Six candidates vie for positions on MKC board of directors

Six members have announced their candidacy for a position on MKC's board of directors.  Seeking election to represent District 1 are Cecil Wiebe (Newton) and Darcy Nickel (Goessel).  Jason Gaeddert (Inman) and Jay Warner (McPherson) are seeking election to District 2 and Gregg Noel (Abilene) and Randy Elwood (Windom) are seeking the at-large position.  

Wiebe, Gaeddert and Elwood are incumbents.  Nickel is currently serving as an associate director and Noel was appointed when Farmers Cooperative Association (Talmage) merged with MKC in 2007.  

Elections will be held during MKC's annual meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 15, at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.    

Second Answer Plot® event scheduled for July 20

More than 35 producers recently got the opportunity to see how the science behind one product performs differently than another at the first of three scheduled Answer Plot® events hosted by MKC.   

The first session focused on R7 and managing the variables in the field.  Participants also had the opportunity to see how tissue sampling results differ from soil sampling when determining the plants' needs.  

The next Answer Plot® event, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20, will include additional information on R7 management and tissue sampling.  New to this session will be information about adjuvants and drift demonstrations and tank cleaning demonstrations.  Producers will also experience how different crop protection and seed products perform in soil and weather conditions similar to those on their farm.  

Located 3 miles south and 2¾ miles east of Inman at 1084 Arapaho Road, the Answer Plot has a sub-surface drip irrigation system, variety trials for corn and soybeans along with demonstration plots that show the differences between varieties.  It also features forages, a variety of herbicide combinations for corn and soybeans and seed treatment and nutrient trials.  

Corn for ethanol forecast increased

USDA increased its forecast of corn use for ethanol in 2009/2010 by 150 million bushels to 4.55 billion for the year ending September 30, and forecasts for 2010/2011 that 4.7 billion bushels will be used to refine ethanol, 100 million bushels more than previously estimated. USDA said the increases reflect the continued record pace of ethanol production and use based on Energy Information Agency numbers. USDA said the higher ethanol use will more than offset reduced feed and residual uses of corn, an estimate lower by 25 million bushels, due to the increased use of distillers grains.