MEADE COUNTY, KS – Kevin Melvin was tired of farming around water.

When it was dry enough, he could plant straight through the low spots. Then a rain would come, water would collect and the crop he’d just planted would disappear beneath it. Other years, the water was already there. That meant lifting and turning equipment, maneuvering around the same troublesome acres again and again.

Those troublesome wet spots are part of a seasonal, interannual depressional wetland, specifically an interdunal wetland. Like other seasonal wetlands, the area cycles between wet and dry periods, collecting water during wetter conditions and drying out at other times.

“This is a piece of property that’s not the best farm ground. This makes economic sense.”

“It was either dry and you could plant through it, and then it would rain and flood your crop out, or you were just constantly picking up and turning around because you had a water hole,” Melvin said. “It’s not a very efficient way to farm.”

So, Melvin started looking for a solution. His first thought? Drain it. Instead, a conversation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) led him to consider almost the exact opposite. What if he stopped trying to farm the wetland acres like the rest of the field and let them be wet?

That question ultimately led Melvin to pursue a Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE), turning acres he had viewed as a farming headache into an opportunity that could make economic sense for his operation while restoring wetland habitat. For Melvin, the reasoning was surprisingly simple.

“This is a piece of property that’s not the best farm ground,” he said. “This makes economic sense.”

Melvin is part of a large family farming operation in south-central Kansas, raising crops including irrigated corn and alfalfa. He manages the forage side of the business, where efficiency isn’t an abstract idea. Every trip across a field, every input and every acre has to pencil out.

On this particular property, there were about 11 acres of wetland that made farming difficult. Sometimes those acres could be planted. Sometimes they would produce a crop. But the wetland could also collect water, flooding the crop or forcing Melvin to work around those acres. These areas were technically part of the field, but they weren’t performing like the rest of it. That’s what made WRE worth a second look.

Through the NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, Wetland Reserve Easements help landowners protect and restore wetlands while retaining ownership of their property. For Melvin, that meant he could continue farming the productive portions of the property while taking some of the most inefficient acres out of the equation.

Instead of asking how he could force a few difficult acres to produce like the rest of the field, Melvin began asking whether continuing to farm them was really the best use of the ground at all.

“Most of the ground that would be eligible is the least productive or least efficient to farm,” Melvin said. “Any time that we look at things and we can do things to be more productive or be more efficient, we feel like that’s a win for our operations going forward.”

The easement comes with permanent restrictions on how the enrolled acres can be used, something Melvin said landowners need to fully understand before signing. But ownership remains private, and Melvin still controls access to the property, including who is allowed to hunt there. Meanwhile, acres that were difficult to farm can instead provide wetland habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.

Still, Melvin had another concern. He knew the idea made sense. He wasn’t sure the federal paperwork would.

“How long does it take to get all the paperwork done, and how much paperwork is there to do, and how many forms?” he recalled wondering. “How cumbersome is that process?”

The answer wasn’t what he expected. Rather than being handed a stack of forms and left to navigate the process himself, Melvin said NRCS staff have helped move the application forward, bringing documents to him for review and signatures along the way.

“They’ve done the forms and the paperwork, and they’ve just asked me to review things and asked for signatures,” he said. “It’s been pretty painless, really.”

Painless, however, doesn’t mean immediate. Melvin’s project is still moving toward completion. Unlike a traditional land transaction that might close within weeks, a federal conservation easement requires surveys, reviews and multiple steps before reaching the finish line. Melvin expects the entire process could take roughly a year or a little longer. For a farmer who admits he doesn’t particularly enjoy waiting, knowing what to expect has made a difference.

NRCS Easement Program Manager David Driscoll has helped guide him through the process and explain where the project stands. “David’s been great to work with,” Melvin said. “He’s been pretty prompt to get back to me and answer questions.”

That communication is one reason Melvin encourages other landowners not to dismiss WRE simply because it involves a federal program. He does, however, encourage them to do their homework. An easement is a long-term decision. Landowners need to understand what they’re signing, what rights they retain, what restrictions come with the agreement and what it could mean for the property in the future. But once those questions are answered, Melvin believes there are farms across Kansas where the same equation could make sense.

“If somebody had a piece of property that this would fit, I don’t know why they wouldn’t do it,” he said.

