Unexpected Agricultural Inputs

You may have noticed farmers in their fields applying anhydrous ammonia and other fertilizers or herbicides getting ready to plant wheat. Economists speak of inputs as land, labor, capital, and management. Farmers and ranchers are all too aware of and concerned about the increasing cost of the inputs necessary to produce food, fiber, and fuel. They are even more aware of the consequences of not obtaining the proper inputs and input combinations in agricultural production. ...

Treating wheat seed – costs vs. benefits

Whenever someone says they enjoy going to one of the casinos in Kansas to gamble, the temptation is to ask them if they would like to farm. Producing agricultural commodities is an enterprise where you can do everything right and lose. The best a producer can do is stay up to date with the latest information/technology and opt for what makes sense for their operation. Information provided by K-State and private companies provides an almost ...

Planting wheat early

Last week several students in Plant Science asked what was being drilled into fields in the area. They were sure it couldn't be wheat, especially around the Labor Day weekend. One had even noticed a drill in the field the last week of August. They knew the ideal time to plant wheat according to K-State is after the "fly free" date which in this area is the first week of October.

Century Farm honorees

Challenges and opportunities

This past week was the start of another school year at Barton. One of the classes Ag students take is termed Agriculture In Society. This class deals with the impact agriculture has on our society and its development. And on the flip side, it deals with society's impact on agriculture. As a first assignment, students worked individually and in groups to answer the following questions:

Why weather happens

With the background over the last few columns, let's try and make a little sense of what weather is and why we receive the weather we do. Please, this is just a very condensed version so if you something doesn't make sense or you would like more information, e-mail me at martinv@bartonccc.edu. As we do this remember equilibrium, lowest energy state, gradients, moving from higher to lower, and the three-dimensional nature of our weather.

CRP emergency haying and grazing allowed in 91 counties

MANHATTAN – Adrian J. Polansky, state executive director of USDA's Farm Service Agency in Kansas announced Friday that emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acreage has been authorized in 91 Kansas Counties, effective Monday.

Leaf loss means tree stress

The past 12 months have been tough on trees and it does not look like there is much of an end in sight. Many calls have been coming into the office about trees and their condition.

As school ends, ag activities begin

Tomorrow starts finals' week for students at Barton with graduation ceremonies Thursday evening. While things are winding down a bit at the college, lots of activities from other graduations to area events and farming activities are ramping up. With that in mind, here are some random items.

Spontaneous combustion a threat

There was a photograph with a paragraph attached to it this past week in the paper about a hay fire in the area. The information indicated the cause of the fire appeared to be spontaneous combustion. Several students in the college's agriculture program were curious exactly what the term spontaneous combustion meant and what caused it to happen. So what is spontaneous combustion and why does it happen to baled hay?

USDA provides disaster recovery assistance for two projects in Kansas

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced $19.7 million of financial and technical assistance to help communities rebuild and repair damages caused by flooding, drought, and other natural disasters. Funds are made available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program.

Thank a Farmer

Jennifer Carr - Barton County KSRE We all know that you go to the grocery store to buy food and most understand that many people have worked very hard to get that food there. But not everyone realizes that the majority of ingredients in good wholesome foods such as bread, cakes and hamburgers come from farmers. When we see those bumper stickers that say "If you ate today thank a farmer" we need to do ...

What our soils are

The last two weeks briefly described the process of soil formation and the role soils play in agriculture and our lives. Let's start to take that information and see what that means for soils in Kansas and more specifically in our area. First, where is our state in terms of the soil forming factors?

Kansas celebrates USDA’s 150th anniversary

At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, the Kansas-based agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will host a celebration for the 150th anniversary of the establishment of USDA. The event will also include the dedication of a new wind erosion research facility and wheat/sorghum milling laboratory.

Funding Opportunity for Forestry Projects

By Robert Atchison, Rural Forestry Program Coordinator Kansas Forest Service, Manhattan, Kansas A great opportunity exists for Kansas landowners statewide who are interested in financial assistance to manage or renovate older windbreaks, forests adjacent to streams (riparian), and woodlands. Through the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI), financial assistance is available in 2012 through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The application deadline for this year's funding is April 6, 2012. Landowners can apply for the ...

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.

FFA officers installed at banquet

Soil Stewardship Week

In 1955, the National association of Conservation Districts began a national program to encourage Americans to focus on stewardship. Stewardship Week is officially celebrated from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in May. It is one of the world's largest conservation-related observances.

Small raised garden

Do you have a small backyard? Do you wish you had the space for a garden, but don't want to sacrifice your entire yard to be able to grow your favorite vegetables? Well, an option for you is to garden is a small raised bed. When you garden in a raised bed system, one of the most important things to consider is the soil that you are going to use. One of the major reasons ...

The Law of the Minimum

There isn't much to say regarding the wheat crop right now but to wait so let's go in a different direction this week. First, the Crop Protection class at the college toured the area south of the college this past Wednesday travelling as far south as the Hudson area. Normally they can examine wheat, alfalfa, and newly emerged corn. Since the weather went south pretty quickly, the tour was a bit abbreviated. It's safe to ...