The next time you take a few minutes out of the sun, dust off one of those old family albums. You know the ones that date back to the ‘30s, ‘40s and even the late ‘50s.

If your family farmed, you’ll see photos of your relatives attired in wide-brimmed hats. Look at their shirts. They wore loose-fitting, long-sleeved, light-colored garments.

Now fast-forward to the photographs of the mid – ‘60s. Clothing styles changed. You don’t see too many long-sleeved shirts any longer. Broad-brimmed hats have been replaced with baseball caps proclaiming seed, feed, tractors, and organizations – just about any company logo under the sun.

Today’s farmer no longer wears the clothing of yesteryear – clothing that afforded protection from the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. Instead he or she wears a smaller, softer, snug-fitting cap that will not blow off and bump into machinery. Farmers prefer their hats to be inexpensive or free, and they like them colorful.

While the ball cap is comfortable and affordable, it does not protect the temples, the tender, delicate ear tips and the back of the neck. The baseball cap doesn’t extend far enough to offer protection needed to guard against the sun.

Health specialists in the agricultural field have been tracking skin cancer and the sun’s harmful impact on farmers and other segments of society since 1983. While reports of deaths from skin cancer remains small, the number of tumors has increased significantly according to family physicians that treat farmers in rural communities.

Ultra-violet rays are one of the leading causes of cancer on farms today, researchers say. But with early diagnosis, treatment is possible. Farmers and ranchers should insist on inspection for skin cancer as part of their regular check-up.

Without protective measures, sun will eventually result in skin cancer. Dermatologists recommend that anyone working or playing in the sunshine protect their skin completely by wearing clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.

The American Cancer Society will tell you there is a skin cancer epidemic. The number of cases is rising faster than any other tumor being studied today.

One reason skin cancer may be on the rise is due to more leisure time and more exposure to the sun. If anyone wanted evidence of this, they need only look at the thousands who attend the “Country Stampede” in Manhattan in late June. Ball caps, shirtless guys and gals wearing two-piece bathing suits parade everywhere.

How can we stem the tide?

Youngsters and young adults must be aware of possible skin cancer. If they learn about the sun’s dangerous rays at an early age and practice prevention, skin cancer can be avoided in later years.

Farmers, ranchers – just about anyone who works or plays in the sun should avoid direct exposure during the midday sun. This period is roughly from 10 a.m. until about 4 p.m. in the Midwest.

If you can’t wear a wide-brimmed hat and protective clothing, apply at least a Number 30 sun protective lotion. Today’s farmers and ranchers would be well-advised to take a page out of their family albums – to return to those days of floppy, wide-brimmed straw hats and long-sleeved, baggie cotton shirts.

Who knows, maybe they could start a new fashion craze as well as protect their skin from the damaging rays of the sun.

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

I have received many calls recently from individuals worried about their juniper trees. The trees appear to be turning brown at the tips of the branches, sometimes throughout the tree. This gives the tree an unhealthy look, and people are concerned about the overall health of their evergreens. The trees that I have looked at have all had the same disease in common, which is Kabatina tip blight.

Kabatina tip blight is a fungal disease that infects the trees in the autumn, mainly in windbreaks or ornamental plantings. Visible symptoms are not apparent until late winter or early spring. The terminal 2 to 6 inches of the diseased branches first turn dull green, then red or yellow. The tips fall off the tree in late May or Early June. Blighting is restricted to the branch tips and is often associated with small wounds on branch tips caused by insect feeding or mechanical damage.

There are no fungicides labeled for control of the fungus, but the good news is that rarely will the disease kill the tree. However, there are some cultural practices that you can implement to help reduce the severity of Kabitina tip blight. Proper spacing of plants to help with airflow is important when planting new trees. Avoid wounding plants in the spring or fall will also help reduce infection. It is also recommended to practice good watering techniques such as watering in the early morning so that the foliage will dry quickly, reducing the time the fungus can spread.

