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Reducing hay waste when supplies are low

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Guest Columnist
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After two years of droughts in Missouri, hay supplies are low, with many producers feeding hay during the summer months and lacking the pasture growth to get the tonnage comparable to previous year’s hay crops. Many producers in southern Missouri reported 50%-75% reductions in first-cutting hay crops in 2023. With such a low availability of hay in the state and high input costs, the price of hay has increased, which adds insult to injury for livestock producers. Minimizing hay waste should be at the forefront of the minds of producers this winter.

Here are some tips to reduce hay waste:

Reduce waste from rot caused by outside storage

Storing hay inside a barn is the gold standard for storage. If hay is not rained on, it will maintain its quality indefinitely apart from vitamins A and E, which can reduce slightly over time.  When hay is stored outside and allowed to be rained and snowed on, spoilage occurs on the outer edge of the bale. Even a couple inches of external spoilage can account for major losses of valuable hay for livestock.

While reducing loss during storage is important, not all farms have adequate barn storage for all of their hay. In this case, producers should consider how they can minimize moisture exposure on the top of bales as well as from the ground.

Stacking bales in a pyramid shape and covering with tarps is a great way to reduce weathering from rain and snow. Also, storing bales on pallets, railroad ties, or a raised gravel or concrete pad is an excellent way to reduce spoilage of the bale from ground moisture. Further, if storing round bales in rows, farmers should leave a few feet in between the rows to allow for better airflow and to prevent rain pooling and seeping into the bales when the rounded edges of the bales are touching.

Consider hay feeders or unrolling

Most farmers would agree that giving any type of livestock access to a bale of hay without a feeder leads to more waste. Research shows that feeding without some type of hay feeder can result in upwards of 45%-57% wastage, depending on the class of livestock and the number of animals. While there is a plethora of hay feeders available at varying price points, using any type of hay feeder will reduce hay waste compared to no feeder. Within the many round bale feeder options, choosing a ring that has an enclosed bottom or one that suspends the bale off the wet ground will help reduce waste.

Some producers prefer to unroll their hay on their pastures. This is an excellent option for more evenly distributing hay waste and manure across the pasture. Taking advantage of this fertilizer wrapped up in net wrap can make improvements to the soil over time. However, when multiple days’ worth of hay is unrolled at once, unrolling hay can have upwards of 40% waste. Producers should consider unrolling only one day’s worth of hay at a time, reducing that waste to around 12%.

Feed less hay more often

Another way to stretch an operation’s hay supply and reduce waste is to feed smaller amounts of hay more often. Feeding one day’s worth of hay will reduce the waste compared to feeding three days’ worth.

Most livestock should consume 2%-3.5% of their body weight in dry matter every day. Calculating daily intake depends on the stage of production of the animals and size of the animals. For example, heavy bred cows that average 1300 pounds will eat about around 2.5% of their bodyweight in dry matter per day. Assuming these cows are being fed hay that is 90% dry matter and 10% moisture, here’s how to do the math:

1,300 lb. cow X 0.025 = 32.5 lbs. of dry matter/day

32.5 lbs. of dry matter / 0.9 = 36 lbs. as fed/cow/day

Ultimately, waste happens during storage as well as feeding and can be utilized as fertilizer for pastures. However, if the goal is to reduce waste, producers should consider how they can minimize moisture infiltration of the bales during storage and feeding. Farmers should also aim to limit the amount of hay that animals can bed down in and defecate on by using a hay feeder and by feeding less hay more often.

University of Missouri Extension

Wheat Scoop: Get your prescription for next year’s wheat crop during upcoming Wheat Rx seminars

By
Guest Columnist
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0
Kansas Wheat

Contact: Marsha Boswell, [email protected]

For audio version, visit kswheat.com.

A prescription for producing high-yielding and high-quality wheat is just what the doctor ordered for Kansas wheat producers — referring to expertise from Kansas State University like Drs. Romulo Lollato, Carlos Bonini Pires, Kelsey Andersen Onofre, Dorivar Ruiz Diaz, Dan O’Brien and others.

 

Kansas Wheat Rx is a combination of suggested management practices for economical and sustainable production of high-quality winter wheat in Kansas.

 

Mark the calendar now for two upcoming seminars in Dodge City and Wichita. Speakers will discuss cover crops and soil health, the role of wheat in a cropping system, soil fertility, fungicides and economics of wheat production. The program will qualify for certified crop advisor (CCA) continuing credit units (CEUs).

 

“We cannot change the impact of weather on each year’s crop, but we can arm wheat producers with the knowledge they need to maximize profitability through utilizing the genetic potential of new varieties and best management practices,” said Aaron Harries, vice president of research and operations for Kansas Wheat. “We’re excited to share with Kansas wheat producers what we’ve learned through the Kansas Wheat Commission’s research investments — from the importance of variety selection to the practices and tools farmers can use to improve quality.”

 

These programs are part of Wheat Rx, a partnership between Kansas Wheat and K-State Research and Extension to disseminate the latest research recommendations for high-yielding and high-quality wheat to Kansas wheat farmers. This effort includes a series of extension publications at https://kswheat.com/wheatrx and educational outreach like the upcoming seminars.

