t got dry for a little bit there! It’s right back to rain again but that little dry spell sure helped get some soybean planted. A good number of fields were replanted to corn as well. Despite it being very late to plant corn, many of the fields likely had atrazine or some other herbicide not conducive to soybeans. The returning rains were too much in places but the corn and soybeans seedlings look like good stands. The markets are up too in anticipation of reduced yields and a hope of return to trade normalcy. By the time you are reading this hopefully most of the wheat will have been harvested, which like every else is behind schedule. It looks like some wheat yields will be alright but below average while some wheat yields will be nearly a crop failure.
When the farmers are out in the fields we don’t have many educational programs but we did have some good ones for June. On June 5, we had the Spring Crop Field Day at the Southeast Extension and Research Center. The Spring Crops Day is where the southeast center’s researchers talk about what they are working on, what their findings have been, and involves a tour around the research fields to show attendees the current research crops. This event is partly about outreach and letting producers know what we have going on out there. Another program we had was in conjunction with the Montgomery County Conservation office with a Wildflower Walk in a pristine native meadow. Ethan Walker lead the tour with his great knowledge of native plants in one of the most plant diverse native meadows I’ve ever seen. Personally, despite June being in the “off-season” there was plenty of planning meetings, producer questions, and crop inspections to keep me busy.
After the 4-H fair season we have some big programs in the works. For starters, on August 8th we will be joining the Crawford Noxious Weed Department to present a Noxious and Invasive Weed Control program for landowners. This area event will bring in a number of governmental and industry weed specialists to talk about what options producers have to control their hard to manage weeds. On September 3, we will have a Farm Bill program to talk about the current updates and changes in the 2018 Farm Bill including changes to the ARC and PLC payment programs. We will likely talk about the Market Facilitation Program as well.
A lot of things are turning in agriculture right now with governmental programs still being hashed out, insurance claims needing to be made, and prevented planting being looked at. Not to mention the occasional bursts of busy fury that happen whenever the ground gets dry enough to hold a tractor. This planting season has been far from normal and there are a lot of questions to be had, but we in K-State Research and Extension are here help you make your plans.
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