Vegetables and fruit from the week of July 12

There are three ears of corn and about eight tomatoes missing from this picture. The watermelon weighs 23 pounds! And those cucumbers are as long as my forearm!

This is our first garden and we’ve been doing really well. We read stuff off the internet and guessed the rest of the way.

The worst part of the garden right now is dealing with all the mosquitoes. Even with bug spray, I can barely stand to be out there. So I haven’t been picking weeds lately.

We’ve enjoyed every minute of gardening (other than the mosquitoes)! Even pulling weeds. Its been exciting to check the garden everyday and especially eating our fresh veggies.

The meeting was centered around the Ogallala Commons’ Community Internship program. Several of the current interns came to the meeting to share with us what they are doing in their communities. The majority of them are from Texas and others came from Denver, Larned and Bird City.

The interns I met have an amazing drive to help their communities, educate others on where their food comes from and how to make healthy food choices.

One intern from Denver, Blenda, is interning with the High Plains Food Co-op, which sounds like such and interesting organization. She is a personal trainer who also has a degree in nutrition. She grew up in Denver, in an urban setting and was exposed to an urban farm which spurred her interest in educating other city people about agriculture and how their food is produced.

This is a great program and the current interns are doing amazing things for their communities and bettering themselves at the same time. To follow their adventures visit http://ogallalaintern.blogspot.com/

Our garden with corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and watermelon

Vegetables from our garden last week

I rode with Kansas Farmers Union Vice President Daryl Larson while he drove the grain cart next to his brother, who was driving the combine.

McPherson County wheat producers finished wheat harvest last week. The weather cooperated and allowed for a smooth harvest. It stayed in the 90s and didn’t rain at all. It rained for what seemed like most of May and the beginning of June. Once it stopped raining farmers hit the fields.

Some farmers, like Daryl, had to wait for the soil to dry because their fields are no-till. This is one disadvantage to being a no-till farmer, but my theory is that driving a combine in a wet field can’t be good for the soil so it balances out in the end. But everyone has their own opinion. And every farmer can’t afford to wait on the benefits of no-till or afford the extra costs for chemicals.

Even though harvest went well in the field, wheat prices were very low and many farmers are looking at minimal profits. I know several fields in McPherson County were hit by leaf rust and strip rust. Although, I haven’t heard about yields or crop conditions from anyone in the area.

Harvesting the wheat field across from my house near Windom, Kan.

I started watching combines, grain carts and semis drive by my house in McPherson County Kansas on Saturday (June 19). Although it really started getting busy Monday evening. The neighbor across the road cut his field Monday afternoon. The neighbor next to and behind us cut his wheat Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday on my way to work I saw two custom harvest teams on the highway. Then on my way home I pulled over on the dirt road to my house once for a semi and three times for combines/grain cart. Also saw a boy that looked about 12 driving a pickup. Yep, its definitely wheat harvest here in central Kansas.

Many farmers in this area were predicting June 15, so they were pretty close. It probably would have been then if it hadn’t rained almost everyday for the week before. The weather may have hurt them at first but now its helping. Its been in the upper 90s for the last few days. So as long as you have air conditioning in the tractor, you’re probably loving the weather. Although, a little rain probably wouldn’t hurt anything. I’ve had to start watering my garden.

The wheat in McPherson County has taken off. We had several days over 90 degrees which really helped the wheat turned. I spoke with our Kansas Farmers Union Vice President Daryl Larson this morning, who told me he expects to start June 15. Although, he said he hopes it will be a later because he has not finished planting soybeans.

Anyways, getting to my point. Out of habit, whenever I’m driving I look at the fields. Driving in McPherson County and on my way to Wichita to visit my parents, its wheat field after wheat field and the occasional corn field. Around Chanute, I only saw a handful of wheat fields. Its amazing the difference. I only drove 3 hours and found myself in a very different place. 

Here in central Kansas, we’re in wheat country. And there’s a good reason. The land is right for growing wheat. It’s very flat and we don’t have a lot trees or other rugged terrain. Over in southeast Kansas they have hills and rocky soils, especially in the Flint Hills, which makes for great cattle grazing. 

Here in central Kansas, farmers rotate their wheat fields with soybeans. At our family farm, which my uncle farms, he rotates his beans with wheat. Although, most of our section is pasture that has cattle on it.

“We’re trying to keep it down as much as we can. We can’t absorb a lot of losses. Our main product is meat; we don’t have other things to pick up the slack like Wal-Mart,” Krehbiel said. “It’s good for the cattlemen because they were losing money and now they’re making money.”

On another hand, cattle producers are experiencing a desperately needed profit after months of losses. For months, cattle prices were at all time lows and producers were losing hundreds of dollars. 

“Meat and poultry producers have just come through a two-year period during which they consistently lost money,” John Anderson, livestock economist with the American Farm Bureau, said in a press release. “Beginning in late-2008, weak demand both here at home, as well as in the export markets, drove product prices down. Producers are now finally able to take advantage of higher prices.”

Feedlots are another aspect of beef production that is not excited about the price increase. Alan Sents, owner of McPherson County Feeders, said more cattle owners are opting out of sending their animals to a feedlot. 

“Higher prices are good for the industry,” Sents said. “Profitability is passed down the chain.”

