Kansas Agland - Spring 2015

March 2015 The Hutchinson News KANSAS AGLAND The Hutchinson News March 2015 KANSAS AGLAND

skills and abilities to an-other level, Clark said.

“Her purchase of a mare last fall and the additional training with this mare will definitely provide added value and pleasure when she finds a new home for this rescue horse,” he said.

That’s what Heather is hoping – to find someone who loves and cares for Chi as much as she does. Already Chi has gained back 200 pounds of the 350 she was down. She’s eating bet-ter and Heather continues to train her.

“Now she is a high-strung Arabian like she should be,” Heather said. “I want to place her in a good forever home where she won’t end up back in an auction.”

Heather is the daughter of Andrew and Danette Chermak.

Horse has friend indeedBuhler High teen saving animal wants to make a career of working with them


Jared Clark is learning career skills during the school day.

As part of his on-the-job training for his supervised agriculture experience, the Buhler High School senior spends many afternoons working for Eric Leonard’s landscaping business.

“I’m a hand-on type of person,” said Jared.

SAE’s is an educational experience that offers real-world, career-based training.

“For all of our students, they keep records of their skills, abilities and account-ing of finances with their SAE,” said Buhler High School teacher John Clark, no relation to Jared. “They receive 20 percent of their classroom grade for these records on SAE’s outside of class.”

However, the on-the-job training component is

designed for senior ag stu-dents who are interested in expanding their knowledge and skills in a specific area of agriculture, he said. Students in this program keep records of their hours and skills learned. There are records kept of employer evaluations, reference let-ters, among other things, to receive the school credit.

FFA instructor Clark said while all his students have SAEs, which they do on their own time, only four, including Jared, have time set aside during the school day as part of the on-the-job training program.

“The program works really well and agribusiness in the community are very willing to assist us with setting up these internships

with them,” Clark said.For Jared, this SAE totals

two or three hours each day. The job can include anything from mowing and putting down sod to snow removal in the winter.

“It’s a good job, especially for high school students,” Jared said.

It’s taught him the value of hard work, being moti-vated and managing time, he said. He plans to take the skills he has learned into the renewable energy business. He plans to enroll in Hutchinson Community College this fall and pursue a degree in wind turbine technologies.

He didn’t grow up on a traditional farm, he said, but he has learned a lot from FFA program – from raising funds to judging and community service.

Jared is the son of Mark and Millie Clark.

of the Class 4A Goodland High School girls golf team that went to state. She also was recently inducted into the National Honor Society.

Dani, a senior at Goodland High School, also received the 4-H Key Award. The Key Award recognizes 4-H members’ contribu-tions to their club and the community. Since 1952, this award, reserved for the top 1 percent of all 4-H members in Kansas, was presented to Dani in recognition of outstanding achievement.

Dani plans to attend Colby Community College and major in agribusiness. She hopes to continue the goat project for a while. “It’s been profitable,” she said of the goat business, adding it helped her save money for a car and with college.

Goats, she said, “just have a wonderful personality.”

A go-getter with goats

IMPACT YOUTHJared Clark

Program lets ‘hands-on’ Buhler senior gain practical agriculture experience

Photos by Sandra J. Milburn/The Hutchinson News

Senior Jared Clark goes to Buhler High School during the day but spends many afternoons working for Pro Cut Lawn Service, part of his supervised agriculture experience in the FFA program.

Jared Clark, a senior at Buhler High School and an FFA member, cuts up leaves on Jan. on Van Buren Ave. as part of his job with business owner Eric Leonard, right, of Pro Cut Lawn Service.

March 2015 The Hutchinson News KANSAS AGLAND

Kodi VanLaeys says 4-H has influenced her future goals.

The 18-year-old Logan County High School senior has given countless 4-H talks on the club and county level. She has served in almost every office. And she has worked with younger mem-bers, helping them be good communicators and leaders.

With her passion for help-ing kids, “I’m going to be a speech pathologist and help kids become more fluent speakers.”

“I knew I wanted to be in a school, but I didn’t want to be a teacher,” she said of someday working in a school system. “I did a job shadow (with a professional) and really liked it.”

Kodi is a 10-year member of the Sunnyside 4-H Club. Her agent, Anna Schremmer, notes Kodi’s dedication to helping youth through her projects, which include beef, swine, foods, arts and crafts and, in the past, quilting.

Kodi is also involved in

helping make her commu-nity better.

Every year, she organizes a group to decorate the local nursing home for Valentine’s Day and for spring. Last year, she came up with an entrepreneurial idea to raise money for her club of a dozen members. They made county 4-H T-shirts and sold them during the fair.

“It was a good

moneymaker,” Kodi said.She also is a member of

the Phillips County Foxes Livestock Judging Team. She has participated in livestock judging contests judging in Kansas and Nebraska, and she and the team have won several of them. She also has received the Key Award – Kansas 4-H’s highest honor – as well as the Outstanding Member Award.

In school, she was a mem-ber of the state champion volleyball team and the state-ranked basketball

team. She also is a National Honor Society member, as well as in FFA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and KAYS.

One of the most import-ant skills she has learned in 4-H, however, is public speaking. “I remember my first talk, very vaguely,” she said. “I was scared to death.”

But the experiences of 4-H have helped her get used to talking in front of an audience. “4-H has helped me, and it doesn’t bother me anymore,” she said.

For this teen, 4-H ‘speaks’ volumes about service IMPACT YOUTHKodi VanLaeys

It’s not your typical setting for breast cancer awareness.

Yet, standing in her pink pumpkin patch in northern Finney County, 16-year-old Maggie Roth is a bellwether for the cause.

Far from a shopping mall, a corporate business or a high school track – the typical spot of cancer fundraisers – Maggie plucks a couple of ripe pastel pump-kins and hauls them to her pickup. Earlier on this fall day, she and 50-or-so Holcomb High School football players

left morning classes to harvest a few thousand of the pinkish gourds – enough to fill a large wagon – before having to get back for class.

