August 2, 2016 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Dave Says Stay The Course By Dave Ramsey Dear Dave, Our daughter is a special needs child, who doctors say will live about half as long as the average adult. There’s also a good chance she will be under our care her entire life. We just finished Baby Step 3 of your plan, so we have all of our debt paid off except for the house, and we have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses saved. We have health insurance, too. However, we were wondering how the situation with our little girl affects retirement planning and college funding? —Jonathan Dear Jonathan, I know this may sound strange, but the situation with your daughter really doesn’t affect things all that much. The only real difference is that it sounds like you’ll be responsible for your sweet daughter for the foreseeable future — not just until she’s 18 or 21. If you don’t already have it, you and your wife should both buy 10 to 12 times your annual incomes in term life insurance. Make sure the money from the policies is set up to go into a special needs trust that would be managed for her care. That way, your baby will be taken care of in the event something unexpected happens to you. Otherwise, just keep following my plan. Baby Step 4 means you start putting 15 percent of your income into pre-tax retirement plans, like Roth IRAs and mutual funds. Baby Step 5 is college funding, if that’s a consideration for her, followed by paying off your home early. Then, of course, the last Baby Step is building wealth and giving. Financially speakDave ing, you’re looking at filling a need in the event of your deaths. This should be covered by life insurance or investments. If you reach a point where your investments are substantial, and money from those things can adequately cover her needs and the needs of your family, then you can always drop the insurance policies. God bless you all, Jonathan. —Dave RAMSEY Time to raise prices? Dear Dave, My husband has his own one-man painting business, and I help him with the books. We were wondering how you know when it’s time to implement a price increase. Also, what should the increase be? —Lauren Dear Lauren, I grew up in the real estate business, so I’ll use the apartment-complex model as my example. If your building is com- Mrs. Forrest has always been a compulsive feeder. Before she retired, she was cooking for the Mule Barn truck stop’s pletely full, then it’s time to raise prices customers, and is singularly responsible for about three a little bit until you have a vacancy. In flabby tons of avoirdupois on this nation’s truck drivers, this type of scenario, you want a healthy level of vacancy, meaning you’re always and may have been marginally responsible, third-hand, for a cardiac event or two. going to be losing some customers as But now she’s retired, and a widow, and her kids all have you go up in prices. kids and are scattered like a covey of quail. Local bachelors In your husband’s case, if he’s booked through the end of the month, of a certain age know if they should just happen to be chathe’s way underpriced. Just keep on turn- ting with Mrs. Forrest on her front lawn along about supper ing in your bids, and don’t make a big time, there’s a dang-near dead certainty they’ll get a meal out deal about things. It isn’t like a tenant, in of it. your case, where you’re going back time And, through the magic of telepathic communication and and time again except in rare cases. You the synchronistic wave lengths of humanity, the message might start with a 10 percent increase, about Mrs. Forrest’s unstoppable feeding compulsion had and see what happens for a while. If that goes well, wait a bit and raise them somehow reached the psyches of the homeless. another 10 percent. At any rate, two of the aforementioned drifters had There are only so many hours in a knocked on Mrs. Forrest’s door and asked if there were any day this guy can work, so the only other chores she needed done in exchange for some food. Well, option is to take on staff. But before I you should’ve seen her eyes light up at that question. She start staffing, I’m going to raise prices said she had a bunch of firewood that needed to be split into and cut the number of customers that way. In most cases with the construction kindling and if they didn’t mind doing that, she’d fix them a chicken dinner with cream gravy. Mrs. Forrest puts cream business, if you show up when you say you will, complete the job when you say gravy on everything. you will, and you do high quality work, So she busied herself in the kitchen, and then went out there’s almost no ceiling on what you to see how these fellows were doing. And there, leaning on can make! an axe handle, was one of them, and the other was doing —Dave gymnastics in and around the woodpile. It was amazing. He’d come out of a round-off flip flop and then gracefully go into Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted a full layout Sukuhara with a right-hand twist. She watched voice on money and business, and CEO in awe for a few minutes before whispering to this gymnast’s of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored partner. seven best-selling books. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 11 “I had no idea your friend was an acrobat,” she whispered. million listeners each week on more than He looked at her and whispered back, “Neither did I ‘til I 550 radio stations and digital outlets. cracked him on the shin with this axe.” Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com. Dealing with Drought and Hail Stressed Crops BROOKINGS, S.D. - With nearly 60 percent of South Dakota impacted by drought and now some fields receiving hail damage, many growers are faced with decisions on how to best utilize drought and hail stressed crops. “Stressors such as drought can increase nitrate levels in forage crops, resulting in a need to change how they are managed,” explained Adele Harty, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist. “Forages which have hail damage may no longer be viable for grain crops, therefore utilizing them for a forage crop may be necessary.” Harty added that depending on the severity of the drought or hail there are options available for use of stressed crops as forage. “Evaluate the crop to determine which option is the most economical and will give the most opportunities to utilize forage from the crop in the best manner possible,” Harty said. Options, in likely order of use from least to most damaged crops include: 1.Test the crop for nitrates to determine if it can Sale Sal safely be used as feed for livestock. “SDSU Extension has a Nitrate Quick Test for Forages that will give a positive or negative result for nitrates,” she said. If positive, the sample needs to be sent to an analytical laboratory for a quantitative analysis to determine risk. If negative, nitrates are not present and it is safe to feed. Harty encourages livestock and forage producers to contact SDSU Extension to determine the nearest office providing the test. “If there is moderate to no nitrate present, salvaging the crop as livestock forage would be an excellent choice,” she said. Depending on the specific level of nitrate present, there are options for blending it with feeds that do not contain nitrates to reach safe levels. Non-pregnant animals can tolerate higher levels of nitrate than pregnant females, so changing the class of cattle that the forage is fed to may be necessary. 