Air January 10, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. As much as I like the snow and cold weather, I have to admit that it was nice to see some above freezing temperatures last week. But, we’ve still got two months of winter left, so I’m not kidding myself that we’re out of the woods yet. Just a quick reminder of a few meetings. We can probably still squeeze you in to that Grazing Management workshop scheduled for Friday in Marshall County, but call the Extension Office today, that would be 238-4161. The 4-State Beef Conference will be at Clay Center next Thursday, January 18th. Call the office by Friday to make a reservation. Briefly - there’s an estate planning workshop in Washington on the 22nd, No-till on the plains on the 22 and 23 in Salina and a Narrow Row Crop Management Meeting in Marysville on February 5th. Call me for more details or to get registered.

Well, there’s no way around the fact that fertilizer and fuel are both going to be costing us more this coming year. What can you do about it? Well, we are going to be having a good meeting on this very subject on March 6th here in Junction City, but in the meantime let’s think about a few things. And think becomes the first operative word here. Think about every single tillage operation you do on your farm. Ask yourself if this is necessary or could this be classified as recreational tillage. We can’t afford recreation tillage any more. Try to avoid doing anything in the field that will require additional tillage later on. Specifically, anything that would create compaction. Deep ripping can help get rid of compaction, but it also helps get rid of a lot of fuel. The best way to deal with compaction, is to not get it. Give serious consideration to more reduced tillage options. Many of the newer planters and drills can handle a lot of residue, even if they aren’t a true no-till planter. Most of the better dryland bean and milo fields last year were planted no-till, conserving that precious moisture. This year may or may not be as dry and hot but treat every year like it may be. And finally, soil test every field every year. At today’s prices, it’s only going to take a reduction of a few pounds of nitrogen on a few acres to pay for the soil test. And you have plenty of time to pull those soil samples right now anyway don’t you?

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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