She sold them a few weeks before Halloween for $10 a pumpkin, donating all the proceeds to the Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation, which has a mission of raising funds for cancer research, one pink pumpkin at a time.

For the past two years, Maggie has sown 5,000 porcelain doll seeds – which vine out into pink pumpkins – as part of her FFA project at Holcomb High School. She plants the 3-acre plot using a John Deere planter that she and her father, Dwane Roth, painted pink last year. She spent hours each week over the summer pulling weeds, which had overtaken the patch thanks to all the June rainfall.

Girl supports thinking pink – as in pumpkins – for a cause

IMPACT YOUTHMaggie Roth

See ROTH / Page 11

By kAnsAs AglAnd

ANTHONY – Good man-agement and great weather helped southern Kansas cotton farmers harvest a record crop in 2014.

The average yield for the re-gion in recent years has ranged from 600 to 650 pounds of lint per acre. This season’s average was almost 900 pounds, said Rex Friesen, crop consultant for Southern Kansas Cotton Growers Cooperative, which has gins in Winfield and Anthony. “These yields are the best we have ever seen,” Friesen said. “We also saw the highest individual dryland yields ever, 1,711 to 1,885 pounds in large acreage fields which equates to 3.6 to 3.9 bales per acre, respectively.”

“No one thought we could

beat the yields of 2013, yet several farmers harvested more than 1,500 pounds per acre this season.”

A bale of cotton weighs 480 pounds.

Friesen said the cotton crop was planted later than normal because of weather conditions in early to mid-May. An average June, cool July and warm August and September, along with a warm October, was the right mix to create a record crop.

“The heat, along with timely rainfall and a late killing freeze resulted in the record yields,” he said.

Summer heat is calculated as “heat units,” a method of quantifying how much heat is available to a crop.

“One of the first things I did when I arrived in Kansas

was to compare our heat units with those of Lubbock, Texas, which is located in the middle of the world’s largest contiguous cotton growing region,” Friesen said. “I was surprised to find that south-central Kansas has more heat than Lubbock. We also typically receive more rainfall, and this combination of heat and moisture means very good cotton potential in our area.”

New technology could help grow the industry, he said. For instance, John Deere’s CS690 stripper-baler harvests and “packages the cotton in one process on the fly,” says Friesen. Another key development is advance-ment in cotton genetics, including a variety that will tolerate 2,4-D.

Conditions ripe for record cotton crop

Megan May/The Hutchinson News

Maggie Roth, 16, poses with porcelain doll pumpkins in front of her family’s tractor and pink planter in Holcomb on Oct. 7, 2014. For her Supervised Agricultural Experience project in FFA, Roth decided to grow porcelain doll pumpkins to sell and raise money for breast cancer research. Roth donates the money to the Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation, which then distributes it to research organizations.

Kodi VanLaeys


For the most part, Kimberly Lowry and Isabelle Schemper are busy working on their own sew-ing projects for the 4-H fair.

Last year, however, the middle school students in Norton County dropped their personal projects for a short time after learning that the Norton County Hospital needed scarves for

cancer patients. “My friend Kim and I decided to take on the challenge of making them,” said Isabelle.

The idea was spurred by their sewing leader, Pauline Poage, whose sister was a cancer patient.

The girls made about 20 scarves in all, Kimberly said.

“It was really rewarding knowing we had helped the

people needing them – that we were reaching out to them,” said Isabelle.

Kimberly said she loves sewing and makes quilts for 4-H fundraisers. She also likes to cook and, because

of her 4-H experience, she might want to go to culinary school, become a chef and start her own business.

Isabelle said she is cur-rently working on a quilt and a summer dress for her 2-year-old sister. 4-H has taught her public speaking skills, patience and not to procrastinate, Isabelle said.

Their 4-H Agent, Patsy

Maddy, said she was proud of the girls, who donated their time to help out.

“In the midst of all their school, church and commu-nity activities – they have found time to donate selfless gifts to their local hospital to brighten the day for patients suffering from hair loss as a result of cancer treat-ments,” Maddy said. “They

have taken their 4-H pledge to the next level – ‘I pledge my hands to larger service.’ The Norton County 4-H pro-gram is proud that Isabelle and Kim have chosen to put a smile on the face of cancer patients in our area.”

Kimberly is the daughter of Calvin and Emily Lowry. Isabelle is the daughter of Craig and Julia Schemper.

With scarves, 2 friends in 4-H aid cancer patientsIMPACT YOUTHKimberly Lowery

and Isabelle Schemper

For the past two years, Maggie has sown 5,000 porcelain doll seeds – which vine out into pink pumpkins – as part of her FFA project at Holcomb High School. She plants the 3-acre plot using a John Deere planter that she and her father, Dwane Roth, painted pink last year. She spent hours each week over the summer pulling weeds, which had overtaken the patch thanks to all the June rainfall.

By Jim shroyer And mAry knApp

Kansas State University

Temperatures have been unusually warm throughout Kansas in late January. This raises some questions about how wheat could be affected.

Can warm temperatures at this time of year cause wheat to break dormancy and become more suscepti-ble to cold temperatures that may come over the following days? At what temperatures do we start worrying about wheat breaking dormancy and being at risk for cold injury later?

To the first question, the answer is yes. Very warm temperatures can cause wheat to break dormancy at this time of year. As to the second question, there are no hard and fast numbers to go by. When daytime highs get into the 50s or warmer and lows are above freezing, most wheat varieties will

green up and lose some of their winter hardiness.

When this occurs, wheat can regain some level of winter hardiness if temperatures gradually get colder again.

The best-case scenario is if there are just one or two days of unusually warm temperatures, then a grad-ual drop of 10 to 20 degrees over the following week. Most wheat varieties grown in Kansas can easily survive these conditions.

