Fleming County Newsletter

Transcription

1 AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES Fleming County Newsletter DECEMBER 2017 Cooperative Extension Service Fleming County P.O. Box 192 Flemingsburg, KY (606) Fax: (606) extension.ca.uky.edu Happy December! It s hard to believe that this year is almost over! It is equally hard to believe that I ve been in this position for nearly six months now. Thank you all so much for being so patient and understanding as I have been settling in as your Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent. The past six months certainly have kept me on my toes. I tell people all the time that I never get the same question twice, and that s a good thing. It s great when we can all continue to learn and grow. So with that being said, if you ever have a question, please do not hesitate to call me. I m happy to provide you with the most up-to-date research based answers. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Holiday Season. UPCOMING EVENTS December 1-29 CAIP & YAIP APPLICATION PERIOD January Winter Wheat Meeting January 8-9 Kentucky Fruit & Vegetable Conference January AFGC 2018 Annual Conference & Expo January 18 Regional Ag Commodity Meeting February 20 Regional Tobacco Meeting March 3 Apple Orchard Field Day March 6- April 10 Master Haymaker Each Tuesday ON the WEB You can check out this Newsletter issue on the Fleming County Extension Service website Also, other current information and events can be found on the website, too. Like us on Facebook at If you have questions or comments, please me at april.wilhoit@uky.edu or call my cell at (606)

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4 Timely Tips Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Professor, University of Kentucky Spring-calving cow herd Extend grazing for as long as possible to decrease the amount of stored feed needed. Evaluate body condition of cows. Sort thin (less than CS5) cows away from the cow herd and feed to improve their condition. Two and three-year olds may need extra attention now. These cattle can use the extra grass that has accumulated in this exceptional growing season. Dry cows in good condition can utilize crop residues and lower quality hay now (but don t let them lose any more body condition). Save higher quality feed until calving time. Keep a good mineral supplement with vitamin A available. Culling decisions should be made prior to winter feeding for best use of feed resources. Consider open, poor-producing and aged cows as candidates for culling. A postweaning feeding period will allow you to put rapid, economical gains on weaned calves, keep them through the fall runs and allow you to participate in Kentucky CPH-45 sales. Consider this health and marketing program which is designed for producers which are doing a good job of producing high quality feeder calves. Replacement heifers require attention during the winter, too. Weaned heifer calves should gain at an adequate rate to attain their target breeding weight (2/3 of their mature weight) by May 1. Fall-calving herd Continue to watch fall-calving cows. Catch up on processing of calves including identification, castration and vaccinations. ows that have calved need to go to the best pastures now! Help them maintain body condition prior to eeding in December. Vaccinate the cows while they are open and prior to the breeding season. Move cows to accumulated pasture or increase feed now. Start the breeding season in late November or early December for calving to begin in September of If you are using AI and/or estrous synchronization, get your supplies together now. Don t forget Breeding Soundness Evaluations (BSE) on your bulls. Make final selection of replacement heifers now. General Have your hay supply analyzed for nutritive quality and estimate the amount of supplementation needed. Consider purchasing feed now. Take soil tests and make fertility adjustments (phosphate, potash and lime) to your pastures. This is a good time to freeze-brand bred yearling heifers and additions to the breeding herd. Graze alfalfa this month after a freeze-down (24 degrees for a few hours). Don t waste your feed resources. Avoid excessive mud in the feeding area. Hay feeding areas can be constructed by putting rock on geotextile fabric. Feed those large round bales in hay rings to avoid waste. Concrete feeding pads could be in your long range plans.

5 Discrimination Complaint Procedure - The Cooperative Extension Service prohibits discrimination in its programs and employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. To file a complaint of discrimination, contact Rosemary Veach, UK College of Agriculture, Lexington, KY or the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC Public Notification of Procedure For Filing A Complaint - Any person who believes they have been discriminated against in any Cooperative Extension Service sponsored activity or program may file a complaint with the Secretary of Agriculture by writing to: USDA Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W Whitten Bldg., 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC

6 She s Been A Good Un Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Professor, University of Kentucky I mentioned in last month s article that picking a time to cull cows could be tricky. It is usually a straightforward decision in cases of open cows, lame cows or those with bad dispositions. However, culling old cows that have been good ones and are still producing can be a difficult decision. Despite all the chatter from our critics, we are the ultimate animal welfare people! We want to treat animals humanely but still be economically responsible. So culling cows while they are still healthy and have value but before they suffer the ill effects of old age is a part of good management. Let s take the case of cow no. 311N (shown in the pictures) at the UKREC. She s 14 years old and never had a bad day. Her time is spent grazing in the morning then walking over to the shade and lying down to chew her cud. She has also raised a good calf every year since she was two years old. So we ve been good to her and she s been good for us. Cow 311N has a nice bull calf by her side this year but she s showing her age. She is losing body condition for the first time in her life and is walking with a stiff gait. It s time to make a decision about her future. A close look at her teeth (see picture) reveals that she has a smooth mouth (her teeth are worn off). Grazing anything but lush forage will be a challenge and going into the winter with a calf at side will not be easy. She s not moving well either. The last picture shows that she has corns and abnormal hoof growth. So she may become lame very soon. So what do we do? That s not an easy decision but I think that we will keep her until she can wean this calf put her in drylot and feed her if necessary. But we will not let her starve or die a slow death. You see; if we do this right, she will be culled while she is pain-free and still has value in the market place. And yes, she will be harvested as painlessly as possible, too. Some opponents of animal agriculture might think that we should just let them die a slow death and return to the earth (and our water supply). But I m kind of fond of 311N and don t want to see that happen. We are committed to doing things the right way and, although it isn t always easy, we should know better than anyone else about what s best for our cows. After all, we have provided for some of them for many years on family farms (not factory farms!). Knowing when to get rid of the bad ones is easy but knowing when to cull older cows that have been productive is a difficult decision. Sooner or later we have to decide about the best course of action. Here s to 311N and all of the good uns out there!.

7 Green is Good, Brown is Bad: Evaluating Pastures in the Fall For producers with cool season grass pastures, fall (especially after frost) is an excellent time to quickly evaluate the health and productivity of pastures. If green grasses dominate the pasture, it s likely that most of those are cool season grasses and they are growing with ideal temperatures and rainfall and good soil fertility. Brown pastures at this time are either dominated by warm season grasses, or they are cool season grasses starved of soil fertility or drought stressed. While managers can t make up for warm temperatures or poor rainfall, we can take steps to determine if pastures are deficient in soil nutrients or overrun by warm season grasses. Your local county extension agent or farm consultant can assist in identifying cool season and warm season grasses, as well as collecting soil samples. For those who want a more objective measurement of cover, there s a phone app! Developed at Oklahoma States University, Canopeo is a multipurpose green canopy cover measurement tool. Canopeo allows users to photograph a pasture close up and analyze the photograph for green and brown pixels. Green pixels show as white and are healthy, living material and likely productive, although green weeds will also be counted. Brown pixels are shown as black and represent bare soil, dead or dying material, dormant plants or a closely grazed pasture. According to the developers, pictures should contain more than 60% green material to graze. Pastures with less should be monitored closely and those with much less green (<40%) should not be grazed. While this app cannot replace a visual inspection by managers, it does provide a more objective measure of pasture health. Canopeo is a free app, available on both itunes and Google Play. Late fall (after frost) is a great time to visually evaluate the health and productivity of your cool season grass pastures. With cool season grasses (and legumes) active and warm season grasses dying or going dormant, color is a simple way to observe the overall composition of your pasture. Remember the phrase originally coined by Dr. A.J. Powell, Jr., (former Turf Specialist at the University of Kentucky), Green is Good, Brown is Bad. ~ Krista Lea and Tom Keene Photo:(Left) Cool season grasses and legumes are still active and green in early November. (Right) Canopeo detects nearly 99% green cover in the picture (green is shown as white).

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11 Hay Testing A Wise Investment Posted on December 1, 2017 by kyforagenews The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has an excellent hay and haylage testing program. The program has been improved and expanded. A toll free call to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Forage Testing Program will get quick results. A trained individual will come to your farm, take samples of your hay/haylage and get the test results back in a short period of time. The results can be used to accurately, efficiently and economically determine your feeding and supplementation program. The cost is $10.00 per lot. A lot of hay/haylage is hay/haylage taken from the same harvest, the same field, same type of harvest conditions, and with the same method of storage and same weather conditions during harvest. The testing program can also aid in marketing hay. When your hay is tested, you can list that hay for sale on the Department of Agriculture s computer hay listing service. There is no additional charge for the listing. If you want to buy hay, call the toll free number ( ) for a list of tested hay for sale in Kentucky.

12 NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID FLEMINGSBURG, KY PERMIT 20 Fleming County P.O. Box 192 Flemingsburg, KY RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED COST SHARE APPLICATION PERIOD IS DECEMBER 1-29, 2017, SEE ENCLOSED FOR MORE DETAILS! NEW THIS YEAR- YOUTH AGRICULTURE INCENTIVE PROGRAM FLEMING COUNTY AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES NEWS OUR OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED DECEMBER 25-JANUARY 1, 2018 IN OBSERVATION OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON. WE WILL RE-OPEN ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 2