 

Registration fee is $110; members of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers receive one free registration. Lunch will be provided.

 

These programs are scheduled for March 7, 2024, in Dodge City, and March 8, 2024, in Wichita.

 

March 7, 2024

8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

7:30 a.m. Registration

Dodge City, Depot Theater, 201 E Wyatt Earp Blvd.

 

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. View the full agenda and register for the event at https://kswheat.com/dodgecity.

 

March 8, 2024

8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

7:30 a.m. Registration

Wichita, Double Tree at the Airport, 2098 Airport Road

 

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. View the full agenda and register for the event at https://kswheat.com/wichita.

 

Members of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers receive one free registration to these full-day seminars. The nonmember registration fee is $110. To take advantage of this benefit, join or renew your membership today at https://kswheat.com/join.

 

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The state budget (4)

By
John Marshall
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john marshal

To most Kansans, the state budget is a ghost. It lives only on line ‒ a mysterious, cyberworld phantom roused only when politicians speak of it vaguely.

The budget is a digital dream for numbers-nerds, its long columns of numbers rippling along the margins page after page. The sum of the 2024-25 edition is $26,523,723,077. (In reporter-speak, $26.5 billion.) This is the governor’s estimate of the cost, in state and federal dollars, of Kansas government for the 12 months ending June 30 next year.

The budget, over two volumes and 893 pages, breaks the money out in many ways and from different angles ‒ where it comes from, where and how it is to be spent down to the dollar.

Among the bigger angles is counting the Kansas taxes and how state revenues are collected and spent, with or without money from Washington ($6 billion next year). Education, public safety, transportation, health and welfare, agriculture and more are covered.

All politics aside, it’s a marvel of accounting.

But politics always latches onto the budget. For a governor and a legislature, the numbers convey statements of principles. That is, how public funds are best used to advance a public interest such as tax relief, better schools, soil and water conservation, economic development. In this way, money talks.

*

This year, the budget’s policy statements make a long list. Among Gov. Laura Kelly’s top tier are three:

‒ Reinvestment of roughly $1 billion in remaining covid relief funds.

During the pandemic, Kansas received billions in federal aid for Medicaid expenses. Of the remaining surplus, the governor would spend half to pay down state debt decades ahead of schedule, saving significant interest and debt service expense.

The other $500 million is for new capital investment. By paying cash for projects, the state avoids issuing bonds (and new debt). This plan would save an estimated $400 million in interest.

‒ Greater access to health care for the poor.

The governor has offered another proposal to expand Medicaid for roughly 150,000 uninsured Kansans who are poor but not poor enough for the state’s low-income brink. This plan starts with a $370 million federal increase in base Medicaid funding, more than enough to offset the state’s cost for the first two years of expansion.

After two years, a surcharge on Kansas hospitals would generate at least $35 million annually for the state’s share of the expansion cost. With Washington paying 90 percent, the plan is to finance 15 years of expanded Medicaid with “no new state cost,” the governor said.

‒ Income and property tax relief.

Incomes up to $75,000 are exempt from state income tax on Social Security benefits; the governor proposes to exempt all taxpayers, regardless of income. Estimates savings for seniors, $152 million.

Homeowners currently pay a 20 mill ($20 per $1,000 assessed valuation) property tax to help finance a state revenue pool for aid to local schools. The formula now exempts the first $42,000 in valuation from that levy; the governor proposes to increase that exemption to $100,000. Estimated savings, $93 million.

Local property tax relief, demanded by state law but ignored for 20 years, would be restarted with $54 million annually. State payments to cities and counties would be apportioned by population and property valuation.

*

The policy statements in any governor’s budget are far and wide, proposals that draw both support and fire from the legislators reviewing the document. Ultimately a budget is wrangled into statute.

Crafting a budget from concept to law is a grinding process. The politics of it run from shop-worn to enlightened. A budget may be seen another way, as a living thing, one that reaches into every community, and ultimately into the lives of all Kansans.

Lovina Reflects on Over Twenty Years of Writing the Column 

By
tammiehoeme
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0

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen
Lovina Eitcher,
Old Order Amish
Cook, Wife &
Mother of Eight

Saturday was a very cold and windy day, so the men were unable to put the roof metal on the new pole barn. They kept busy doing other work on the barn such as building the sliding doors, putting on the wainscoting, and more. 

This week, they will work on putting on the roof metal at night since temperatures have warmed up again. It’s getting done slower than we had anticipated, but it helps to not have to pay for labor. Those helping Saturday were son-in-law Dustin, Daniel (daughter Lovina’s special friend), Daniel Ray (daughter Verena’s special friend) and his brother Marvin, sons Benjamin and Joseph and my husband Joe. 

Grandson Denzel thinks he has to help me write the column. After he kept interrupting me quite often, I sat him down beside me and gave him a paper and pencil. He was scribbling all over the paper. It seems just short years ago when my children would sit beside me pretending to write the column too. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I have been penning this column every week almost 22 years. So many changes have happened since then. It was a challenge writing and finding quiet time with eight children around. Many times, I would write early in the mornings or later in the evening after they were all sleeping.