The worst-case scenario is if daytime temperatures are very warm and nighttime temperatures remain above freezing for several days during the winter, then tem-peratures plunge into the low teens or below in just one day, as they did in late January of 1989. Some vari-eties may break dormancy under these conditions, and then be unable to withstand a sudden return to bitterly cold temperatures.

Each time the wheat breaks dormancy in the winter, it loses a little of its winter hardiness once temperatures get cold again and the wheat re-hardens. The more often these warm spells occur, the longer they last, and the more often wheat breaks dormancy, the less winter hardiness the wheat will have. Winter hardiness levels also start to decline later in the winter.

There may be some win-terkill already this winter in areas that have been dry, with little or no snow cover. Having the wheat green up and lose some of its winter hardiness will not help that situation. Still, the biggest risk will be where temperatures go suddenly from extremely warm to extremely cold, the soils are dry and have little or no pro-tective cover, soils are fluffy, and the wheat is weakened by drought, insect damage or diseases.

How winter warm spells affect wheat vulnerability

Courtesy photo

Pictured from left: Patsy Maddy, Twin Creeks Extension District 4-H Youth Development Agent; Isabelle Schemper, Cedar Ridge 4-H member; Kimberly Lowry, Cedar Ridge 4-H member; Pauline Poage, Cedar Ridge 4-H Club sewing project leader; Ruth Mizell, Norton County Hospital RN; Deb Bowen, Norton County Hospital infection preventist and chemo nurse; and cancer patient Debbie Jones.


What started as an FFA project taking a few wounded veterans out turkey hunting turned into a project for life.

Tate Tremblay recalls how a neighbor asked him to help her guide six “wounded warriors” on a spring turkey hunt. The experience had an impact on Tate, who is now a senior at Hill City High School.

During the hunts, he met Scott Anderson, a veteran from Hays. The two decided they wanted to start a pro-gram to guide wounded and other veterans.

They call it Patriots of Praise.

Tate said the organization provides hunting and fishing trips to the military. The idea was to create a Christian-based outdoor adventure for veterans, wounded warriors and their families. That includes both hunting and fishing trips.

Tate, whose family farms, said that sometimes he guides the hunters on the family property. Area landowners also allow the organization to use their property as well.

So far, the program has been financed through donations. Two years, Tate donated half his 4-H steer check to the cause – roughly $3,000.

Tate said the organization

tries to pay for a veteran’s entire trip – including hous-ing, licenses and permits.

“Generally the hunts are given to the guys,” he said, adding that he has a neigh-bor who lets them rent a small home for “real cheap.”

It’s been a moving experi-ence, Tate said.

“One of the veterans who is helping us out in the program was actually a wounded warrior who was in a roadside bombing and

over 54 percent of his body was burned,” said Tate. “His entire body was scarred, but he has never given up. He has always taken guys out. He really gives back. He was so badly burned his fingers don’t work. He has not given up doing service work.”

“He is probably one of the biggest inspirations,” Tate said.

Tate’s mother, Dana, re-calls how her son has always been passionate about help-ing people. In fact, she said, Tate had early on spent time putting up blinds for a fam-ily friend in a wheelchair.

“This project has ended up not only being a life-changing experience for Tate, but also the rest of our family,” Dana said. “I guess that Tate, as well as the rest of the family, thought at the beginnings of this project that we could somehow be a ‘blessing’ to these hunters. However, it didn’t take long for us to realize that we were, in fact, the ones being blessed.”

Dana said her son really connects with the hunters. She recalled one young man who was struggling when he first came to hunt a few years ago. He was withdrawn and spent much of his time

outside, away from all the other hunters at mealtime. “That was five trips ago, and now he is right in the middle of everything, telling stories and interacting with every-one,” she said.

Not all wounds are visible, Tate said. He has learned a lot about post-traumatic stress disorder – or PTSD – a mental health problem that can occur after a traumatic event like war.

Tate said he talks to the veterans and listens to their stories. The group also shares testimonials.

“Some will come in, and they will act completely different by the time they

are leaving,” Tate said.That’s part of the reason

they started the faith-based program, he said.

“We want to make a differ-ence,” said Tate.

Tate said he will attend Kansas State University in the fall, majoring in agron-omy. He plans to continue working with Anderson with Patriots of Praise.

“Just being able to help the men who have given so much for their country, that is the biggest thing,” he said. “Seeing the benefits of what we are doing for them – it’s been rewarding.”

Tate is the son of Dana and Troy Tremblay.

Serving those who’ve servedHill City youth helped start program that takes wounded veterans, their families hunting, fishing

IMPACT YOUTHTate Tremblay

Photo courtesy of Dana Tremblay

Tate Tremblay, left, and Craig Stokes have their photo taken with Stokes’ first whitetail buck in 2012. Tate, a senior at Hill City High School, helped start the organization Patriots Of Praise which takes military, wounded veterans and their family hunting and fishing.

Courtesy photo

Tate Tremblay installs a handrail on a blind.

The Hutchinson News March 2015 KANSAS AGLAND


Depending on the vari-ability throughout the field, a sample might be pulled every 3 to 7 acres. Those samples are sent to Midwest Laboratories in Omaha. Within a few weeks, the re-sults are sent back. That file is then matched up to those individual sample locations in the field.

“From those results, we have now created a current fertility level map of the field. By using algorithms that we create ourselves, we are then able to create fertil-izer/seed recommendations for each of those manage-ment zones. This allows us to apply the correct amount of fertilizer/seed only where it is needed,” Salm said.

The variable-rate fertil-izing was done with one pass from a John Deere air seeder. Potassium was in one tank and 11-52 fertilizer was in another.

Once Veris determined the nutrient needs of the field. the appropriate bulk fertilizer applied and the density was considered, the spot was selected for the study. It was assumed that the variable rate fertilizer

helped level the playing field, in effect, laying the foundation for a reliable study.

