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Better Kansas – Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Tag: household insects

Better Kansas – Sept. 24, 2020

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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This week in Better Kansas, we touch on the 2020 Census, brain health, more bugs, soybean market outlook, cattle recordkeeping and early industrial hemp research in Kansas. 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

GREAT JOB, KANSAS! It’s so nice to have some good news. With just days left to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census, 98.6% of Kansas households had responded, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That beats the national response rate of 95% as of Sept. 22. For a current look at the response rate in Kansas and other states, check out the U.S. Census 2020 website. By the way, if you’re reading this and have not responded, you have until Sept. 30, so get in there and make sure our neighborhoods, communities and state get our share of billions of federal dollars that go to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads and other critical resources.

 

BE HONEST, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CLIMBED THE STAIRS with five different things on your mind (or maybe just one?! :-0), and forgotten why you went up to that room to start with? It happens to all of us for various reasons. In Keys to Embracing Aging: Brain Activity, we learn about ways we can stay mentally fit through socialization, nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and mental stimulation. It sounds so easy, but that’s not always so. Our lives just don’t always lend themselves to taking good care of ourselves … sometimes a little retooling is in order. And let me be clear, it’s not strictly an age thing. Ask any woman who just had a baby about Mommy brain or brain fog. And guys, I have plenty of anecdotal evidence, it’s not just us girls.

HERE I GO AGAIN WITH THE BUGS….

If you have generally come to an agreement with the bugs in your neighborhood, that they stay in their space and you stay in yours, it’s easy to coexist with them. I don’t often find bugs in my house but have encountered three spiders in the last two weeks. I read somewhere that they’re just looking for a warm place as the days and nights get cooler. Can’t blame them but I really don’t want to share my personal space with them, either. Take a look at Household Insects of Kansas for all kinds of good information about everything from boxelder bugs to crickets to termites and everything in between. There’s even info on Firebrats … there really is such a thing and it’s not a tv show about superhero kids.

And one more thing … rest in peace RBG and know that you did your job well. Many of us benefitted from your strength, courage and wisdom, including me.

 Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

SOME GOOD NEWS ON THE AGRICULTURE FRONT is that soybean prices have trended higher and may stay strong for a while. In the Sept. 11 Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, known in ag circles as WASDE, the USDA projected the U.S. soybean average farm price at $9.25 per bushel, up $0.90 or 10.8% from the $8.35 per bushel it had projected in its Aug. 10 report. Take a look at the Soybean Market Outlook in September 2020 for much more information about the soybean market and what’s affecting it.

 

WITH MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION HEAD OF BEEF COWS IN KANSAS, producers have a lot to keep track of. Whether you have 30 cows or 300 or more, it’s important to keep good records on calving, vaccinations, treatment and other data. The Cow/Calf Record Book was designed to help with that recordkeeping. In addition to space for individual records, it provides a guide to body condition scoring, a gestation table, and other information. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” the authors say, and with the farm economy right now, people who know about these things say that now more than ever, management is the name of the game. Take a look.

 

MAYBE YOU’VE HEARD, K-STATE IS DELVING INTO RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL HEMP and its possibilities as a commercial crop for Kansas. Check out a research report on initial studies, a news article about studies focused on analyzing the safety of industrial hemp for use as cattle feed, plus listen to a Dig Deep podcast featuring a researcher who is leading industrial hemp crop studies at sites across the state. Since we’re in the early stages, I’ll keep you posted!

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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 – June 6, 2019

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

By Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

K-State Research and Extension – 6/6/2019

Greetings! Today we launch a new way to give you a glimpse each week about cool things happening around the state, plus resources available for individuals, families, communities, farms and other businesses.

Again, it’s just a glimpse!

For many more resources and activities, check with the K-State Research and Extension office in your area.

Watch for Better Kansas again next Thursday. In the meantime, please share it with friends, family and colleagues. Email me at mlpeter@ksu.edu and let me know what you think.

Better Living, Better Communities

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE! Many Kansas communities are dealing with flooding, tornadoes and other disasters that hit the state this spring and the possibility for more. As of June 1, 33 of the state’s 105 counties were on the federal emergency declaration list. Dealing with basement cleanup? Flooded farm fields? K-State has helpful information on those topics and more, provided by our own specialists and partners at land grant universities across the country.

HAPPY TOGETHER AT HOME? Some call them creepy crawlies; I call them “corner spiders” and maybe a few other choice words, but whatever you call those multi-legged, fascinating creatures that hang out in your basement, bathroom, garden and other places in your home or office, you’ll likely find them in a new publication, Household Pests of Kansas. One of my favorites is the boxelder bug, but then, I digress. Check it out.

TIES THAT BIND: How long has it been since you sat down with family and friends and played checkers, Monopoly or another board game? Playing board games brings people together like few activities can and with the right game, almost anyone can participate. Unlike watching television or attending sporting events together, games encourage interaction among all the players. Sedgwick County Extension and other extension offices host “Bonding Thru Board Games” at different times of the year. Grab your favorite game or play one provided … and don’t forget the camera!

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

KANSAS NET FARM INCOME CLIMBS, BUT WITH A CATCH: Kansas net farm income rose last year to an average of $100,000 despite weather extremes, trade disputes and depressed market prices. That marked the third year in a row of gains after a steep slide in net income in 2015. However 63% of the 2018 income came from government payments and crop insurance. The data came from an annual summary of the records of Kansas Farm Management Association member farms. The data digs deep into income by type of farm and includes value of farm production, total farm expense, crop production costs, total family living expense and more, plus year-to-year comparisons. Check out more about the KFMA or call 785-532-8706.

DON’T PUT THOSE RAIN BOOTS AWAY JUST YET: K-State climatologists Mary Knapp and Chip Redmond with Kansas Mesonet have issued their take on the summer weather outlook. Think cooler and maybe rainier than usual in some parts of the state.

WET FEET: We often have weather extremes in Kansas … too dry, too windy, too much rain … this spring it’s been the latter, which delayed spring crop planting through much of the state.  As of June 2, 79% of the Kansas corn crop had been planted, compared with 96% last year and 93% average, while 26% of soybeans had been planted, well behind 77% last year and 53% average, according to the National Ag Statistics Service. Similar scenarios are happening across the country, with 67% of the corn planted across the 18 primary states, far behind 96% a year ago and 96% average. Just 39% of U.S. soybeans had been planted compared with 86% a year ago and 79% average. Recent K-State Department of Agronomy eUpdates have information about what this means for crops, tips to manage your situation and much more.