A rose by any other name

By John Schlageck, Kansas Farm Bureau Several years ago I heard it said that garbage is the ugly side of plenty. No matter what you choose to call it – solid waste, refuse or some other more politically correct phrase – garbage remains just that, garbage. You know the stuff I'm talking about, too. That awful pungent collection we set on the curb each week. Torn tennis shoes, moldy grass clippings, empty food packages, food ...

An Early Christmas Present

Dr. Victor L. Martin It's a day early but Merry Christmas. Even though Western Kansas had to struggle through some pretty nasty weather this past week, you didn't hear many complaints. After the drought conditions that marked the last half of 2010 and most of 2011, the moisture received over the last several weeks was certainly an early Christmas gift for everyone in this part of the country. In this area we received plentiful rain ...

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Announces Sign-Up Period for Conservation Stewardship Pr

U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today announced that the ranking period cut-off date for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is January 13, 2012. Producers interested in CSP should submit applications to their local NRCS office by the deadline so that their applications can be considered during the first ranking period of 2012.

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announces Energy Efficiency and Flexible Fuel Pump Grants in Kansas

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced loans and grants for agricultural producers and rural small businesses across the country to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in their operations. The funding is provided through USDA Rural Development's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

A Farmer’s Christmas Wish List

Dr. Victor L. Martin Christmas will arrive next Sunday. Most everyone is more interested in family, presents, food, a few days off, and hopefully church than a deadly serious agriculture article. Students at Barton are done for the semester so they likely aren't too focused on the challenges facing farming either. In keeping with the season, let's take a look at what might be on a farmer's or rancher's Christmas wish list in our area. ...

Use the gift of memory

If I could request but one gift during the holiday season, I'd ask for a book. Books abound with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. They provide hours of adventure and entertainment rarely found anywhere else in today's culture.

USDA announces ranking dates for four major conservation initiatives

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the ranking dates for the On-Farm Energy, Organic, Seasonal High Tunnel and Air Quality conservation initiatives. All four initiatives offer technical and financial assistance through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

Kansas Farmers Union voting delegates approve policy, by-law changes at 2011 Annual Convention

Kansas Farmers Union (KFU) voting delegates attended the 2011 KFU Convention at the Topeka Ramada on Dec. 2-3 to vote on policy, elect the 2012 Board of Directors and elect delegates to the National Farmers Union Convention.

Grading the 2012 wheat crop

As this is being written, students at Barton are finishing up the fall semester with their final exams. It is often hard to convince them the real purpose behind testing isn't just to assign grades and make them miserable but as a tool for instructors and for themselves to determine progress and skills obtained while also locating weaknesses needing to be addressed. It allows instructors and students to assess the state of each student's education. ...

Fat rats get cancer

It's holiday time and while Thanksgiving has passed, Christmas and New Year's Day are just around the corner. That means all sorts of good tasting food – roast turkey, bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, wine and pumpkin pie.

Sodbusters and Skyscrapers

Dr. Victor L. Martin On Dec. 1 a group of us gathered to dedicate the Breaking the Prairie Sod Memorial at the intersection of K-96 and 10th. Although a bit breezy, it was an appropriate dedication for a monument designed to honor those who settled here almost 150 years ago and serve as a constant reminder of our past. Several speakers emphasized that it is difficult for us to imagine the hardships these individuals faced ...

A Nation of Immigrants

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it's appropriate to consider all we have to be thankful for, even during these difficult times. All of us need to remember and thank our ancestors for having the courage to immigrant to this country and later spread out and settle from coast to coast since we are a nation of immigrants. We should also spend time thinking of the bountiful supply of food available in this country. There are always ...

Grassroots Farmer/Rancher strength on display at Kansas Farm Bureau annual meeting

Farmers and rancher voting delegates from the state's leading agriculture/rural advocacy organization have adopted their policy roadmap for 2012 and elected their leadership.

Unspoken values

By John Schlageck, Kansas Farm Bureau Think of farmers and ranchers and this old, often forgotten tribute comes to mind. It fits farmers like seed in the soil or ranchers like a new-born calf takes to its mother's udder. I've often heard friends, neighbors and family – my dad for one – quote bits and pieces of it. I've heard others refer to it at meetings, in church, at a sale barn, funerals and many ...

Kansas Farmers Union Annual Convention will address how the 2012 Farm Bill will affect family farms

Kansas Farmers Union would like to invite the public to their Annual Convention, "The 2012 Farm Bill: A Defining Moment in Agriculture," on Dec. 2-3 at the Ramada in downtown Topeka.

University team receives $9.6 million USDA grant to help develop solutions for beef cattle grazing s

Drought, flooding, extreme heat, subzero temperatures: All of these climatic events and more in Kansas can threaten the supply and affordability of the nation's beef supply. It's hard to do much about the weather, but a team of Kansas State University scientists will be trying to find solutions so cattlemen can better adapt to any future climate extremes in their grazing operations.

Wandering about wheat

Looking at wheat throughout the central region of Kansas during the first couple days of May, members of the Wheat Quality Council (WQC) labeled the crop in fairly average to slightly above average condition.

Barton County Farm Bureau awards scholarships

Trees need care through dry weather

The question that I seem to get most often right now is why are my trees dying? Most of the time, the answer is the drought. Even though we have had some moisture recently, we are still in a severe drought. Driving around the county, you will even see old, big Red Cedars dying in the tree rows. That is because we have had two summers that were extremely hot and dry which baked the ...

Divide remains in Congress over Farm Bill, food stamps

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House and Senate Agriculture Committees laid the groundwork this week for reducing the size of the federal food stamp program, approving farm bills that would shrink food aid and alter the way people qualify for it.

Kansas CRP meetings for landowners prior to signup hosted by PF

Pheasants Forever is hosting fifty-one informational meetings across Kansas for landowners and agricultural producers in advance of the USDA Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up that runs May 20 through June 14. Led by Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists, landowners can learn how to increase their farm or ranch income while creating wildlife habitat in the process.

Even Animal Lovers Prefer No Rabbits in the Garden

This week, I found a column from K-State's Mary Lou Peter about the rabbits that are out and about. They may be cute hopping around in a field, but when they get into your garden, their cuteness wears a little thin.

MILC, SURE, and NAP will restart on May 8

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced today that farm payments, which had been temporarily suspended due to sequestration, are scheduled to resume today, May 8th. This includes payments for the 2011 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program (NAP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC).

Why Does It Matter?

This is finals week at Barton and many of the other colleges around the state. For instructors it's time to evaluate what students learned over the last semester. For students it's time for that one last push to maintain or raise their grades. While faculty see testing as a method to evaluate learning and adjust accordingly, students often see testing as a way to be tortured. Students focus on the grade while faculty focus on ...

Play safe on the farm

The dream of many young farm boys and girls is to ride on a tractor. For a youngster, the mammoth tractor epitomizes raw power, responsibility and coming of age.