Barton County Extension agent, agriculture

Over the past two years, I have had more questions relating to oil leases and damage amounts than my previous 25 years in extension work.

On April 28, Barton County Farm Bureau will be holding a public presentation on "Mineral Rights, Leases and Royalty Issues on Your Farm Land." It will begin at 7 p.m., and will be held at the Barton County Community College Fine Arts Building Room F-30.

The speaker will be Mike Irvin, who is with the Kansas Farm Bureau Legal Foundation.

Land owners, this will be a chance to get your questions answered. My questions have centered on oil lease arrangements, dollars per acre, percentages and what should damage amounts be when crops are destroyed by upheaval of the soil or land polluted by dry holes or salt contamination.

The oil "patch" is an important part of our economy in central Kansas. It has saved many farms and added needed income to land that may not survive on strictly agriculture. However there are concerns of fairness and the environment which are part of that as well.

Years ago, we used to have an economist at K-State, Don Pretzer, who was well versed on oil and gas leases, who has passed on. Currently we have nobody with that expertise, so I appreciate Farm Bureau offering this.

More on the wheat and basketball

Last week I wrote about the area wheat crop and it's status. I didn't mention that the terrific $12 per bushel price we had two months ago has been falling like a rock.

What will it take to get this year's wheat in the bin? If you have adequate fertilizer and weed control that will make the real difference besides the weather.

Last year the Doug Panning family had some wheat that was taken for silage in late April due to the freeze damage and the wheat still came back and made 9 bushels per acre. Now you may not think that is impressive. However, I would not have expected it to make anything because normally wheat would not have time to tiller and still produce grain before the hot weather. It needs a longer fill period than that. So who knows, we could see a "Danny and the Miracles" like we did in 1988 when KU beat Oklahoma for the national college basketball crown behind Danny Manning and coach Larry Brown. We could see a miracle like the shot that Mario Chalmers put up at the end of the game with a hand right in front of his face or like the steal and three pointer out off the corner that really turned the momentum after they were down by nine points.

On the K-State side, the other thing that was expected, yet still disappointing for K-State fans, was that Michael Beasley decided to head for the professional ranks after his freshman year. With all those millions of dollars, who can blame him? If he stays and gets hurt, he could be out the money and any college playing as well. I wish him well and frankly think he is doing the smart thing because he likely will be the number one pick in the NBA draft.

On the other hand, Bill Walker is not yet ready in my opinion. Yes he will play in the NBA but he should stay at least one more year in college and maybe two more.

Then you add on KU doing so well in the Orange Bowl and beating us in football and well it's tough to take. But like when Kunta Kinte or one of his descendants in the mini-series Roots, after being tortured or burned out, said--there's gonna be another day. Look how far they came when there was another day, even if it took 200 years.

You have to be an optimist--whether you are a farmer looking toward this year's crops or a K-State fan, a Kansas City Royals fan or a Kansas City Chiefs fan, hope springs eternal at the start of each season.

Now back to the wheat. It is looking better every day in most fields due to the recent rains and warmer temperatures. Hopefully the wheat wasn't far enough along in maturity to have been severely damaged by the recent wind and hail storm that we had over most of our county.

As much as I take pride and enjoyment in our athletic program, let's focus back on what we really do well. Being one of the top Land Grant Universities in America, we help consumers and food growers like you have a better life. Yeah, go ahead and call us "Silo Tech." I for one, am proud of our commitment to people, food, animals and agriculture.

Care for spring flowering bulbs

Among the hardy, spring-flowering bulbs that we enjoy in the central plains are crocus, daffodil, hyacinth, tulip and snowdrop. As these and other spring-flowering bulbs go through the flowering process, keep three care tips in mind:

1. As the flowers start to fade, remove flower organs with a scissors or a hand pruner. This allows the plant to conserve all of its energy for bloom the next year rather than using it to produce seed.

2. Be sure to allow the foliage to die naturally--it is needed to manufacture food that will be stored in the bulb and used for next year's flowers. My flowers were beaten up by the recent hail and are gone.

3. Don't fertilize. The roots of these plants start to shut down after flowering. Fertilizer applied at this time is wasted. Instead, fertilize during the fall at the time bulbs are normally planted and again in the spring just when the new growth pokes out of the ground.