If there’s any place where a good two-inch rain causes dancing in the streets, it’s in West Texas. In a land that’s usually dry anyway, the past few years of drought have been challenging to say the least.

No one knows this more than Kregg and Diana McKenny, who raise cattle and manage his family farm near Colorado City, Texas. Kregg’s grandparents purchased the farm in 1943. Even then, it was evident that creativity and ingenuity were essential to meet the water needs of the farm’s livestock.

Producers Must File by August 17, One-Year Extension Available to Holders of Many Expiring Contracts 

Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce is reminding producers that the deadline to sign up for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is Friday, August 17, 2018.

Thanks to two grants from the Gates Family Foundation, high quality interpretive signs were recently installed along the walking paths at Boggsville Historic Site.  The new signs are designed to blend with the natural landscape and withstand the harsh Southeast Colorado sun and wind. The former trail signs were a mishmash of markers installed at various times during various projects. The old signs, erected many years ago, were cracked, peeling, difficult to read and were removed.

Makes:   12 servings 

Make your own muffins from scratch with this recipe. If fresh blueberries are unavailable or costly, try using frozen blueberries.

Sometimes it’s best just to stay in one’s comfort zone. Believe me, I know all the counterarguments: “Playing it safe is boring,” “You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t push yourself” and of course, “No risk, no reward.” “Christopher Robin” takes a risk by taking Winnie the Pooh and his friends out of their familiar setting of the Hundred-Acre Wood and transporting them to the real world. And the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking that the characters should have just stayed in the Wood.

ARIZONA 

The 2018 Arizona average farmland real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, was $4,200 per acre. This is an increase of 2.4 percent from 2017 and 10.5 percent from 2016. The average value of cropland and irrigated cropland was $8,450, up 0.6 percent from 2017. Pasture values were not published for Arizona to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 

Dear EarthTalk: Do animals respond to or enjoy music recorded or played live by humans?

 -- Jane W., Herndon, VA