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Better Kansas – Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Tag: Kansas PRIDE program

Better Kansas – May 14, 2020

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

In today’s Better Kansas, we touch on stretching dollars, supporting communities, wind energy, tree and shrub challenges, meat supply disruptions and Kansas sunflower production. 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

NEWS THAT FOOD PRICES HAVE JUMPED, even as unemployment has skyrocketed largely due to COVID-19, just reinforces that we need to make the most of what we have. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index Summary reported May 12 that the price index for food at home in April posted its largest monthly increase since February, 1974. Resources that can help us be more efficient with what we have include Cook Once, Eat for a Month and When Your Income Drops, which include information about budgeting, resources and financial survival skills. These and much more are on the COVID-19 Resources page.

 

SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES and the individuals, families and businesses that comprise them is a focus of K-State Research and Extension. Through programs and activities, the Kansas PRIDE Program works with volunteers in communities across the state to make them even better places to live and work. Check out the May newsletter for more about what they’re up to. Kansas PRIDE is a partnership of KSRE, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Masons and Kansas PRIDE, Inc. And what a good idea, painting address numbers on curbs – important for first responders, but also for people like me who still aren’t sure which house when my GPS says I’ve reached my destination.

 

LAST WEEK I TOUCHED ON SOLAR ENERGY AND HOW IT’S HARNESSED TO POWER OUR HOMES AND BUSINESSES. In discovering that, I also learned that wind energy is a form of solar energy. Wait. What?! It’s because air is affected by pressure and temperature so methods of heat transfer such as convection, conduction, radiation, and advection relieve the temperature imbalances and are the driving forces for wind. This two-page article takes a complex subject and makes it as easy to read and understand as these things can possibly get.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

AS TREES AND SHRUBS START TO PUT ON THEIR LEAFY SPRING SHOW, it’s easier than ever to identify problems with Tree and Shrub Problems in Kansas. It’s a handy guide to whatever might ail our landscape plants, including pests, diseases and environmental stresses, and ways to manage the problems. Plus, it includes great photos. Nobody really wants a picture of dying trees UNLESS it can help us identify what’s going on in our own backyards, right?! Pine wilt, powdery mildew and Japanese beetles … we’re onto you!

 

 

THE TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF SOME MEAT PACKING PLANTS LINKED TO COVID-19 is leaving grocery meat cases less full and on the other end of the supply chain, livestock producers with animals that were ready to go to market… like two weeks ago. Whether you’re a consumer or a producer … or just curious about how this all works, this fact sheet by experts  will shed light on the market disruption and what it means for the cattle industry.

 

MANY OF US LEARNED AS CHILDREN THAT THE SUNFLOWER IS OUR STATE FLOWER. The state legislature designated it so in 1903. But there’s a lot more to them than the gorgeous golden addition they add to our landscape. In fact, Kansas is the 4th largest commercial sunflower grower in the U.S. In 2018, 89 million pounds of sunflowers worth more than $16 million were grown on 65,000 acres across the state. Sunflower seeds make a healthy snack or salad topper and oil produced from them is used as cooking oil. And, oh yes, birds love them. Many commercial bird seed mixes have sunflower seeds as a main ingredient. If you’re a grower or are thinking about it, check out Agronomy’s Sunflowers page and 2019 Kansas Performance Tests with Sunflower Hybrids.

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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/

Better Kansas – Jan. 9, 2020

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas BlogWelcome to Better Kansas, where every Thursday we shed light on events, resources and other information designed to make your life, businesses, communities and state better. 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

FROM BASEHOR TO BAXTER SPRINGS AND LARNED TO NORTON, communities across the state are working to figure out how they can stay vibrant, determine what’s important to their residents, and how they can attract and retain businesses and visitors, not to mention residents. This year, the Kansas PRIDE program is celebrating 50 years of assisting local governments and volunteers through grants, recognition and other means of support as they make their communities better places to live and work. Kansas PRIDE is a partnership between K-State Research and Extension, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Masons and Kansas PRIDE, Inc. It fits right in with extension’s increasing focus on community vitality. Check out the most recent Kansas PRIDE newsletter. Look for more on the PRIDE program as the year unfolds.

 

FOR THOSE OF US WHO AREN’T SO GOOD AT WHIPPING UP TASTY MEALS ON SHORT NOTICE, or even if you are, this is the kind of resource that speaks to us: Making a Meal from What’s on Hand is a simple guide to putting together ingredients you likely have in your pantry or refrigerator. As a writer, I sometimes have writer’s block. This resource helps what I’ll call cook’s block. It provides ideas for your starch (pasta, rice, etc.), protein (beef, chicken, egg, seafood or beans), vegetable, sauce, flavor and toppings in a handy list. Or listen to an audio report on the topic.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

WHETHER YOU LIVE IN THE COUNTRY, SUBURBS OR CITY, you likely encounter wildlife from time to time. I’m not talking about the birds from the kitchen window …. I’m talking more up close and personal, like a squirrel in the attic or a snake in the basement. My most memorable was a raccoon IN the birdfeeder (see pic). And then there’s that deer that literally ran into the side of my moving car last spring. I love animals and you probably do too, but not in the attic or taking in my garden like they are at the local buffet! Sometimes it’s helpful to have information about coexisting with animals, and in some cases managing the situation. Check out the K-State Extension Wildlife Management page for videos, fact sheets and links to even more resources on everything from bats to possums to voles. Note to self: Never again put a patio chair directly under the bird feeder.

 

IF YOU HAVE CATTLE ON PASTURE YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF THE ‘TAKE HALF AND LEAVE HALF’ RULE. That involves that point when about 50% of the growing season’s top growth of grass is removed. It’s one of many considerations when you’re managing grazing cattle. Others include rotational versus continuous grazing and overgrazing. Take a look at Evaluating Rules of Thumb for Grazing Management in the Jan. 2 Beef Tips. Plus, there’s good information on genomics considerations when buying bulls, calving management, preparing for winter and nutrition information for feedlot operators.

WINTER ISN’T JUST A TIME TO THINK ABOUT PLANTING SEASON IF YOU’RE A FARMER … it’s time to grow yourself by taking in some professional development. Whether you grow corn, sorghum or other crops, the next few weeks offer opportunities to learn about the latest research, plus challenges and potential solutions for all kinds of crops grown in Kansas. Many of these are happening this month, so take a look now at:

Corn Management Schools – Wichita, Oakley, Salina and Olathe.

Sorghum Production Schools – Scott City, Great Bend and Hutchinson.

Soybean Production Schools – Smith Center, Salina, Mulvane, Emporia, Atchison, and Marysville.

Cover Your Acres Winter Conference – Oberlin

Kansas Agricultural Technologies Conference – Junction City

Midwest Cover Crops Council Annual Conference – Kansas City

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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/