Overall, Kabatina tip blight is more of an aesthetic issue, and should not harm your tree. Keep them well watered and practice a few good techniques to lessen the spread, and your tree will be fine.

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or calling 620-793-1910

Science, technology and engineering in America is now dependent on foreign students. Data from a Pew Research Center analysis of ICE data secured through a Freedom of Information Act request found that between 2004 and 2016, almost one and a half million foreign students graduating from U.S. universities were authorized to remain in the U.S. for employment in science. More than half were from Asia. While some citizens know of the H1B visa program for hiring highly skilled foreign workers, these students work under the federal Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Between 2008 and 2016, new foreign student enrollments on F-1 visas doubled and OPT employments went up fourfold!

Compared to all other developed countries, the American public and American students not majoring in a science field, are simply science illiterate. What could turn this around?

-The American public school curriculum must increase science coursework from five percent to 20 percent of the K–12 curriculum.
-External testing that drives rote teaching-to-the-test must end. Teachers in science fields must pose questions and lead students in problem solving, a strategy that has been reduced by external testing.
-Elementary students beginning in first grade should have substantial class time with elementary science teacher specialists. Youngsters become hooked on science in these early years, but current elementary teachers are mostly science-ignorant and cannot build on students’ natural questions and enthusiasm.
-Science must return to hands-on classwork. Multisensory experiences are the basis for understanding natural phenomena and grasping the meaning of science concepts. No experience, no meaning. Distractions, especially computers and social media, do not belong in the science classroom. -“Technology” in science consists of microscopes and chemicals and physics equipment. Real well-equipped labs must be re-established. Explanations require experiences. Again, science technology has little to do with computers and cellphones.
-Field trips must be restored. As fewer students come from rural backgrounds or have field experiences, the school must provide more experiences with nature.
-Forty states and the District of Columbia only train shallow one-size-fits-all secondary “science” teachers who take only one to three college courses in each discipline. Only eleven states train high school biology or chemistry or physics or earth science teachers in-depth. Those specific field endorsements require from 30 to 45 credit hours of college coursework and labs in a field. All states should move immediately to educating secondary science teachers in-depth in specific science disciplines.
-Secondary science teacher programs should be housed and managed in the biology, chemistry, physics and earth science departments at U.S. universities. This is the case in many foreign countries, where science teachers are trained alongside science researchers. Science education programs operated by Schools of Education waste time on teaching fads and provide the most minimal science requirements.

U.S. science literacy began to decline in the 1970s and has resulted in the most science illiterate population among developed countries. We currently do not have enough well-educated science teachers to teach our current anemic curriculum. It will take decades to scale up science teacher production by nearly five times. It will take increased salaries for science teachers. -And more respect for teachers.

But one last item is a key indicator. The U.S. must go metric, and go metric now! Metric is the language of physics and chemistry and much of biology. And our students never learn to speak this language of science.

Going metric is easy. But if we cannot even get off of the barleycorn system (three barleycorns laid end-to-end equal an inch), we have little chance of making these other substantial changes in science education that are vital to eventually producing a science literate society.

The flow of foreign students into American universities began a decline this last year. Journal metrics show a dramatic rise in Asian authors and a slow decline from America. If we do not bolster science in K–12 schools immediately, the U.S. will gradually lose first-world status in science.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

We turned off the blacktop and followed a hilly, winding gravel road for several miles through desolate northwestern Kansas farm country, eventually parking along the road across from a wheat field at about 11 PM. We accompanied 2 other vehicles driven by collage students who are out there working on the first year of a 3 year comprehensive deer research project underway in 8 northwestern Kansas counties.

Just like in the National Geographic documentaries, one guy carried a small antennae connected to a GPS unit. With headlamps and flashlights we followed the signal across the wheat field in pursuit of a newly born fawn. A transmitter inserted into a doe during the first part of the study back in February had been activated, signaling she had given birth just a couple hours ago, and we were out to find her new fawn.

