By Rachael Brooke Rooks County’s Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent Cow herd management - Body condition score (BCS) both spring and fall calving cows. Target BCS for spring calvers: 5 for mature cows, 6 for young females.

The support of my wife and our four children has been instrumental in allowing me to spend time away from the farm pursuing these opportunities. I have no doubt they will continue to support and counsel me as I take on this new endeavor. I use “we” to acknowledge all the help I’ve received from friends and family that’s helped me succeed over the years.

At some point in the last decade, I reached the point where I have everything I need to be happy. Gifts stopped being a source of anticipation, and a wish list became more a chore than a dream. My anticipation at the holidays has shifted from dreaming about what I want to give.

Controlling Volunteer Trees Though trees are a vital part of our landscapes, there are situations where volunteer trees need to be controlled. This is often a case of the wrong plant in the wrong place. If the tree is still small and a desirable species, you may want to consider transplanting in the spring. If it is not, active control measures would be in order.

Watering in the Winter You may not think it, but plants continue to use water during the winter, although just not as much. The freeze and thaw cycles also remove moisture from the soil. Don't forget about the effects of drying winds that pull moisture from the soil as well.

By Rachael Brooke Rooks County’s Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent Winter can be a difficult time for strawberries in Kansas. Plants need time to become adjusted to cold weather and will gradually become more cold resistant as fall progresses.

Estimating How Long the Hay Supply Will Last “I have 60 head of mature cows and 300 large round bales of hay on hand. If I start feeding harvested forage today, do I have enough forage to make it through the winter?” This is an actual scenario and a real concern for many this year due to the reduction in forage supplies because of drought in areas throughout Kansas and in our neighboring states.

By Rachael Brooke Rooks County’s Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent Vitamin A deficiency can present with many different clinical signs, but the most common signs are weak or stillborn calves. In this article, we will discuss some possible reasons why this may occur in our spring-calving beef herds.

By Rachael Brooke Rooks County’s Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent November is the time to give Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue lawns the last nitrogen application of the season. Why November? Because while top growth slows in response to cool temperatures, grass plants are still making food (carbohydrates) by photosynthesis.

Sampling Procedures for Silage Crops Crops harvested for and stored as silage are by their very nature highly variable with regard to nutrient content because so many factors affect the ensiling process. Our goal with silage is to preserve the nutrients that exist in the live standing crop as much as possible for feeding at a later time.