How much a year do the American taxpayers pay farmers in Kansas in subsidies to farm or not to farm?

Around $1–1.5 billion per year in recent years (e.g., ~$1.2 billion in 2024), though it fluctuates significantly with crop prices, disasters, trade issues, and policy changes—sometimes spiking much higher.

This covers direct government payments to Kansas farmers and ranchers via USDA programs, including commodity subsidies (e.g., Price Loss Coverage/PLC, Agricultural Risk Coverage/ARC), crop insurance premium subsidies, conservation payments (e.g., CRP), disaster aid, and ad hoc programs. It includes payments "to farm or not to farm" (e.g., conservation set-asides or deficiency payments when markets are weak).

Key Context and Figures

• Long-term average (1995–2025): Kansas received roughly $33.97 billion total in subsidies (~$1.1 billion/year average over ~31 years). Kansas ranks 4th nationally.
• Recent/2024: ~$1.2 billion paid to ~36,570 recipients.
• 2025 projections: Significantly higher (~$2.7–2.8 billion in direct government payments), driven by supplemental disaster aid, market loss payments, and programs like the Farmer Bridge Assistance to offset low prices/weather impacts. This boosted projected net farm income sharply.

Nationally, farm subsidies (commodity + crop insurance subsidies + etc.) have averaged in the $10–30+ billion range annually in recent decades, with big swings (e.g., trade war/disaster aid spikes). Kansas, a major wheat/corn/sorghum/cattle state, consistently gets a large share.

Important Notes

• Concentration: Payments heavily favor larger operations. Over two decades, the top 10% of Kansas recipients got the vast majority (~75%+ in some analyses). Many smaller farms get little or nothing.
• "Not to farm": Includes Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments for idling land, plus counter-cyclical/deficiency-style payments when prices are low.
• Crop insurance: A major component—taxpayers subsidize ~60%+ of premiums on average. Indemnities (payouts) add more in bad years.
• Variability: Payments surge with low commodity prices, droughts, trade disruptions, or new legislation (e.g., farm bills, emergency aid). They drop in strong market years.
• Sources: Primarily USDA data tracked by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Farm Subsidy Database, USDA ERS farm income reports, and state ag analyses. Exact annual totals can vary slightly by what’s included (e.g., loans vs. grants, timing of disbursements).

For the most current or county-specific breakdowns, check the EWG Farm Subsidy Database or USDA ERS resources. These programs aim to stabilize farm income and food production but are often debated for cost, equity, and market distortion.

What’s in it for us?

Salt Lick Success in Reno County… While Topeka Gets Stuck Holding the Bag on Lauren’s Bay

By Henry McClure July 12, 2026

There’s a big story unfolding out in Reno County right now that every Topeka taxpayer and elected official should be watching closely.

Jim Klausman — the same Topeka-based developer who has left a trail of unpaid taxes and special assessments across Lauren’s Bay — is pouring tens of millions of dollars into an $80 million, 45-hole destination golf and hunting resort east of Hutchinson called Salt Lick Golf & Hunting Resort. He’s already invested nearly $45 million of private capital, secured a STAR Bond district, industrial revenue bonds with a 10-year property tax abatement, community improvement districts, and is seeking roughly $26 million in STAR Bond financing. Construction is underway. The first championship course is targeting a 2027 soft opening. Full resort operations are aimed for late 2028.

Impressive. Ambitious. Exactly the kind of private-led, high-impact tourism project Kansas needs.

But here’s the part that should make every Topeka resident sit up straight:

While Klausman is out there developing a multi-phase, world-class resort on 620 acres of sand dunes near Prairie Dunes — and lining up millions in public incentives from Reno County and the State of Kansas — his companies still own more than 100 lots in Topeka’s Lauren’s Bay subdivision (near SW 47th and Wanamaker) that collectively carried nearly $7.9 million in unpaid back taxes, special assessments, and delinquent fees as of late 2025.

Shawnee County had to file a lawsuit in September 2025 against Klausman and others seeking to collect millions on roughly 86 properties he controls. City records and reporting showed his entities accounted for the vast majority — more than 84% — of the unpaid obligations in that failed subdivision.

