Bentley now has a grocery store. Pribbenow Variety Store opened in January with the slogan “necessities are nearby.” The store is located on 111 S. Wichita St., and its co-owners are David Tribbenow-Sims and Tracy Tribbenow.
Bentley welcomes new grocery store
Give Chickens a Home They Can Cluck About
A specialist gives tips on poultry housing
MANHATTAN, Kan. – It’s coming, if we wait a bit longer. This chilly time of year our thoughts turn to spring activities, like planting flowers and vegetables, and for some, buying a few chickens.
“The hobby of raising a few hens for eggs has really taken off as more people are interested in foods produced locally and others want to become more self-sufficient,” said Scott Beyer, a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University. There are things to consider, however, if you’re building a new coop or retrofitting a building to house your chickens.
A quick search of the internet will turn up hundreds of pictures of small poultry houses, said Beyer, who is a poultry specialist with K-State Research and Extension. Many of them focus on construction costs, the ease of construction, and the way the coop looks. The primary focus should be, however, on the health and welfare needs of the flock.
He outlined factors to keep in mind when buying or building housing for chickens.
· Keep predators out: Keeping predators out of the pen and coop is more important than keeping birds in. Neighborhood dogs, coyotes, skunks, raccoons and hawks are just some that would like to dine on your chickens. Lightweight cotton or plastic netting easily keep birds in a pen, but wire is a better option as it will keep predators from chewing holes in the fence. Wire buried around the perimeter or suspended overhead may be necessary in areas where many predators are a problem. In some instances, electric fence may be an option.
Every housing system eventually has a few escapees. Consider building a safety trap that will trap the escaped birds while also protecting them from predators.
· Make it easy: Poultry houses should be easy to clean, pick up eggs, and add feed and water. If not, it won’t get done as often as it should. The best ones have easy access for manure removal, especially those that have a place where manure drops and collects so the birds can’t disturb it and it collects on removable trays or can be scraped out from an access panel. The easier the manure removal, the easier it can be placed in a compost bin.
· Heating and cooling: Keeping heat out of the coop in the summer is more important than keeping heat in during the winter. More birds have probably been killed in Kansas by soaring summer temperatures than by the coldest winter weather.
In winter, the two most important rules are to keep birds out of the wind and give them a place to stay dry. The exterior door should not face the prevailing winter wind.
Summer heat can be a killer, especially for heavy-weight birds, such as Cornish-Rock cross meat-type chickens. Temperatures of 80 degrees F. or higher can trigger stress. The biggest summer heat source is a coop’s roof. Heat during summer can build rapidly under the roof. Avoid coops with low roofs that have only metal sheeting. Coops should include a layer of rigid foam between the trusses and roofing material. Rigid foam with an aluminum coating on the exterior deflects heat from the roofing material and keeps the coop cooler through the summer. Consider adding passive vents in the peak that allow warm air to escape.
· Aesthetics: “Your birds may not care what their coop looks like, but your neighbors might,” Beyer said. Studies on farms show that how nice a farm looks and how well it is kept affects how others view odor and noises coming from the farm. Local governing boards may ask to review your plans before you build. Get educated about regulations you may need to follow.
Painting the coop an attractive color not only looks good, but if it’s a light color, can help reflect heat. “Who doesn’t appreciate good building skills or even a nice display of folk art?” he said. “Now is your chance to build something other people will view as a work of art.”
· Consider portability: Consider placing the coop on skids or wheels, which will make it moveable to new range areas. Because of their scratching, chickens are destructive to their range areas. If a coop and the outdoor run are easily moved, you can avoid destroying the grass in a particular area, and reduce the buildup of parasites in the soil. A moveable pen and run also allow you to seek shady areas during the summer and avoid harsh winter winds. Some flock owners use their portable coops and pens as part of a weed control program in their gardens because the birds turn the soil and eat the weed seeds.
· Don’t overbuild: Many small flock housing designs seem overly complicated. Consider building one you’ve designed yourself, especially using salvaged building materials. Old doors, windows and vents can often work, but make sure they’re free of lead paint and asbestos. Remember, you are housing little birds, not the meanest bull in the county. You probably need fewer 6 x 6 posts than you need 2 x 4 posts to build small flock housing.
· Use automation: Consider features such as a small solar panel that can provide enough light in a coop. One essential is a light timer to provide the exact number of total hours of artificial and natural light to keep birds in egg production. In Kansas, that’s about 16 hours of light per day. The best timers monitor the sunlight, turn the lights on as the sun goes down, then go off at a set time to ensure the birds get 16 hours of light.
After dusk, the coop entrance should be closed to prevent predators from entering at night, unless the run outside your coop is totally enclosed. Automated doors that close at dark are available for purchase from many poultry supply companies.
