84th Kansas FFA Convention

Potential crops – workers and wheat

Today, let's focus on two potential crops for 2013, students graduating from Barton to join the workforce and wheat. This past Wednesday was Barton's College to Community Day. Starting at 8 a.m., students visited various businesses calling Great Bend home. These are students pursuing degrees areas as diverse as criminal justice, early childhood, automotive, and computer networking to agriculture. Agriculture students visited Great Bend Feeding, Northview Nursery, and Straub International. These businesses each spent about ...

EQIP application evaluation cutoff is Friday, Nov. 16

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist Eric B. Banks, announced that the application evaluation cutoff date will be, Friday, November 16, 2012, for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

And So It Blows

Thursday was Jack Kilby Science Day at Barton with hundreds of area high school students in attendance. After the main presentation, students attended two different sessions from 10 a.m. until noon. When the morning started it was bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky. At first glance, looking out a window at noon indicated it must have turned cloudy. Going outside, it only took seconds to realize there weren't any clouds in the ...

KFAC, KFB to host 6th annual Be Ag-Wise educator training workshops this winter

Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC) and Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) will host the sixth annual Be Ag-Wise educator training workshops in early 2013.

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?

Farm Service Agency County Committee nomination period begins June 17

Kansas Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Adrian J. Polansky announced today that the nomination period for local FSA county committees begins on Monday, June 17th.

Problems with tomato plants

It's that time of year again when everything is growing, and people are looking forward to be rewarded for all of their hard work in the garden. With the unseasonal low temperatures this year, your garden might be a little behind normal, but with our recent rains, the weather warming up, and a little bit of care right now, your garden should be getting into the full swing of things.

Lessons from the land

For Kansans June, July and August are months when some of us return to our roots and visit family in rural communities across the state. Some go back to help with wheat harvest, others go home to spend time visiting with friends they have grown up with. For all it's a time to reflect and remember.

Fathers’ Day and Agriculture

First here's wishing all the dads out there a Happy Fathers' Day. Since the wheat is rapidly ripening and harvest will soon be here, especially after the past week's heat, let's focus on something a bit more upbeat fathers, children, and agriculture.

Quarter-scale tractors, full-scale success: University teams win international competition

Kansas State University's quarter-scale tractor design teams are the winners of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' 16th annual International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, May 30-June 2, in Peoria, Ill.

Conservation Stewardship Program applications due by June 14

The Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) will provide about $175 million in funding for up to 12.6 million additional acres enrollment this year.

Not so fast

Pre-packaged, vacuum-packed, just add water…

Caring for container plants

Sometimes, when you are taking care of your container plants, you might see a white or yellowish build up around the edges of the pot, or even on the soil itself. Many people wonder what this is, and want to either repot the plant entirely, or sadly, think that there is something wrong with the plant and just stop trying. The cause of this build up is actually very easy to explain, and easy to remove to be able to keep your plants healthy and looking great.

So You Want A Career in Agriculture

Everyone is waiting to see what the wheat crop will hold. Summer crops are pretty well planted until double-cropping. The area has been receiving fairly significant rain and overall temperatures, while a little cool for corn and sorghum, are great for wheat grain development. Let's take the opportunity to shift gears from crops to our most important agricultural resource – people. Specifically, let's take a look at the people out in the fields and feedlots ...

Patent issued for beneficial animal ‘candy’

A U.S. patent has been granted to a Kansas State University-developed "candy" that stimulates the growth, health and reproductive functions of cattle, bulls and other livestock.