Better Kansas - Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Better Kansas – Feb. 13, 2020

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Mary Lou Peter

This week in Better Kansas we touch on building your personal savings, the loss of birds in North America, how soybean varieties performed last year and more 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

A RECENT BANKRATE ARTICLE SAYS NEARLY 3 IN 10 (28%) of U.S. ADULTS have no emergency savings. For many of us it’s a struggle to put that money aside and not spend it. But if the refrigerator dies, the car’s transmission goes on strike or the roof needs repair, we’re out of luck. There’s no better time to commit to building or adding to an emergency savings account than during Kansas Saves Week, Feb. 24-29. Check out the website for tips and encouragement. Plus listen to a Sound Living radio interview on the topic. Kansas Saves is part of the national America Saves campaign. I can attest that some of these tips are effective. After years of reading about such things and knowing that I should, I opened a savings account at a different bank than where most of my salary was deposited, and arranged for a small amount of my salary to be diverted to that savings account every payday. It CAN add up if you truly save it for emergencies! HINT: That cute pair of shoes does not qualify as an emergency — even if they’re on sale.

IF YOU GOT ENGAGED RECENTLY OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DID … OR IS ABOUT TO, YOU’LL DEFINITELY WANT TO READ THIS (or pass it along to the happy couple). Financial problems are among the top stressors for couples, and that can start even before the marriage. While you’re planning the wedding is a good time to learn whether you and your significant other are on the same page in regard to money, plus how you differ, and what you can do to meet in the middle. Then, recognize that the wedding is just the beginning of working through a lifetime of financial decision-making. The article, With This Ring … We Plan, walks us through things to think about and discuss when planning a wedding, as well as considerations for married life, including outstanding debt, aligning goals, who is responsible for paying the bills and so on. And trust me, you don’t have to be 20-something or 30-something for this to be relevant. Parts of it can also serve as a conversation starter for longtime married couples.

FOR THE MEAT EATERS AMONG US, THIS WILL SOUND FAMILIAR: You open the refrigerator and realize that you left a package of ground beef in there to thaw a couple of days ago …. or was it three days ago? If the surface of the meat is brown, is it still safe to eat? Maybe. In addition to how long it’s been sitting in the fridge, other factors such as oxygen and packaging affect the color of meat. Take a look at Fresh Ground Beef: A Consumer Guide for helpful information before you turn on the stove and start that chili.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

SOON WE’LL BE OUTDOORS MORE AND WELCOMING THE SOUND OF HAPPY BIRDS that are going about their business mating, nesting and raising their young, but are there a lot fewer of them? Survey results published in Science magazine last September indicate that since the 1970s in North America alone, we’ve lost 3 billion birds, nearly 30% of the total. Read what one of our agriculture and natural resources extension agents, who also happens to be a longtime birder, wrote about the topic in Did We Actually Lose 3 Billion Birds? Part 1. Two species that have shown significant declines are the House Sparrow and European Starling. Others, such as ducks and geese appear to be doing well and may be increasing. Thinking about this brought something to mind. You may have heard the expression, “the canary in the coal mine?” For years, miners took canaries into coal mines to detect toxic gases, thinking that deadly gases would affect the canaries before they would people. With modern technology, that practice has gone by the wayside, but I found an interesting article about it.

Watch for Part 2 next week, which addresses what we can do about the declines.

GEOGRAPHICALLY, WE HAVE A PRETTY BIG STATE and differences in precipitation, soil type and other factors mean that plants, including crops and crop varieties that grow well in northeast Kansas, say, may not grow particularly well in southwest Kansas. Last year was a challenging year for soybean growers, what with delayed planting in many areas because of wet conditions and slow early growth, and because of wet soils. Growers will want to take a look at the results of the 2019 Kansas Performance Tests with Soybean Varieties report that’s now available to see how different varieties fared across the state.

SPRING IS DRAWING NEAR and so is the state’s primary calving season on Kansas farms and ranches. It’s a beautiful sight to see, but not the easiest for producers and their cattle. Last spring was a particularly difficult calving season at least partially linked to cold, wet weather. Listen in to an Agriculture Today radio segment on successful calving strategies, plus a grain market update and other topics. A recent article on calving is also available and for a look at factors that influenced last year’s calving season, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab put together a fact sheet.

