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Tag: crop insurance

Better Kansas – March 4, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

Better Kansas – March 4, 2021

In this week’s Better Kansas, I cover spring cleaning and organizing our homes as well as our financial records, environmental education and help for small businesses, government agencies and teachers, gardening know-how, helping students by taking an herbicide use survey and imminent crop insurance decisions. 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

MARCH CAME IN LIKE A LAMB RATHER THAN A LION THIS YEAR, which expedited my good intentions to do a thorough spring cleaning. I find Cut the Clutter and Get Organized helpful in times like this, partly for the good tips and partly because it gives me comfort that there are enough people like me that there’s a publication to encourage us to do something about those stacks of stuff. I especially like the reminder to start with a good attitude! Now, about those good intentions ….

 

WHILE WE’RE ORGANIZING OUR HOMES AND OFFICES, this is a good time to get our financial records in order, too. Our Valuable Records is a free downloadable and printable resource that provides spaces for important contacts, insurance policy information, bank and retirement accounts … all that information you wish your parents had left or your kids would appreciate if you’re incapacitated or worse.

 

MOST OF US KNOW WHY IT’S IMPORTANT FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE TO CONSERVE ENERGY, but there’s actually help for businesses, teachers and government agencies in determining ways to do that. The Kansas Energy Program provides education, grant information and technical assistance to small businesses, K-12 educators and government entities. Its goal is to encourage the implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy. To learn more, take a look.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

GARDENERS, I KNOW YOU’RE ITCHING TO GET OUT THERE! If visions of sugarplums and reindeer have been replaced by flowers and veggies in your head, we know it’s almost spring! There’s no better time to look at the Kansas Garden Guide. It’s a wealth of information about growing everything from carrots and radishes to herbs and watermelon. And it’s written specifically for our conditions in Kansas – a lot different than say, Alabama or Nevada. It also covers the basics of soils, composting, container gardening and much more. There’s a reason why this publication generally tops the list of most popular K-State Research and Extension publications.

 

HELP US HELP OUR STUDENTS! Weed science graduate students (you know … those scientists, educators and producers in the making) are investigating how herbicide application practices such as sprayer speed and spray volume influence weed control and whole-farm efficiency. They’ve devised a short survey on herbicide application practices and would appreciate your participation. For more information and a link to the survey, take a look.

 

MARCH 15 IS FAST APPROACHING. DO YOU KNOW YOUR ARC FROM YOUR PLC? HAVE YOU CHOSEN YOUR CROP INSURANCE PROGRAM? If not, resources developed by K-State agricultural economists will be helpful. The article, Decision Time: ARC or PLC 2021-2022 includes a link to the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC)/Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Tradeoff Spreadsheet and an associated discussion, plus updated estimated crop prices for the 2021/2022 marketing year. The acronyms are alphabet soup, I know, but critically important stuff for crop producers.

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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. 14, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

Welcome to this week’s Better Kansas, where I touch on resources for caregivers, cooking basics, parenting during the coronavirus pandemic, Cheyenne Bottoms (and community vitality resources), the Women Managing the Farm conference, and beef herd management. That’s quite a wide range of topics! This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Feel free to share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

AN ESTIMATED 65.7 MILLION AMERICANS ARE FAMILY CAREGIVERS FOR AN ILL OR DISABLED RELATIVE, according to the National Alliance of Caregiving. That’s 29% of the adult population and involves 31% of all U.S. households. And many of those caregivers are also holding down fulltime jobs, working to advance their careers and responsible for their own nuclear family. Stress can run high in the best of circumstances. Throw in a pandemic and its financial, health and social implications and political angst during election season, it’s no wonder that caregivers feel beyond pressured. K-State Research and Extension offers help for caregivers, including programs like Powerful Tools for Caregivers. Check with your local extension office to determine if a similar program is planned in your area. In the meantime, if you’re a caregiver, please take a break; forgive yourself – often; ask for and accept help when offered; and find your best way to relax, whether it’s reading a book, gardening or meditating. Also, check out Dr. Erin Yelland’s work in Adult Development and Aging resources and in the North Central Region Aging Network.

WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUCH AN INNATE SENSE OF FOODS, HERBS, SPICES AND COOKING that they instinctively put meals together without a second thought. I’ve always been envious. I am not one of those people. For those of us who feel like we must follow a recipe to a T, take a look at Cooking Basics: Make a Meal from What’s on Hand. It’s similar to a guide I shared a year or so ago, breaking recipes into protein, vegetable, starch, liquid, sauce and flavor, but this one’s a little more comprehensive, I think. It provides suggestions for stir fry, soup, salad and more. This whole segment also conjures up thoughts of those who have an innate sense of fashion …. you know those people who can put on anything and look FABULOUS. But that’s another topic … another day.

IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I’VE REFERENCED THE GROWING ARRAY OF RESOURCES IN ‘SUDDENLY IN CHARGE,’ an effort begun early last year as part of the K-State Research and Extension response to the coronavirus pandemic. This time, I was drawn to the resources for parents, which include talking to young children and teens about coronavirus. Now that we’re approaching our second year in this pandemic, it might be a good idea to go over the basics again, especially if they’re chafing at the idea of social distancing and not readily seeing friends or family members. Who can blame them?!