Around 300 meters into the field the lead group spooked a doe, and we found an area of wheat a few feet across that was totally flattened where the doe had given birth. After a short search, being very careful not to accidently step on the new arrival, we found the tiny fawn rolled into a tight little ball amongst the wheat stalks with its head tucked in against its body and not moving a muscle just like God had programmed it to do. The night air was chilly, and the wheat was wet from a rain shower, so after some quick measurements, an ear tag designating the little female mule deer as number 7729, and a GPS collar of its own, we quietly backed out so the mom could come back and take care of her new fawn.

A couple months ago I wrote about this deer study, and Joyce and I got hooked-up to spend a couple days helping search for fawns. The research hopes to show why mule deer in Kansas are slowly receding westward and why whitetails are taking their place. In February, 120 deer, an even mix of bucks and does, mule deer and whitetails, were netted from helicopters and collared with GPS collars. The does were taken to another spot and each given a sonogram. The sonogram showed that the mother of #7729 was pregnant with triplets, but because of the wet, chilly night air, the kids thought it best to end the search after finding only the first fawn so the mother could get back to them and keep them safe and warm.

The 3 year study is funded by the KS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, but all the kids working there from Scott City are college students from Pennsylvania. Talescha Karish is working toward a PHD in Biology, Maureen Kinlan is pursuing a masters degree in biology, Luke Benzinger is working toward a bachelors degree in wildlife and fisheries science and Steven Abrahamson is pursuing an associate’s degree in biology. Each plans to work in the field of wildlife management somehow.

Capturing and collaring the adult deer and finding and collaring their fawns is just part of the project. Fawns will be sought until data shows all does have given birth, then each fawn will be tracked every day for 10 weeks, after which female fawns will be put on a schedule to locate them once per week and male fawns will not be tracked anymore as fawns. When not tracking fawns and their mothers, the students will be gathering data on vegetation and habitat where GPS tracking shows the deer to have been. Each week their computer randomly selects a GPS coordinate where a doe has physically stood. They will locate that exact spot and measure and assess the vegetation and habitat there.

While there, the computer selects another random point within 300 meters of the first spot and the habitat and vegetation are also assessed there. This is done weekly for each collared doe. I have to say we were amazed at the amount of data being collected by these kids, and by the amount of work it takes and the lengths they are taking to do so.

In March when I first wrote about the beginning of this project, I interviewed Levi Jaster, Big Game Coordinator with the Kansas Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, who told me that the nearest studies about deer mortality rates, habitat use and reproduction rates have been done in either Texas or the Dakota’s, neither of which have topography or habitat representative of Kansas, and that a coordinated lengthy study of Kansas deer was long overdue. I don’t know what all motivates these college students to spend their summer 5 states away from their homes and families to help the Kansas Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and all us Kansas deer hunters better understand our deer, but sign me up for a dose of whatever it is. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Another school year has come to an end but that does not mean that learning has to take a vacation; especially in the area of nutrition education. With kids home for the summer no doubt your grocery bill will see a noticeable increase. It would be easy to fall into the trap of stocking up on the many processed foods on the market and feeding these to your busy family. But summer is a great time to focus on the “Why, When, Where, and How” as it relates to nutrition education.

Food is a source of energy. Choosing healthy foods provides the energy to grow and play, and provides the building blocks of a strong, healthy body that aids in the growth and development of young children. Good nutrition habits can potentially increase academic success and decrease health care cost in the future.

It is important to teach children about healthy foods and their health benefits. When children learn these lessons at a young age, they are more likely to make healthier food choices throughout their adult life. As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthy eating reduces risk for obesity, dental caries, and several diseases that can lead to death such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Anytime can be a great time to incorporate nutrition education, such as mealtime, story time, and play time. Parents can use every opportunity to teach children about making nutritious food choices. Nutrition education can occur at any location. Planting and caring for a garden together with kids is a wonderful learning experience. As fresh vegetables ripen, let children get involved in preparing recipes using the produce. Invite children to experience new foods through taste testing and preparing simple snacks. The more children are exposed to healthy foods, the more likely they are to try them. (And like them.)

