AIR October 20, 1999

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. With us now past the middle of October we need to start bumping up those wheat seeding rates. We know that we can continue to get good yield results from wheat planted clear into early November, but to do so requires a little more seed. Soil temperatures are also cooling off a little bit now, and starter fertilizer can become more critical. Phosphorus availability is lower in cool soils, so if you have cold soils and a marginal phosphorus level, you can run into slow stand establishment. If you can put fertilizer on with the drill seriously consider it, especially if you know that phosphorus is limiting.

Well, since we are now past the middle of October it’s time to think about winter weather awareness. Many of us are still trying to hold onto summer, although the past couple of days should be helping to suppress those thoughts, but we are well into autumn and like it or not, we can have winter weather anytime now. It was just a few years ago we had a pretty nasty snow and ice storm on Halloween. Historically it has been early and late winter storms that cause the most problems. That’s because people aren’t thinking that they will happen. Get ready now, before snow is in the forecast. Make sure your vehicles are tuned up and ready for winter. Take the time to load winter storm survival gear in the vehicles. This should include blankets, candles, some candy bars, extra mittens or gloves, maybe even some extra coats or insulated coveralls and insulated boots. It won’t be long before we start getting those wind chill alerts dropping down into the single digits or below zero. I know you don’t want to think about it, but you have to - your life could depend on it. Start making sure that you always have at least a half tank of gas in your vehicles. It may sound silly, but you never know when you might get stranded someplace, and waiting until the winter storm warning is being forecast is again, waiting too late. Have you even checked to see if you have a frost scraper in your car yet? Again, remember the basics. Like it or not, winter is just around the corner. We’ve just seen a few frosts yet, but hard freezes are on their way. We’ve had some pretty mild winters for several years now. We’ve gotten off lucky on several occasions. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of mild winter. Be prepared, a nasty one is on it’s way and it could be this year!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook '99

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