K-State Research and Extension

Tis the season for prescribed burns – but there are a lot of questions we should probably be asking first!

• Is weather right? Do we have enough wind to carry a fire, but not so much its dangerous? Optimum conditions usually occur when wind speeds are between 5 and 15 miles per hour with relative humidities in the 50-60% range and temperatures from 50 – 80. What does YOUR fire weather look like? Check conditions at www.mesonet.ksu.edu/fire/rh .

Here’s an example of the conditions for Friday afternoon, February 23, 2024:

Continue reading “Conducting a Prescribed Burn – Are You Planning for Success?” →

Cool Season Grass N Sources

A conversation earlier this week caused me to research brome nitrogen sources. Two things came from that research:

1. Research suggests surprisingly little difference in brome production from year to year between urea and ammonium nitrate if applied at equivalent rates, but…
2. …Big differences can occur if we don’t understand and plan for extenuating circumstances!

It’s by no means an exhaustive review (that may come in time…) but here’s a few thoughts if you are comparing between those two sources: https://www.meadowlark.k-state.edu/news/agent_weekly_columns.html

ARC/PLC Resources UPDATED!

KSU Economists Robin Reid and Jenny Ifft held a webinar earlier today providing some great information on the upcoming ARC/PLC election process. It expands on what I shared here last week to include additional information on the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) program available if PLC is your election choice.

Video and handouts can be found at: https://www.agmanager.info/news/recent-videos/managing-risk-arc-plc-and-sco-webinar-slides-and-recording

KSU President Richard Linton’s Regional Community Visit – Holton

Next Tuesday evening, Kansas State University President Richard Linton will be in Holton for the next stop of his Regional Community Visits. They’re an opportunity for he and others to share a little about what’s happening on campus while soliciting feedback from the local community about how Kansas State University might enhance the way it delivers on the land grant mission we are charged with. It will be a time for dialogue surrounding university and community connections with a focus on enhancing partnerships in our region.

The visit is Tuesday, February 6^th, 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Courtyard Event Center (426 Pennsylvania). If you can make it, please RSVP (by Sunday, February 4^th) at https://kstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zTfD98K78IKPTo  . Additional information can be found at: https://www.k-state.edu/president/initiatives/regional-community-visits/schedule/jackson-county/ .

Without completion of a new Farm Bill, extension of the 2018 Bill means evaluation of the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs at least one more time. March 15th is the election deadline for 2024 harvested crops (payments would be made in late 2025).

The basic program concepts haven’t changed. ARC is a revenue-based program, combining five years of both marketing year average prices and county level yields multiplied by a factor to determine a revenue guarantee. Payments are made if the revenue guarantee isn’t achieved and capped at 10 percent of the benchmark revenue.

The PLC program is more price-based. When marketing year average prices fall below a reference price, payments are triggered. New for this next year is an increase in selected effective reference prices based on marketing year average price triggers set forth in the original bill.

When evaluating your decision, check out the resources available through the KSU Department of Agricultural Economics. The first is a general program overview sharing reference price changes and statewide program election numbers since the inception of the Farm Bill. It’s a great read to get the evaluation process started and includes links to additional resources as well. Check it out at https://www.agmanager.info/arc-and-plc-selections-2024 .

Two of those links will help you take a deeper dive into program options. One is the tradeoff spreadsheet (example below). This Excel based program graphically illustrates where ARC and PLC will tend to pay and when they won’t so you can see differences in each commodity at a county level.

The second is a series of two papers providing marketing year average price outlooks. One provides predictions from KSU economists and explains in greater detail the background on the predictions. The other has predictions from multiple other sources for comparison purposes.

All of the above can be found on the KSU Ag Economics Farm Bill webpage at: https://www.agmanager.info/ag-policy/2018-farm-bill . Want to hear from KSU Economists about some of what to consider? Check out the Managing Risk with ARC, PLC and SCO: 2024 Tradeoffs and Tools webinar Friday, February 2nd with economists Jenny Ifft and Robin Reid. The 12:00 – 1:00 pm Zoom will cover how current market conditions affect these choices plus tools available to help with your decision. Recordings will be available. Register to participate at: https://www.agmanager.info/events/managing-risk-arc-plc-and-sco-2024-tradeoffs-and-tools .

The term ‘soil health’ gets used lots of ways, to the point it can be difficult to define. None of the uses are necessarily wrong, but they might add confusion if you are trying to take a broad look at soil health practices and whether they’re right for your farm.

If you’re trying to get a first look at different practices and how they might change soil health on your farm, consider the Soil Health Matrix Decision Tool. It’s an evaluation spreadsheet put together by 12 regional University Extension partners as part of the North Central Region Water Network (with financial support from North Central SARE) and is designed to provide a way to compare current management practices to the addition of a new or improved soil health practices on your operation. It is not designed to provide an in-depth analysis of soil health measures, but instead a baseline snapshot as to how you might be able to improve soil health with the implementation of various practices.

Continue reading “A First Look At Row Crop Soil Health Practices” →

There’s a statement in a USDA Plant Fact Sheet on broomsedge bluestem stating: On infertile soils, broomsedge is a long-lived competitor. If your end of year forage management includes pricing or applying fertilizer to a cool season grass stand, keep broomsedge bluestem management in the back of your mind.

Why? Broomsedge continues to be an increasing species of interest in cool season grass stands, and fertility management plays a big role in whether it gets a foothold or not. Other factors contribute as well (harvest management comes to mind…), but because the competitive nature of cool season grasses depends heavily on fertilizer, fertility management, particularly lime and phosphorous, can be a great way to help manage broomsedge to a degree. One example comes from the results of a 2008 study at the University of Missouri evaluating the response of cool season grass (fescue) stands with broomsedge in them to fertilizer applications. Their research showed the addition of fifty pounds of phosphorous per acre plus lime increased fescue stand composition from less than 15 percent to over 35 percent, while slightly reducing the broomsedge composition of the stand. Bottom line: it’s a slow process, but fertilizer can help (Miles et. al, 2008, University of MO):

Continue reading “Broomsedge Bluestem – Fertility Management Considerations” →