2. If it won’t make adequate grain and can’t be grazed, harvest the crop for All Styles Reduced Several styles 1/2 price Sal e Boston Shoes to Boots le Sa CARPET CLEANING SPECIAL 312 W. 3rd Yankton • 665-9092 e 2 Rooms & A Hallway (Up to 300 Sq. Ft.) 74 $ 95 J&H Cleaning specializes in: • Carpet Cleaning • Upholstery Cleaning • Duct Cleaning • Power Washing • Janitorial J&H Cleaning Services 665-2571 Complete Carpet Cleaning Service Not just the traffic area, we move the furniture! RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE Inc. INSURED & BONDED REFERENCES AVAILABLE 605-661-9211 SERVING YANKTON, VERMILLION & SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES SINCE 1994 Save up to n Call Ethafor or Jamiedetails complete $2600 includes utility & manufacturing rebates hay. Test for nitrates and have a feed analysis done to determine nutritional value for proper inclusion in a ration. “If damage is severe, make sure that it will be worth the diesel, supplies and time to make hay,” Harty said. 3. Let the crop mature to see if it will produce grain. If they will not produce adequate grain, many crops can be grazed, if necessary precautions are taken (e.g. nitrates) and water and fencing are available. 4. Harvest the forage for silage. If nitrates are present, the fermentation process will convert a portion of the nitrate into ammonia, thereby decreasing the overall risk, however it will not completely remove nitrate. It is critical that it is ensiled properly to ensure the best environment for fermentation. “A rule of thumb is that 20-50 percent of the nitrate will be converted to ammonia if the process is done correctly,” Harty said. “Always test the ensiled feed before feeding to livestock to ensure that nitrate levels are appropriate for the class of livestock.” 5. In a worst case scenario, where the crop is too damaged or too high in nitrates, consider spraying it out and leaving it for soil cover and reseed directly into it when you get moisture. Precautions need to be taken when feeding forages that contain nitrates. Details about safety levels and utilizing feeds within different ranges of nitrate content are outlined in “Nitrate Poisoning of Livestock: Causes and Prevention” which can be found on iGrow. niGrow Don’s Dust Control • Horse Arenas • Private Drives • Unpaved Roads • Elevator Access • Free Estimates 605-491-2133 The Ranch Foundation During Drought BROOKINGS, S.D. - A ranch’s current and future success largely depends on its natural resources. As many South Dakota ranches deal with the reality of persistant drought, Sean Kelly, SDSU Extension Range Management Field Specialist encourages landowners to prioritize those natural resources as they make management decisions. “Drought forces ranchers to make many critical decisions,” Kelly said. “The natural resources are the foundation for all other perspectives of a ranch.” Kelly explained that natural resources, to a large extent, also set the boundaries for each of the other perspectives on a ranch; which may include: production, financial, customers and quality of life. “The natural resources determine the number of cattle that can be stocked or the number of wildlife that can be sustained, as well as the amount of forage crops or hay that can be produce,” he said. “Striving to maintain the rangeland resources in the best condition as possible through a drought will be crucial for a fast recovery when conditions improve.” Since nearly all the forage growth for this year has occurred - in the Northern Plains, 75 to 90 percent of vegetation growth is complete by July 1 - Kelly said a ranch manager must try to maintain some vegetation cover on the soil surface to help aid in restoring soil moisture as quickly as possible when rain returns. “Leaving adequate vegetation cover in the pasture will increase the water holding capacity and infiltration rate into the soil profile and reduce runoff from heavy precipitation events,” he said. Consequently, Kelly further explained that the soil moisture will be restored more quickly versus a pasture grazed to bare ground (Figure 2). “Ranch managers should strive for at least 50 to 60 percent organic material cover on the soil surface and at least 4 to 6 inch residual stubble height for native grasses,” he said. “A ranch manager must be flexible and adapt to resources conditions during a drought,” Kelly said. “Rangeland health and drought plans are priorities; a ranch manager must try and make other perspectives of a ranch adapt if the ranch’s vision includes long-term sustainability and Dining Aug. 12th, 13th, & 14th Convention Center Sioux City, IA Open to public $7 admission On A Qualifying Fri. 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sun. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Home Comfort System For more info: (563) 608-4401 With 18 Months Interest Free OR Have Up To REAL ESTATE & Entertainment GUN SHOW Open To The Public 5 Years No Interest To Pay For It! LARGE SELECTIO N GUNS & A OF MMO FOR SALE ! Pancakeast Breakf Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Biscuits & Gravy, French Toast 7.00 All You Can Eat $ Children 6-10 $4.00 • 5 & Under Free Sunday, Aug. 7th • 8 - 12:30 HEATING & COOLING Serving Yankton, Vermillion and surrounding areas 920 Broadway, Yankton • 605-665-9461 • www.larrysheatingandcooling.com profitability.” Kelly references a quote stated by Wayne T Hamilton paraphrasing Dr. E.J. Dyksterhuis quoted in 1951 as saying; “The man who has a short pasture needs a rain much worse than his neighbor who has ample forage on the range. But, when the rains come, it will do the least good for the fellow who needs it most.” niGrow VFW Post 791 209 Cedar, Yankton • 665-3562 RENTALS AUTOMOTIVE EMPLOYMENT MERCHANDISE COUPONS the Missouri Valley Shopper and missourivalleyshopper.com is your complete source for buying and selling. Everything you need is just a click or call away! Place an ad today by calling 605.665.5584 MV Shopper M I S S O U R I VA L L EY