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Case IH celebrates 100 Years of Farmall—The One for All

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Guest Columnist
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Case IH, Racine, Wisconsin, is recognizing the 100-year anniversary of the Farmall tractor. The iconic Farmall model was introduced in 1923 as the all-purpose tractor designed to revolutionize the agriculture industry. Over the last century, Farmall has evolved to meet farmers’ needs across the globe with each milestone, making it “The One for All.”

“In 1923, we set out to design a tractor that could replace horses, and today, our Farmall still serves as the workhorse on farms across the globe,” said Scott Harris, Case IH global brand president. “Generation after generation, Farmall has been a symbol of modern farming, and we’re excited to bring these stories to life over the course of 2023.”

During the yearlong celebration, Case IH will be giving away a brand-new Farmall 75C tractor to one lucky winner who shares their passion and story about how Farmall has helped shape their farm over the years or how it’s become part of the family. The contest was launched during the recent National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show and the winner will be announced at the National FFA Convention on Nov. 1.

Major milestones for Farmall include:

• 1923: International Harvester engineer Bert R. Benjamin designs the first Farmall prototype.

• 1931: The F series is presented for farmers with more acreage.

• 1939: Second-generation Farmall designed by Raymond Loewy.

• 1941: Farmall introduces the world’s first diesel row crop tractor.

• 1947: The 1 millionth Farmall rolls off the line.

• 1958: The most popular tractor in the U.S., the Farmall 560 is introduced.

• 1965: Farmall is the first 2WD row crop tractor to exceed 100 horsepower.

• 1974: Case IH sells its 5 millionth Farmall—the first tractor to ever reach that number.

• 2003: Case IH continues to expand the lineup of products spanning from 31 to 105 horsepower.

The legacy of Farmall continues today with more than 30 models to choose from, and this iconic tractor series will continue to evolve alongside the customers who made this milestone possible.

“Even before this anniversary, the team at Case IH was always reminded of the passion for Farmall from customers and dealers. Iconic only begins to describe it,” said Kurt Coffey, Case IH vice president of North America. “We are proud to have 100 years of Farmall as our legacy. It’s a tractor that’s been revolutionary to farms of all sizes across the globe. Well-worn, well-loved: this is a tractor like no other.”

For more information on the yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of Farmall and the contest details of a Farmall tractor, visit Farmall100.com.

Enjoy Colorful Potatoes on St. Paddy’s Day

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Guest Columnist
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It’s no blarney, potatoes are a staple for St. Patrick’s Day meals, along with corned beef, cabbage, and soda bread. The Irish (white) potato has long been associated with the potato famine when the crop failed in successive years during the 1840s in Ireland. Late-blight disease, which was the source of the great potato famine, caused devasting crop losses and triggered mass starvation and migration of people from Ireland. However, today there’s no shortage of different types of potatoes that can be purchased at the local grocers or grown in the home garden or for colorful, tasty dishes.

Purple and blue potatoes originated from Peru and Bolivia and were subsequently imported into Europe in the 16th century. Purple potatoes were consumed by Spanish sailors to prevent scurvy on long voyages. In the mid-1980s, purple potatoes became trendy in California. Cultivars such as Adirondack Blue and Magic Molly have deep purple skin and flesh that retain their color when cooked. The purple color is due to pigments called anthocyanins. Purple Chief also has purple skin, but has white flesh and All Blue has mostly deep blue skin and flesh with a thin ring of white flesh just underneath the skin. Adirondack Blue potatoes mature early to mid-season, Magic Molly and Purple Chef mature later in the growing season, followed by All Blue. Purple potatoes generally have earthy, sweet, and nutty flavors.

Along with Magic Molly, French Fingerling is a fingerling potato with an elongated tuber. However, French Fingerling produces tubers with pink skin and yellow flesh, which is also red-flecked. This potato cultivar is harvested late-midseason and is best served boiled or roasted.

Yukon Gold is a more common, yellow-skinned cultivar with a similar-colored flesh. This round-shaped potato is considered a versatile, all-purpose potato with an early-midseason maturity date. When growing Yukon, it is important to provide consistent soil moisture to avoid a tuber disorder known as hollow heart.

Dark Red Northland is a red-skinned, white-flesh potato that is commonly grown in home gardens. The tubers can be harvested early in the season as small, “new potatoes” or can be left in the soil longer to become larger. Dark Red Northland is best used shortly after harvest as it has a short shelf-life and is considered a boiling and roasting cultivar.

While not as visually striking as other cultivars, Kennebec is a popular all-purpose potato cultivar with buff-colored skin and white flesh. Tubers are round to oblong-shaped and are harvested in mid-season and have a long storage life.