The City of Topeka, for its part, negotiated a heavily discounted settlement on just 15–16 of those lots: Klausman agreed to pay $525,333 ($2.25 per square foot) instead of the full past and future special assessments that would have totaled nearly $961,000 on those parcels alone. The city then layered on Community Improvement District and Reinvestment Housing Incentive District tools to help him restructure and move forward on a small slice of the problem.

Meanwhile, the rest of the mess largely sat. And when he came back asking for still more incentives on additional Lauren’s Bay lots, the City Council rightly balked and eventually saw the request pulled.

So let’s ask the obvious question: What’s in it for Topeka?

Klausman has shown he can raise and deploy tens of millions for a splashy project 100+ miles away in Reno County. He has shown he can navigate the STAR Bond process, work with architects of national reputation, and deliver a destination asset that will generate new sales tax and visitor spending for someone else.

But when it comes to cleaning up the long-standing financial hole he and others left in southwest Topeka — vacant lots, unpaid specials that burden the rest of us, delayed housing production in a city that desperately needs it — the pattern has been delay, discount, and more requests for public help.

That is not partnership. That is not loyalty. That is not reciprocal.

Developers who want public incentives in Topeka should first demonstrate they are current on their obligations to Topeka taxpayers. Period. If a developer can find $45 million in private equity for a golf resort in Hutchinson, he can find a way to make the City of Topeka and Shawnee County whole on Lauren’s Bay without needing another round of abatements, RHIDs, or sweetheart settlements.

Reno County did its due diligence and structured a deal around new incremental revenues generated by the project itself. That’s how these tools are supposed to work. Topeka, by contrast, has spent years chasing dollars that should have been paid years ago while the same developer chases the next big opportunity elsewhere.

Topeka does not exist to subsidize developers who treat our city like a second-class priority.

If Klausman wants to be celebrated as a visionary who is elevating golf tourism in Kansas, great — start by finishing what he started (and left unfinished) right here at home. Pay the taxes. Clear the specials. Build the houses or sell the lots to people who will. Then come talk about the next incentive package.

Until then, the question remains simple and unavoidable:

What’s in it for us?

Why This Matters for Topeka People $$$$ Jim Klausman is a well-known Topeka developer with significant local real estate

 Salt Lick Golf & Hunting Resort (also called Salt Lick Golf Resort) in Reno County, Kansas, is the big project. It’s an ~$80 million destination resort on the former Cottonwood Hills Golf Club site (about 605–620 acres) roughly 5 miles east of Hutchinson, near Buhler Road and 4th Avenue / N. Victory Road area.

Site History

The property was previously home to Cottonwood Hills, a Nick Faldo-designed course intended as the centerpiece of a master-planned residential community with hundreds of homes. That vision never fully materialized due to infrastructure and financial problems. The course opened, struggled, closed (multiple times in some accounts), and fell into disrepair. The new owners cleared the old layout and are building from scratch to take better advantage of the natural sand dunes (30–40 feet tall in places) that make the area special—similar to the famous nearby Prairie Dunes Country Club.

Developers and Team

• Lead developer/principal: Jim Klausman (Topeka-based, associated with Midwest Health and various LLCs including references to 2641 Wanamaker and Prairie Lick LLC / Salt Lick LLC). Klausman has extensive Topeka-area holdings (Wheatfield Village mixed-use with apartments, hotel, theaters, restaurants; downtown and Wanamaker Road properties). Note: He has faced public issues with unpaid taxes/special assessments and county lawsuits on multiple properties in Shawnee County.
• Investors: Group from Topeka, Kansas City, and Lawrence areas.
• Golf architect: Todd Clark of CE Golf Design (with Ron Whitten and Brent Hugo). Clark describes this as a career pinnacle project—full free rein on 45 holes. Courses will be among the longest in Kansas (pushing 7,800–7,900 yards) with wide fairways, large rolling greens (8,000–14,000 sq ft), native grasses, and six sets of tees.

Project Scope: 45 Holes + Resort Amenities

Three-phase destination resort emphasizing multi-day stays, golf, and hunting:

• Phase 1 (Salt Lick Dunes focus): 18-hole championship dunes-style course routed through rolling sand dunes; clubhouse with event/dining space; night-lit putting course; practice facilities; ~48 lodging units. Soft opening targeted for fall 2027 / 2027 golf season; clubhouse into 2028. Construction is underway (as of mid-2026: holes shaped, irrigated, and grassed).
• Phase 2: Second 18-hole championship course (Salt Lick Prairie—more open prairie layout); 9-hole par-3 “CC’s Loop” for accessibility, match play, and short-game/repeat rounds; ~76 more lodging units.
• Phase 3: Additional ~60 lodging units.