Story by: Mary Lou Peter
The International Year of Soils: Soils Support Urban Life
Although urban soils often have different characteristics than soils used for production agriculture, they still provide many uses and benefits to urban dwellers.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – When you think of cities, thoughts of cars, buses, people, skyscrapers and other concrete buildings might come to mind. But, below those concrete buildings, paved roads and high-traffic areas stands a foundation of one of the necessary components for life to exist—soil.
Soils in urban areas are often much different than farmland soils used to grow food or rangeland soils used to support essential ecology. Urban soils develop from soil material that has been disturbed, manipulated and transferred by various living creatures, said Ganga Hettiarachchi, a Kansas State University soil chemist.
Usually, urban soils are poor in physical, chemical and biological properties, she said, but this doesn’t mean that urban soils should be regarded as dysfunctional.
“We always forget about the functionalities of urban soils,” Hettiarachchi said. “Urban soils play a vital role in the livelihood of cities, biomass production, flood prevention, groundwater recharge, dust sequestration, carbon sequestration, as well as cooling and humidification. We should consider, especially during urban planning, urban soil as an important component in the planning process.”
In 2015, people around the world are celebrating the International Year of Soils, which calls to mind the importance of soil in their daily lives. February’s theme, “Soils Support Urban Life,” helps paint a picture of how this sometimes overlooked natural resource is used to support life in cities and rural areas alike.
Food production in urban areas
According to the most recent U.S. census in 2010, more than 80 percent of the population lives in urban areas, and that percentage is expected to continue growing. Urban agriculture has also grown in popularity in recent years, as more people are interested in growing their own foods or buying foods grown locally by others.
“There has been a resurgence of urban gardening in the United States and elsewhere in the world,” Hettiarachchi said. “The advance of urban agriculture activities can help low-income families and people who have no access to food—who are living in a food desert—to have access to healthy food.”
Many challenges exist when trying to grow food in urban soils, however. Hettiarachchi said these might include soil compaction that causes poor drainage, and the presence of unwanted materials, such as debris from glass, plastic and other garbage.
Urban soils also face interrupted nutrient cycling and interrupted or modified microbial activities, she said. They may contain low levels of nutrients and contaminants such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
“Urban gardeners, when trying to garden in urban soils, face these additional challenges,” Hettiarachchi said. “They need to make sure to follow common sense practices. Make sure that the soil nutrient levels are appropriate, and make sure to do things to enhance soil quality, such as get their soil tested for the common contaminants.”
Although the contaminants will not transfer easily from the soils into fruit and vegetable plants, people should take precautions to prevent accidental ingestion of contaminated soil, she said. This could happen if the soil is not washed off fruits and vegetables properly, or if the soil is carried into the home.
“Use common sense practices, such as wash produce well, supervise children in gardens, make sure to remove dust before tracking it into the house on shoes and clothing, wash hands and keep soil moist to reduce the breathing it in during dry periods,” she said.
In addition to gardens, urban soils help support other plant growth and trees, which are key components to bringing carbon dioxide back into soil, Hettiarachchi said. To enhance soil productivity for all of these plants, she recommended composting as a way to incorporate organic material back into the soil. Composting also helps reduce contaminant concentration in the soil through dilution.
Benefits of composting
DeAnn Presley, a K-State Research and Extension soil scientist, works in soil and water conservation in rural and urban areas. One of her areas of training is composting, and she works with cities and institutions, such as hospitals, to develop compost from food waste.
Presley said about one-third of waste in landfills comes from food.
“What’s sad about that is food contains carbon, a soil amendment, and nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients needed for plant growth,” she said. “We can divert that out of landfills where it is taking up space and producing methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. If we instead produce compost, we can then reapply that material which is great for two reasons—nutrients and organic matter, what gives soil its water-holding capacity.”
Compost, Presley said, can be formed from anything that was alive, but it is usually vegetative matter decomposed in a controlled way.
“Put it in a pile, add water and turn it over two or three times,” she said. “What a homeowner can do with that is add it to soils. You can put about 3 inches or less of compost on your soil, till that into a garden, or apply it on the soil surface in the fall and perhaps spade it in in the spring. Over time you can elevate the organic matter of that area.”
Composting can also help reduce costs. Kansas State’s dining facilities save food waste to create compost for research projects at the agronomy farm and other renewable products, such as biodiesel. Presley said this practice reduces fees the university would have to pay to place the waste in a landfill, while generating benefits for the environment.
More information
For more information about soil quality, to have your soil tested, or to learn about urban gardening though the Master Gardener Program, contact your local extension office or visit the K-State Research and Extension website.
To watch a video interview with Hettiarachchi and Presley, log on to the K-State Research and Extension YouTube page. The Soil Science Society of America has resources for the public, teachers and children about soil and each monthly theme for the International Year of Soils.
Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural – Shane Tiffany – Part 1
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
“From bombs to bovines.” That sounds like an unusual transition, and it is. It describes a transformation of a former Army air base in central Kansas which became a cattle feedlot and is now part of one of the state’s leading cattle operations.
Shane and Shawn Tiffany and their wives are the owners and operators of Tiffany Cattle Company, whose feedyard is built on a former Army air base near Herington. Coincidentally, Shane and Shawn grew up on this place because their dad managed the feedyard from 1988 to 2002. Their father then moved to take over their grandfather’s silage harvesting operation.
Shane and Shawn went to K-State where they participated in the livestock judging team. Then they started into corporate careers. Shane worked at the Kansas City Board of Trade and then went to Texas as a cattle buyer.
In 2007, the owner of the feedyard on the Army air base back in Kansas contacted them. He was ready for an ownership transition and wanted to see if they were interested in buying.
“After much prayer and discussion, we took the jump,” Shane said.
The Tiffany Cattle Company now consists of a 15,500-head-capacity feedlot and an extensive farming operation. The feedlot is located on what had been the Herington Army air base during World War II. During the war, B-29 bombers had been built in Wichita and then flown to Herington so that pilots could be trained in them. The airfield closed in 1945 and eventually went into private hands. In the early 1960s, a feedyard was constructed on the abandoned airfield.
“We sit on 42 acres of concrete,” Shane said. “Our feed alleys are the old runways. Our feed bunks and waterers are on concrete too.” This creates the advantage of having less mud and more cattle comfort.
The feedyard is located in a rural area five miles east of Herington and south of the rural community of Latimer, population 21 people. Now, that’s rural.
The Tiffany brothers have expanded and enhanced the operation since taking over. “It’s a great team,” Shane said. “We each have our responsibility.” The brothers don’t have official titles, but Shane essentially serves as business and marketing manager while Shawn manages operations, including maintenance, animal nutrition, and the large farming operation.
“God has blessed us so much,” Shane said. When the Tiffany brothers took over, the yard was feeding about 3,000 head of cattle from eight to ten customers. Today, the Tiffanys work with 130 to 140 customers and are feeding 12,000 cattle. Feeder cattle come here from Virginia to Montana and from Texas to the Dakotas.
Tiffany Cattle Company is a member of U.S. Premium Beef, the marketing company which we have previously profiled.
The science of feeding cattle is remarkable today, including scientific rations and individual tracking of each animal. Pen riders check the cattle health daily.
But as much as Shane Tiffany loves the cattle business, other factors such as faith and family rank even higher. “We’re a Christian business,” Shane said. “We wear our faith on our sleeve. We believe in honesty and hard work, and we’ve tried to establish that culture here. We also get to recruit phenomenal employees.”
A plaque above Shane’s desk says: “Man before business, because man is your business.” The Tiffanys start their workday very early so they and their employees can make time for family and after-school activities.
Now the former Herington air base has became a site for cattle feeding and family values. It is quite a transition.
From bombs to bovines. From missiles to moos. From take-offs to T-bones. That’s the remarkable transformation which this air base has undergone as it has become a beef cattle feedyard. We commend Shane and Shawn Tiffany, their families, and all those involved with Tiffany Cattle Company for making a difference with their commitment to faith, family and the cattle business. Their location has made a remarkable changeover: From airplanes to agriculture.
And there’s more. Shane Tiffany has also founded a new local grocery store. We’ll learn about that next week.
Tracking weight loss accurately
As you work on your goal to lose weight, you may wonder how you can accurately track your weight loss. Should you weigh daily? Invest in an expensive scale? Is weighing yourself even the best option to track loss?
“Being able to track real weight loss is important for motivation and progress,” shares Susan Mills-Gray, nutrition and health specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
Research shows that weighing regularly tends to help more of us be successful at losing weight and maintaining weight loss. Weighing once a week is usually enough because you can become discouraged by the minor fluctuations that you may see day to day or even throughout a day. If you do choose to weigh daily, check your weight at the same time each day – right after you wake up and use the toilet is a good time – then take an average over the week. If your average weight increases for two straight weeks, then its real weight that you need to address.
“Various factors can cause your weight to fluctuate throughout the day and week, such as sodium intake, fluid intake, even medications,” adds Mills-Gray. “So focusing on weighing weekly or figuring an average for the week gives you the most realistic snapshot of your weight.”…
In your weight loss endeavors, you may be increasing physical activity, so keep in mind as you gain muscle that you may also gain weight.
“Judging progress toward better health solely on your weight number on a scale may be disheartening for many. I suggest you use the waist measurement method for tracking true progress,” says Mills-Gray…
For more information, see the full version of this article at http://missourifamilies.org/
