Air September 14 - 20, 2006
Ag Land Values
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Every year, the Kansas Ag Statistics Service publishes their survey of agricultural land values and rental rates. While it is interesting, keep in mind that the reports are done on a district basis - a district will encompass about 12 counties so the information is pretty coarse, but it does give us a handle on what trends we are seeing. To make matters even more challenging, Geary County is at a crossroads for four different districts. Geary is in the east central district, Riley is in the northeast, Clay in the north central and Dickinson in the central district. You almost have to look at all four regions! But one trend that stands solid in all four districts is that land values and rental rates are up. On average, land values in the east central district were up 11.6% from '05 to '06. In the northeast district, they were up 21.3% All crop land in the east central district was up 10% and pasture land was up 20% from last year to this. I don't think we can argue with that trend around here - in fact it may have even been higher locally! Pasture rental rates were up about 3% from '05 to '06 and I expect that they will be up about the same or more going into '07. Contrary to popular opinion, price of cattle and rental rates do not set land values - it is land values that set rental rates. There may be some tough negotiations ahead on some of these pasture leases and it's time we start looking at the big picture in that pasture. Dryland crop cash rents were also up from last year to this - up almost 15%. Another point of concern for future discussions. If you'd like a copy of this report, give me a call! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
Nitrate and Prussic Acid Risk
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. We've got a lot of forage sorghums coming on strong, grain sorghums looking really good, and now we are starting to look at corn being harvested and the possibility of grazing the residue with cattle. But before we do any of these things we need to consider a possibility of toxicity problems to the cattle, in the form of nitrates or prussic acid. Prussic acid, a cyanide containing plant compound, will only be a problem in sorghums, not corn. I don't like to graze grain sorghum stubble until a week after a hard freeze just for that very reason. After a hard freeze that kills a plant, prussic acid dissipates very quickly and ceases to be an issue. So after milo harvest - just hold the cattle off until well on into the fall. Sorghum residue holds up well so you can use corn residue first. If we haven't had a killing freeze and you really need to get those cattle out onto the stubble, give me a call and we can talk about how to manage it. Nitrates are another issue completely. They don't disappear after a frost, they don't become less of an issue when the plant dies. The good news is that with the sorghum in our area, there shouldn't be any problem if you had good growth after those August rains. There is a quick nitrate test that I can do on plant material that is still growing -doesn't work on old dried up stalks after the fact, but is very effective on green growing plants. So if you have some sorghum you are thinking about utilizing, give me a call. And for grazing stocks, the cattle will eat any grain first, leaves second and stalks at the very last. And stalks, especially the lower part of the stalk is where the nitrates will be concentrated. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
Wheat Seeding and fall fertilization rates
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Here we are already half way, more or less, through the month of September. Which means that wheat planting is coming along real soon. But we always have a few folks who jump the gun, sometimes a whole lot, when it comes to wheat planting. Remember these dates: October 5th through 15th is, in my opinion, the time frame to be planting wheat. The only reason to be planting earlier is so that you can get enough growth for some fall grazing. And this year, with the shortage of forages and the good moisture conditions, I think more wheat/beef producers need to be looking at that. But even then, September 25th is early enough. Planting early CAN create excessive top growth which then becomes very attractive to aphids carrying Barley Yellow Dwarf disease. It makes you more susceptible to Hessian Fly, which is more of a problem than many producers realize. And it can lead to excessive fertilizer utilization which will cost you in bushels of grain at harvest time. We can plant later than October 15th and usually not suffer much yield reduction, but we need to start increasing seeding rates. What about fall fertilizer applications? I like to put down enough fertilizer to make sure that we can have good plant development this fall - usually in the 30 to 40 pound range. Can you put more down in the fall? Yes, but if you are planting early I'd advise against it. I like to get that 30 or 40 pounds down this fall, then after the first of the year you can evaluate your stand, soil moisture and weather forecasts and then apply the appropriate amount of topdress - anywhere from 20 to 120 pounds more! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
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