For the adventurous gardener, potatoes can be grown in large, 10 to 15-gallon containers with a soilless potting mix or in well-drained, loamy soil with a pH of 5.3 to 6.0. A soil test before planting is helpful in identifying a need to amend the pH and for determining subsequent fertilizer requirements. If indicated by a soil test, use 5-10-10 fertilizer or an equivalent product at the recommended rate about 6 inches deep in a band in the soil before planting. Later in the season, when the tubers begin to develop, additional fertilizer can be applied to increase tuber size and yield, following soil test recommendations available from regional Extension offices.To obtain, disease-free seed potatoes, purchase certified seed potatoes from reputable sources locally or online. Seed potatoes are generally available for purchase and shipping in mid-April in Missouri. Before planting, cut each seed potato into 1 to one and half inch pieces, with at least two “eyes” per piece. Potatoes are best planted when the soil temperature is consistently above 45°F, which usually occurs around mid-April in Missouri. Plant seed pieces 2 to 3 inches deep, and 12 inches apart in a sunny location. In the garden, rows are spaced 30 to 36 inches apart.

About 2 to 3 weeks after planting, plant growth from the seed pieces emerges from the soil surface. When plants become 6 to 8 inches tall, mound the adjacent soil up about four inches, covering the base of plants to exclude light from shallow, developing tubers, which causes greening. As plants grow, continue to hill up the soil until mounds are about 12 inches high. Watering during dry periods will encourage uniform tuber development. Apply mulch in the summer around the base of the plants to minimize weed growth, conserve moisture, and cool the soil. Alternatively, hoe shallowly when weeds are small to prevent injury to developing tubers.

Small, “new” potatoes are generally harvested beginning at 7 to 8 weeks after planting, while the vines are still green. Lift the potato tubers out with a potato fork or a garden spade, taking care to avoid injuring the tubers. Discard tubers with cuts, bruises, or diseases or remove the blemishes and use the potatoes immediately. After harvest, brush off the soil, and allow the skins to dry before storing them in the dark to prevent greening. For larger tubers, leave them in the ground for 2 weeks after the vines have died back. Potatoes can be stored for a few months in a refrigerator at 90% relative humidity in complete darkness. Prolonged exposure to exposure above 45°F after digging results in sprouting of the tubers.

Colorado potato beetles, flea beetles, aphids, and leafhoppers are the most common insect pests of potato foliage. Light-weight, spun-bonded row cover, which is permeable to light can be used to exclude pests from plants. Scouting for the yellow-orange eggs of potato beetles and crushing them may also be useful, as well as removing larvae and adults by hand. Potato beetles can also be controlled with spinosad, which is an approved organic insecticide. White grubs, wireworms, and other soil-inhabiting insects can damage tubers.

Potato scab is a bacterial disease that occurs on susceptible cultivars grown in alkaline soil. Symptoms of this disease are corky areas on the surface of tubers. Although thin-skinned potato cultivars tend to be more severely infected, Purple Viking and French Fingerling are considered intermediately resistant to scab. Application of sulfur to high pH soils will reduce the alkalinity over time and help prevent scab infection in the future.

Light blight disease is caused by the fungal pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. The first symptoms of late blight are small green water-soaked spots on the foliage. During cool, moist conditions, these spots enlarge to dark brown to black lesions with a light-colored border. Darkly-colored, depressed areas on infected tubers. To avoid crop loss from late blight, select a disease-resistant cultivar. Kennebec is considered partially resistant to this disease.

It’s Not Too Late for Overseeding of Turfgrass   

By
Guest Columnist
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As mentioned in a companion article in this newsletter, the best time to overseed cool-season grasses such as tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass is September because the turf has more time to mature before crabgrass germination in the spring and the heat stress of summer. However, dormant seeding of turfgrass is sometimes used to help fill in bare spots of lawns that weren’t overseeded in the fall. Dormant seeding is normally not used to seed large areas because of the possibility of erosion before the seed emerges and becomes mature enough to hold the soil.

Dormant overseeding is usually done during the winter (December through February) when it is too cold for germination to take place. Spring seedings done in March can be just as successful as dormant seeding, but spring rains may delay plantings. As with any seeding program, it is vital that good seed-soil contact is achieved. There are several methods that are commonly used in dormant seeding.

One method is to seed when there has been a light snowfall of up to an inch over unfrozen soil.  This is shallow enough that bare spots can still be seen. Spread seed by hand on areas that need thickening up. As the snow melts it brings the seed into good contact with the soil where it will germinate in the spring.

Another method is dependent on the surface of the soil being moist followed by some freezing weather. As moist soil freezes and thaws, small pockets are formed on the wet, bare soils which are perfect for catching and holding seed. As the soil dries, the pockets collapse and cover the seed.