In fact, one WRE project may not be the end for Melvin. “We’re looking for other opportunities that we can bring to NRCS that might fit this bill,” he said.

That’s a significant change from where the story began. Melvin walked into the process trying to figure out how to get water off the land. Instead, he found himself asking a different question: Why spend year after year fighting wet acres that naturally want to hold water? For Melvin, allowing those acres to work differently may ultimately make his entire operation work for the better.

Learn more about Kevin’s story. Hear him talk about why fight the wet acres.

For nearly a century, Nate Emig’s family has farmed the rolling ground southwest of Goodland, raising corn, wheat and milo in the semi-arid landscape of northwest Kansas. Like many multigenerational producers, Emig was raised with a simple philosophy: make the most of every acre.

“The cost of farming nonproductive acres has a direct cost. You can actually reduce your expenses in that playa and do something that protects it.”

But about 14 miles southwest of Goodland, one stubborn patch of ground kept refusing to cooperate.

“It was pretty clear once we started farming it that it wasn’t meant to be farm ground,” Emig said.

The acreage included a large playa, a shallow, natural depression common across the High Plains that temporarily fills with water after rainfall and is vital for recharging the Ogallala Aquifer. When Emig’s family acquired the property in 2016, the playa had long been farmed. But over five or six seasons, Emig said he harvested only one or two crops from it.

The rest of the time, it flooded.

“You can actually reduce your expenses in that playa and do something that protects it,” Emig said. “The cost of farming nonproductive acres has a direct cost.”

That realization marked a turning point. Not just for a single field, but for how Emig views the balance between production and conservation.

It marked the beginning of exploring restoration on the playa and a deeper understanding of the quiet but powerful role these wetlands play in recharging the Ogallala Aquifer and protecting the land for future generations.

Letting the land return to itself

By 2021 or 2022, Emig began pursuing restoration through an Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easement (ACEP-WRE), administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He reached out to the local NRCS office and worked closely with staff to enroll in the program..

The playa restoration itself was straightforward.

Crews removed sediment that had accumulated in the basin, improving its ability to infiltrate and hold water. A terrace that had restricted natural flow into the depression was taken out.

“There weren’t any surprises,” Emig said. “It was pretty much exactly what we thought it was going to be.”

For a farmer accustomed to managing variables — markets, weather, input costs — the predictability of the process was welcome.

From nuisance to asset

Across northwest Kansas, playas are sometimes viewed as inconveniences, wet spots that interrupt fieldwork, drown crops and complicate irrigation patterns.

“I’d say most farmers view it as a nuisance,” Emig said.

Historically, many playas were leveled, terraced or farmed through in an effort to maximize production. But research shows that intact playas play an important role in aquifer recharge, particularly over the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies much of western Kansas’ groundwater.

“Playas that are farmed are less productive in recharging the aquifer,” Emig said. “It stands to reason that there should be more recharge if they’re set up properly.”

Emig is careful not to overstate what a single project can do. The impact of restoration depends on location, soil type and proximity to municipal wells, he said. But he believes cumulative change matters, especially in communities like Sherman County, where groundwater sustainability is an ongoing concern.

“I value what we have for groundwater resources out here,” he said. “We try to be more efficient and reduce the quantity of water that we pump. Any measure that helps that out is beneficial.”

The restored playa also creates wildlife habitat. Rather than an area that floods and grows weeds, the basin and its grass buffer now provide space for native plants, migratory birds and other wildlife.

“When we farm them, it destroys that habitat,” Emig said. “If playa restoration becomes more widespread, you’re going to see better wildlife habitat.”

Economics and longevity

For Emig, the decision was not driven solely by environmental goals. It was also about stewardship and long-term viability.

“Land stewardship translates into longevity of the farm operation,” he said. “Keeping soil where it belongs.”

In the High Plains, wind erosion and intense rainfall events can move sediment quickly. By restoring the playa and planting perennial grasses, Emig reduced the likelihood of soil loss and eliminated the repeated input costs — seed, fertilizer, fuel — associated with planting a crop unlikely to survive.

“Sometimes we as farmers are a little stubborn about wanting to farm the most acres that you can,” Emig said. “But sometimes Mother Nature’s best left to do what she does best.”

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.