Total lodging: Roughly 180+ units/cabins (early plans mentioned ~36 cabins for up to 200 guests; later figures scale higher). Includes restaurant/dining, retail/commercial elements, and guided hunting (deer and other game in winter months) to create year-round appeal. Overall mixed-use tourism destination with associated infrastructure. Full operational target: late 2028.

Financing: STAR Bonds and Local Incentives

This is a classic Kansas Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond project under K.S.A. 12-17,160 et seq., designed for major commercial/entertainment/tourism destinations that draw regional/national visitors. Bonds are repaid only by new sales tax revenue generated within the district (limited to developer-owned land). No diversion of existing county taxes and no county liability for repayment.

• STAR Bond request: Approximately $26–26.2 million. Project plans adopted by Reno County Commission (June 2026); final approval rests with the State of Kansas / Department of Commerce.
• District: Salt Lick STAR Bond Project District established via Resolution 2026-12 (May 13, 2026) after public hearing. ~605 acres. Kansas Commerce confirmed it as an eligible “major commercial entertainment and tourism area.” Feasibility study (Commerce) projects >50,000 annual visitors (many out-of-state), $25–35 million annual spending in Reno County (some earlier figures around $23–25M), with strong coverage for debt service.
• Private investment: Developer group has already put in ~$44.9 million of their own funds toward the ~$80 million total.
• Additional local incentives (approved June 2026 by Reno County Commission):
  • Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) with 10-year 100% abatement on the incremental property tax increase (school capital outlay levy excepted). 4-1 vote (one commissioner concerned about county finances).
  • Community Improvement Districts (CIDs)—one per phase—with up to 2% additional sales tax (for up to 22 years) to reimburse eligible project costs. CID revenues cannot be used for STAR Bond debt service.
  • Transient guest tax (countywide outside Hutchinson/South Hutchinson) also advanced to support tourism promotion (and potentially project-related uses).

Phases are intentionally paced so the market isn’t flooded. Water rights, wastewater reuse for irrigation, wells, and lagoon systems have been addressed in presentations.

Status as of July 2026

• Under active construction.
• STAR Bond district created (May 2026).
• Project plans, IRBs, and CIDs approved (June 2026).
• “Full steam ahead” per architect Todd Clark. First 18 holes + key amenities targeted for soft opening 2027; full resort late 2028.
• Expected to complement (not compete with) world-class Prairie Dunes (which hosts major USGA events including 2029 U.S. Senior Open and 2032 U.S. Women’s Senior Open), elevating Hutchinson as a genuine golf destination. Good access (near Wichita, ~3 hours from KC).

Why This Matters for Topeka People

Jim Klausman is a well-known Topeka developer with significant local real estate (Wheatfield Village, Wanamaker corridor, etc.). This is a high-profile Kansas STAR Bond success story so far—private capital first ($45M+), then public tools limited to new incremental revenues generated by the project itself. Reno County moved relatively quickly and unanimously (or near-unanimously) on the district and plans once the feasibility study checked out.

For Topeka/Shawnee County observers (who deal constantly with TIF, CID, RHID, STAR Bonds, IRBs, and abatements on projects ranging from hotels and mixed-use to industrial), this is a useful case study:

• Strong private skin in the game.
• Clear tourism/visitor metrics from the state feasibility study.
• Phased approach + multiple tools layered carefully.
• Leveraging natural assets (dunes) next to an existing world-class attraction (Prairie Dunes).
• Potential model (or cautionary note, depending on your view of incentives) for destination recreation projects elsewhere in Kansas.

Critics have raised the usual points about tax abatements, STAR Bond diversion of sales taxes that would otherwise go to the state/local general funds, and whether the visitor numbers materialize. Supporters (including local engineers and commissioners) emphasize zero risk to existing taxpayers, infrastructure-light impact, and big tourism upside for a rural county.

Bottom line: This is one of the more ambitious pure destination golf/hunting resorts in Kansas history—45 holes designed to championship standards on a dramatic dune landscape, backed by substantial private money and a full suite of state/local incentives, with Topeka developer fingerprints all over it. Construction is real and progressing. Full operations targeted for 2028 to ride the wave of major events at Prairie Dunes.