The “Eat Real America” and “Kids A Cookin’” web sites are excellent resources as you work with your children to learn basic cooking skills this summer. There are lots of recipes complete with a nutrition facts label. You can find these sites by going to www.eatrealamerica.com and www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu Let me know if you have any questions about nutrition education with kids this summer.

Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]

For folks who’ve seen more than their share of drought and blowing dirt, things have rapidly changed following recent storms. Instead of puddles just big enough for a bird to bathe in, running water fills fields, ditches, and culverts until it breaks through dikes, terraces, and highways. All too frequently, Mother Nature ignores the concept of balance when she’s dealing with her Great Plains. Despite the extra labor humans will have repairing storm damaged leaks, terraces, roads and more over the next weeks, robins delight in the emergence of scores of waterlogged worms.

During dry times, only gardeners digging in their flower and vegetable beds get a chance to meet the writhing neighbors that live right beneath us in reportedly huge numbers. One source commented that the mass of worms living beneath our soil surface outweighs creatures who live above ground. I’d like to find supporting documentation because that’s an impressive fact if it’s true.

Recollecting sophomore biology lessons, I learned that many of those wriggling creatures don’t have pulmonary systems like ours. Instead, they breathe through their skin so when soil soaking rains deluge a region these guys head for high ground. Humans who rose early and headed outside into the humid morning air undoubtedly noted scores of sodden earth worms covering sidewalks and any other high ground they could reach with their expiring muscle contractions.

At this point, this popular fish bait looks bleached and swollen. Once the sun rises and evaporates extra moisture from the air, what looks like an inflated bit of cellophane tubing shrivels into a crunchy, brown wire-like form. In the past, I’ve picked up more than one thinking it could cause a potential flat tire.

Before these carcasses desiccate, birds still fluffing their feathers to dry them after the earlier wind and rain perform their own thankful happy dance for the abundant feast lying at their feet. For at least a moment, they won’t have to work so hard for their dinner. Celebrating as they hop up and down the streets, gutters, and sidewalks, they gobble plump annelids left and right. I suspect mommas of the species are especially grateful, if bird brains have such thoughts, as many are responsible for nests full of hungry mouths noisily awaiting food.

Concerned about shriveled crops and blowing topsoil, many of us have prayed for rain over the past months. All hoped it would fall gently over a period of weeks. As so often happens in this region, our petitions were answered all at once. The powerful response descended in such a way it damaged much in its path.

While I’m sorry for the work this creates, knowing lakes, streams, and ponds are full comforts me. Watching hungry birds snarf up half-drowned worms is a bonus that makes me smile. They, too, may have to rebuild a nest or even court again if gusting winds knocked their hatchlings to the ground. Despite such issues, birds devour the banquet before them and trill tunes that I like to imagine express gratitude for the needed moisture.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

The reports came like thunderbolts this week: Another journalist beaten to death in Mexico. Two journalists killed in the United States while reporting on a dangerous storm. And a Russian journalist assassinated in Ukraine.

An ongoing outrage. A terrible tragedy. And — as it developed in Kiev — a puzzling farce.

The body of Hector Gonzalez Antonio, a correspondent for national daily newspaper Excelsior, was found in Ciudad Victoria, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, the sixth journalist killed in the country this year and the second found beaten to death in the last two weeks.

At least nine journalists were murdered in Mexico in 2017, according to the international group Committee to Protect Journalists.

Antonio, a veteran reporter, often wrote about politics and the violence rampant in his home state, reports said. Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for those reporting the news. Drug cartels, political corruption and organized crime have created an environment of near-constant threats, attacks and killings.

