Air April 19 - May 2, 2006

Soybean Rust Update

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. With soybean planting underway or nearly underway for many producers, it's time to start thinking about soybean rust again. For the past two years I have been saying that as long as we could keep it out of Texas we'd be sitting pretty good. Well, the honeymoon is over! While soybean rust has not been found on soybeans in Texas, it has been found on kudzu, the principle alternate host for soybean rust in the US. The location in Texas was in the extreme southern tip, basically a little west of Brownsville. Now Brownsville is straight south of Salina. This may not be as bad as it seems because we generally have prevailing winds that are more southwest than straight south. But whether we see soybean rust in Kansas this year or not depends on a lot of factors. Asian Soybean Rust does not like really hot weather,which means temperatures above 90 degrees and prefers higher humidity levels than we would usually expect. Last year there was a fair amount of soybean rust in the south, but it didn't make it up into the soybean and corn belt of Illinois and Indiana. The general feeling last year was that the droughty weather pretty well halted it's march north. And if the long term forecast holds, we may well see the same thing here this year. Unfortunately, bad weather for soybean rust means less than ideal soybean production weather as well. So, my advice is to carry on with your 2006 production plans. Don't make drastic changes just because of what's been found in Texas. Heck, we have leaf rust every year in wheat, but it hasn't stopped us from planting wheat. With timely scouting and fungicides, we can deal with soybean rust if it shows up! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Safe Livestock Working facilities

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Most of you know that I'm a bit of a stickler on farm safety. And we all know that we all should be. But until you have one of those "boy that was close" moments, we often don't give it a second thought, and then we all too often don't even take the time to do something preventative after that "oh my gosh" moment. Well, I'm going to talk about one area that I don't think I've mentioned before, or at least I don't remember mentioning. How safe are your livestock working facilities. I don't care if you just have a squeeze chute you use once a year, or a facility that you use several times each month. I want you to take some time soon and just start taking a look at your facilities. Are they arranged in a manner that will minimize stress on the livestock and you and put both of you in the least likely position to be injured? Are squeeze chutes, gates, latches clean, well oiled, properly aligned so they work when they are supposed to with a minimal amount of effort. Or do you smash a finger on a regular basis. Okay, a smashed finger, a bruise a minor cut all seem like minimal issues, but over time they add up and just one cut infected cut can lead to long term problems. Are the facilities well lit? Well lit facilities without strong shadows not only make it easier for you to do your job, but will make the livestock easier to work with also. Okay, you may not be ready to completely overhaul the cattle pens right now, but maybe there's some little things you can do to make your job easier. And if you do ever get to that point when you are thinking about doing some redesign, let me get one of our engineers out to work with you so you do it right the first time. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Insect and disease update

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. So, other than soybean rust in Texas, is there much on the horizon that is a concern for crop producers? Well, have you checked your alfalfa lately? I've been starting to see some alfalfa fields that obviously have not been treated in a timely fashion. This is more than just an issue of losing part of your first cutting. There is a stand of alfalfa that was planted four years ago in a nearby county. I think we agree that any alfalfa field in this region should be good for 4 if not 5 or 6 or even more years. Because it was in a location where it was easy for me to observe, I watched this field turn white before it got sprayed every single year. After just four years, it is essentially gone. There is less than 1 plant per square foot. Alfalfa weevil is a serious problem and alfalfa stands are too expensive to lose that much of their effective life. Get out there and monitor them even if you did spray. Re-infestation is not out of the question and a second treatment may be needed before time for first cutting. And don't push that first cutting too far forward - it's cheaper to make a second application. On the plus side, the drier hotter weather through much of the middle of April really helped to keep the wheat diseases in check while the wheat just exploded in growth. But we are into some really critical growth stages and we need to be out there monitoring those flag leaves as we get towards boot stage. All things given it may not pay to spray anything but seed fields, but if a problem crops up, the best seed wheat protection you can have may well be a timely fungicide treatment! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Livestock Management on Down the road

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Okay, calves are on the ground, grass season is upon us and before long it'll be time to turn the bulls out. With all the heat we've had in April, expect insect problems sooner than normal. Monitor and treat pinkeye and be sure to look at all possible options for fly control. What you have traditionally used may not be the most effecient or the most cost effective. Talk your option over with the your vet! IF we have the predicted dry weather, have a plan in place to supplement feed. Consider creep feeding calves to keep their weight gain moving along. One of the things that is too often overlooked is checking your bulls for breeding soundness. I just saw one campaign being started called "Dump the Duds". Surveys indicate that less then 20% of bulls, nationwide, are being semen tested prior to the breeding season. If you stop and think about how many cows that one bull can impact, doesn't it make sense to make sure he's up to the task? Sure, maybe you'll just get an extra bull, just in case, but how much is it costing you to keep that extra bull around? I'll bet if you really figure the cost of upkeep it's at the value of at least one calf per year. Have your bulls given a complete physical. Make sure he has the feet and legs necessary for the intensity of the season. Make sure he's carrying adequate, but not too much conditioning going into the season. There's still time to fix that. Remember, he may not eat much for a few weeks, so make sure he's ready for that. And finally have his entire reproductive tract examined as well as his soundness. If you've got a bull that isn't going to do the job, it's time to get him replaced, before you have open cows! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Preplant and Pre-emerge herbicide program for sorghum

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. It seems like in the past few years, grain sorghum has become the poor stepchild. First the farm program was modified giving a lot more freedom to the producers to choose what they want to plant. Soybeans and Corn then came out with the roundup ready technology and all of a sudden even tough weed problems could be dealt with. Simultaneously, the acres of grain sorghum being planted in our area dropped like a rock as soybeans started challenging even wheat for the number of acres being planted. Well let's not forget grain sorghum. It was the subject of my master's thesis so I tend to have soft spot for good old milo! Now, don't expect to see a roundup ready version of milo - it just presents too much of a risky situation for weed control. Think about it - it wouldn't take but three years before we'd have roundup resistant shatter cane! So we may need to do a little more homework on our herbicide programs for grain sorghum. I don't think we should even think about trying to develop a sorghum herbicide plan that doesn't have at least some atrazine in it. For cost effectiveness and weed control, it still can't be beat. By using a burndown of glyphosate and 2,4-D tankmixed with a residual grass and pigweed herbicide 1 to 2 weeks ahead of planting is a pretty good option. There are some non-atrazine options, but many of these are pricey and require Concep safened seed. If you use one of these do not reduce rates to save dollars. A cheaper option is an atrazine/acetamide premix such as Bicep Magnum Lariat or Guardsman Max. Consider putting part of this on with the burndown to keep grasses under control. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Return to Radio Home Page

Return to Ag Home Page