In this evening edition, catch up on the latest news about weed management, the meat supply chain, and state of the wheat crop in southwestern Kansas.
Weed Management
The best management practices for weed control are a linchpin: Spray small weeds. Use residual. Get good coverage.
Studies cited by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s CropWatch show that if weeds grow to nine inches, soybean yields can be reduced as much as 6%; 12-inch weeds can slice 10% off yields.
There is no time to waste this season, so be sure to get your weed management right.
Meat Supply Chain
The Biden administration is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding meat-processing capacity and helping new packers enter the industry. And some farm and cattle groups say more competition is needed to assure fair prices to ranchers because of the dominance of four processors in meatpacking.
Yet, economists from Purdue and Oklahoma State universities say, “Proposals aimed at addressing the structure of the meat supply chain in the name of the pandemic need to be carefully vetted and held up against the reality of what happened and the perception created through online media.”
Kansas Wheat
In several counties in the southwestern corner of the state, where drought is at its worst, “very little wheat will make it to harvest,” according to the farmer-funded organization Kansas Wheat.
This is due to arid conditions and vicious winter winds. USDA data indicates that some 82% of Kansas winter wheat land was in drought, with 27% in “severe” or “exceptional” drought.