In the United States, on Monday, WYFF anchor Mike McCormick and photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer were killed when a tree fell on their vehicle as they were covering flooding and damage associated with Tropical Storm Alberto in North Carolina.

Just 10 minutes earlier, the local fire chief Geoffrey Tennant had been interviewed by McCormick, and they talked about how “he wanted us to stay safe and how we wanted him to stay safe.” Early reports said the tree likely hit the SUV and crashed through the roof as it was moving — the engine was running and the vehicle was in drive when emergency crews reached the scene.

McCormick and Smeltzer were the first U.S. journalists to die in this country since August 2015, when Alison Parker and Adam Ward of WDBJ in Roanoke, Va., were killed by a deranged former colleague during a live morning broadcast.

The first news from Ukraine was that Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, a long-time critic of the Kremlin, had been shot dead in his apartment in Kiev, where he has been working as a TV news anchor. International press freedom groups joined Ukrainian journalists and Babchenko’s colleagues to demand quick action to solve the murder — only to see him show up alive at a news conference Wednesday, where authorities revealed that the death was faked to foil an assassination plot.

Babchenko apologized to fellow journalists and to his wife, who he said did not know about the deception. Shortly after the shocking revelation, a Ukrainian journalist was quoted in news reports as saying that while he and others were relieved that their colleague had not been killed, “We’d also like to punch him in the nose.”

Like many journalists at that news conference did, it’s okay to celebrate — for a moment — that the assassination plot was foiled, and two conspirators arrested. But after that moment, let’s consider the long-term harm done by the fabricated murder.

The movie-ready drama in Kiev distracted the world’s attention from Hector Gonzalez Antonio’s horrific death — and from the ongoing horror facing journalists in Mexico. And it overwhelmed the news of the deaths of McCormick and Smeltzer, who died while working in dangerous conditions, as journalists often do, to report on natural disasters and alert us of storm threats.

In an era when too many of us doubt the accuracy — and the motives — of journalists, purposely generating fake news, even with the best of motives, seems unwise. If reports are accurate that Ukrainian police knew of the death plot against Babchenko for months, and perhaps even recruited the “hit man” in the sting, surely alternatives to deceiving the world were available.

Already, Kremlin officials are using the incident in attempts to discredit earlier reports about nefarious Russian activity in Ukraine and elsewhere, including calling “fake news” the reported attempt earlier this year to poison another critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Great Britain, and reports that Russia supplied the missile used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines flight in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Yes, it may seem disingenuous to decry both the murders of journalists and the efforts to prevent one — but, put simply, journalists cannot do their jobs and be de facto police officers at the same time. Sources need to trust that reporters are not working with the authorities — particularly in nations without strong protections for press freedom. News consumers need to trust that journalists are not simply another vehicle for government propaganda. And any deception offers “proof” to those who already see conspiracies, bias and political interference behind reports that challenge preconceived notions or the claims of those in power.

On Monday, June 4, the Newseum will hold the annual rededication of its Journalists Memorial, adding the names of 18 journalists who died in 2017, who will represent all journalists who died last year while gathering and reporting the news. It’s an annual reminder of the risks journalists take in simply doing their jobs.

The world should celebrate that Arkady Babchenko is alive. It’s just too tragic that we cannot say the same of Mike McCormick, Aaron Smeltzer and Hector Gonzalez Antonio — and the many others whose deaths are all too real.

Gene Policinski is president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. He can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter at @genefac.

Editor’s Note: The Newseum’s Journalists Memorial rededication ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 4. The ceremony can be watched via live stream.

As state legislators grappled with a new Kansas school-funding plan this spring, in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, and recently North Carolina, strikes, walkouts and statewide teacher rallies closed schools.

The demonstrations protested low salaries for teachers and other school employees that have not been raised in at least one state for 10 years, out-of-date teaching materials and technology, and the lack of support for much needed programs cut in recent years.

