Air May 24, 2000

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. Dry weather continues to make a bold move to the first thing on everyone’s list to talk about. Some of us are doing more than talking, we’re starting to plan... Just in case! We are continuing to see early season insect problems. Make sure that holes in your stands are dry weather and not insects. We’re even seeing insect problems that we rarely see in Kansas. The newest one is the southern corn leaf beetle. A heavy population of this rascal will make your field look like someone went through it with a weedeater. And of course, this weather is perfect for chinch bug development. I continue to be shocked at how thin a lot of this wheat is. Thin wheat plus dry weather plus warm temperatures lead us right up to chinch bug explosion. Wheat is starting to turn now, so start to expect infestations to start showing up in corn and milo fields.

With school out the end of the week and Memorial Day this weekend, it has to be the start of summer. And while the calendar may not say that it is officially summer yet, we’ve already had plenty of summer weather. Summer is that three month period when after you thought it couldn’t get any busier through the school year, it suddenly does get busier. So much to do and only 90 days to get it done in. Wheat harvest is going to start before we know it, then Independence Day celebrations. We’ve got to squeeze the county fair in that last week of July, and then you have to rush to get a family vacation taken before school starts. Are you starting to feel the panic set in yet? The truth is, there is no slow time anymore. We’re all on the go, all the time, or so it seems. The reality is that we all do need slow times. You don’t have to do everything. Somewhere along the way the past 40 years, that message has been lost. You can’t do it all and you will have to make some decisions, you’ll have to make some choices. Why not start this weekend. It’s a long holiday weekend. Slow down, and do very little. Get the whole family together, without the TV, the computer, the stereo or a video game, and just sit around aside and talk. Share some oral history, reminisce. Visit the cemetery and share memories of parents, grandparents and other relatives who are gone. Start to take back your life from the mad dash from event to event. Find your family, find your roots, find some peace and quiet this holiday weekend.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2000.

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