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 – Feb. 6, 2020

Posted on February 6, 2020February 7, 2020 by Mary Lou Peter

Welcome 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

WHEN A BAND OF ENTERPRISING PEOPLE GET TOGETHER TO LOOK OUT FOR OTHERS, good things happen and that’s how the Check Your Credit program was launched this month. Signup is free for the educational program designed to remind us how, when and why checking our credit reports for accuracy is so important. Really, who has time to contact the three credit reporting agencies to ask them for a copy of what they have on us? It’s easy to let this slide, but when we least expect it, we’ll be reminded why we should. Errors on a report can result in a lender charging a higher interest rate or denying credit altogether. Read more about the new program. Oh, and that band of people? They’re members of the Family Resource Management Program Focus Team (or PFT in extension lingo), a group of extension agents and specialists across the state who provide financial education to individuals and families through presentations, written articles, fact sheets, webinars and more. Wish I’d known about such people and their good work a long time ago!

KIDS, BUGS AND ART: A GREAT COMBINATION! PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER and you get a cool Youth Art Insect Contest! Winning entries will be featured in a deck of cards (think “Old Maid”-type card game) and distributed to Kansas schools. I love this idea! What a great way to teach kids about our natural world. It reminds me of a visit to a friend in Massachusetts long ago, when my friend’s young son gave me a carefully crafted bug picture as a going-away gift. That sweet little guy had taken dead bugs from his collection and taped them to a piece of paper. I guarded that “picture” all the way back to the Midwest. Hey, dead bugs are fragile! Crispy bugs may not work well for this contest but we have some very creative kids in Kansas who will come up with some great insect artwork. Enter now! The deadline is April 3, 2020.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, START YOUR PRUNING! If you’re lucky enough to have apple or pear trees on your property, the best time to prune them is almost upon us. That would be late winter (especially in southern Kansas) or early spring. That gives you a little time to make sure you have your pruning shears and saws, loppers and pole pruners clean, sharpened and ready to go. It will be nice to get outdoors and do something! Check out a Pruning Apple and Pear Trees factsheet for more specifics plus pictures.

HAVE YOU EVER PUZZLED OVER A BROWN SPOT IN YOUR LAWN? LEAVES DROPPING FROM TREES? TROUBLING SYMPTOMS IN YOUR CROP? Help is just a phone call or visit to your local extension office away. Extension agents can help you through the process of taking samples and sending them off to K-State’s Extension Plant Pathology Lab, which processes more than 1,000 samples a year as they work to determine the source of the problem – the first step in getting your lawn or farm back to health.

KANSAS AGRICULTURAL MEDIATION SERVICES HAS A NEW LEADER! The organization dedicated to helping ag producers work through financial challenges they may have with lenders has named Erin Strathe as its new staff attorney. Strathe succeeds Forrest Buhler, who led KAMS for 32 years. Buhler retired Jan. 31. KAMS was born of the 1980s farm crisis and since then has worked along with the Farm Analyst Program and others to help thousands of farmers, ranchers and creditors confidentially work through challenging circumstances. More information about KAMS and the transition is available in a news article and on the KAMS website. Or call 1-800-321-3276.

Better Kansas – Jan. 30, 2020

Posted on January 30, 2020January 28, 2020 by Mary Lou Peter

Better Living, Better Communities

SOME YOUNG CHILDREN SEEM ARTICULATE BEYOND THEIR YEARS …. SURELY THAT WAS OUR CHILDREN, RIGHT?! We know it’s important to read to kiddos from the beginning, plus talking with them and playing with them as they grow helps them learn new words and important skills to interact with others. It may seem like so much extra effort, but such activities stimulate a child’s imagination and help them develop language and listening skills. For a quick reminder about how and why it’s important for all children from babies to toddlers to preschoolers, take a look at Talk, Read, Play.

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT TURNING THAT FAVORITE RECIPE into a business? Maybe the famous salsa you make that has the special secret ingredient? Or that amazing bread that your friends and family are always asking for? The Kansas Value Added Foods Lab can help walk you through the process of developing your product safely and stay in the lines when it comes to current regulations. You’ll find helpful resources and even questions everyone should ask themselves when making decisions along the way including screening, feasibility, test marketing and commercialization.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

ORDERS ARE NOW BEING TAKEN BY THE KANSAS FOREST SERVICE FOR LOW-COST TREE SEEDLINGS to be planted for conservation purposes, according to a recent Horticulture Newsletter. Orders will be taken until May 1. Shipping starts in mid-March. Though not to be used for home landscapes, these trees can be used for wind breaks, wood lots, wildlife habitat, riparian areas along streambanks and more. We know how windy it can get in Kansas! Take a look at the newsletter or order here.