If these problems sound familiar, they should. The issues driving the battle for increased public school funding in other states are similar to Kansas’ concerns. However, there is one major difference between problems in the other states and Kansas. In Kansas this spring there were no statewide walkouts and no strike. No children were left without a teacher for a single rally protest day.

This is because the Kansas constitution provided an orderly path to resolution of the school funding issue through the legal system. That’s right, despite much controversy the system worked. Because Kansas school districts carry fiduciary responsibility for schools, the process began with a lawsuit filed by a group of school districts and ended with a state Supreme Court ruling that called for increasing school funding. The issue was not resolved by protests as has happened in other states.

During the heat of argument over the amount of new funding to be earmarked for schools—a responsibility held by the legislature—some frustrated legislators suggested a Constitutional Amendment that would give exclusive power to the legislature to set funding and provide no constitutional review; thereby, cutting out the voice of the judiciary.

Even though the legislative primacy exists in some other states, the Kansas division of power among the legislative, judicial and executive branches seems to make sense for the stability of state government given that the nation, built on the same principle, has succeeded in resolving disputes for more than 200 years.
The underlying problem is not what branch of government drives funding decisions, but whether school funding achieves its overall goal of enhancing lives of individual students and advancing our nation. A 2018 book by a group of economists and philosophers, Educational Goods: Values, Evidence, and Decision-Making,” challenges policymakers as they work within their assigned responsibilities to think clearly about fundamental educational values as they make funding decisions. The idea is to determine what objectives need to be achieved, then match funding to the cost of realizing those educational objectives.

Before the idea of amending the Kansas Constitution returns as a solution to school funding problems let’s remind ourselves of the governing principles that led to the success we enjoy as a state and nation. Legislators can best resolve the conflict over school funding and state finances by working with school leaders and, if necessary, the courts, to articulate and advance the values Kansans hold for statewide, high quality public education.

Dr. Sharon Hartin Iorio is Professor & Dean Emeritus at Wichita State University College of Education.

I really enjoy Colorado. I have for years. When I was a kid, every few years we would travel to Colorado and drive its beautiful roads that twist and wind. As an adult, my wife’s parents created a tradition of an annual family trip to Colorado over a long weekend, a tradition that we continue though both of her parents are gone.

I am not sure exactly what all attracts me to Colorado. I am sure it is the mountains, the fresh air, and the relief from the summer heat. But for me, nothing exemplifies the peacefulness of time off in Colorado like seeing a hummingbird.

My wife, Barbara, recently read that hummingbirds sometimes pass through our home area in Hays, Kansas. I have lived in Kansas almost my entire life, and I had never ever seen a hummingbird. We decided to give it a try, so off we went to the hardware store on a Sunday afternoon and sure enough they had hummingbird feeders. We hung the feeder below our pine tree. I cannot say that either of us was optimistic.

Recently, I had a brother and sister in my office. Both were well into their 80’s. They had actually taken care of their parents, and then after their parents passed away, they continued to care for each other. Clearly the brother was in poorer health, and his sister was the caregiver, to a degree. But they both relied on each other, with each preparing their own breakfasts, and then jointly preparing their evening meal. They share many household chores.

A couple years earlier the brother had gotten sick. He was hospitalized. Dementia was suddenly evident (though he had no previous signs of dementia), and the doctor wanted to discharge him to the nursing home.

Standing nose to nose with the doctor, the sister stated, “That’s not good enough. You must find out what is wrong with him. You act like it is just his time to go to a nursing home.”

At the sister’s “urging,” the doctor readmitted her brother and performed more tests. Guess what? It was determined that her brother had a nonmalignant tumor that was causing pressure on a gland, and that was causing a lot of the dementia and other issues. It was treatable, and once on the proper course of treatment, the dementia being experienced by her brother went away. He returned home. Because of her, the brother and sister were sitting across the table from me ready to do some planning.

