Air January 31 - February 6, 2006

AMS in glyphosate applications

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Anyone who sprays there own roundup or glyphosate, is probably aware of the impact of water pH and especially the water hardness has on the activity of the glyphosate herbicide. And the lower the rate you are trying to use, the more critical it can be. Clear back in the 1980's we became aware that simply hard water could virtually halt glyphosate from working. But we quickly found that adding ammonum sulfate at the rate of 17 pounds per 100 gallons of spary solution, took care of this problem. But the dry ammonium sulfate is a pain to work with. So some folks started switching over to 5 gallons of liquid AMS per 100 gallons. Both of these products, at this rate, work just fine. In recent years there have been many new products come on the market which were supposed to serve as AMS replacements. The old adage of something sounding too good to be true, still holds court. K-State weed sceintists have performed several tests of these AMS replacements, comparing their activity against standard AMS products and against no ammonium sulfate what so ever. The only replacement products that truly worked were those that contained ammonium sulfate and were used at that comparable 17 pounds of dry AMS or 5 gallons of liquid AMS per 100 gallons. None of the commercially available low rate AMS replacement products worked as well as AMS, in fact in many cases those low rate products - the ones using 1 to 2 quarts per 100 gallons, performed no better than glyphosate with no additives. And tough to control weeds was where it really showed up. Don't skimp - put up with the hassle and do it right! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Calving Management

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Calving season is getting under way, and I'm sure that many of your would be quite happy if the weather stayed warm and dry. So make sure that you are ready for whatever may come along. If you haven't done it already, get all your calving managment equipment cleaned up and ready to go. If you have kept good records, you know which cows do a pretty good job and which ones often need assistance. Those that need assistance every year, probably need to be given a higher priority to cull, but for now, remember to keep a closer eye on them. Make sure that as they move into the final stages of pregnancy, they are getting the feed that they need - I know we are getting by lucky so far in that we don't have cold weather extra feeding required, but let's not back off too much. Thin cows and fat cows are going to have the most problems, so aim for that body condition score of 5.5 to 6.5. This will be adequate condition for that cow to calve, nurse well and breed back in a timely manner. One of the really critical factors is to be aware of the cows that are seriously into the calving process so that you can know when intervention is needed. Once the calf is lined up in the birth canal and contractions have begun, most heifers should complete delivery in about an hour, a cow would be expected to complete delivery within 30 minutes after labor begins. If you've got an animal that's been in labor for a couple of hours it's probably time to intervene. BUT know your limits. Every large animal vet I've talked to has horror stories with no end. That calf and that cow are too valuable to mess up. It's better to call the vet and then not need the help than to lose the cow and the calf. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Liming - new emphasis for an old practice

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. We have known for years that when the pH of soils becomes acidic we need to apply and incorporate lime to correct the problem. But let's be right hones, we often don't really pursue this until we are at a critical point. Legumes are more sensitive so if the soil is getting fairly acid, which for us is under 5.5, and we are going to a perennial forage crop, then we'll do something about it. Liming isn't that expensive around here because we have a lime source. It's just a hassle and then on top of that, we have more and more producers doing less and less tillage. Well, we need to consider taking action sooner and if that means doing a minimal amount of tillage to get some incorporation, then that's what we need to do. But always check with NRCS and FSA to make sure that the tillage you need to do for liming isn't going to penalize you with any conservation programs that you may be enrolled in. But we have another reason why we should be considering more lime applications, and that, quite simply, is to make better use of soil nutrients, thereby saving a few dollars. Nutrients in the soil are not always available at the same level. Temperature affects nutrient availability as does soil pH. As soil pH's start to drop, many of the critical nutrients become less available, such as phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, and some nutrients that can be toxic, such as aluminum become much more available to the point of toxicity. At what point does this occur? The minute we start to drop below about 6.0 soil pH, availability of critical nutrients starts to decrease. And it decreases quickly so that by 5.0, in essence the nutrients are only about 50% as available. They are still there, they just can't be used. Liming is an old practice, but let's look at it under new light! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

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