Airing November 7 - 14, 2005

Control Weeds Now

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. It's not uncommon to spray or work wheat stubble

fields in the fall to control volunteer wheat and winter annual weeds before planting a row crop the following spring. But, it's less common to control winter annual weeds following a row crop in the fall. There are, however, reasons to spray those winter annual weeds in fall, rather than wait until spring. Fall provides a wide spray window: from fall harvest until the soil freezes. Most years that brings plenty of clear, crisp days with a gentle breeze - ideal for a herbicide application. Work loads lessen once harvest is done, and spray drift problems decline when trees go dormant and the gardening season is past. The main spray drift concern is fields with newly emerged wheat. In contrast, spring can mean working around wind, rain, and planting preparations. Fall's seedling weeds are easier to kill than plants that have overwintered. The control spectrum is wider, and herbicide rates can be lower. Take henbit, one of the tougher winter annuals, in spring, a pint of 2,4-D plus 2 to 4 fluid ounces of dicamba will likely give only 50 to 75 percent henbit control. With fall applications, however, this recipe can give complete control of not only henbit but also the mustards, prickly lettuce, evening primrose and marestail. In spring, soils covered with dead stubble warm up more readily than soils under a cover of growing winter annuals. This enhances the chances for earlier planting. And, with no ropey vegetation wrapping around residue managers, planter operation is simpler. So try to control those weeds this fall. If it doesn't work out there's still spring, if it does work, you're a step ahead. This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Fertilize Brome Grass Now

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I mentioned it a month or so ago just to start getting you thinking about it. But now the time is here. It's time to fertilize bromegrass. I know a lot of you are used to doing that in the late winter, and some years that works almost as well as fertilizing now. But 25 years worth of fertility tests at the K-State agronomy farm in Manhattan has shown that the best production and the most consistent production comes from fertilizing brome in November or early December. Why? There's probably several good reasons. Even though that brome grass is slowing down right now, there's still a lot going on at least at the root level. It doesn't take very much rainfall to carry those nutrients to the soil surface and into the top few inches of soil. Even though the top isn't aggressively growing for the next several months, as long as there's a little sunshine and the soil temperature is above 40 degrees, there is activity at the root level. Sooo, those roots will take up the nitrogen and the phosphorus and the sulfur and slowly move it around the root system. The amazing thing is what happens in the plant is we move into late February and March. Even before you see much happening above ground, there's a lot going on below ground. And with those nutrients already in the plant system, that gives you one more step ahead of the game. Fall applications help build up the root systems and this will be noted with faster greenup and growth in the spring and that usually equates to better quality and higher yield of forage. So either fertilize the brome yourself or contact your ag fertilizer supplier to get it done with in the next several weeks! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Get Ready for Winter

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. This is the time of year when most people think that farmers can start relaxing. As the last wheat get's planted and the last acre of milo is harvested, there just isn't much else to do, right? Hopefully we all know better. This is the time of year that you need to wrap up those fall chores. As harvest and wheat planting get done, clean up the equipment, give it a good going over and start making notes of repairs and upkeep that will need to be done and maybe even arrange to get that done now. Then winterize each piece of equipment, if necessary and store it out of the way, if not out of the weather. Then start cleaning up the farmstead. It becomes so very easy to toss this over here and that over there with the thought of, "I'll clean that up later." Then a whole bunch of later's later you've got an unexpected snow storm and you're trying to get around and you're running into this, that and the other. Now I don't know that we're going to have an early snowstorm. In fact the 90 day outlook is above normal temperatures with normal precipitation. But I do know that snowstorms can come anytime from November to March and I also know that the more prepared you are, the less hassle they are. So clean up and put things away. Get all vehicles that you'll need this winter ready for freezing weather. Get tire chains and tow ropes in order and where they are easily gotten to, the same for snow and ice removal equipment. Get emergency livestock feed in place and ready if needed. Because the more prepared you are for the unusual weather, the less likely it is to happen! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Time to evaluate pastures

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.

This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.

This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

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