You see, the sister was not going to accept that it “was her brother’s time”, even though that is what was told to her. Though both in their 80’s, she still believed she and her brother could continue to live independently. She knew that if she didn’t try, then it was not going to happen. She had come to my office to be sure that could happen in the best way possible, and that they had all the tools and information necessary to stay at home.

A hummingbird in May in Hays is a farfetched idea, at least for someone who does not know better. But if we do not try, we will not see what can happen, will we?

The Monday morning after I set up the feeder on Sunday, I sat on the back deck doing my reading. It was just after sun-up and a cool morning. I could hear doves cooing nearby. Then I saw a single hummingbird at our feeder. Everything seemed to stop, as he hovered in the air feeding himself. Trying not to disturb him, I slipped into the house to summon my wife and son. We watched silently at the blessing of seeing a hummingbird in Hays in May.

Someone had given us this crazy idea that we might have a hummingbird in our yard, if we would just set out a feeder; if we would just try. And it worked. We may never see another hummingbird again in Hays, in May, but one time we did. And it was special.

Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.

There has been word that bagworms, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis, are emerging from eggs, and the young caterpillars are already out-and-about feeding on plants. Eventually bagworms will be present throughout our region feeding on both broadleaf and evergreen trees and shrubs.

So now is the time to take action against this insect pest. Bagworms are primarily a pest of conifers but have expanded their host range to include a number of broadleaf plants, such as; rose, honeylocust, and flowering plum to name a few. Hand-picking small caterpillars (along with their accompanying bag) and placing them into a container of soapy water will kill them directly. This practice, if feasible, will quickly remove populations before they can cause substantial plant damage. 


Not into hand-picking bag-worms? There are a number of insecticides that can be used to control bagworms, including those with the following active ingredients (trade name in parentheses): acephate (Orthene), Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Dipel), cyfluthrin (Tempo), lambda-cyhalothrin (Scimitar), trichlorfon (Dylox), indoxacarb (Provaunt), chlorantraniliprole (Acelepryn), and spinosad (Conserve). Most of these active ingredients are commercially available and sold under various trade names or as generic products.

Several insecticides, however, may not be directly available to homeowners. The key to managing bagworms with insecticides is to apply early and frequently enough to kill the highly susceptible young caterpillars that are feeding aggressively on plant foliage. Older caterpillars that develop later in the season are usually more difficult to kill with insecticides. Furthermore, females feed less as they prepare for reproduction, which reduces their susceptibility to spray applications and any residues.

The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki is active on young caterpillars but the active ingredient must be ingested to be effective. Therefore, thorough coverage of all plant parts and frequent applications are required. Spinosad is the active ingredient in a number of homeowner products, including: Captain Jack’s DeadBug Brew, and Monterey Garden Insect Spray. The insecticide works by contact and ingestion (stomach poison); however, activity is greatest when ingested. Products containing spinosad can be used against older or larger bagworm caterpillars later on in the season. Acephate (Bonide Systemic Insect Control), cyfluthrin (Bayer Vegetable & Garden Insect Spray), gamma-cyhalothrin (Spectracide Triazicide), trichlorfon, chlorantraniliprole, and indoxacarb can be used against both the young and the older caterpillars.

Thorough spray coverage of all plant parts, including tree tops and surrounding shrubs, in multiple applications, is essential in keeping bagworm populations at bay. The reason multiple applications are recommended is that bagworm eggs do not hatch simultaneously but hatch over a period of time depending on temperature. Also, young bagworms can ‘blow in’ (called ‘ballooning’) from neighboring plants on silken threads.

If left unchecked, bagworms can cause a lot of damage, ruining the aesthetic quality of plants. Moreover, bagworms can actually kill plants, especially small evergreens that may be newly transplanted, because evergreens do not usually produce more than one flush of growth per growing season. 

Rip Winkel is the Horticulture agent in the Cottonwood District (Barton and Ellis Counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact him by e-mail at [email protected] or calling either 785-682-9430, or 620-793-1910.




