Safe usage of herbicides and pesticides is a practice today’s farmers take seriously. To apply these chemicals, ag producers must attend classes and pass tests to become certified as applicators.

Mother Nature has been whetting farmers’ appetites with warm temperatures, and listening to them talk, they’re raring to move into the fields to prepare for next fall’s crops. It won’t be long until huge grasshopper-like sprayers roll across Kansas fields.

Filled with herbicides, mixed with water, they’ll slowly empty the chemicals so corn, milo and soybeans can later grow without competition from weeds. Before long insecticides will be applied to fields from southeastern Kansas to the farms northwest. Applications of these pesticides should help control crop-nibbling critters in an attempt to raise yields next harvest.

Farmers work closely with crop consultants and local extension service specialists when applying herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers. They’ve cut their uses significantly in recent years. With the prices of agricultural inputs, they cannot afford to put on more than needed.

Rarely does a year go by when a change in usage of chemicals doesn’t impact crop producers. Farmers conscientiously adhere to federally approved label directions if they want to continue using chemicals.
Farmers work hard to safely apply pesticides within guidelines set by the federal government and manufacturers. Unfortunately, they are sometimes blamed or singled out as the cause of pollution, especially in our state’s waterways.

Without question, pesticides must continually be tested. It is important to update all pesticide registrations, to ensure their effectiveness and safety. Any new regulations should take into consideration the needs of people who handle and apply them, as well as the safety of those products.

Farmers understand chemical use and treat them with care. After all, they are the first ones to come in contact with them.

From planting through harvest, farmers do their best to provide nutritious, safe food. They battle weather, weeds, insects and disease. Their own efficiency is their best defense against unstable world markets, political barriers and fringe groups who attack their farming methods – yet know little about their profession.
Farmers remain devoted to safeguarding their farms, families and the environment while providing consumers with the safest food in the world.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

Click to play the audio or read below.

When my birth was announced in May of 1930, there were only four radio stations on the air in the entire state of Kansas, Doc Brinkley’s station notwithstanding. 

My family out there in Ford County could hear only one of them with any regularity, and that was WIBW in Topeka which threw a clear signal all the way out to Bucklin and the rest of the nearby population who happened to own a radio receiver.
 Back in those days, just about the only kind of radio programming was live, meaning that what you heard was not recorded, but was occurring at that moment. 

WIBW hired talented musicians, singers and instrumentalists whose programs were performed through the facilities of the station.  From sign on until noon, nearly everything was live on WIBW.
 I must have been 5 or 6 years old when I listened intently to Oly play his accordion and Miss Maudie played all kinds of music on the piano. 

Edmund Denny, the blind tenor, had a magnificent voice and would sing just about any requested song.  All morning long, those musicians and others entertained a very large audience with live radio transmissions to the residents of Kansas.  At noon, a gentleman by the name of Elmer Curtis delivered the news, and we all felt better about life during the Dust Bowl days.
 

Actually, there were a handful of radio stations on the air before WIBW but we couldn’t get them. KFH in Wichita signed on in 1922, and KFDI in Wichita joined them in 1923. WREN in Topeka, owned by Alf Landon, came along in 1926.  Up the road about 25 miles from our house, KGNO, (Kansas grows no oranges) joined the radio scene in Dodge City on June 30, 1930. For whatever reason, we didn’t listen much to them, mainly because we loved the music from WIBW, which made it’s inaugural broadcast on May 8, 1927.
 

Today, I would hesitate to guess how many radio stations strive to entertain and inform Kansans. The Federal Communications Commission licenses and regulates them all and with the advent of FM, dozens and dozens more have been added to the fold.  
 

When I was President of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters in 1969-70, I visited every radio station in the state. It wasn’t because I was required to, it was because I wanted to, and I took a picture of every station.  My wife and I, sometimes with kids in tow, took a half a dozen stints at seeing them and to let them know that their Association was working in their behalf.
 

One late afternoon, we dropped in on a station in extreme Southeastern Kansas and could not find anyone around. A long-playing record was spinning on the turntable in the control room, but we could find no one to talk to. I took a picture of the building to prove I was there.
  

Radio has done much to entertain, inform, and educate the public since it’s inception so long ago.  As a teenager on the farm, I remember sleeping on the front porch at night because it was so hot inside. I would turn on the radio located just inside the door and listen to the live, late night Big Band dance parties in Chicago, New Orleans, and New York. It never entered my 13 year old mind that I would soon embark upon a 55 year career in the broadcasting industry, and enjoy every minute of it!

Kay Melia is a longtime broadcaster, author and garden in northwest Kansas.

Tuesday, March 7, the Senate debated for several hours on the Governor’s tax proposal.

The Governor requested a ‘full and fair airing’ of his tax plan after he vetoed HB 2178 last month. The Governor’s proposal lacks support in the Senate and the Senate tax committee had trouble getting the bill out of committee even without any recommendations for passage. A motion to amend the Governor’s bill, which allowed for losses to be carried forward was proposed and approved.

The Senate then choose to debate the bill in five separate pieces, requiring us to debate and vote on each piece separately. On a voice vote the Senate voted down the first three provisions. Before the Senate could debate and vote on the final two provisions, there was a motion to “strike the enacting clause,” which killed the bill. This motion passed 37-1.

His proposal consisted of:
Increasing the tobacco tax by $1
Increasing the liquor tax from 8% to 16%
Freezing the bottom tax rate at 2.7%
Increasing the annual report fee for all for-profit business entities from $40 to $200 in FY 2018 and requiring anyone who owns 5% or more of the business to pay a $200 fee.
Requiring LLC’s to pay taxes on passive income from rents and royalties

Even with the above provisions, this bill would not have raised enough revenue to pull the state out of its current deficit.

The Governor’s proposed bill again relies on band aid fixes for an ongoing long-term revenue problem. His proposal to use the tobacco settlement for a one-time fix would jeopardize our early childhood developmental programs and is unacceptable to the Senate. The State receives approximately $50 million a year from the tobacco company’s settlement. This program is the most efficient state program. For every dollar we spend we receive $12 in return.

As I have mentioned in the past, the majority of the Senate and I feel we need a structural fix. The Senate will continue to work to produce a budget that provides stability and predictability for all Kansans.

The rescission bill will be debated next week. The rescission bill is necessary to balance the 2017 budget, which had a projected deficit in November of $350 million. Revenues have come in ahead of projections for the last several months and the projected shortfall is now approximately $280 million. There are only two ways to handle the rescission bill with cuts or borrowing money from the State’s investment pool. A rescission bill has passed the House that will rely on borrowing from the investment pool.

The town hall meetings held this weekend in Hays and Ellis were well attended. Thank you to all those for attending.