The resultsThe entire experiment

– 20.7 acres – yielded about 111.4 bushels an acre at harvest. Incidentally, the field averaged 146 bushels an acre, which included the experiment and 64 acres adjacent to the experiment. Pioneer 1151 AM was used adjacent to the experiment and was a superior variety, side by side, obviously.

More importantly, it was determined that positive yield response occurred up to 22,000 but then dropped the higher we went. In other words, the yields were rather pedestrian at low rates and high rates (avg. 105-107, respectively). Agronomically, the optimum seeding rate – AOSR – was just below 22,000, which yielded 116 bushels an acre.

Most importantly, it was determined that the eco-nomically optimum seeding rate was closer to 18,000! This was a bit astonishing because in our area we typically aim to plant 22,000-23,000 seeds per acre. This economic threshold is im-portant because it indicates where profit is maximized. In other words, the highest yield in our plot wasn’t the

most profitable; a lower yield produced the best net income – 112 bushels an acre.

Dr. Ciampitti didn’t stop there. He also used spatial analysis that he defined as “a statistical analysis that considers the geo-position-ing of the value measured (e.g. each yield point).”

In our example, the squares are determined with the purpose of balancing all the information – yield points – collected. Each square represents an overall average of all yield points that are located within that specific area.

Under spatial analysis, it was discovered that the AORS was actually a strong 22,000 and the EOSR was 20,000. So, once the data was looked at more closely, it not only encouraged stronger seeding rates, but we were right in line, historically, with our rates. Incidentally, the maximum yield occurred when 26,000 was seeded.

Ciampitti expressed it this way: “The spatial data anal-ysis includes the variability for each individual square in the entire experiment. In the strip-trial analysis, all squares within the strip are averaged to obtain an overall value for each strip. Therefore, the variability within each strip is not

considered when one value is obtained per strip ...”

My grandfather is saying “15,000 is all you need,” from heaven! He always planted much less seed.

“We need to clarify that the information is only for one year and one site; more testing is needed (years, weather, by sites, by hybrid), in order to more properly quantify the corn yield response in our environment,” Dr. Ciampitti said.

We plan to lower seed-ing rates next year as a result of this study. (We actually averaged 23,500 while variable rating all our corn fields). We also plan to repeat the study because it was useful, fun and memorable. Our farm began using variable-rate seeding in 2014 and we also plan to continue that based on yield maps, Veris maps and elevation maps. Ultimately, yield maps will be used, exclusively,

perhaps, but only after 10 years of yield maps can be collected.

The 2014 corn seed rate study was also replicated on the nearby Karber Farms and Knopf Farms of Gypsum.

Mark Pettijohn is a no-till farmer in Saline and Dickinson counties. He has an accounting degree from the University of Kansas. He has three children – Gareth, 15; Chloe, 13; and Lincoln, 11.

often ineffective in changing minds. The battles lines have largely been drawn and lobbing grenades of insults and threats isn’t going to motivate anyone out of their camp. We, as farmers and ranchers, must speak on the personal level. Lead with our common interests and relay a sense of empathy when speaking with con-sumers.

Katie and her husband, Derek Sawyer, farm and raise cattle on their family farm outside McPherson. Katie works full time off the farm and advocate for the agriculture industry as a member of CommonGround Kansas and Kansas Farm Bureau. She is also a co-host of “That’s My Farm,” airing Fridays on AG am in Kansas.

StudyFrom PAGE 14

By Mike Corn

Kansas Agland

The numbers are any-thing but trivial.

With an estimated $5 billion in exports of agricul-tural commodities, Kansas was ranked as the seventh biggest state in 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in February.

Kansas was only slightly smaller than Texas, but only about a third of what California exports.

The total value of all agri-cultural exports in 2013 was $144.4 billion.

Of the state’s $5 billion in exports, animal products accounted for $1.3 billion, enough to put Kansas in eighth place.

Kansas was the third biggest exporter of beef and veal exports, USDA said, with nearly $700 million in total exports. Nebraska and Texas were the leading

states.Kansas was the fourth

leading state in terms of

total hides and skins ex-ported, falling behind Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.

The state falls way back in the pack in terms of total dairy exports, amounting to

$98.4 million in 2013.While that’s a relatively

small number in the overall picture, it represents a $17 million increase from a year earlier. Kansas dairy exports in 2000 stood at a paltry $8.4 million in 2000.

Crops represent the bulk of the exports for Kansas, with almost $3.7 billion. That’s enough to be ranked 11th in the nation.

It also was enough to beat out North Dakota, but that state is now ninth in the nation for crop exports.

As expected, Kansas is way down the list for vegeta-ble or fruit exports.

Wheat, however, is an-other story.

There, Kansas remained No. 1 in 2013, with $1.55 billion.

North Dakota was in sec-ond with $1.3 billion.

Wheat export values have essentially tripled since 2000, when Kansas exports

were worth $537.9 million.Kansas also was in eighth

place for corn exports, well below the perennial leader, Iowa.

Kansas is in fifth place for process grain products exported, valued at $252 million.

Kansas was in eighth place with nearly $300 million in feed exports. For soybeans, the state was down to 11th place with ex-ports valued at $821 million. Soybean meal exports were valued at $200 million, also enough for 11th place.

In something of a surprise, Kansas also was ranked in 11th place for vegetable oil exports, valued at $119 million.

Kansas was far back in the pack, in 17th place, for cotton exports, worth almost $21 million.

Mike Corn is a veteran reporter with The Hays Daily News.

Kansas a leader in wheat, other farming exports

Calvin Mattheis/The Hutchinson News

The elevator in Nickerson is shown on July 2, 2014.

Tug at human side of consumers


For those choosing ARC, “you are betting that the wheat price will stay above $5 for the life of farm bill,” Barnaby said. “If it drops below $5, then PLC will pay more.”

And, he said, “I don’t have a crystal ball, either.”

Meanwhile, PLC is also calculated on 85 percent of base acres, but it has no cap, is not revenue-based as it is designed specifically to pro-tect against price declines.

