Ramsey County

Howdy!!!

What a fall we have been having!!!!!  We go from raining nearly everyday to seeing the sun most everyday lately.  This has been a blessing for those folks with fall activities left to finish.  My drive this last weekend would indicate that harvest is nearly complete.  The harvested sunflowers have been poor yielding, with the amount of Head Rot infestation in the fields, but the sunflower companies are looking for all the production they can get their hands on.  I have a brother-in-law that works in the sunflower industry and his comment is: “seeds appear to be in tight supply this fall/winter and good seeds might be worth some cash”.

I should apologize for my comments in last week news column.  My comment on can’t wait to get moved into our new home is very accurate except the phrase about a little privacy got me into trouble with my mother-in-law.  She has been super to live with and putting up with me for 3.5 months is no easy feat in it self.  When our kids left home and started their new lives, our lives changed at that point also.  A person gets used to the non-activity at home and moving into a home with lots of grandchildren makes for a different living style.  I do however get in a little trouble with her though, when I cook, as she says I feed her too well.  I have noticed that she has taken over more of the cooking lately and maybe for all of us, it’s a good thing.  I cook with lots of good tasting things and my waistline tells me I should not be doing that. 

Cattle Outlook, LRP, and Feed Alternatives Meeting?????????? 
Lake Region Livestock and our Extension offices’ will be holding an informational meeting Thursday, December 2 at Lake Region Livestock sale barn.  Supper will start at 6:30 with Chile and Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed.

The presenters for the evening will be Greg Lardy (NDSU Extension Beef Specialist) talking on corn and soybean feeding alternatives.  With the available feed sources in our area this fall and next spring, opportunities could exist for the cattle producer to further extend their feed supplies.  The other presenter for the evening will be Tim Petry (NDSU Extension Economist).  He will discuss cattle “Outlook” and also “LRP”.  Tim’s presentation on “Outlook” looks into the future of what numbers might be and how different scenarios could affect the cow numbers.  He will also explain the new “Livestock Risk Protection” policy available to producers this fall.  This would appear to be great opportunity for producers, small or big, to take some risk out of the marketing of their livestock with a minimum amount of money.  “THIS INVITATION IS FOR ALL LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS FROM THE NORTHESTERN PART OF THE STATE”.

Drying Sunflowers during November?????
A question came in this week about drying 15 percent moisture sunflowers during this cool season.  What is the equilibrium during this time frame?  If we have 27-degree weather, with relative humidity of 73% can we dry sunflowers using natural air?  THE ANSWER IS YES!@!!!!!, but if the air temperature is not raised, using artificial heat, the process takes a long period of time.  At 32 degrees and 70% relative humidity the equilibrium would be approximately 12.5-13 percent moisture.  So as you can see, these sunflowers could be dried lower but not to the point of keeping in safe storage for a long period of time.  Oil Sunflowers should be at 10 percent moisture, if kept for a period of 6 months or less, for safe storage.  This information was taken out of a NDSU publication, Natural Air/Low Temperature Crop Drying   If you need more information on this matter or other items of interest please feel free to contact the Extension office at 701-662-7027.

524 4th Ave #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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