Better Kansas – Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Tag: grilling food safety

Better Kansas – June 11, 2020

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NOTE: I’ll be taking a short break next week so there will not be a June 18 Better Kansas. In the meantime, stay cool, stay safe and enjoy these longer hours of daylight!

In today’s Better Kansas, we highlight the benefits of dancing, summer food safety, tick research, deadheading flowers, the state’s pork industry and pinkeye in cattle. This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

LET’S LIGHTEN THINGS UP! FAMILY DANCE is a reminder how important it is for all of us, no matter the age, to move. Whether it’s silly dance or you’re seriously perfecting your salsa steps, remember how freeing it feels to move to music? The article focuses on the benefits of dancing with your children, but even if you don’t have young kiddos around, take a look. And there are links to videos with music. Hey, it’s a way to work off the COVID15 or Quarantine 15  (you know, those extra pounds). Even the Mayo Clinic addressed that this week.

 

FOR MANY OF US, THIS IS GRILLING SEASON! There’s really nothing like the aroma and taste of meat, poultry or fish cooked on the outdoor grill. Listen in to a recent Sound Living podcast for food safety tips when cooking outdoors. And whether you’re camping, hosting a gathering on the deck or tailgating before a game, check out resources on Outdoor Food Safety.

 

LAST WEEK WE CONNECTED WITH INFORMATION ABOUT TICKS AND WAYS TO AVOID THEM, and this week we learn that a K-State researcher has received further funding from the National Institutes of Health for further research into ticks and to develop vaccines for tick-borne illnesses. Check out the article for details on how the $3.125 million grant will be used. Even as we’ve been so focused on the new coronavirus, there are still these ever-present other challenges to consider.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

OVER THE WEEKEND I FOUND MYSELF PULLING FADED PETALS FROM THE FIRST FLUSH OF ROSES IN MY YARD. I’ve heard that removing dead flowers encourages the growth of new ones and a recent Horticulture Newsletter confirmed it. Roses, hardy geraniums, petunias, coreopsis and other flowers benefit from the practice commonly referred to as deadheading. It’s about the only encounters I have with roses where the thorns don’t jump out and grab me! But deadheading isn’t helpful for other flowers, such as impatiens and sedum. Check out the Horticulture Newsletter for information on this and other topics, including fruit disease, mums, fertilizing annual flowers and other topics. I confess, it’s difficult for me to write about deadheading without thinking of Dead Heads (a little nostalgia for some of us if you can skip through the ads).

 

MANY THINK OF KANSAS AS CATTLE COUNTRY, BUT THERE ARE 1,000 HOG FARMS in the state that last year sold almost $495 million worth of animals, according to the Kansas Pork Association. Take a look at what a team of researchers and extension specialists and agents are doing to support this important component of our agricultural industry. That includes nutrition, animal health, marketing, environmental management of facilities and more.

 

INFECTIOUS BOVINE KERATOCONJUNCTIVITIS (IBK), KNOWN TO MOST OF US AS PINKEYE, is a bacterial disease common in cattle. The painful, highly contagious disease can swiftly affect a herd and reduce feed intake. A recent Agriculture Today podcast covered the topic. Listen in and hear about how and why to manage pinkeye in cattle herds, along with separate segments on breeding bulls, wheat variety selection and bagworm control.

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For more resources and activities, contact the K-State Research and Extension office in your area. Check out our other blogs and subscribe to our weekly emails here: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/blogs/