For instance, for wheat, the new reference price is $5.50. If the marketing year average price falls below $5.50, payments will be made on 85 percent of wheat base acres.

Farmers won’t receive a payment from either program until Oct. 1, said Michael Westerman, McPherson County’s Farm Service Agency director. Yet, if no de-cision on a program is made by March 31, those farmers won’t receive a payment, and they will be automatically enrolled into PLC.

‘Freedom to farm’Meanwhile, says James,

this farm bill doesn’t tell you what to plant, regardless of what farmers sign up for.

“In fact, a someone could sign up for either program, then plant all their ground to alfalfa and still collect payments in times of price reductions or price and yield revenue reductions,” she said.

Also, said Barnaby, farm programs don’t replace federally subsidized crop insurance, which is the bulk of a farmer’s safety net.

Meanwhile, Taylor said the choices farmers make are equally difficult for agriculture bankers, who previously could figure in direct payments into a loan.

“There is no guarantee you’re going to get a pay-ment,” she said, adding it could affect how lenders evaluate loans.

With the programs based on yields and prices, it is difficult to look five years

in the future, she said. And, yes, she added, someone who picks PLC might be upset they didn’t choose differ-ently because prices didn’t fall low enough for him to receive a payment while he might have received one with ARC. However, she added, not receiving a pay-ment means there wasn’t a catastrophic loss, and that’s not a bad thing.

Weighing the decisionsRegardless of what

choices producers make con-cerning crop insurance, they must make their decisions

soon. Those decisions are binding for the life of the farm bill, which is designed to cover agricultural policy through 2018. “I signed up with my current best guess,” said McPherson farmer Warner, adding he has time to change his mind. “I’m still considering changes de-pending on the predictions of grain prices.”

For now, he chose ARC, he said.

Gary Stucky, a small wheat farmer near Moundridge, said he was still weighing his options. “Everything is a guess, and you have no idea

what the future is going to hold,” he said.

Still, Warner said, having a program, whether he likes it or not, is better than not having a program and not knowing what is in it – something farmers faced for nearly two years as Congress extended the pre-vious farm bill and debated new legislation.

“I’ve been farming a quarter century, and every time I see a new farm bill, I think they can’t make this more convoluted than the one before,” Warner said, then smiled. “But they come

through.” He added: “In five years, when this one expires, how can they possibly ex-ceed this one? But they will come through for us.”

Date to know: March 31 – Last day to

elect either ARC or PLC options.

Kansas Agland Editor Amy Bickel’s agriculture roots started in Gypsum. She has been covering Kansas agriculture for more than 15 years. Email her with news, photos and other information at [email protected] or by calling (800) 766-3311 Ext. 320.

recommend applying dicamba preemergence without another herbicide like atrazine, metribuzin or isoxaflutole – the new Scoparia.”

Stahlman says we can probably prolong the utility by using a diversity of tactics.

“I think there is good value in applying 12 to 16 ounces over the 8-ounce rate of dicamba, but I was surprised that that length of control wasn’t extended all that much more with rates above 16 ounces. With the 8-ounce rate, we had poor control of kochia at 60 days after application. Don’t get me wrong; there was an increase in control and length of residual with the 16-, 24- and 32-ounce rates, but maybe not enough to justify the addi-tional cost.”

The weed scientist also feels a December application is better than a February application with dicamba preemergence.

“I think in normal years we might have trouble ap-plying herbicides because of wet soils in February. We’ve had droughty conditions in recent years, though, so wet soils haven’t been a prob-lem,” he concludes.

Herbicide effectiveness concerns weed expert

On spotFrom PAGE 21

Megan May/The Hutchinson News

Christy Johnson follows Kent Moore in a grain cart as they harvest corn at Moore Farms in Pratt County on Sept. 24, 2014. Johnson said they spend about 10 to 12 hours per day harvesting one irrigated field.


By erin mAThews

Kansas Agland

For as long as people have coaxed a plant from a seed, the most successful farmers have been “well-grounded” in knowledge of their fields.

But what Grandpa might have learned from long expe-rience, the new generation of farmers can discover from computerized maps generated by equipment manufactured in Salina.

The high-tech look at a field’s soil composition provided by one-of-a-kind GPS-connected, soil-sensing equipment produced by Veris Technologies, 1925 Clay Ridge, can give growers a multicolored picture of their land’s crop-producing capabilities and where fer-tilizer or other inputs could be beneficial, said company president Eric Lund.

“It’s like an MRI on wheels,” Lund said. “It’s a high-tech tool that uses ground-engaging equipment to get readings.”

So far, Lund said, the 12 employees at Veris have built and sold equipment that is being used in 43 states, seven Canadian prov-inces and 40 other countries. Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and the Ukraine account for a majority of sales outside the United States, but Veris sensors are also mapping fields in Serbia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.

“It’s kind of neat to see the excitement around the world that’s been generated by these tools,” said Tyler Lund, director of sales and marketing. “Our on-the-go soil-sensing equipment shows the major physical, biological and chemical properties of the soil, as well as slope and curvature of the field.”

Gaining efficienciesEric Lund said the equip-

ment is sensitive computer technology that is pulled through the soil, so it has to withstand field conditions.

“There are people in Kansas who understand both of those worlds,” he said.

Lund said the

computerized soil maps help farmers pinpoint manage-ment zones within a field so they can fully utilize the variable-rate planting and fertilizing capabilities of newer farm equipment.

The result is nitrogen being applied only where it is needed and in the correct amount, he said. That reduces waste, cost and the potential for crop damage. It also prevents production of a greenhouse gas or contam-ination of groundwater from nitrogen runoff, he said.

Also, seeds bred for specific soil types can be utilized more efficiently, and fertile areas can be seeded more heavily, he said.

“What you’re going for is higher use efficiency,” he said.

