Drought keeping wheat crop hopes in limbo

Written by John Schlageck Tuesday, 15 January 2013 14:22

Travel anywhere in the Sunflower State and people will tell you it’s dry. It’s so dry the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared last week that all but one of the 105 Kansas counties is in a drought disaster. This clears the way for farmers and ranchers to seek low-interest emergency loans.

While many areas of the state have been blessed with 8 to 10 inches of snow, the winter wheat crop still needs moisture. Limited moisture in most areas of Kansas caused the winter wheat condition to decline through December.

As of the first of the year, 9 percent of the crop was rated very poor, 22 percent poor, 45 percent fair, 23 percent good and 1 percent excellent, according to Kansas Ag Statistics.

Estimates place the number of wheat...

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Second year of drought hits fall crops hard across county

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Monday, 24 December 2012 15:00

For the second year, insufficient rain affected fall crops in Marion County. Many producers were scrambling to find some way to salvage economic benefit from their fields. Impacted by drought conditions for much of the year, Marion County businesses experienced ups and downs in 2012, with new businesses opening and some businesses closing.

JANUARY

Marion native Mark Engler, now a Philadelphia resident, is mass-marketing a guitar accessory called “The Engle.” It resembles a miniature pickaxe and enables the musician to strike all six (or 12) strings simultaneously, creating a unique musical effect.

MB Foundation, based in Hillsboro, has become one of the largest and most-respected community foundations in the state with $120 million in assets in 2011.

Roger Schroeder is the new marketing and foundation director at St. Luke Hospital and Living Center, filling the void created by the departure of...

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All I want for Christmas...is a farm bill

Written by John Schlageck Tuesday, 18 December 2012 14:36

Though critical to farmers, ranchers and consumers, the farm bill has not been at the top of the list of issues on Capitol Hill. Instead, lawmakers are debating how to avoid what’s known as the fiscal cliff.

In case you haven’t heard, this fiscal cliff is a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1.

Many farmers are hoping lawmakers will see passage of a five-year farm bill—with its $20 billion-plus in savings—as one way to keep from going over the economic precipice.

In any case, agriculture will be looking at a one-year extension of the farm bill, according to Mary Kay Thatcher, American Farm Bureau Federation senior director of congressional relations.

“We have 38 programs in the 2008 farm bill...

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Drought on Mississippi could impact county farmers

Written by Jerry Engler Tuesday, 18 December 2012 14:35

Weather can have both negative and positive effects for grain marketing just as it does for grain production.

Drought-inhibited water depth for navigation on the Mississippi River may cause higher fertilizer costs and more expensive grain shipping, but that could be offset with even stronger prices for soybeans.

Chad Arnold, agronomist for Cooperative Grain & Supply based in Hillsboro, said low rainfall on the Mississippi River basin is causing “a lot of problems” as navigable water level has decreased from 9 feet to 7 feet.

Arnold said river barges can’t carry as much weight to stay sufficiently buoyant in shallow water as they can in deeper water. So a barge that normally can carry 1,500 tons of fertilizer bound for...

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