Agriculture : News
DATE: May 17, 2010
HARDIN COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
201 Peterson Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701-9370
BY: Doug Shepherd
County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Workshop on tapping into demand potential for local forage-finished beef:
Beef producers watching the growing demand by consumers for locally produced products might be considering a shift away from traditional methods of production and marketing. A University of Kentucky two-part workshop will help them analyze their operations and explore the financial potential for locally finished beef. Farmers will be able to make a decision about whether they want to go to a completely pasture-based system or if they want to do a grain-on-grass supplemental system; there are pros and cons to both those, and there are risks, different costs and different product quality.
The workshop, which is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Education Program, will be held at the Muhlenberg County Extension Office on June 2 and 3, from 10:00 AM till 3 PM Central Time. The sessions are geared toward farmers with experience in cattle, grazing and interested in exploring the locally produced beef alternative.
The first day’s session will include discussions about pasture management, production costs, production systems, cattle breeds, marketing systems, market outlets and butchering and processing. Participants who decide to take the next step toward a locally finished product should attend the second session. The second’s day will be a lot more hands-on, participants will be laying out alternative systems, and they can match up the resources on their farms with what they’ve learned about production systems.
The workshop will be taught by members of the UK College of Agriculture and Cooperative Extension staff including Extension Ag Economists, Lee Meyer and Greg Halich, Extension Meat Specialist Gregg Rentfrow, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist Jeff Lehmkuhler and Sarah Lovett, Extension Associate in Ag Economics.
To register for the workshop sessions, contact Sarah Lovett at 859-257- 7272, ext. 281 or sarah.lovett@uky.edu or the Muhlenberg County Extension office (270) 338-3124 email: DL_CES_MUHLENBERG@EMAIL.UKY.EDU. Cost per session is $10 and lunch is included.
Thistle Spraying Program:
Although it’s getting fairly late to be making spray applications to control thistles, the
Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) is still providing their thistle spraying program to interested landowners in Hardin County but the deadline for applying is fast approaching. KDA
will provide the herbicide and a sprayer to spray up to 10 acres. Participating producers must have a water source and tractor to pull the spray rig. An additional 10 acres may be sprayed, but the producer is responsible for the cost of the herbicide.
If you are interested in participating in this thistle spraying program this spring you need to contact the Hardin County Extension Office, 270 765-4121 no later than this Friday, May 21. KDA has already sprayed some fields in the county this spring, and this will be the second round of thistle weed control which should take place soon after the deadline for applying.
Tobacco Disease Update:
According to Kenny Seabold, UK Extension Tobacco Plant Pathologist, target spot in
tobacco float beds has increased dramatically the past couple of weeks. Recent weather conditions have been favorable for Rhizoctonia damping-off, target spot and collar rot. Damping-off is a minor issue now, but target spot is starting to become severe. The big question in front of us is what to do about the problem. The root of the target spot / damping-off outbreak probably goes back to inoculum that has carried over in old trays. Tray sanitation or replacement will only help with next year’s crop, but won’t make any difference at this point. For the current situation, we need to think about these things:
As much as is practical, every effort should be made to keep plants as dry as possible. This is a challenge in rainy weather, but growers should use ventilation to their advantage, even checking water levels in beds to make sure the tops of trays are even or slightly above sideboards to maximize airflow.
Regular clipping is a must. Keep plants clipped to improve ventilation, making sure that debris is not allowed to build up in trays. The latter will contribute to problems with collar rot and blackleg later if it occurs. It’s also desirable to clip when plants are as dry as possible, and this will be a challenge at the moment.
Keep a close watch of fertility. If nitrogen drops much below 75ppm, you can count on target spot becoming aggressive. We’ll see this disease in properly-fertilized beds, but it’s way worse when N is low. Lots of folks drop N as they get ready to go to the field or if they have to hold plants (very likely in the coming days). In these cases, we just have to recognize the disease potential and make sure we are managing the greenhouse based on elevated disease risk.
Use Dithane DF/Manzate ProStick/Penncozeb DF. Apply one of these products at least weekly, if not every 5 days while the weather stays like it is. Use 0.5 lbs of product per 100 gallons of spray solution (1 teaspoon per gallon) and spray 1000 square feet of bed with between 5-7 gallons of mix. Use a medium droplet size to get leaf coverage and also rundown to stems and growth media. This last part is aimed mostly at damping-off. Given the level of disease, this will likely suppress the problem at best but will help until better weather comes along. The importance of routine fungicide sprays at this point in the season can’t be over-stressed – not just for target spot, but also for protection against blue mold. We don’t have blue mold right now, but having Dithane in place would be a major advantage if we do see it down the road, and the weather right now is perfect for blue mold.
We were able to use Quadris under a 24C label last year; however, the current product label prohibits use of this fungicide on tobacco transplants. They are attempting to get the label renewed, and will keep you posted about the status.
On a positive note, apart from losses to damping-off, we shouldn’t see a lot of plants killed from target spot. However, severely affected plants could take some time to recover, and there’s always the risk of carrying disease to the field. This means increased risk of target spot later in the growing season. I’d seriously think about at least one shot of Quadris at layby where target spot-affected plants were set.
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