Mapping the soilEric Lund said typically

it’s younger farm workers who are attracted to the technology of the soil sensors, but older farmers are persuaded when they see the maps generated from the data and recognize the

accuracy based on their experiences in the field.

“Sometimes Dad or Grandpa looks at a map and says, ‘Oh, that’s a great map – that nailed it,’ ” he said. “They relate more to the map than the younger guys because they know the field better.”

As farms get larger and a younger generation takes over operation of the plant-ers and fertilizer spreaders, that kind of “precision agriculture” information can have an effect on profits and help to avoid unneces-sary costs, Eric Lund said. The maps sometimes reveal correctible deficiencies that even longtime farmers hadn’t caught, he said.

“It used to be a farmer working 80 acres he knew well,” Eric Lund said. “Now it’s guys farming 5,000 acres they don’t know. They defi-nitely need technology to tell them what’s where.”

Getting at the ‘why’Veris’ soil texture and

organic matter sensors penetrate 1 to 2 inches into

the soil to take a reading every second. A reading of the soil’s pH balance is taken every 90 feet. Readings are taken in rows spaced 60 feet apart until the entire field is covered.

“Our advantage is we’re in the soil,” said Chase Maxton, electrical engineer for Veris. “That’s what matters. The soil tells you why, whether it’s low organic matter, a deficiency of nitrogen or an

area that’s drowned out. We try to get out the why.”

At a recent open house at Veris’ new headquarters, Maxton pointed out features of a map generated with multiple types of sensors to Zach Grothusen, 29, who farms 2,500 acres near Ellsworth.

Grothusen was interested in finding out how the Veris software would interface with the computer in his tractor. Grothusen said margins are always getting tighter. “The equipment’s gotten so much more expen-sive, we’ve got to be smarter now with the dollars we spend to get a return on those dollars,” said Grothusen. He said crop production per acre has increased significantly, and it’s “stuff like this that makes it possible.”

“The older generation bristles at new technology, and my generation is maybe a little too eager,” Grothusen said.

Unique in industrySo far, fertilizer and seed

dealers who want to provide the mapping service to their customers have accounted for most of Veris’ sensor technology sales, Tyler Lund said.

Mapping new horizons Veris Technologies brings modern tech to farm fields, adding valuable precision

Photos by Tom Dorsey/Salina Journal

A Veris MSP3 is loaded onto a flatbed trailer to be shipped to the University of Florida. The MSP3 is used to collect soil data.

Eric Lund, left, is president of Veris Technologies, and Paul Drummond is director of operations.

See VERIS / Page 31


By kAThy hAnks

Kansas Agland

LAKIN – She doesn’t have a name, but that doesn’t stop her from being the employee of the month at Lakin Dairy.

Everyone around the milking parlor seven miles south of Lakin is celebrating the miraculous achievement of cow No. 2896.

The black and white Holstein is currently the cream of the dairy and was acknowledged for producing more than 250,000 pounds of milk in her lifetime.

Just as he would cite any outstanding employee, Fred Ritsema honored cow 2896 by pulling out the cham-pagne flutes. He then toasted her by filling the glasses with creamy, rich milk.

According to the Midwest Dairy Association, most dairy cows are milked two to three times per day, and on average, a cow will produce six to seven gallons of milk each day. This proves that No. 2896 is not your average dairy cow because she pro-duces 10 gallons per day.

This 11-year-old over-achiever has also delivered nine calves. She is currently three months pregnant and is still milking 10 gallons daily. Some may call her a milking machine, but Ritsema considers her a cow of distinction.

Just a little background on the cow’s boss, Fred, and his wife, Yoka Ritsema:

They both grew up on dairy farms 80 miles apart from each other in the Netherlands. But they didn’t meet until they were work-ing in Texas.

Yoka had come to the United States for an adven-ture after graduating from high school. She found work with a Dutch family who had a dairy farm. She met

Fred at church. He was a hard-working man with a dream of establishing his own dairy operation. He was renting a dairy and milking 40 cows by hand, putting every penny he earned into buying more milking cows. His operation grew to about 200 cows.

Opportunity opened up for Ritsema to rent some ground in Kearny County, where he was able to pursue his dream of growing the Lakin Dairy. Currently, there are 3,200 cows at the dairy, and 2,500 of them are milked year-round.

But never has he had a cow like No. 2896, attaining 250,000 pounds of milk production.

“That is 30,000 gallons and counting,” said Ritsema. “This is a great accomplishment and we are not only proud of this cow, but especially of our employees who helped this cow achieve the goal, be-cause this is a team effort. We hope more cows will follow.”

Ritsema said the goal of every dairy is to keep the cows happy.

“That is, to keep them comfortable, well-fed with a

high-quality ration, treating them gently and giving them prompt care when needed. Only then a cow will be able to last and perform like 2896 has done for Lakin Dairy.”

Ritsema hopes to encour-age those who dairy to look at the top 10 percent of their cows. And then celebrate with the employees the suc-cess of the cow.

Meanwhile, Ritsema has brothers dairying in Holland and Germany, where it’s common for the newspaper to come out when dairies have a cow that reaches the 250,000-pound mark.

“And when this happens, the articles are being emailed among the broth-ers. It just shows this is a big deal and it only hap-pens when you treat your cows like ladies,” Ritsema said. “The girls at my office make fun of me; maybe I should buy the cow a prom dress before the paper comes out. If they only knew what it takes to be so productive.”

Kathy Hanks spent more than 20 years in rural west-ern Kansas. The longtime journalist writes for The Hutchinson News.

Cowabunga! With waves of milk, 2896 wipes out the rest

Cow number 2896 rests in a monitored area at Lakin Dairy. Cows who are in their last two months of pregnancy are watched here by staff.

Photos by James M. Dobson/Garden City Telegram

Lakin Dairy owner Fred Ritzema pets cow 2896, who has produced more than three times the average cow. 2896 is eleven years old, and has produced more than 30,000 gallons of milk during the course of nine lactations. Fred’s wife, Yoka, says that this much production is very rare, and it comes from good genetics, paired with healthy living conditions and plenty of food.

