There are two programs that are coming up in February that I wanted to highlight this week. Registration deadlines are coming up fast, so call 620-793-1910 or email me at aboor@ksu.edu if you would like to attend either program or both.
Winter Ranch
Management
Kansas State University will host a series of meetings to help beef producers focus on management and profit strategies for the new year.
Bob Weaber, a K-State Research and Extension cow-calf specialist, said this year’s Winter Ranch Management series is titled “Production strategies to mitigate environmental factors impacting conception and pregnancy.” The meetings will be held at four sites in Kansas and will feature presentations and comments by extension educators on profit-enhancing strategies.
The meetings will also feature a popular ‘town-hall’ style question-and-answer session between Kansas’ cattle producers and extension specialists. Weaber said the series has a history of being a successful stretch of meetings.
Weaber, along with other state, district and local extension staff, will take part in the series to help answer producers’ questions. The specialists will answer a wide range of questions on beef cattle issues including animal health, nutrition, management, and reproduction.
Meeting topics include forage quality and availability impacts on beef cow-nutrition during late gestation and pre-breeding and also environmental factors affecting conception rates.
There will be a meeting on Feb. 19, at the Township Hall, 220 Union Street in Rush Center starting with registration at 5:30 p.m. Participants are asked to RSVP by either calling the Great Bend office of the Cottonwood District at 620-793-1910 or the Lacrosse office of the Walnut Creek District at 785-222-2710.
Burn Workshop
The past several years we have received a better than average amount of precipitation in the fall creating a large amount of grasses late in the season. These forages are now dry and have the ability to create the perfect storm for a wildfire. Prescribed burnings can reduce the amount of fuel that a fire has access to and help mitigate a massive wildfire.
K-State Research and Extension, the Midway District and the Cottonwood District are hosting a burn workshop on Feb. 20, at Dole-Specter Conference Center, 1430 South Fossil in Russell to help educate producers on burning. The program will begin with registration at 9 a.m. and will run until 2:30 p.m.
Participants will learn the basics of burning, and be able to run through scenarios to gain experience and confidence for creating their own burn plan to implement on their land.
This workshop is designed to help with the understanding of the nature and behavior of fire. Some of the topics that will be covered are reasons for burning, wildlife and prescribed burning, local and state regulations, fire weather, safety, liability, use of burn contractors, planning and conducting a burn. The workshop is designed to either prepare the participants to begin using prescribed burning or to update their knowledge and abilities.
To enroll for this workshop or for more information, please contact either the Midway District at 785-483-3157 or email Clint Laflin at claflin@ksu.edu or the Cottonwood District at 620-793-1910 or email Alicia Boor at aboor@ksu.edu.
Alicia Boor is the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. Contact her by email at aboor@ksu.edu or call 620-793-1910.
