the rest of the story is here -

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3441881/kansas-raspberry-problems-with-photos?n=4

I would recommend you try the black raspberries which are more conducive to our weather. Anne is a yellow raspberry which grows well here but will need extra water. I would stick with the blacks and they grow better in partial sunlight. I can't see the pictures because I'm on my cellphone now and it is not large enough to make out disease. If canes die from the tip down its fungal or bacterial infection which covers a lot of ground. Bacteria would be Fireblight which is worse case scenario so see this link http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/fire_blight_on_raspberries_and_blackberries. Fungal is easier to deal with. If it's fungal You can spray your raspberries with a fungicide like captan and it will clear it up.

You might see if you can get your hands on some 'Bababerry' raspberries. This cultivar is supposed to be much hardier and able to deal with hot dry conditions much better than other raspberries. Too long of a story to get into detail here, but it is thought the Bababerry cultivar might be a hybrid of the wild "Smoothleaf raspberry" native to the mountainous forests of California. They are just like regular raspberries though, maybe even a little more plump.

I had commented earlier but I guess it didn't post. At any rate, thank you both for your comments. I am looking at sources for Anne, black varieties, and Bababerry. I hesitate to plant Anne if they need more water, but they sure look good!

Anne does well here its just not as tough as the blacks so you will have to give it a little extra TLC such as mulch to keep it wet but the rssberries are excellent flavored.

Do you have one or two favorite black varieties?

I read that baba raspberry is only hardy to 0F. You could try some of the purple raspberries like Royalty...they work very well for jam.

All black raspberries for the most part are hardier than reds or yellows but the closer to wild you can get the better for hardiness. So I would shoot for athorny variety at first. You can get an anne etc. If you want to but I would get something st firstto get me some berries.

Ok, makes sense. Do you have a local nursery you like to use or a mail order nursery for plants?

http://noursefarms.com/raspberry-plants/jewel/ would be good or http://noursefarms.com/raspberry-plants/anne/

Thank you!!

Noone mentioned it but fungus is worse on a wet year. I would spray the old plants with captain if they were mine and put the new plants in another area if possible. Here is where you get ccaptan http://www.amazon.com/Bonide-Chemical-8-Ounce-Captan-Ornamental/dp/B001BO65WQ . The red raspberries as I mentioned are less hardy in the first place but if you can get those to produce a few years you might as well get as many berries as you can out of the old ones. at times i want to spray a little less ooften so I use immunox for that http://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-51000-Multi-Purpose-Fungicide-Concentrate/dp/B0035H0RA8. I alternate sprays to keep fungus from building resistance and only use as needed.

If you need to put these raspberriesin the same spot as the old ones iI would mix in sulphur in the area when you plant them for two reasons 1. Raspberries like a pH of 6-6.5 depending on who you talk to. Our pH is around 7.5 or higher typically. Sulphur lowers pH. You can get it at your local coop 2. Sulphur is anti fungal which in this case won't hurt. Same thing applies if you keep your old patch and put in a new patch you can hit the old ones with a sulphur water mixture. Its typically a bad idea to follow any crop with the same crop because the pests for that crop are established. Farmers use crop rotation for the same reason alternation beans, soybeans, Milo, wheat etc to avoid problems.