Milking Supervisor Luis Mendoza attaches a milking device to cow 2896 at Lakin Dairy. The cow has produced more than 30,000 gallons of milk during her lifetime, three times more than the average dairy cow.


By amy Bickel

Kansas Agland

MACKSVILLE – Wanted: People.

The theme is the same across much of the rural Midwest. While the Great Plains has more than doubled in population since 1950, outside the metro areas in rural counties, population is waning.

Young people leave. Groceries close. Schools and hospitals shutter, as well.

But there is resilience in rural Kansas as creative efforts emerge to tackle depopulation and vitality. Yet, as many county officials across western Kansas look for ways to grow and survive, even if they would attract people, they are having a hard time finding a place to put them.

It’s been a struggle in Stafford County, where

Economic Development Director Carolyn Dunn is fighting the uphill battle to grow population. The U.S. census estimates that Stafford County, with a cur-rent population of 4,350, has lost 430 people since 2000. Meanwhile, only 3 percent of the county’s housing inventory was built in the past 25 years, and most of it is occupied.

Oftentimes, the school district is one of the largest employers for rural counties. Stafford County has three school districts, including Macksville. Just a few years ago, the Macksville superintendent told Dunn that he hired five new employees but none of them could live in the county because they couldn’t find a place to buy or rent. Meanwhile, Dunn added, a new Stafford principal a few years ago

struck out in an effort to find a rental and ended up renting an apartment in the assisted-living section of a local nursing home.

“You need more enroll-ment in schools, but housing is an impediment to creating those families,” she said.

However, Dunn, whose family farms in the county, is working to move Stafford County forward. She and community leaders are trying to solve the county’s housing issues, one home at a time.

On this fall day she stood on the dirt lawn of a new du-plex in Macksville – the first of a handful of projects that Stafford County Economic Development has potentially planned. For the modern family searching for an affordable, up-to-date rental property, it couldn’t be more perfect.

Rural towns’ housing issue sees catch-22 More homes needed, but people key to investing

Dunn shows off the basement of the 2,080-square-foot, moderate-income duplex the agency completed in Macksville last fall. One side has been rented. The other, at $700-a-month rent, is available.

Photos by Amy Bickel/Kansas Agland

Economic Development Director Carolyn Dunn has been working to address Stafford County’s housing shortage since she took the newly created job in 2011. One duplex has been built in Macksville. The county will begin construction on another moderate-income house in Stafford next year using leftover funds from the Macksville project, corporate pledges and grant money.

See HOUSING / Page 35


This duplex, with an open floor plan upstairs, includes 2,080 square feet of finished living space per unit. There are three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and a full, finished basement. It also has energy-efficient features, such as high-efficiency windows and an on-demand water heater.

Right after completion last fall, there already was one taker and Dunn was search-ing for one more family willing to pay $700 a month.

“Some of my parameters I look at to see if we are achieving in terms of eco-nomic development include stopping decline, making sure we are maintaining our schools, the grocery store and the hospitals,” she said. “Your purpose here is to build a community where people can live and have the amenities they need, along with their job.”

Rural housing in KansasStafford County’s situation

isn’t unique, as counties across Kansas look for ways to address rural housing issues.

According to a recent Wichita State University ru-ral housing study, 91 percent of economic development directors who responded said rural housing issues hindered the local labor market. Also, 74 percent of respondents indicated that the availability of housing was affecting the hiring decisions of local employers, while 71 percent indicated

the result was fewer workers being hired due to the local housing situation.

There are some funding solutions, albeit limited. The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation’s moderate-in-come program was designed to fill a need identified by communities by pay to build housing and infrastructure, said Fred Bentley, KHRC’s director of rental develop-ment.

In 2012, the Kansas Legislature approved $2 mil-lion to be earmarked for the purpose of administering and supporting housing pro-grams. Lawmaker allocated $2 million, as well, for both 2013 and 2014.

“Housing is a huge eco-nomic development engine,” Bentley said. “It creates jobs, supports jobs. We wish we could do more.”

In fact, the need is greater than the dollars they have, he said, adding, “We could be doing this all over the state.”

Much of the housing in rural Kansas is aged, small and outdated and would take extensive work to modernize. “The need is significant,” said Bentley. “In most communities like in Stafford County, the needs are for a lot more units. I think all the rural counties are in the same situation.”

For example, he said, a cabinet manufacturer in Quinter was looking to expand. However, the town of 955 people didn’t have adequate housing.

“There was no housing for more employees, and they just left,” Bentley said of the company. They went to Colorado. “We’ve heard that in a few other commu-nities, too. We believe the

state should make a greater investment in housing.”

He said they have been able to help several com-munities with the dollars they have. KHRC awarded Lyons a $200,000 grant. The city is using it by giving prospective homebuyers a $25,000 down payment to purchase one of the city’s new three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes.

Pittsburg has a similar program, said Bentley. The program has also helped build homes in Dodge City, Coffeyville and Hutchinson.

In Ness County, officials implemented a neighbor-hood revitalization program that gives property tax incen-tives for homeowners who make significant upgrades

to their homes, said Chris Palmberg, the county’s new economic development di-rector. He also was forming a community housing council. “A majority of the housing stock was built before World War II,” Palmberg said. “The average age of construction is pre-1939.”

“We have a very big need for moderate-income housing,” he said. “We need housing that simultaneously is available, appropriate and affordable, and that is al-ways going to be the biggest thing out here in the sticks.”

Palmberg said one study showed that 20 percent more people were coming into Ness County to work than leave the county to work. And, he said, it is a “vicious

catch-22.” Companies need people to employ if they want to grow. People need decent housing if they want to relocate to a community.

“We have a serious prob-lem,” he said.

