In northwest Kearny County, farmer Ryan Barnhardt realized the low pockets in his dryland fields, called playas, weren’t helping his operation. Those temporary wetlands either burned up or flooded out, leaving bare ground and no real production.

About a decade ago, Ryan enrolled those areas in a playa restoration program through the USDA Conservation Reserve Program Migratory Birds, Butterflies and Pollinators State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) practice. The program restored the playas and added surrounding grass buffers.

“Those acres were never productive,” he said. “Putting them into grass made sense.”

Restored playas now catch rainfall, reduce erosion, and help water soak back into the Ogallala Aquifer. Wildlife quickly returned. Pheasants, quail, geese, and other birds now use the grass and wetland basins throughout the year. “It’s great to see the bird life out there,” Ryan said.

Financially, he says the conservation payments are far more reliable than trying to farm those acres. “You get a more consistent income stream than what those spots ever produced,” he said.

For other producers considering playa conservation, his advice is simple: look into it. “The recharge and the wildlife alone make it worth it,” he said.

By turning marginal acres into habitat and recharge zones, Ryan Barnhardt is proving conservation can benefit both the land and the operation.

Western Kansas farmer Mike O’Brate has known the low, flood-prone playa lakes on his fields his entire life. After decades of trying to farm them and watching wells decline, he enrolled about 600 acres of playas and buffer habitat in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program Migratory Birds, Butterflies and Pollinators State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) practice.

“The payment was $125 an acre,” Mike said. “I can’t farm them for that. Those acres take too much water.”

Restoring the playas means less fertilizer and seed on ground that rarely paid off, and more wildlife. Antelope, deer, pheasants and ducks now use the restored areas. “My wildlife is coming back,” he said.

As a longtime board member of Kansas Groundwater Management District 3, Mike sees playa restoration as one way to help the Ogallala Aquifer. “It may take years for the water to soak in, but you’ve got to start somewhere,” he said.

At 73, he’s proud of the acres he’s enrolled in conservation programs and hopes more producers consider doing the same.

In western Kansas, farmer Joe Zellner Jr. made a major shift in how he manages his land. He shut off every irrigation well he owned. After decades of pumping, declining well levels and rising fuel and labor costs convinced him it was time for a new approach.

“I felt like we were just pulling more water out and the table kept going down,” he said. “I want to have drinking water in the future.”

Joe also restored the playas on his farm, wet spots that rarely produced a crop, by enrolling them in the conservation programs. He planted them to grass and stopped trying to farm through them.

“I was losing money on those acres,” he said. “Putting them into grass just made sense.”

Restoring the playas helps capture rainfall, protect topsoil, and add water back to the Ogallala Aquifer. It also saves Joe time and inputs. “You’re not spending money on seed, chemical and fertilizer in a place that isn’t productive,” he said.

Joe believes conservation practices like no-till and playa restoration will shape the future of farming in his region. “Your yield may be less, but your profit may be more,” he said. “And long-term, land managed with conservation will hold more value.”

For Joe, turning off the wells and restoring his playas isn’t just about today. It’s about keeping western Kansas farmable for the next generation.

On the northwest edge of Kearny County, where the plains stretch flat and wide, farmer Ryan Barnhardt has found a new purpose for the less productive parts of his dryland acres — turning them into wildlife habitat and helping recharge the Ogallala Aquifer through playa conservation.

“It’s relatively flat ground,” Barnhardt said of the area where his playas sit. “One field has some terraces to control erosion when we get heavy thunderstorms. But the playas themselves were never productive, just bare spots or drowned-out crops.”

That’s when Barnhardt started learning more about the ecological value of these features. Playas are vital, temporary wetlands that provide important habitat for wildlife and are a primary source of recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, a critical water source for western Kansas. These shallow, clay-lined depressions collect runoff from the surrounding area, filtering out contaminants and directing water underground.

About 10 years ago, Barnhardt enrolled in the Migratory Birds, Butterflies and Pollinators Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) State Acres for Wildlife (SAFE) practice through the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), which allowed him to take unproductive playas out of rotation and establish grass buffers. For each enrolled playa acre, the program included a buffer of approximately three grassed acres surrounding it.

“The motivation was simple,” Barnhardt said. “There was no benefit in farming those areas. The soil is either too tight and burns up quickly, or they flood out in a heavy rain. Either way, you end up with poor yield and more weeds.”

The shift from marginal farming to conservation has helped not only Barnhardt’s operation but the surrounding ecosystem. While his playas aren’t on irrigated land, he sees clear benefits for aquifer recharge. With vegetation cover in place, more rainfall is absorbed into the soil instead of evaporating or running off.

“That grass cover helps reduce evaporation and gives water more time to soak in,” Barnhardt said. “That’s good for the aquifer, and long-term, for all of us relying on it.”

Wildlife has also found a home among Barnhardt’s playas and buffer zones. Native upland game birds like pheasants and quail are regular visitors, along with migratory waterfowl such as geese. The impact has been notable enough to catch the attention of out-of-state conservationists.