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

LAST FALL I HAD THE THRILL OF VISITING CHEYENNE BOTTOMS in the heart of  Kansas. I’d heard of it and driven by it but was always on my way to somewhere else, so had not actually driven into this incredible gem of nature right here in our own state. Thanks to a patient friend, that’s been remedied. Thousands of birds were stopping by this vast wetland that day … waves and waves of seemingly every kind of bird you can think of, including some surprises. Pelicans in Kansas? This photo was taken that day. Where had they been? Where were they going? I had visions of opening a bed and breakfast or other small business to accommodate the people who visit this site. Those of you with an entrepreneurial spirit might want to listen to Growing Kansas Agritourism, one of the many informative First Friday e-Call webinars offered to support businesses and community vitality across the state.

THE ‘WOMEN MANAGING THE FARM CONFERENCE’ set for Feb. 10-12 is going virtual this year. The conference offers a supportive setting where women can develop the skills, resources and knowledge needed for success in a competitive agricultural environment. Several keynote speakers are slated, plus breakout sessions on machinery and maintenance, fence building, fence law, estate planning, farm finances and more. New this year is a resource library to support attendees in maintaining a healthy and sustainable home and business life. I attended this conference a couple of years ago and met a woman from out of state who owned farmland in Kansas. She’d come back to check on the farm, which she was leasing to someone else, and to learn more about farm management at the conference. Take a look at the agenda and register at http://womenmanagingthefarm.com/.

 

THE JANUARY ‘BEEF TIPS’ NEWSLETTER IS OUT, and features information about K-State’s Winter Ranch Management Seminar series, heifer development program considerations, balanced nutrition and calving, recordkeeping and financial decisions (Tally Time), and sampling grain for mycotoxins – those naturally occurring toxins produced by certain molds that can be found in food or feed. Some of those mycotoxins can cause illness and death in humans and animals. Take a look.

 

FARMERS HAVE ABOUT TWO MONTHS to make some important crop insurance decisions. The 2018 Farm Bill now allows producers to make an annual election for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC).  The deadline to change your election with the Farm Service Agency from previous year’s selections is March 15, 2021 which will be the program elected for the crop harvested in 2021 (Marketing Year 2021/2022). The Agricultural Economics Department at K-State has again published the popular “Trade-off” spreadsheet to assist producers in making this election.

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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 – Feb. 20, 2020

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas BlogIn today’s Better Kansas, we bring you eight weeks to better health, soup sense, birds disappearing – Part 2, an online tool for farmers, and prescribed burning – all 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

THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER AND THE WEATHER A BIT WARMER, so walk your way to better health by signing up for Walk Kansas! The eight-week, team-based program that promotes physical activity and healthy eating starts March 15 and runs through May 9. This year, in addition to support to help get us moving, we’ll learn about the shared lifestyle traits of people in the Blue Zones, those areas of the world where people tend to live longer and healthier, plus the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. For a $10 per person fee, you and your team (usually six people) can report and track your progress online, receive weekly emailed newsletters with tips and recipes and information about local activities. Your team can be made up of neighbors, friends, co-workers or family members… or people you barely know. They can even be on the other side of the state … or in different states. To learn more, take a look at the Walk Kansas website or check with your local K-State Research and Extension office. Trust me, you can be the most rookie walker in the world and still benefit from this. LET’S GET OUT THERE!

 

WHETHER YOU’RE A TOMATO SOUP KIND OF GUY OR A CORN CHOWDER KIND OF GIRL, we’re still in what I consider soup season. (We’ll get into cold summer soups another time :).  Anyway, I came across this Soup … Versatile Comfort Food that offers good tips and reminders about making healthy, yet satisfying soups and stews. Yum! I can almost taste that vegetable soup right now! And if you’d rather listen, here’s an audio version. There’s even a Mexican soup recipe you can make in your slow cooker, compliments of Iowa State University! That’s the way the cooperative extension service across the U.S. works – we share! Still smarting from that last basketball loss to ISU though 🙁

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

LAST WEEK I LINKED TO ‘DID WE ACTUALLY LOSE 3 BILLION BIRDS’ Part 1 that centered on why we have fewer bird populations in North America than we did in the 1970s. Today, in Part 2, a longtime K-State Research and Extension birder goes over what we as humans can do to help reduce bird fatalities. Hint: It looks like keeping cats indoors is a really good idea. Plus, I learned that cats are not native to the North American ecosystem! Who knew?!

Slightly off topic (my way of saying this is not a completely smooth segue), but since I’ve had birds on my mind over the last few weeks, I’ve thought about the 1960s movie The Birds, one of those unforgettable films. A classic in my book….95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

IT’S AN AWESOME SIGHT TO SEE – PLANNED BURNING OF THE KANSAS PRAIRIE.  There’s still time to attend a prescribed burning workshop with three coming up soon: Feb. 26 in Hamilton, March 4 in Phillipsburg, and March 5 in Fredonia. Each workshop is about five hours long and includes materials and lunch. Topics include planning and conducting a burn, safety, liability, fire weather and more. In addition, numerous publications and fact sheets about prescribed burning are available from the K-State Research and Extension bookstore. Type in “prescribed burning” in the search function.

Other workshops in cooperation with other agencies are also in the works.

IT’S STILL BASKETBALL SEASON AND ALL, BUT K-STATE AND OKLAHOMA STATE set aside rivalries long enough to come together and produce the OSU-KSU Decision Tool for crop producers. The online tool can help growers look at different options when it comes to crop insurance election decisions that must be made by March 15 under the 2018 Farm Bill. The tool helps farmers compare Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). It’s a lot of alphabet soup, I know, but worth the effort. The information is on the AgManager.info website which also has more information about the most recent Farm Bill and other educational resources for farmers and ranchers.

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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/