Airing November 22 - 28, 2005

Holiday Travel Safety

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I consider myself to be a very fortunate individual. In most years, because of my wife's job, we can't travel very far for the holidays. So we stay close to home and spend time with family that's not too far away - and every few years she takes some extra time off and we spend it with my family. So we don't have to spend a lot of time on the road, rushing from here to there. For many of you though, that's not the case and I understand. So for all of you who have to be traveling for hours or even days, here's some suggestions. Don't pack the stress in the car with you. Leave it at home. Then don't accumulate any more stress along the way. And to do that, you have to start by making your travel plans using realistic expectations. I don't care if the speed limit on the roads that you are traveling are 70, 65 or even 55 miles per hour, you can not average that for the entire journey no matter how far it is. There's stops to make, and towns to go through, gosh maybe even a little construction. A five minute stop at a rest area drops your 70 mph average speed down to 65 in a big hurry. So add a little time to your expected travel just for those reason. Then you don't have to push the speed limit. Take time to get out of the car and take a break every couple of hours. You may think that you're the rock of Gibraltar behind the wheel, and can drive for 6 hours straight, but it isn't a wise thing to do. Ideally, take a break every hour and get out of the car to stretch and walk around. If not every hour, then every couple of hours. Remember, life isn't a race to see who can get to the end first, life is a journey and you need to take some time to enjoy the trip along the way! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

End of year financial wrap up

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I know you don't want to think about it, BUT we're about 6 weeks away from the end of the year. For most producers that means tax season. You know, that time of year when we pull all the financial records into some semblance of order and try to get those taxes filed on time. I used to hate that time of year when I was growing up because the dining room table, and often an extra card table, will be filled with envelopes and ledger sheets and receipts and mom and dad were always in a bad mood. Sound even a little familiar? Well, instead of looking at the end of the season with that kind of dread, I would hope that you would look toward the end of the year with excitement as you have a chance to make a critical analysis of each and every farming operation. Take the time to allocate the costs of production out to each crop, each field or each livestock operation. The whole point here is not to just get the records together so that you can do the taxes, but so you can see what crop or livestock operation is the most profitable, what areas need some extra help and what activities might you need to drop. I know of a few producers who after doing this for a few years, quit growing hay, because it was always cheaper to buy it. Now I also know a few people who tell me they don't want to go to all that work because their farm is a lifestyle choice and they don't want to change anything. But if your lifestyle choice is your bread and butter, but it's not making you any money, then you aren't going to have much of a life style left, are you? Your farm records aren't just for tax purposes, they should be looked at as your life line for survival! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Let us give thanks

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Thanksgiving time always seems to be a holiday of confusion, from my perspective anyway. By that I mean it seems that many people spend a whole lot of time rushing around and not very much time spent giving thanks. Okay, sure, I'm probably preaching to the choir this morning, but think about it anyway. In fact, go ahead and think about it right up through New Year's Day. Here we have three holidays packed into about 6 weeks that should all be holidays of cheer and good tidings. Holidays of reflection, anticipation, home comings, family gatherings and the excitement of a new year and another trip around the sun. But what do we all too often hear instead. We hear complaints of what we want and what we don't have. Instead of being thankful for roads to drive, vehicles to drive on those roads and fuel to power those vehicles, we hear complaints of slow, fast or reckless drivers, and griping about the price of gasoline. Okay, we don't live in a perfect world, country or state. But it's still a heck of a lot better situation than a lot of the world gets to deal with! Many of us will eat way too much today and in the weeks ahead. The thought of not having enough to eat won't even enter most of our minds. So today, and in the coming weeks, I'd like to hope that we all find some way to slow down, not worry about what we normally worry about, and find a little time every day to be thankful for what we have and develop a little excitement for the coming weeks. Maybe we can spend a little time trying to think like a small child and rediscover that wonder and joy that used to come with every special season. Happy Holidays everyone!

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

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