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 If visions of sugarplums and reindeer have been replaced by flowers and veggies in your head, we know it’s almost spring!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/
