"Kansans Flip for Kafir Corn"

A Moment in Time

Kansas Historical Society

A monthly series from the Kansas Historical Society

They covered homes, cars, and stores in golden and silvery plumes of grain. They fed it to their livestock. They even popped it to eat. During a brief period of time, Kansans went plain crazy over kafir corn, the once popular sorghum grain that survived the droughts of Kansas.

Nowhere in Kansas was kafir so popular as El Dorado. Butler County residents declared kafir the queen of the prairie and staged a three-day festival in honor of the grain. The carnival promoted the planting of kafir and generated memories and money for thousands of Kansans. It even generated a kafir "yell."

"Once you walked through, not only were you inside Kafirville, but you were in another world," said one of the visitors. "Let these days be days that will live long in the history of our county because of the pleasure and profit that they bring," stated the Walnut Valley Times.

The ancestor of today's milo and grain sorghums, kafir became the celebrated subject of the Butler County harvest festivals because of its drought and heat resistance and its usefulness as cattle and poultry feed. Bankers gave away kafir seed packets to encourage farmers to plant the hardy grain.

Named for the Kafir tribe in Natal, Africa, the grain was introduced to the United States in 1876. The slender cylindrical heads of kafir came in three varieties: white-, red-, and black-hulled. The stalks sometimes reached heights of five to eight feet.

The first Kafir Corn Carnival in 1911 drew more than twenty thousand people. El Dorado's own population merely surpassed three thousand. The carnival featured a queen contest, chaired by the only woman on the festival committee, that invited the public to vote on the candidates. The winner and eight maids as runners-up reigned throughout the festivities and received numerous prizes.

Morning barbecues were following by afternoon parades each day. Floats, decorated cars, horseback riders, and decorated buggies and carriages competed for prizes. Schools closed on the final day so students could march in the School Children's Parade.

Each year the community added new features to the carnival. In 1914 a former Butler County resident returned from his new home in South Africa with a young Rhodesian who was dubbed "kafir boy" and rode a float in the parade. In 1915 a fraternal organization called the Knights of Mapira was founded to promote the carnival. The initiation included a symbolic tour through southern Rhodesia with members carrying a perfect stalk of kafir. Members wore orange fezes with black tassels.

Merchants and townships created masterful exhibits in patriotic colors. A. Wiedemann's music store featured a six-foot-long guitar of glue, kafir seed, and wood. Al Spain's billiard hall displayed kafir heads, Lincoln Township depicted Abraham Lincoln, and Douglas Township created a bell and U. S. flag. The last kafir carnival was held in 1929 as farmers turned to new crops.

Ellsworth County claims the first kafir crop. In 1886 eight-year-old Sam Fleming and his older brother Will helped their father plant the original seeds. Ordered from a Georgia company's newspaper advertisement, the elder Mr. Fleming paid sixty-five cents for a small package. Using a tin funnel-shaped tube, they carefully planted one grain at a time fifteen inches apart. The heads were cut before the grain was ripe and were laid in winrows to cure and ripen.

Kafir proved successful producing good fodder and lots of grain and thrived during difficult growing seasons. Fleming planted ten acres the second and third years and sold many packages of the seed and fodder.

Farmers along Mill Creek in Wabaunsee County continued to grow kafir until the 1940s and 1950s. They used the grain as the primary element in chicken feed at a time when most farmers relied on "egg money" to supplement their income. Hogs and cows also ate kafir since it was much cheaper to raise than corn and oats. Most people refused to eat kafir but some enjoyed it popped. "It wasn't bad, but not as good as popped corn," said Florence Simon of Wabaunsee County. Lowell Thierer agreed saying, "It was best when popped by holding the head over the tractor exhaust and eating it as a snack in the field."

Kafir production declined between the 1930s and 1950s as more and more farmers opted for milo, the next generation in sorghum. Kafir was harvested with horse-drawn equipment and required hand processing whereas milo could be easily cut with the new combines. As a result, kafir became but memory for Kansas farm families.

Kansans can learn more about farming in Kansas through the many resources in the Kansas Historical Society's Center for Historical Research. Some resources may be available through interlibrary loan. For more information call the research room at 785-272-8681, ext. 117. The Society is headquartered at the Kansas History Center, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099; 785-272-8681; TTY 785-272-8683. The Kansas Historical Society does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission to, access to, or operation of its programs. The Society requests prior notification to accommodate individuals with special needs or disabilities.




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