Category: News
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Fall Seed Supplies Could Be Tight
Wheat and More….or less By Vance Ehmke If you’re looking for seed wheat, rye or triticale to plant this fall, you might want to start looking sooner rather than later. One of the consequences of having the worst Kansas wheat crop in the past 50 to 60 years is that the supply of seed wheat…
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Is there a best Midwest cereal option?
By Mary Drewnoski for Hay and Forage Grower Over the past three years, we have been trying to identify if there is a decisive difference between using cereal rye, winter triticale, or winter wheat as a forage resource for beef cattle. Triticale is often held up as the best overall forage option. Indeed, when we evaluated…
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Recommendation for a Triticale Research/Breeding Program at KSU
By Vance And Louise Ehmke Dear Drs. Perumal and Zhang: I’m writing to wholeheartedly support the K-State research initiative dealing with alternative crops for western Kansas titled: “Developing Climate Resilient and Profitable Grain, Forage Crops and Livestock Grazing Programs with Enhanced Nutritional Value for Western Kansas”. As longtime certified seed wheat growers here in Lane…
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Wheat Conditions
Wheat & More…or Less… By Vance Ehmke In brief, for a lot of wheat in this area of Kansas, rain will no longer do us any good. What we need is more drugs and alcohol! Actually that is not far from the truth. Our South Dakota custom cutter said he took 6 combines to Kiowa KS…
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The Last Wild Horse Herd
Wheat & More…..or LessBy Vance Ehmke The Old West was officially closed in 1890. But it wasn’t until over 50 years later that the last of the wild horses disappeared from Lane County KS. Longtime resident Eldon Wancura, who now lives in Dighton, explains that he grew up on a farm and ranch that straddled…
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The Bones of Lane County
By Vance Ehmke My great grandparents homesteaded here in western Kansas back in 1885. And I always thought it was a pretty big deal to be a fourth-generation farmer– until the bones of Lane County told me otherwise. Here on our farm we have a state historical site, 14 LA 311, to be exact. It’s…
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Drought Drags On
For those of us who were hoping our current hard case drought would dry up and blow away, the reality is anything but. Instead, the new 3-month forecast promises more of the same and a lot of it. Last fall when talking with Jeff Hutton from the National Weather Service in Dodge City, he speculated…
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Governor Laura Kelly Visits Ehmke Farm
Kansas governor Laura Kelley visited Ehmke Farm in June 2022 as a stop on her “Back to Business” tour. Images from the visit below were provided by Kansas Office of the Governor.
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Even at $12, Wheat May Lose Money
The good news is we have $12 wheat prices. The bad news is because of low projected yields caused by the on-going drought, many western Kansas wheat fields will do no better than break even. Incredible as it may seem, even with the highest price of all time, at least half of the western Kansas…
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Popular Wheat Varieties May Not Be Top Yielders
By Vance Ehmke In looking at the recently released list of the most popular wheat varieties planted in Kansas, I am reminded that just because a variety is planted on a lot of acres doesn’t mean you should be planting it. Years ago in a conversation with former Scott City basketball coach and farmer/cattleman Harold…