Daryl Larson, McPherson County cattleman and Kansas Farmers Union vice president, said the high prices are encouraging. Larson, like many Kansas cow-calf operations, welcomes the price increase. He and others are also experiencing greater profits because input costs (like corn, hay, fuel, etc.) have come down some.

Agriculture’s prices are determined by supply and demand. So one reason for the increase could be attributed to less supply in the market. According to Kansas Agriculture Statistics, Kansas cattle on feed is down 2 percent and U.S. cattle on feed is down 4 percent from last year. Although the main aspect of supply that is down is pounds of meat. 

“Because of the severity of this winter, fewer pounds were produced,” Sents said. 

Other reasons for the price increase include recovery in the economy and imports/exports. Sents said the value of beef last year was half of what it is today. Competing proteins like pork also affect beef prices and currently those supplies are also down.

“The reason USDA is showing a decline in beef production is that it takes a cattle producer at least two years from making the decision to increase herd size to having cattle ready for market,” Anderson said

As far as demand goes, experts have mixed opinions on if it’s actually up, Sents said. 

“It’s hard to get a grasp on this big of a jump,” Sents said.

Krehbiel said it’s about what the customer wants to buy. Anderson said Department of Commerce data showed consumer spending at food service facilities grew 8 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

“If the customer backs off, then the market will back off,” Krehbiel said. “The market animal price is based on customer’s demand.”

The main concern from the beef industry about the recent high prices is its’ sustainability. 

“Will consumers be willing to pay more or will it be short lived then have a significant drop?” Sents said. 

Larson said its hard to know if this good news will continue. On the short term, it should stay well, he said, and long term it should stay as long as demand continues and the U.S. doesn’t import a large amount of beef.

At the Galva plot, wheat breeder Jim Williams explained the two varities that he developed: T158 and T154. He said they are both early varieties that have good resistance to stripe rust.

Greg McCormack, Central Plains Business Manager for AgriPro, discussed Post Rock, a popular variety for Central Kansas. He has heard from producers that they like its’ consistency, straw strength and threshing (or ease of the kernel detaching from the head). He said producers also have had good luck with late planting.

Stu Duncan, K-State crops and soils specialist, said Shocker has had a good yield record and is good in low pH soils. He said Santa Fe is also good in low pH soils and has good yields and also offers a “good disease package.” Although, Santa Fe’s yields drop with drought stress, Duncan said. 

Armour has been a top yielding variety in McPherson County, Ladd said. Hitch is a hardy variety that has good disease resistance, Duncan said. McCormack said Art is a “good fit for this area,” has been in the top of yield trials but doesn’t like drought. Rustbuster is a combination of Art and Post Rock, two varities that have rust resistance, McCormack said.

A new variety, Everest, was planted at the Galva plot. Duncan said it has good yield potential and better yellow dwarf resistance than past varieties.

Two Jagger plots were planted at Galva, one with fungicide applied last week. Duncan said there was “a lot of good things about Jagger, then the stripe rust changes that.”

“There were a lot of breeders disappointed when the rust resistance failed (in Jagger),” DeWolf said.

DeWolf mentioned that in the next two to three weeks we will see big differences in stripe rust and encouraged people to come back and look for it. Ladd stressed the importance of soil testing to know what kind of variety to plant and what fertilizers to use.

During the tour, several wheat professionals explained each variety and talked about how the wheat crop is doing in Central Kansas. Erick DeWolf, K-State plant pathologist, discussed diseases that are a growing concern for wheat producers- leaf rust and stripe rust. 

DeWolf said stripe rust made a population change that has caused it to show up in disease-resistant varities like Jagger. He said stripe rust has been found at low levels in the McPherson County plots and across Kansas. He said the major concern is that most of the varieties planted in Central Kansas are Jagger varieties.

Other diseases that DeWolf is watching include powdery mildew and barley yellow dwarf. DeWolf and others at K-State are encouraging all wheat growers to be out in their fields, looking for disease signs.

Dale Ladd, McPherson County extension agent, said 2010’s wheat crop is looking “less than average.” 

“I think farmers are disappointed that yields are looking down,” Ladd said. “The price is also lower than it has been and profit potential looks marginal.”

Ladd attributes lower yields to dry weather and late planting in the fall. He said he thinks there will be a “huge range” in yields, but on average it will be a “down year.”

Kansas Agriculture Statistics forcasted the Kansas wheat crop to produce 344.4 million bushels, down 7 percent from 2009, on 8.2 million acres, which is also down from last year.

“Yield per harvested acre is expected to average 42 bushels, unchanged from last year and tied with 2009 for the fifth highest on record,” said Kansas Agriculture Statistics.

According to Kansas Agriculture Statistics, 97 percent of Kansas’ wheat has jointed and 38 percent has headed, as of May 9. 

“Wheat continues to progress, although it is starting to show some stress due to disease pressure and the lack of moisture,” said Kansas Agriculture Statistics.

“Wheat condition was rated as 2 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 53 percent good, and 11 percent excellent. Disease infestation continues to increase with 15 percent reported having light infestation and 3 percent with moderate infestation as there continue to be reports of powdery mildew and wheat leaf rust,” said Kansas Agriculture Statistics.

The wheat field next to my house in McPherson County, KS