For people who have warm season lawns such as buffalograss, zoysia, or bermuda, there is less maintenance, especially at the first of the year. Warm season grasses have now come out of dormancy, and adding a little fertilizer now will help the turf have better growth and a deeper color. I found an article from Ward Upham, K-State Research and Extension’s horticulture expert to give you some tips on how to help your warm season lawn look its best this summer.

June is the time to fertilize warm-season lawn grasses such as bermudagrass, buffalograss, and zoysiagrass. These species all thrive in warmer summer weather, so this is the time they respond best to fertilization. The most important nutrient is nitrogen (N), and these three species need it in varying amounts.
   

Bermudagrass requires the most nitrogen. High-quality bermuda stands need about 4 lbs. nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. during the season (low maintenance areas can get by on 2 lbs.). Apply this as four separate applications, about 4 weeks apart, of 1 lb. N per 1,000 sq. ft. starting in early May. It is already too late for the May application, but the June application is just around the corner. The nitrogen can come from either a quick- or slow-release source. So any lawn fertilizer will work. Plan the last application for no later than August 15. This helps ensure the bermudagrass is not overstimulated, making it susceptible to winter-kill. 
   

Zoysiagrass grows more slowly than bermudagrass and is prone to develop thatch. 
Consequently, it does not need as much nitrogen. In fact, too much is worse than too little. One
and one-half to 2 pounds N per 1,000 sq. ft. during the season is sufficient. Split the total in two
and apply once in early June and again around mid-July. Slow-release nitrogen is preferable but
quick-release is acceptable. Slow-release nitrogen is sometimes listed as “slowly available” or
“water insoluble.”
   

Buffalograss requires the least nitrogen of all lawn species commonly grown in Kansas. It will survive and persist with no supplemental nitrogen, but giving it 1 lb. N per 1,000 sq. ft. will improve color and density. This application should be made in early June. For a little darker
color, fertilize it as described for zoysiagrass in the previous paragraph, but do not apply more
than a total of 2 lb. N per 1,000 sq. ft. in one season. Buffalograss tends to get weedy when given
too much nitrogen. As with zoysia, slow-release nitrogen is preferable, but fast-release is also
OK. As for all turfgrasses, phosphorus and potassium are best applied according to soil test
results because many soils already have adequate amounts of these nutrients for turfgrass
growth.

If you need to apply phosphorus or potassium, it is best to core aerate beforehand to
ensure the nutrients reach the roots.

Alicia Boor is an Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in the Cottonwood District (which includes Barton and Ellis counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or calling 620-793-1910

I’m writing today to dispute a single point in the opinion piece published in the Hays Post on May 29, 2018. It was penned by Martin Hawver, publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report headlined: “Choices this year for Democrats in the governor’s race.”



I am not here to take issue with Hawver’s history of Democratic gubernatorial primaries in Kansas, or any of the other points he makes in this opinion piece, save this one statement:

“While there are two clear leaders—Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, and former state Rep. Josh Svaty, of Ellsworth and later Topeka — just how they come out is uncertain.”



This caught my eye due to fact that Hays Post is a product of Hays, Kansas, home of Fort Hays State University’s Docking Institute of Public Affairs. It also caught my eye in that this past April, the Docking Institute released “Kansas Governor’s Race Poll – Spring 2018.” In that poll, the recognition of candidates Kelly (24.3%) and Svaty (19.9) was far below the most recognized Democratic candidate in the race. That is former two-time Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, the most recognized democrat with 38.4%. It bears mentioning that Wichita is, by a factor of two, the largest city in the State with a population of nearly of 400,000. Brewer also won re-election in 2011 with 69% of the vote.

I am a fan of Mr. Hawver’s reporting and punditry, wisdom and wit, but in this one instance, unbiased verifiable polling information exists from one of our Kansas Regent universities that shows Carl Brewer to be the frontrunner with a bullet.



Chris Morrow

Lieutenant Governor candidate