 If dry enough and the soil is unfrozen, seed can be applied to bare spots and then raked in to ensure good seed/soil contact.

 With any of the above methods, seed germinates in the spring as early as possible. There will be limitations on what herbicides can be used for weed control. Tupersan (siduron) can be used as a crabgrass preventer on new seedings even before they have come up. Also dithiopyr, found in Hi-Yield Turf and Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper and Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer, can be used on tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass two weeks after germination. Dithiopyr is longer lasting and more effective than siduron. Other preemergence herbicides available to homeowners require that the turf be well established before application.

Ward Upham, Extension Agent

Why Seeding Cool-Season Grasses in the Spring is Difficult     

By
Guest Columnist
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People often wonder why we recommend seeding cool-season grasses such as tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass in the fall. It would seem that the spring would be the more natural time for seeding because the entire growing season is available for the grass to become established before the turf has to deal with winter. Actually there are a number of reasons that tend to make fall seedings more successful.

The soils are warmer in the fall. Warm soils mean less time required for germination and growth so the grass becomes established more quickly. I have seen tall fescue seeded in the last week of August come up in four days. Now, you had to be on your hands and knees to see it but it was up. Tall fescue seeded in the spring may take well over a week to come up and the time required to become established is much longer.

Weeds are less of a problem in the fall. The major weed problems in the fall tend to be the broadleaves such as chickweed, henbit or dandelion. Turf seeded in early September is usually thick enough by the time these broadleaves germinate that often there is not much weed invasion. Even if there is some invasion by broadleaves, the turf should be mature enough by early November that mild broadleaf herbicides can be applied.

In the spring, our major weed problems are the annual grasses such as crabgrass.  Since the spring-seeded turf is slow to mature, there are often thin areas that are easily invaded by these grassy weeds. If this invasion occurs, the weeds are better adapted to our hot, summer conditions than our cool-season grasses and so the weeds tend to take over. The number of chemicals that can be used on young turf is limited, and so these grasses become more of a problem. One of the preemergence herbicides that can be used on young grasses is dithiopyr (Dimension).  It is found in Hi-Yield Turf and Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper and Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer and can be used on tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass two weeks after germination.

Summer is the hardest time of the year for cool-season grasses; not the winter. Summertime is very difficult because our cool-season grasses do not have the heat or moisture stress tolerance that our warm-season grasses such as buffalo, zoysia and Bermuda have. Therefore they tend to become weakened in the summer which makes them more susceptible to disease and other stresses. Spring-seeded cool-season grasses are less mature and therefore less able to tolerate these stresses.

Seeding cool-season grasses in the spring can be successful but is more difficult to pull off than fall seedings. If you have a choice, always opt for seeding cool-season grasses in the fall.

Ward Upham, Extension Agent

Make sure you are covered for severe weather damage

By
Guest Columnist
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Spring is arriving in Kansas, and severe weather along with it. If it has been several seasons since you last reviewed your homeowners insurance policy, the next round of storms could bring an unwelcomed surprise.

Inflation and rising construction costs, along with gaps in coverage could mean that your home is underinsured. Insurance carriers reported over 30,000 claims in Kansas during the peak of last year’s storm season. It is important to review your current coverage to ensure that your home is sufficiently covered.

“Severe weather damage is a threat to Kansans every year. If you wait until the next thunderstorm or flood strikes it may be too late to protect your property,” Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt said. “Now is the time to check with your insurance agent to make sure your homeowners policy provides adequate coverage before storm
season arrives.”

Keep your coverage current—whether your home is insured for replacement cost or actual cash value, it is important to keep track of construction costs. Home additions, renovations and inflation are just a few ways your coverage may become inadequate. It is your responsibility to update your coverage in case of a loss. Not all policies cover
these expenses: water and windstorm damage, debris or tree removal, severe back-up due to flooding, sump pump failure, or additional living expenses if a disaster forces you from your home.

If a disaster does strike, the last thing you want to worry about is making a list of everything you owned for loss purposes. Make sure to keep and update an inventory of your personal property stored in a safe place such as a fireproof box or a safe-deposit box.

You can download a copy of the Personal Home Inventory to help you keep
track. There are also several free apps available through your preferred smartphone’s app store that allow you to safely store a digital copy of your home inventory and easily update it as needed.

For more information about homeowners coverage, visit the Home & Renters Insurance page on the Department’s website. Should you need to file a claim this season, consult the Homeowners Claim Settlement Guide or contact the Kansas Insurance Department’s Consumer Assistance Division toll-free at 1-800-432-2484, by email  [email protected] or visit the Department online at insurance.kansas.gov for any claims-related questions or concerns.

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