or the month of August, the Parsons’ Mesonet station logged 12.8 inches of rain which is almost four times the average of 3.3 inches for the month. There hasn’t really been one day where the ground was dry enough for field work. Fortunately August is not a bad month for this to happen. Besides some aerial applications of fungicides by plane or helicopter, the corn and soybeans are basically on their own. As soon as the ground dries out there will be corn fields to harvest. My predictions is that we will have decent but not great corn yields this year due to uneven germination and flooded spots during planting. The soybeans however are actually looking pretty good. Fungal diseases have been apparent but surprisingly low considering we have had the perfect weather for outbreaks.
August started off with my first Crawford County Fair. It is a few long days but a great time for a community to come together and meet people. My only program for the month was the Noxious Weed Meeting on August 8 in Parsons. This program brought together the surrounding weed directors to host a program about controlling noxious weeds, effective herbicide uses, and sprayer calibration. The turnout was likely 70 producers or more which is excellent for a specialty program like this one. The rest of my August was filled with conferences, research meetings, and crop visits so it has been busy despite the rain.
September started off with a well-attended Farm Bill program on September 3. This area wide program brings down K-State Extensions economists to help producers decide which elections, ARC or PLC, to make for their operations. This is something every crop producer needs to choose so I hope I see all of them there. After the area Farm Bill program, individual county Farm Bill programs will take place in Montgomery County on September 10 and in Crawford County on September 11. On September 13, the ag team will be having a Program Development Committee meeting to plan for the upcoming fall and winter program season. This will be an important one as I have plenty of ideas for programs but need some directions on what producers and community members would actually like to see. Anyone with ideas is welcome and we will be at the Southeast Extension Center from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
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Pigweeds
Volunteer Wheat
Organic Matter