THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 42, NO. 11 | OCTOBER 16, 2020
LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER
Kay and Brian Schmidt, members of St. Joseph Parish, Olpe, stand in their soybean field on Oct. 8 as they take a break from the harvest. The soybeans will be donated to the archdiocese.
FULL OF BEANS
Archdiocese receives first commodities gift from Olpe farmer By Jan Dixon Special to The Leaven
K
ANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas recently received its first commodities gift transaction — a gift of soybeans. The gift was made by Brian Schmidt, a longtime parishioner from St. Joseph Parish in Olpe. Schmidt grew up in a farming family, went to college and became a certified public accountant. Now, some 35 years later and thanks to help from his family, he has recently fulfilled his dream of becoming a fulltime farmer/rancher. And he found a new and convenient way to fulfill his monetary pledge to the archdiocese. Schmidt was familiar with donating grain commodities because of his experience as a CPA and had actually introduced the program to his parish about 20 years ago.
LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER
Brian Schmidt begins harvesting the soybeans that will be gifted to the archdiocese. New tax laws have made crop donations a more attractive option for farmers. “We’ve been using the transfer of grain program here at St. Joseph’s in Olpe for quite a while,” said Schmidt. “But this was my first [personal]
donation of crops to the archdiocese.” There had been a program to accept grain commodities in the past, but it wasn’t being used effectively. But a
change in the tax laws, which limit the ability of many taxpayers to deduct their charitable donations, has made the option more attractive. “As we developed the One Faith, One Family, One Future in Christ campaign, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity for farmers in our archdiocese to make gifts of grain commodities,” said Lesle Knop, archdiocesan director of stewardship. Archdiocesan foundation board member Joe Bunck, a parishioner of St. Leo Parish in Horton and a farmer, promoted the program earlier this year at a monthly meeting as a beneficial way for farmers to donate or fulfill pledges. He helped the archdiocese draft a policy for the acceptance of grain commodities. “It’s a painless way for us to fulfill our Catholic responsibility of supporting the church while benefiting from applicable, legal tax strategies,” he said. Tax laws allow farmers to give part of their crop production to charity. Gifting the grain directly lets a farmer avoid >> See “GIFT” on page 5