Chuck's Chat-Welcome to October!
First and foremost for Montgomery County Farm Bureau members, the annual meeting and banquet is October 1st at 6:30pm at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Parish Hall in Cherryvale. Invitations have been previously mailed to all members. Furthermore, we are sponsoring a silent auction to help offset some recent medical costs for Darren Felts. We have received some very nice items from generous contributors all around the county. If you are unable to attend the meeting, or are not a member but would like to donate, send a check to our office at 217 W. Myrtle, Independence, Kansas 67301. Please try to have funds to us by October 10, and write “Darren Felts” in the memo line.
October marks the beginning of the new year for Farm Bureau, and what a great way to start off in Kansas with the initial enrollment period for the new Kansas Farm Bureau Health Plans. Individual and family plans, Medicare supplement plans and dental/vision coverage will be available for enrollment Oct. 1. Contact your local Farm Bureau Financial Services Representative for details.
October 6 – 12 is National 4-H week. The national them is “Inspire Kids To Do”, which I think is great. We need to get more kids involved in something besides their phones. 4-H has evolved over time to include science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), areas where global statistics show our nation’s youth are behind. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders, and some of them will be making decisions directly affecting you and me. Whether it be financially or simply volunteering some time, please consider contributing in some manner to Americas largest youth development organization.
Appropriately, I think, October is National Apple Month, and has been since 1996. The United States has 7,500 commercial apple producers who, collectively, grow 240 million bushels of apples on average each year on 322 thousand total acres of land. The farm-gate revenue, or wholesale value, of the U.S. apple crop annually is close to $4 billion, with a predicted additional $15 billion related downstream economic activity each year. Two-thirds of the U.S. crop is grown for fresh consumption, while the rest is used for processing, such as apple juices, applesauce, and fresh slices. Some of the top varieties produced in the U.S. are: Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious. The top three producing states are Washington, New York and Michigan. An average tree will produce 20 bushel boxes weighing 42 pounds each. Twenty-five percent of an apple’s structure is air, which is why they float and we can bob for them at Halloween parties.
Speaking of Halloween, be safe out there with all the ghouls and goblins and other things that go bump in the night. That’s just everyday living, not counting the folks who will dress up for various activities at the end of the month.
Until next month,
Chuck Voelker