WHEN WE THINK OF GROWING CROPS THAT FEED THE WORLD, MANY STILL THINK of basic tractors and tilled fields – not really inaccurate but SO much more is happening on today’s farms. Growers know that taking care of the land and being efficient mean understanding how incredible new technologies can help pinpoint where part of a corn field is receiving too little moisture for instance, or which area of a soybean field has pests happily feasting on plants. Listen to this Agriculture Today radio segment to learn how new technology can help farmers sort wheat by protein — important because the amount of protein in wheat helps determine what food or feed product it’s best suited for. The radio segment also includes commentary on the grain market and other helpful information. A separate Agriculture Today podcast delves into the economic feasibility of autonomous farming systems. Listen in.

FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF DODGE CITY TO THE STOCKYARDS IN KANSAS CITY (okay, the stockyards were just over the border in Missouri 🙂 Kansas has been known for its cattle. But there are also a surprising number of sheep and goats across our state. We’re talking about 43,000 goats raised for meat and 6,000 for dairy, plus 74,000 head of sheep. If you raise sheep or goats or are just interested in knowing more about them, check out the Sheep and Meat Goat Research and Extension Page. I used to work for a woman who was a force of nature from Scotland. Rosemary made the very best roast leg of lamb, plus grew her own mint for mint sauce. Soo good!

Better Kansas – Jan. 23, 2020

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Mary Lou Peter

Better Living, Better Communities

LAST WEEK, I passed along information about a guide to help you know how long food ingredients will do their job in your recipes. But because of a technical glitch, not everyone got that section of Better Kansas, so I’m including the link again in hopes that it works this time. Safe Food Storage: The Cupboard is a really good guide.

IT’S EARLY IN THE YEAR, BUT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS ALREADY GETTING A LITTLE LESS RESOLUTE? Mine certainly are. One tip to get back on track is starting the day with breakfast if you don’t do that already. Studies show that people who eat breakfast eat 100 fewer calories a day than people who don’t. Another suggestion is to stop eating when you’re no longer hungry. Wait, we were supposed to be HUNGRY before we started eating?! Seriously, if we stop eating just as we begin to feel full, we can save as many as 500 calories a day. Other tips in the fact sheet, Action Plan for Healthy Living, focus on physical activity, sleep and ways to develop your own action plan. This may be just what I need to get back on track. Check it out.

SOMETIMES IT SEEMS EASIER TO LET OUR FINANCES JUST TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES and not pay much attention to things like credit scores or credit reports. Until, of course, our application for that new apartment is rejected or we pay a higher interest rate for that cool SUV we’ve been eyeing … all because of what’s on our credit report. This extension column in FortScott.biz sheds light on the difference between credit reports and credit scores and how they’re linked. It also mentions the upcoming statewide K-State Research and Extension Check Your Credit email program which I’ll be writing more about in the next few weeks.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

ONE OF MY INTERESTS IN WINTER ESPECIALLY, is watching the birds at my birdfeeder. So I enjoyed an item in a recent horticulture newsletter on bird feeding. It includes a list of the grains that different species prefer; for instance, cardinals and most finch species prefer sunflower seeds, while the dark-eyed junco likes white and red proso millet, canary seed and fine cracked corn. The newsletter also provides information on a fast-approaching conference on industrial hemp, plus a section on pawpaw trees, which only recently showed up on my radar when a friend made pawpaw fruit leather. Who knew?! Still other topics include Dutch elm disease-resistant American elm trees, designing your home landscape, starting newly-planted trees off right, plus fruit trees and frost. A bonus is a link to a video on attracting birds to your back yard. True confessions: Years ago, I bought a book on birds that are native to Kansas in hopes of identifying which birds came to dine at my house. I have to say, they’re mostly still little brown birds to me. I enjoy them no matter what!

BIG DECISIONS ARE LOOMING FOR FARMERS as part of the most recent farm bill. We’ve developed a new “tradeoff” spreadsheet tool to help farmers make their program election decisions, which need to be done by March 15. The spreadsheet, which compares potential 2019/2020 Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) county level payments with Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments, includes every state, county and covered commodity for which the USDA’s Farm Service Agency has released data. Included on the Agmanager.info website is both the spreadsheet and an 8-minute video that explains how the spreadsheet works and how to interpret the results. A radio interview on this and several other topics was also part of a recent Agriculture Today broadcast. If you haven’t already signed up, you’ll want to take a look or listen.

KANSAS CATTLE RANCHERS ARE AMONG THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS and some of the reasons why are because they’re always working to improve, be more efficient and look for better ways to care for their animals. To that end, K-State is hosting the popular 2020 Winter Ranch Management Series around the state:

30 – Ulysses
30 – Ashland
11 – Plainville
11 – Mankato
27 – Yates Center

Take a look at the K-State Research and Extension Beef page or check with your local extension office for more on the educational series and other beef production information.

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K-State Research and Extension