Some weeks, it’s so much easier to write than others. Then there are weeks when you get writer’s block, or you can’t concentrate on writing. 

On Sunday evening, our family gathered at daughter Elizabeth and Tim’s house for a birthday supper for their youngest daughter Andrea. She enjoyed being able to blow out the two candles and having us sing. Happy birthday to her. She reminds me so much of her mother when she was young. 

We had a delicious meal consisting of grilled chicken breasts, campfire stew, chicken salad, loaded nacho dip and chips, cake, ice cream, oatmeal pie, mocha pudding, and finger jello. Daughter Lovina made the cake again. She is really doing a good job. She also made the loaded nacho dip, and it was delicious. We all took a dish, so it adds up to more than was needed. Leftovers make nice additions when you pack lunches for the men. 

We attended church on Sunday in our church district, which was 11 miles from here. Our church district plans to divide this fall, Lord willing. It seems a long way to travel with horse and buggy on a Sunday morning when it’s cold to go to church. Joe and I went with sister Verena and our friend Beth who drives for Amish, so it wasn’t a long cold drive for us. Beth usually takes sister Verena to church. 

Since we moved to Michigan 20 years ago, this will be the third time our church has to divide because of growth. It’s always sad in a way when you have to divide, and some will have church on one Sunday, and some the next. We can go visit though, so that is a good thing. I’m used to having our whole family in our church district, and I admit that it will be very hard to have that changed depending which way the division lines will go. My grandchildren sit beside me often during the services, so I would miss that. 

I finally answered all my mail from readers. I am sorry about the delay in answering everyone. I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement. The mail was from eight different states this time. Last time, it was from 15 states. Thanks again and God bless!

Loaded Nacho Dip

8 ounces tortilla chips

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup water

1 packet taco seasoning

1 large sweet onion, diced

3 medium tomatoes, diced

8 ounces shredded cheese

1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 tablespoons buffalo ranch dressing

1 cup cheese sauce

Thoroughly brown ground beef, drain fat off, and mix in the water and taco seasoning. Then add onions and fry for a few minutes. Layer in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Add cheese sauce and sour cream mixture then shredded cheese and bake at 400°F for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and garnish with tomatoes. Jalapeños, banana peppers, olives, and other toppings can be added as well. Serve with tortilla chips. 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her two cookbooks, The Essential Amish Cookbook and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

NOTES TO EDITORS: text=738 words; end material=80 words 

Contact: [email protected]; 1-800-245-7894

Peas are one of my favorite vegetables!

By
Guest Columnist
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0

 

Peas are one of my favorite vegetables! They are also one of the most cold-tolerant plants grown in Kansas gardens. They can be planted about as early as soil can be prepared in the spring.

 

• Shelling peas. Sometimes called English or garden peas, these varieties must be shelled and the seeds are eaten.

• Sugar snap peas. These peas have fleshy, edible pods and are consumed when the seeds are developed and the pods are full. They have a very sweet flavor.

• Snow peas. These edible-podded peas have thin, tender pods that are typically eaten when the seeds are still very small and immature.

 

 

Variety considerations. Many varieties are good choices in Kansas, although early maturing varieties may be more consistent, especially in the southern half of the state. Varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew may also be a good choice.

 

For most gardeners, the two primary considerations are vine height and pod length. Some peas have shorter, dwarf vines that will not need any staking or trellising. Others have much taller vines — as tall as 5 feet — and will need a trellis for best production.

 

Pod length typically has a direct impact on yield, with longer pods having more seeds. Larger podded snow and snap peas also will often yield more per plant. However, gardeners may find that they prefer the flavor and tenderness of smaller podded varieties.

 

When to plant. Plant seed in early to mid-March when soil is dry enough to work. Peas will germinate when soil conditions are favorable. Peas planted later in the spring may not produce before the weather gets too hot. Peas are not well adapted for fall gardens because seed usually fails to germinate well in warm soil.

 

Spacing. Plant seed 2 to 4 inches apart with rows 12 inches apart. Peas usually do best where 2 to 3 rows can be planted 4 to 6 inches apart to allow the weak, spindly vines to support each other.

 

Crop rotation. If possible in your garden space, do not plant peas in an area where peas or beans have been planted in the past 3 to 4 years.

 

Care. Peas prefer cool soil and need water during stressful periods. They grow best in moderate- to well-fertilized soil. A trellis may be needed to support the flimsy vines; short wire mesh or string trellis works well.

 

Harvesting. When the shelling pea pods are swollen so that seeds within are full sized but tender and not yet starchy, pick and shell the peas. Harvest sugar snap peas when the pods are succulent and tender, but the seeds are mostly enlarged. Harvest snow peas when the pods are crisp and tender but before the seeds begin to enlarge significantly. Tasting a pea or two is also helpful in determining if they are ready to pick. Edible-podded peas should be tender and sweet at optimum harvest.

 

Store peas in a refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to a week. Edible-podded types should be picked and used immediately after harvest as they tend to dry out readily. Peas are easily frozen for later use.

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