Making stridesSince Stafford County

created the economic de-velopment position in 2011, Dunn and her board have been working to address growth restraints.

Early on, they identified the need for affordable modern housing, she said. Most of the county’s homes are nearing an average of 80 years old. “If we don’t have enough housing for people, then it is hard to develop more business,” she said. “It

goes hand in hand.”Goals include increasing

rental inventory, increasing general housing inventory and creating a better in-vestment environment for housing.

The first step was to pur-chase the lot in Macksville for $10.

State funding has helped the county move forward with solutions. Last year, Stafford County Economic Development received a $168,000 Kansas Moderate Income Housing Program grant administered through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation. Meanwhile, Dunn also was successful in garnishing $175,000 in Community Service Tax Credits through the Kansas Department of Commerce that generated $250,000 in funding. For every $1,000 a donor contributed, he or she was able to reduce Kansas income taxes by $700.

Leftover funds, along with corporate pledges and a $7,500 grant, will help spur the next project, which will take place in Stafford, said Dunn. The city of Stafford donated two lots for housing.

The board is still exploring how that home would be con-structed, she said. “Between it all, we are trying to keep this going,” she said of future homes. “We don’t know beyond (the Stafford home) what fund-ing we will have, but we are going to keep working on it.”

Kansas Agland Editor Amy Bickel’s agriculture roots started in Gypsum. She has been covering Kansas agriculture for more than 15 years. Email her with news, photos and other information at [email protected] or by calling 1 (800) 766-3311, ext. 320.

Amy Bickel/Kansas Agland

Stafford County is working to address the rural housing problem. Stafford County Economic Development recently completed a duplex in Macksville. Each unit is 2,080 square feet and include three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. The upstairs features an open floor plan.

HousingFrom PAGE 34


By amy Bickel

Kansas Agland

SAUNDERS – The little border stop greets you as you enter Kansas – along with a windshield of dust.

And on this late summer day, it seems, the dust is especially bad at Saunders, which sits right next to the Colorado border along a stretch of Highway 160 that, for miles, is nearly empty of people.

But for Minnie Watson, the whirling earth she experienced here during the 1930s was much worse than today. She and her family moved to Saunders in 1937. She was in second grade.

Her family had left Plains, Kansas – an area still plagued by dust storms, although it wasn’t quite in the heart of it like Stanton County. In a time when jobs were hard to come by, her father had secured the posi-tion of elevator manager for the Collingwood Company.

They moved into Saunders’ single residence, which also was the elevator scale house and office.

Here, their power was from the wind, she said. While they had enough for lights and radio, it wasn’t enough to power a refriger-ator or washer, which they had left behind at Plains.

It took a little while for the family to adjust to the stark landscape. Upon seeing their new home, “my mother cried and cried,” Watson said.

“It wasn’t quite as dusty at Plains,” recalled Watson, 86, of Manter. “But at Saunders, it was just dirt.”

A stop in the roadThere is little informa-

tion on the formation of Saunders, except that it probably formed in the 1920s when the railroad went through the county, said Katie Herrick, director

of the Stanton County Historical Museum.

Even Watson, who cur-rently still works answering phones and selling advertis-ing at the Johnson Pioneer, the county newspaper, never heard the story of Saunders’ beginnings.

Herrick said the first rail-road came through Stanton County in 1923. Saunders most likely came later.

A 1923 article in The News tells of a man named Walter Saunders – the oldest engineer of the Santa Fe Railroad’s western division. He lived in Hutchinson’s Farmington addition. While towns were often named after rail employees, there is no indication that the town of Saunders was named after him.

A Collingwood elevator was built at Saunders in 1928, according to a June 1, 1928, article in The News.

The article said, “Hundreds of land buyers and people looking for new locations are coming to Stanton County at this time. Never in the history of Stanton County have condi-tions been more favorable as they are today. Thousands of acres of new sod have been broken this year, many new farm buildings erected, and the whole county has an air of prosperity. New elevators at Big Bow, Johnson and Saunders are being erected by Collingwood Grain Company. The wheat in Stanton County this year is the best in the history of the county.”

Meanwhile, it said that farm implement dealers were reporting a big sale of combines through the county. One farmer, Mr. Cessna of Big Bow, expected wheat yields to total 35 to 40 bushels an acre.

“The last of the Great Southwest is fast being developed, turning the

cowman back to the west and breaking out the virgin soil for vast wheat farms,” The News reported.

Dusty days aheadAs people settled Stanton

County, farmers began slicing through the prairie in the teens and 1920s. But as more plows took to the tree-less plains, the dust began blowing.

Historians say 100 million acres of the southern plains turned into a wasteland during the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. Drought, coupled with poor farming practices, choked an area of five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.

In Kansas, Stanton County and nearby Morton County were amid the epicenter.

Bob Sipes, a 78-year-old farmer whose father came to the county by wagon in 1902, said he was born at the family farm near Saunders during a dust storm on May 13, 1936. “The doctor stayed two days because he couldn’t see to get home.”

There never was a post office, Sipes said. At one time, though, the elevator sold tires and fuel.

He recalled hauling wheat to the elevator at Saunders when he was a boy. At that time, it was a Gano elevator at the site and a man named Brown operated it, living in the scale house.

Sipes said his father was on the cooperative board when the cooperative decided to build a concrete facility at Saunders. It took some effort to convince patrons, he said. Sipes, too, was on the board when they decided to build new bins.

Saunders still activeToday, however, Saunders

hasn’t changed much. It still is by the railroad. And farm-ers still haul grain to the

site, which is now a location of Skyland Grain.

And it is still just a stone’s

throw from Colorado.“The first thing we did,

we walked to Colorado,”

86-year-old Watson said of

Remnant of a stark time

Saunders, sitting along Colorado border, evokes trying days of 1930s Dust Bowl

Amy Bickel/Kansas Agland

An approach to Saunders is shown.

See SAUNDERS / Page 37

Kansas Agland - Spring 2015

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