By Richard C. Snell

Barton County Extension Agent--Agriculture

If you are a farmer in Barton County or within 50 miles of it, I'm counting on you! I need you to be at our pre-plant Wheat school on Aug. 25. It will be held at the old 4-H grounds between Great Bend and Hoisington, starting at 5 p.m.

By the way, if you haven't been out to the smaller building at the 4-H grounds lately, you need to come and check it out. It was re-modeled a year or so ago and really looks nice.

We have a really good program on tap with several K-State speakers addressing Wheat production problems and practices that will impact your profit line.

Dr. Dale Leikam will address fertility issues relating to soils and fertilizers. He will discuss nitrogen management issues in both no-till and conventional tillage. This seemed to be a problem, especially in conjunction with poor root development and freeze injury in some areas and certain fields.

Dr. Jim Shroyer will talk on varieties and production practices. Dr. Jim Stack will be here to talk about Wheat diseases such as stripe rust. Dr. Brian Olson, the newest member of our team is the new agronomist for northwest Kansas and will talk on Hessian fly and ways to avoid it. He will also look at plot results across northwest Kansas.

We will be having a meal that will be provided by sponsors, so we need your reservation called in by Monday, Aug. 22. Please call my office at 620-793-1910 and give the names and phone numbers of those planning to attend. Plan ahead and don't let anything prevent you from coming other than an emergency.

Ranch field days

The Kansas Livestock Association and Kansas State University Research and Extension are teaming up once again to hold three ranch management filed days across the state in mid to late August.

The first is south of Plains, in Meade County on Tuesday, Aug. 16. It will be at the XIT Ranch, one of the most history-rich ranches in the U.S. It is owned and operated by the Adams Cattle Company. They have been working on brush control and other invasive species that reduce grazing capacity. The educational program will cover income opportunities for verification and individual identification of cattle. IMI Global's Leann Saunders will explain how producers can qualify for various source-verified programs. Another presentation will feature suggestions for reducing water quality impairments caused by runoff from winter feeding sites.

All livestock producers and others involved in the business are invited to attend.

Two more field days will be held in eastern Kansas on Aug. 18 near Soldier on the John Atwater Ranch in Jackson County and on Aug. 23 in Morris County between Council Grove and Strong City. Incidentally, John Atwater used to be my banker when I lived at Bendena, Kansas. That's been a day or two ago, now.

Features at those field days will be similar to the first but also will have co-products as economical livestock feeds and conservation challenges on grazing lands presentations at the Jackson County site.

The Morris County site will include Clenton Owensby talking on stocking rates and grazing management in the Flint Hills. Bill Fales, from the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust will be addressing "The Preserving of Working Ranchlands for Future Generations.

Finally, K-State Extension Veterinarian will be at all the sites demonstrating, "Improving Your Chute-Side Manner" as he gives practical tips for administering animal health products.

Each field day starts at 3:30 p.m. with registration and conclude with a free supper at 6:45.

We have individual brochures at the county extension office that have full details of each of the 3 field days. If you are interested in sharing transportation, give me a call.

Crop fall field days

I hope you will plan to attend one of the fall crop field days at the various K-State Experiment Stations across the state. Here is a list of the ones I know of: Aug. 17--Tribune dryland ag day, registration is at 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time or 8:30 a.m. Central Time, event actually starts at 8 a.m. Mountain and 9 a.m. Central Time, field is one mile west of Tribune; Aug. 18, Hesston, 5:30 p.m., field is 4 miles south and 2 miles west of Hesston; Aug. 23, Scandia irrigation field, 5:30 p.m., field is 2.5 miles west of Scandia; also Aug. 23, Hays, 9 a.m., station is on the southwest edge of Hays; Aug. 24, Colby, 9 a.m., station is just one half mile west and 1/4 mile south of the junction of Highways 24 and 25 in Colby, Aug. 25, Garden City, 9 a.m., field is about one mile northeast of Garden City; Aug. 30, Hutchinson, 6 p.m., field is southwest of Hutchinson on Dean Road and just north of Greenfield Road; Sept. 1, Belleville, 5:30 p.m., 2 miles west of Belleville. There is no fall field day at the St. John Sandyland Field this year.

If you need more information on topics to be discussed and what you will see in the field, contact us and we can give you the phone number of that experiment field and get more details. All of these programs are free.

I may attend one or more of these so let me know if you need a ride.

Date: 8/25/05