|
|
Extension office to hold retirement reception, open house Dec. 23By Richard C. Snell
We'd like to extend a bit of Christmas cheer and, at the same time, honor one of our long-time employees who is retiring. We hope you will join us Dec. 23, at the Barton County Extension Office, 12th and Baker Street, in Great Bend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Howard Wallace, Barton County Extension horticultural assistant, will be on hand from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., to meet with friends, clientele and well-wishers. For the past 10 years, Howard has worked part-time during the summer months, answering lawn and garden questions. I normally have done that when we get to the colder weather months. We will continue to answer your questions any time you have them at the county Extension office. We will have refreshments in the form of drinks and snacks throughout the day if you would like to stop by and visit with our staff. But if you have worked with Howard and would like to wish him well, that will be from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. If you would like to send Howard a note or card, you can do it through our office by bringing it that day or dropping it in the mail to Howard Wallace, c/o the Barton County Extension Office, 1800 12th Street, Great Bend, KS 67530. Beef Red Books available Once again this year, we will have the red beef cow-calf record pocket calendars for sale at $5 each. These make great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers for the beef producer. They have all kinds of record keeping pages so that you can write down calf birth dates, ear tags, weights, shots, or anything. Stop by our office or call 620-793-1910 today for your copies so that you will have them for Christmas. LaCrosse to host ag profitability conference The City Auditorium in LaCrosse will be the site of an agriculture profitability conference Dec. 17. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the event adjourns at 4 p.m. There is no cost to attend, but pre-register by calling 800-460-9079 as soon as possible to ensure a meal. The program is sponsored by Walnut Creek Extension and area lenders. K-State economists will address: The Grain Market Situation and Outlook, Land Ownership--Should We Keep Buying?, 2008 Farm Bill, Bio-energy Trends and Economic Impacts, Crop Insurance Changes and an Overview of SURE, and the Cattle Market Outlook. Pratt to host Farm and Ranch Field Day A top notch program for farmers in south central Kansas is coming up Jan. 6. The K-State Farm and Ranch Day will be held at Pratt Community College in the Commons Area. The college is located on the northeast corner of Pratt on Highway 61. Why am I telling you now? The registration deadline is Dec. 17, if you want to pay $10. If you would rather pay $20, you can wait and register after that. We have registration brochures at our office. If you would like more information or want a brochure sent to you, call 620-672-6121. This program is being sponsored by K-State Research & Extension in the seven counties to the south of us. Some of the topics presented by K-State faculty will be: Farm Bill Update, Cattle Marketing, Grain Marketing, Forage Options for Cattle, Family Farm Transitions, Lease Arrangements, Precision Ag, Soil Analysis and Interpretation, and a Weed Control and Herbicide Update. Cold weather months are cow time We finally got all the wheat planted, fall crops and the hay in. With the cold weather months here, now our attention needs to turn to the livestock, if you have any. Most of our beef cow herds calve in the spring. If you have a spring calving cow-calf operation, here are some things you should be doing right now: --Finish culling cows in order of priority. Start with the "Three O Rule"--Open, Old, or Ornery. I have known several ranchers who have been killed or seriously hurt by cows with extremely poor dispositions. --Get rid of problems/structure, feet and legs, eyes, teeth. --Poor producers. They can't make you any money if they don't have a calf or if her calves don't do well on a consistent basis. Many of you may have already weaned your calves and sold them. But with the late harvest, I know some of you haven't culled cows yet. If so, this may not be the best time to sell them if you have adequate labor and feed resources. Grain prices are relatively cheap again now, and feeding a few pounds per head may be a good way of adding value to that grain. Cull cow prices are seasonally lower in November to January and then are at their peak in February to April. So, if you can put some weight on them after weaning the calf, it might be advantageous to wait to sell. What you might want to do is select those cows that you have identified for culling and separate them from the rest. If you are culling them due to just thinness, you might be able to put enough condition on to get them back in the herd if that is their only problem. Maintaining cows on corn or milo stalks works well this time of year with any supplemental feed or mineral you might need. Also, check with your tax consultants about your income situation. Many of you had good yields and if you sold enough grain at the higher prices, you may want to look at holding off on some income until 2009. 12/22/08 Date: 12/18/08
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2011. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
|
