Coming Events
- July 22, Extension Board Meeting, 7:00 p.m., Extension Office, York
Happy Fourth of July
I hope each of you and your families had a safe and happy 4th of July and celebrate the freedoms we have! What a great weekend, I spent some time at the lake with some of the grandkids and did a little sailing. The weather was not the typical July weather for much of the weekend, but it got plenty humid on Sunday.
Cropping Update
Crops have continued to make good progress this past week, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing tassels in the next week or so. We’re seeing soybeans those first blossoms in soybeans so were at the R1 and R2 stages. We really suggest avoiding irrigating during the vegetative stages as well as the early reproductive stages of R1 and R2. You don’t get more soybeans, but rather taller beans with more potential lodging issues as well as beans that require more water.
I hope you’ll consider using SoyWater to estimate the best time to make those irrigation applications on soybeans. Learn more at the CropWatch soybean homepage: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/soybeans/home. This will be one of the topics at the Soybean Management Field Day planned for August 14 on the Jerry Stahr Farm located just East of the UFC. We hope to demonstrate that along with several other topics at the field day.
The ETgages I monitor in York, east of town as well as south of town, dropped about 1.90†for the week compared to 1.50†the week before. The grass covered ETgage dropped 1.70â€, so for the week, turf used about 1.70†while the earliest planted corn I’m monitoring (V12 stage) used about 1.67†or about the same for the past week. That’s probably going to change for the next few weeks as corn and soybeans are continuing to grow and so will the water use!
Corn in the V10 stage would have used 1.31†this past week (1.9 x .69 = 1.31â€), corn at V14 would have used 1,91†(1.9 x 1.01 = 1.91â€). Corn 16 leaves to beginning dent would have used 2.09â€Â (1.9 x 1.1 = 2.09) or about 30â€/day.
I’m also monitoring some fields that we’ve placed Watermark sensors in both corn and soybeans. In a couple of the fields, the producers made quick passes over the field to make a track before the corn gets to big and can cause problems with that first pass. Hopefully I be able to get you some reading from these fields next week.
The York County Corn Grower Plot readings are 99, 70, and 0, so they’ve depleted about 1.44 inches of soils from the top two feet and have .76†left in the top two feet before they’ve depleted it to 50%. They also have a full profile in the third foot. The pivot is going and should be to the sensors by the time the paper comes out!
The sensors in the York County RoundUp Ready soybean plot are reading 92, 12, 21 and 28, so we’ve used a little less than an inch from it.
If you have sensors installed in your field and have any questions about the readings, give me a call at 402-362-5508 at 402-326-8185 or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu. I’d be glad to visit with you about them and what the numbers mean.
Also, you could also download our Crop Water App for iPads/iPhones at:Â http://go.unl.edu/aiz or for Androids at: http://go.unl.edu/hkg.
With this app you can simply type in your sensor readings and soil type and get the water used as well at the water available. I hope you’ll check it out an let me know how it works!
Sportsmanship starts with Adults!
The York County Fair is just around the corner and Brand VanDeWalle, Extension Educator in Fillmore County shared a great column that I’m sharing. Hopefully we’ll have great sportsmanship at all the events, 4-H or any other competition.
“Webster’s Third International Dictionary defines sportsmanship as “conduct becoming to an individual involving fair and honest competition, courteous relations and graceful acceptance of resultsâ€. Sportsmanship starts with parents teaching their youth how to accept a win or a loss, although in the 4-H youth development program, even if the youth receives a red ribbon, nothing is lost as long as some basic knowledge and skills were gained. Too often in our society we focus on the tangible results of a ribbon or trophy and don’t think about the process that youth went through to achieve the end results and what was learned from that process.
I often use the example that as a youth, I’ll never forget receiving a red ribbon for a market heifer; I was frustrated, but will never forget my dad asking me, what the judge said in the comments. After we talked it over, I realized his reasoning and was able to understand the type of animal I should select for the following year. That was a lesson I’ll never forget. My dad and mom also told my sister and me that if we wanted a trophy that badly, instead of spending a large amount of money on an animal just to win or using unethical practices, they’d go out and buy us our own trophy. For these reasons, it is really rewarding to work with youth who are happy with any ribbon placing.
Three reasons adults and teen leaders should be concerned with developing sportsmanship are:
1. Youth programs are easier to conduct and are more positive experiences for everyone involved if good sportsmanship is demonstrated.
2. The development of sportsmanship is an important part of youth development. Youth and adults who develop and show good sportsmanship get along better, and are much more successful on a long-term basis in becoming self-directing, productive, contributing, competent, caring, capable adults, than are those whose behavior is un-sportsmanship-like.
3. Sportsmanship is one of the key elements of civilized society. Those who think of the “big picture” know the reasons for developing sportsmanship extend beyond an individual, a community, or a program. When societies allow sportsmanship to decline, their civilizations also decline.â€
So as we get ready for another York County Fair, let’s be reminded that the end result is not the ribbon placing, but the skills that each youth learned!
Source: Kathryn J. Cox, Ohio Extension 4-H Specialist, Youth Development, Developing Sportsmanship- A Resource For Preparing Youth And Their Families For Participation in Competitive Programs and Events, 2006
