, to work with citrus, and in 1990 the Kerr Angus Ranch was established near Coyle, Oklahoma, to work with livestock.

The emphasis was on research and demonstration projects. After all, how could specialists advise farmers about how to make their farms sustainable if they hadn't done it themselves? Some projects included multispecies grazing with sheep, cows, and goats, trials of berries and other horticultural crops, weed control with geese, crossing-breeding cattle for the hardiest, most efficient cattle on grass, Neem oil and biopesticides for citrus, use of draft horses, production of alternative crops such as shiitake mushrooms, sweet sorghum, and Christmas trees. Field Days were held periodically and a series of Progress Reports, describing the center’s projects, were published.

In 1989, a group of farm managers, ranch workers, and researchers headed by Kerr Center president Horne collaborated on guidelines for evaluating both the economic and ecological sustainability of the Center's projects. The creation of this canon of concerns was certainly a first in Oklahoma and was a significant contribution to the national debate on just how to make farms and ranches sustainable. (Read about the steps to a sustainable agriculture.)

Horne's activities have helped keep the Kerr Center in the forefront of the sustainable agriculture movement. He was part of a small group that testified before Congress on behalf of what would become the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. He then served as head of the administrative council for SARE's southern region for two terms, a voluntary position. Horne also served on the sustainable agriculture task force of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development.

In 1991 the Kerr Center opened the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm. Located ten miles south of Sallisaw, Oklahoma (home of John Steinbeck’s Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath), the restored 1895 home and farm showcases farm life and agricultural practices before World War II. The farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Visitors may tour the restored 14-room home, original farm buildings and the display of antique farm equipment. They may also view heritage breeds of livestock and poultry, heirloom variety fruit trees, as well as walk the nature trail or picnic under the trees. The farm offers a variety of one-day hands-on workshops for adults and schoolchildren, as well as the annual Fall Farm-Fest on the second weekend of October.

New Directions: 1996-Present

Rural Development and Public Policy
In 1996, the Sustainable Rural Development and Public Policy program was established to assist rural citizens and decision makers. In establishing the policy program, the Kerr Center began to expand its educational programs both geographically and conceptually.

The program has prepared and distributed information on issues such as the impact of CAFOs, biotechnology/biodiversity, farmland preservation, fair, competitive markets, and food policy. It has also sponsored educational events in tandem with the Rural Community Care Task Force of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, and with the American Farmland Trust and the Trust for Public Land.

In 2001 Jim Horne was name co-chairperson of the Oklahoma Food Policy Advisory Council by Oklahoma Department of Agriculture secretary Dennis Howard. The council is comprised of a diverse array of Oklahomans. Its first project addressed improving nutrition in our schools and creating opportunities for farmers through a farm-to-school program.

Oklahoma Producer Grants
In 1998, the Oklahoma Producer Grant Program was created to offer Oklahoma farmers and ranchers grants for researching or demonstrating innovative farming practices. The program awards grants to farmers and ranchers in every part of the state. Projects have addressed many areas important to a sustainable agriculture, including improving water quality, trying innovative marketing strategies, organic farming practices, and new adapted crops for Oklahoma. The program also involves ag specialists from Extension, NRCS and other non-profit organizations in the state.

For its efforts in helping Oklahoma producers improve the quality of our natural environment, the program received an Award of Excellence in 2000 from the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful organization.

Stewardship Farm and Ranch
Also in 1998, the Kerr Ranch was re-christened the Stewardship Ranch. Conserving natural resources with an emphasis on clean water, is a major focus on the Ranch. To that end, specialists are implementing a number of "best management" or conservation practices. Developing buffer strips along waterways is one such project. Upgrading habitat to benefit waterfowl and fish, instituting cell grazing, building limited access watering points and freeze-proof watering tanks, and building a stabilized stream crossing (the first in Oklahoma) are other efforts.

The Stewardship Ranch won a prestigious Merit Award at the 2000 national meeting of the Soil and Water Conservation Society for its conservation efforts.

The Horticulture Farm is another part of the Stewardship Ranch. The vegetable garden is certified organic by the state of Oklahoma. New and old varieties blackberries, table grapes, Muscadine grapes and blueberries are also being tested at the farm.

Communications/Education
The business of the Kerr Center is education. The Communications program is responsible for disseminating information about issues in sustainable agriculture and food policy, as well as Kerr Center events and programs.

The Kerr Center accomplishes this through both the spoken and the written word. Publications are available on line or though our office (many are free of charge). These include Field Notes, the Kerr Center newsletter, reports, facts sheets, brochures and information packets.

The guidelines formulated in the late ‘80s to evaluate the sustainability of the center’s projects form the basis of the book by Kerr Center president Jim Horne and Communications Director Maura McDermott,

The Next Green Revolution: Essential Steps to a Sustainable Agriculture, published in 2001 by Haworth/Food Products Press.) Written to appeal to a broad audience, he book has been called a must- read for anyone involved in agriculture, students, policy makers, indeed anyone interested in their food and the future of agriculture.

The Kerr Center also sponsors and organizes educational events such as workshops, short courses and conferences. Major conferences have included the Oklahoma Rural Development Conference in 1997, Future Farms 2000: New Ideas for Family Farms and Rural Communities, Bringing in the Sheaves: A Symposium on Hunger, Farming, and the Fairness o f American Food System, and Future Farms 2002: A Supermarket of Ideas. These events have featured some of the most interesting and innovative people involved in sustainable agriculture and food policy from around the country.

The Kerr Center was honored for its educational efforts by the Oklahoma Sierra Club in 2002. The center also cooperates with many other organizations in the state including the Oklahoma Sustainability Network, Oklahoma Farmers Union, the Oklahoma Farmers’ Market Alliance, Oklahoma Agriculture Mediation Center, and the Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance.

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