Extension News & Insight

July is Family Picnic Month! I love picnics! Time seems to slow down, relaxation sets in, and stress melts away.

This is the season of busy here in the ag world. It seems as though we are simultaneously in wheat harvest, crop planting, haying and there are always things to do with the livestock.

Bagworms Now is the time to be looking for bagworms. Although the cool weather we experienced this spring may have slowed development, and consequently larvae emerging from eggs, bagworm caterpillars are going to be present throughout Kansas feeding on broadleaf and evergreen trees and shrubs.

Long-time sheep and goat producers can readily list all the standard parasite control measures they have been taught over the years, which include: deworm when fecal ​ examinations are positive, deworm all animals at the same time, place animals onto a clean pasture after deworming, deworm...

The deadline to file for local elections passed recently, and it’s worth thanking every school board hopeful and municipal candidate for their willingness to run. The past 15 months has proven what I’ve long believed — local elections have the biggest impact on the dayto-day lives of Kansans.

There have been a number of trees that have been slow to leaf out. In some cases, this is likely due to accumulated stress. We often think of plants reacting to stress that happened during the current season or possibly the previous year, but it may not be that simple.

One of my favorite summertime activities is making homemade ice cream. When I was in elementary school Mom and Dad milked 10 to 12 cows by hand. They sold milk to the cheese factory at Bogue. Needless to say, we had lots of cream and often made ice cream.