1) Ag Census Participation Not a Choice

GREAT BEND, Kan. – Anyone who recently received a Census of Agriculture form has to fill it out – even if that person didn’t own or operate a farm in 2007. That’s the law.

The survey recipients include many who don’t fit popular stereotypes in agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines “farm” as any place that generated or normally would have sold $1,000 or more in agricultural products during the census year.

The newest survey is long, but that’s not a reason to fill it out, said Rick Snell, agriculture and natural resources agent with Kansas State University Research and Extension. Some producers think their private information is none of the government’s business, but the census leads to the only uniform agricultural data available for every U.S. county.

“Besides, the law also requires USDA to keep each farmer’s information confidential,” Snell said. Census reports become the basis for planning and decision making nationwide.  

“I’m afraid that if surveys don’t get filled out and filled out right, farmers will pay for it in the long run – for example, with poor government policies, bad laws and poor decisions by others,” he said. “The information is going to be used one way or another by farm organizations, business, industry, and grant providers, as well as all levels of government. If it’s wrong, I seriously doubt farmers will benefit.’”

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service administers the survey every five years and crunches the resulting numbers. NASS says past data have influenced national and local agricultural regulations and programs, staff levels, facility locations, service targets, and individual farmer’s decisions for the future.

This time, completed surveys are due back by Feb. 4. NASS’s census analyses will take at least a year.

“By law, no one else will ever touch an individual survey, though – even for reasons of taxation or regulation,” Snell said. “No one can get to it by using the Freedom of Information Act, either.

“So, the real problem is the survey itself. I suggest trying to answer just 25 questions at a time.”

Census participants can fill out the census form on the Internet (http:// www.agcensus.usda.gov/ ).


 

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2) Check Extension Office for Walk Kansas, 2008 Information

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Tired of winter weather? Check with the local K-State Research and Extension office for Walk Kansas, 2008 registration information. 

The popular, low-cost fitness program is scheduled to begin March 9 and continue until May 3, said Sharolyn Jackson, state coordinator for the Kansas State University Research and Extension program.

The eight-week fitness program encourages heart-healthy aerobic exercise and offers flexibility for exercising at a time and place that will work with already busy schedules. 

Compiling miles with friends and co-workers to equal the distance from the state’s east to west borders – 423 miles – makes exercise fun, Jackson said.

Walk Kansas newsletters this year will include tips for food, nutrition, health and making health-promoting physical activity part of each day. This year, cooking tips will focus on breakfast, family meals and adding more fruits and vegetables for meals and snacks.

More information is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices.


 

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3)  December Storms Revealed Winner, Loser Trees

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The “poster child” for the extensive tree damage left in the wake of December’s icy storms has to be the Siberian elm, according to a Kansas State University horticulturist.

“Often mistakenly called the Chinese elm, the Siberian suffered such extensive damage that many of the trees now need to be removed. The big, mature elms were the most at risk,” said Ward Upham, who coordinates the Master Gardener program for K-State Research and Extension.

The damage would have been much worse, he said, if the storms had also brought high winds.

“Another thing we can be grateful for is that this kind of weather can teach us a lot about which trees are strong and which are not,” Upham said. “Trees are a long-term investment. Choosing those that will stand up to the Plains’ often-challenging conditions is vital to seeing that investment pay off.”

December’s weather created exceptions to every rule of thumb, he cautioned.

Grouped as a variety or species, the ornamental trees that had the least damage were: bald cypress, crabapple, ginkgo, goldenraintree, honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, linden, amur maple, Autumn Blaze maple, red maple, Shantung maple, sugar maple, bur oak, swamp white oak, red oak, Osage orange, Aristocrat pear, Chanticleer pear, Austrian pine, Chinese pistache, London planetree, redbud, sweet gum, sycamore, and zelkova (Asian relative of the elm).

“The bald cypress is on the ‘did well’ list. Still, a few did end up with a broken central leader. The bald cypress is deciduous, but these had retained enough needles on their leader to collect ice,” Upham said. “Retained foliage and previous health made a huge difference in individual trees’ fate.”

The tree groups that fared the worst were the river birch, Siberian elm, silver maple, Russian olive, Bradford pear and the willows – including the hybrid willow from Australia, called the Austree.

“Knowing these ratings should help in choosing replacement trees,” Upham said. “They show, for example, that you’d better not buy just any Callery pear. The Aristocrat and Chanticleer varieties got through the storms almost unscathed. But another Callery, the Bradford pear, can’t handle storms.”

 

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4) Kansas Soybean Performance Test Results Available Online

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas agricultural producers are always looking for crops and crop varieties that will work best in their operation. The 2007 Kansas Soybean Performance Test report can help growers with those choices for the upcoming crop year.

The test results, found at http://kscroptests.agron.ksu.edu/07/07beans/7b-test.asp, are a program of Kansas State University Research and Extension with support from the Kansas Soybean Commission.

A key part of the information available is the 2007 ratings for the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and sudden death syndrome (SDS) resistance of all soybean varieties.

The data on the site are broken down by location (research field in a particular county or counties) and by region (e.g., north central). 

Summaries of yield, maturity, height and lodging at numerous locations in Kansas are included in the data. The report also provides two- and three-year yield summaries in bushels per acre and percent of test average.

Also on the site is information about variety characteristics, a Kansas rainfall image map, and a place where growers and others can sign up to receive e-mail notification when performance test entry forms and new data become available.