January and February is the optimal time to conduct educational and informational programs for agriculture producers. Once March arrives and especially if the weather is warmer it becomes very difficult to draw farmers and ranchers to town for these programs, as many Spring activities in agriculture begin. 

A Farm Land Lease Workshop at the Agricultural Research Center in Hays, 1232 240th Avenue will be offered next week on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Registration will be at 1 p.m. and the program will start at 1:30 p.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. 

Mykel Taylor, Extension Ag Economist in Manhattan will be explaining the differences and similarities of various leasing arrangements, crop share, fixed cash rent, flexible leases, and AUM pasture leases. She will discuss active management of the landowner-tenant relationship through effective communication and recognition of incentives, and discuss how to calculate an equitable lease using cost of production budgets, price and yield expectations, and other market based information. 

There is no cost to attend, but we ask that you RSVP by Feb. 11. Please call 620-793-1910 or email Brenda bwalton@ksu.edu. All interested people are invited to attend.

Also that same week will be a Soil Fertility Meeting on Strip-Till Irrigated and Variable Rate Nutrient Management on Thursday, Feb. 14. Registration is at 1:30 p.m. the meeting will begin at 2 p.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. at American Ag Credit, 5634 10th Street, Great Bend. 

Dorivar Ruiz, Extension Soil Fertility specialist will cover strip-till irrigated fertility management – nitrogen fertilizer recommendations, the role of secondary and micronutrients, crop response to strip-till fertilizer and starter fertilizer and soil sampling considerations. Lucas Haag, NW Area Agronomist will be talking about variable rate nutrient management, and as always there will be plenty of time for questions. 

There is no cost to attend, but we ask that you RSVP by Feb. 13. Please call 620-793-1910 or email Brenda bwalton@ksu.edu. 

Then the following week is packed full of educational opportunities for ag producers as well. In an ideal world being able to spread these out would be more desirable. But due to scheduling speakers, location logistics, etc., here is what we have to offer. 

A Weed Control Update in Field Crops – Feb. 19 in the morning at Hays; Winter Ranch Management – Feb. 19 in the evening at LaCrosse, Prescribed Burning Workshop – Feb. 20, Russell; Preserving the Family with Estate Planning Workshop – Feb. 22, WaKeeney. One other program that is being planned is a Sprayer Application & Technology Update in Rush Center the first week of March more details will follow as soon as they are worked out. For more details and registration information on any of these programs go to www.cottonwood.ksu.edu and scroll down the home page to the “Cottonwood Extension District Newsletter” link.  

Folks involved in agriculture are aware that the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill 2018) has been passed into law. While the 2014 Farm Bill had new farm programs and major changes, the 2018 Farm Bill is largely status quo with some improvements to Title I programs. For a brief run-down of these changes go to the Kansas State University Agricultural Economics web site link below, or the more user friendly address for the site is www.agmanager.info 

http://www.agmanager.info/ag-policy/2018-farm-bill 

Stacy Campbell is an agriculture and natural resources agent for Cottonwood Extension District. Email him at scampbell@ksu.edu or call the Cottonwood Extension District Hays office, 785-628-9430.