Quick Fixes to Try First

Facebook Reels not playing is a very common issue, even with fast internet like your 619 Mbps connection. It’s often not your network but a glitch with the Facebook app, browser, cache, or a temporary Meta-side problem.

Quick Fixes to Try First

1. Restart everything
   • Close the Facebook app completely (swipe away from recent apps on mobile).
   • Restart your phone/computer.
   • Restart your router/modem.
2. Check if it’s the app or browser
   • Try the Facebook mobile app (most reliable for Reels).
   • If using a browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox), try the app instead — or vice versa.
   • On desktop/PC, this has been a recurring problem for some users (videos load but won’t play).
3. Update the Facebook app
   • Go to App Store (iPhone) or Play Store (Android) → search Facebook → Update if available.
   • Also update your phone’s OS if pending.
4. Clear cache (very effective)
   • Android: Settings → Apps → Facebook → Storage → Clear Cache (then Clear Data if needed — you’ll have to log in again).
   • iPhone: Offload the app (Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Facebook → Offload App) then reinstall, or just delete/reinstall.
   • Browser: Clear cache/cookies for facebook.com (or try Incognito/Private mode to test).
5. Other quick checks
   • Disable any ad blockers, VPN, or extensions temporarily.
   • Switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
   • Make sure your device isn’t in Low Power/Data Saver mode (can limit video playback).
   • Log out of Facebook and log back in.

If It’s Still Not Working

• Reinstall the app — this fixes most persistent Reels issues.
• Test on another device (phone vs. computer, or a different account if you have one). Some playback problems are account-specific.
• Wait a bit — Meta glitches with Reels and video playback come and go.

Let me know:

• Are you on the mobile app (iPhone or Android) or browser/desktop?
• What exactly happens? (Black screen, spinning loader, no sound, freezes after a few seconds, etc.)
• Any error message?

We’ll narrow it down fast from there. Your fast connection rules out bandwidth, so this should be fixable.

How fast is yours?

 Your speed test looks excellent — 619 Mbps download and 841 Mbps upload with 32 ms latency is genuinely very fast for most real-world uses. That should easily handle 4K streaming, large downloads, video calls, etc.

Why downloads still feel slow

Speed tests measure the raw pipe to a nearby test server (Council Bluffs is a common Ookla/Speedtest.net location). Actual downloads can be much slower for these common reasons:

1. The source server is the bottleneck Many websites, CDNs, or download hosts deliberately limit speeds per user/connection (e.g., 50–200 Mbps) to manage their bandwidth costs. Your 619 Mbps pipe is irrelevant if the server only gives you 100 Mbps.
2. Wi-Fi vs. wired Wi-Fi often caps real-world speeds well below wired Ethernet, especially on 2.4 GHz or older Wi-Fi 5/6 routers with interference, distance, or many devices. Try a wired connection for testing.
3. Device / software limits
   • Old computer, HDD (instead of SSD), or low RAM can bottleneck writes.
   • Browser downloads can be slower than dedicated download managers.
   • Antivirus, VPN, proxy, or background uploads can interfere.
   • Single-threaded downloads (common with HTTP) don’t use your full bandwidth.
4. Route / peering issues Even with a fast local connection, the path to the specific server can have congestion. Council Bluffs is decent for Topeka, but international or distant US servers may be slower.
5. ISP-side factors Some ISPs shape traffic (e.g., heavy download throttling during peak hours) or have CGNAT / other issues. Rare at these speeds, but possible.

Quick troubleshooting steps

• Test with a wired connection directly to your router and try downloading a large test file from a fast source like:
  • https://speed.cloudflare.com (or their download test)
  • https://www.thinkbroadband.com/download (UK, but good multi-thread test)
  • Linux ISO mirrors or Steam game downloads (they saturate connections well)
• Use a download manager like Free Download Manager, JDownloader, or aria2 that can open multiple connections to the same file.
• Try different servers in your speed test app (choose ones in different cities) and note the variation.
• Check your router/modem: Restart both. Make sure you’re on 5 GHz or 6 GHz Wi-Fi if wireless. Update firmware if possible.
• Test single device: Disconnect other devices and close background apps.
• VPN test: Try with and without a VPN (some speed up routing, many slow it down).