AIR AUGUST 19, 1998

Thank you Mark and good morning everyone. I really hate to complain because we did need the warmer weather for the milo, which by the way is looking very good. But being half polar bear, I really did enjoy the weather the last couple of weeks better!

I don’t think there is a farmer out there that hasn’t seen the reports out of Texas and Oklahoma and the problems those producers are having with the drought and all. I have started to get an occasional inquiry regarding where to send hay or contact about selling hay down south. There are several offices that are acting as clearing houses and both the FSA office and the Extension Office can provide some assistance. I have also started to receive a few phone calls from ranchers in Oklahoma and Texas looking for pastures for cows. If you’ve got a pasture that wasn’t used or could be used later this fall let me know. Some of these folks I’ve talked to have 50 to 500 cows that they’re looking almost anywhere to take them to feed so that they don’t have to sell them.

We still have some concerns about insects in milo. A little bit of fall armyworm damage in late milo fields but that’s dying down right now for at least a little while. Corn earworms in the head are still a concern but the milo is moving fast right now, thanks to the nice warm weather we’ve gotten back in to so a lot of the milo is going to be past the really vulnerable stage pretty soon BUT if you have some later planted milo lets be keeping a real close eye on it. Just an interesting side note here regarding the corn earworm. This rascal has a broad range of appetites. When it’s on tomatoes its the tomato fruitworm. When it’s on cotton it’s the cotton bollworm. Right now in southern Kansas and Oklahoma they’ve got a real problem with the cotton bollworm so I guess they’re bound to be around for a while longer this fall.

One other reminder this morning. We really need to get to work now on that volunteer wheat. I’ve had producers calling me all concerned about volunteer in their neighbors field. Be a good neighbor and control your volunteer wheat in a timely manner. And before you go pointing too many fingers at your neighbors you’d better take a close look at your own fields!

This is Chuck Otte, County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook '98

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