“I recently got a letter from the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies,” he said. “They wanted to come out and observe species using the playas. It’s nice to see others recognizing the value these places bring.”

While the playa conservation program doesn’t significantly boost his bottom line, Barnhardt says it helps offset some maintenance costs and provides a small, steady income stream. Land enrolled in a conservation program doesn’t require the intensive inputs of traditional farming and offers a more consistent return on otherwise unproductive acres.

“There’s some mowing and maintenance, mostly on the buffer strips,” he said. “It’s similar to CRP [Conservation Reserve Program] contracts. Sometimes, those expenses can be cost-shared.”

When asked what he would tell other producers considering enrolling their playas in similar programs, Barnhardt is honest about the considerations.

“The rental rate might not be what it used to be,” he noted. “And if the playa is in the middle of your field, it can be harder to manage around. But overall, I still think there are a lot of advantages.”

Among those benefits, Barnhardt points again to water recharge and wildlife habitat — and the fact that trying to farm playa ground is rarely worth it.

“At the end of the day, it’s just not productive ground,” he said. “The program gives you a consistent income on something you otherwise wouldn’t get much out of. And it’s great to see the wildlife coming back. I’ve had neighbors call me just to ask if they can go bird hunting out there in the fall.”

For Barnhardt, conservation isn’t just a practice — it’s a partnership between land, water, and wildlife. And it’s proving to be one that pays off in more ways than one.

Ryan Barnhardt’s story is just one example of how conserving playas can turn unproductive ground into an asset for both producers and the land. Learn more about how playas support aquifer recharge and wildlife habitat.

Learn more about Ryan’s story. Hear him talk about restoring playas on dryland acres.

In the high plains of western Kansas, where water is a precious and dwindling resource, Joe Zellner Jr. has made a bold and deliberate decision: he shut off all irrigation wells on his deeded land.

Zellner, a Wichita County farmer, once fully embraced irrigation. But over time, he began to witness firsthand the toll it was taking on the Ogallala Aquifer.

“I really embraced irrigation in the 70s,” Zellner said. “But as the years went by, the wells diminished. We kept pulling more water out, and the water table just kept dropping.”

His concerns about long-term water availability — especially drinking water — motivated him to change course. With rising fuel and labor costs making some of his smaller wells economically unviable, Zellner saw an opportunity to take a stand for conservation. He began shutting them off one by one.

“Eventually, I just shut them all off,” he said. “Now I irrigate with just one well — which is on the land that I rent.”

Zellner’s decision didn’t stop with irrigation. He also enrolled his playas — shallow, rain-fed recharge wetlands — in conservation programs. The process, he said, started with attending a few informational meetings.

“I learned that water flowing into playas can help recharge the water table,” he said. “And to be honest, those areas never produced much anyway. Most years, you didn’t get anything out of them.”

That realization helped Zellner see the value of his land’s natural features. Playas are vital, temporary wetlands that provide important habitat for wildlife and are a primary source of recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, a critical water source for western Kansas. These shallow, clay-lined depressions collect runoff from the surrounding area, filtering out contaminants and directing water underground.

By restoring his playas and planting a native grass buffer around them, Zellner reduced erosion, improved wildlife habitat, and removed the need to continually fight muddy or unproductive patches in his fields.

“We don’t farm through them anymore,” he said. “And with grass buffers around the playas, there’s less risk of topsoil washing in. That keeps the playas intact, and it helps control erosion — even with no-till farming.”

While some farmers worry about lost production, Zellner sees it differently.

“I was probably losing money farming them,” he said. “You’re putting seed, chemical, fertilizer into the ground that hardly returns anything. Economically, it just doesn’t make sense.”

The bigger reward for Zellner, though, has been knowing that his land stewardship may benefit future generations.

“In western Kansas, moisture is always a concern,” he said. “But I believe conservation practices — not just no-till, but protecting playas — will increase the value of our land. In the long run, the land that’s cared for will be worth more.”

He acknowledges that some landowners may still have doubts.

“People think it’ll just become a weed patch, but that’s not true,” Zellner said. “Once the grass is established, it’s better for the environment, and you don’t have to fight it every year.”

Looking ahead, he’s optimistic about the direction of his operation and the future of the land.

“I think yields will keep going up, and we’re saving topsoil, saving moisture,” he said. “With better conservation practices, your profit could actually be more.”

His advice to other producers?

“Don’t worry about losing production ground,” he said. “It’s probably not productive anyway. You’ll save on inputs, and you’ll help protect the resource we all depend on — water.”

He also points out that the greatest impact to the aquifer comes from reduced water usage. Healthy playas can contribute significantly to water conservation efforts, with an average recharge rate of about three inches per year, but reducing pumping is a key part of the equation. By integrating irrigation reduction and playa conservation efforts, we can move toward a more stable aquifer, supporting the long-term needs of communities and rain-fed operations.

Learn more about Joe’s story. Listen to a podcast to hear him talk about shutting off wells to save water.