1) Focus on Relationship, Rather Than Wedding

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A wedding is typically a happy occasion. Even so, the extensive planning and extravagant spending often focus on one day, rather than the couple’s future together, said Charlotte Shoup Olsen, Kansas State University Research and Extension family systems specialist.

“Celebrate the couple and their new life together,” she advised, “but focus on the relationship, rather than the wedding itself – which lasts only a few hours.”

In some cases, for example, money spent on a wedding might easily make a down payment on a house, thus helping the couple buy a home in which they can start their married life. 

More information on managing marriage and family life and on family finance is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices and on the Web at www.oznet.ksu.edu.


 

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2)  Web Site Can Help Producers Price Crops in Today’s ‘Ethanol-Driven’ Market

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Ethanol is changing all the rules in traditional crops marketing.

“If you don’t take that into account, the markets might look a little crazy. Things can be considerably different from historical averages,” said Kevin Dhuyvetter, farm management economist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.

Ethanol’s role also is changing how farmers should study the markets, Dhuyvetter said. Making that change will be vital for growers who don’t limit their sales possibilities to harvest’s low cash prices.

He’s now providing regularly updated tools on the Web to help crop producers make and maintain the needed shift. Growers can reach the tools by going to http://www.agmanager.info and then clicking on three in-order selections: “Crops,” “Marketing,” and finally “Crop Basis & Maps.”

“For years, market analysts have advised producers to use the 3- or 4-year historical averages for their area’s basis levels as their foundation for decision making,” he said. “Since ethanol started driving the markets, however, current basis information has become as, if not more important than historical trends.”

The formula for finding a specific “basis” level is to subtract a crop’s nearby futures contract price from its local cash price. A futures contract becomes “nearby” when it’s next in line to expire.

The crops marketing segment of the “agmanager” Web site addresses the soybean, corn, wheat and grain sorghum markets. Dhuyvetter updates some of the information weekly and some monthly.

The tools include color-coded maps that indicate both the current and the historical basis levels for those crops in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and parts of Colorado and Texas.

“The maps are just a broad picture, though,” the agricultural economist said. “A much more powerful tool on the site allows you to access crop-specific information for your particular market. If you grow wheat, for example, and you live near Hutchinson, you can get the exact basis information you need.”


 

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3) Pink Snow Mold Possible, But Not Likely for Kansas Wheat

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas snow molds are more likely to threaten lawns than wheat fields, according to Kansas State University plant pathologists.

“In wheat, the disease is most apparent just after snow melt. And, although we’ve seen quite a bit of thawing out in the fields, January’s snow cover isn’t totally gone yet, particularly out west. That could take awhile,” said Doug Jardine, plant pathology leader with K-State Research and Extension.

Three factors decide whether snow molds can damage winter cereals and grasses, Jardine said.

The first is presence of the mold-causing fungi. They survive from year to year in plant debris.

Environmental conditions during fall can make a difference in mold development, but the right combination of cold and moisture is the factor that actually activates the fungi in winter.

All three factors could very well be favorable this year. So, history alone is the main reason Jardine doesn’t expect snow mold to be a widespread risk for the 2007 winter wheat crop. 

“Over the last few decades, the disease has been relatively insignificant,” he said. “One year during the early 1990s, snow mold cropped up and caused minor damage in number of places, but it was severe in only a single field, just east of Hays.”

Infected wheat plants often recover if their crowns aren’t damaged, Jardine said. Especially if the weather turns warm and dry, they can produce good yields even after extensive leaf loss and damage.           

So far, the “pink” kind is the only one of the state’s array of snow molds that has infested Kansas wheat, he said. Its patches of damage are round and range from a few inches across to whole fields.

Pink snow mold causes leaf lesions that initially are light brown with a darker brown border. The damaged leaves then become matted down and bleached white. After that, small, pinkish-orange structures – stored food to help the fungus survive – may appear on the dead leaves.

“Of course, disease-thinned stands will be susceptible to later weed infestations, too,” Jardine said.

 

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4) Timber Workshop to Feature Actual Harvest, Advice From Pros           

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Each year Kansas sawmills process about 30 million board feet of lumber – most from trees sold by private woodland owners in the eastern third of the state.  

The basis for the tree sales is often a single timber buyer’s bid and a handshake.

Timber owners can learn how much more can and should be involved on Feb. 23 at an afternoon workshop in Franklin County, said Bob Atchison, rural forestry coordinator for the Kansas Forest Service. That Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. will actually be a timber-harvest day on Brian Shurtleff’s property, just north of Princeton, Kan. Loggers, foresters and consultants will also be there to discuss ways to sell timber.

“Many people are surprised that their trees are worth anything,” Atchison said. “They don’t test fair market value by inviting other buyers to make an offer, too – which is unfortunate, since bid offers can sometimes vary by thousands of dollars. You usually just need 15 to 20 good-quality trees to attract enough buyer interest for bidding.”

The forest service maintains a Web list of Kansas timber buyers at www.kansasforests.org.

After selecting a bid, a landowner should notify the accepted timber buyer immediately and then start preparing the related paperwork, Atchison said.

“A good sale agreement or contract will include terms of payment, time to complete the harvest, division of liability, and any limited transfer of title to the property,” Atchison said. “I recommend arranging things so the tree owner gets a lump sum payment before cutting even begins.”

Those interested in attending the Feb. 23 workshop can register by calling the Lake Region Resource Conservation and Development office at 785-242-2073 or by e-mailing rneises@ksu.edu. The workshop brochure http://www.kansasforests.org/calendar/index.shtml.