Newsletter February 2009
Center of Kentucky Master Grazer Program
► Sessions begin at 5:30 pm CT at the following locations: ● February 5 – Taylor County Extension Office ● February 26 – Green County Extension Office ● March 26 – Adair County (Barney Janes’ Farm) ● April 16 – To be Announced ► $40.00 Registration fee includes session materials and meals. ► Topics include: ● Growth of Grasses & Legumes & Their Response to Grazing ● Decision Aids for Grazing ● Getting the Most Out of the Grazing Season ● Managing Grazing Systems for Maximum Grazing Season ● Parasite Control & Rotation Grazing ● Minerals for Grazing Livestock ● Animal Disorders on Pasture ● Meeting Nutritional Needs of Livestock on Pasture ● Movement of Livestock ● Demo Farm Field Day at Barney Janes’ Farm ● Water & Fencing Sytems ● Weed Control ● Farm Layout
Cooperative Extension Service Adair County 409 Fairground Street P.O. Box 309 Columbia KY 42728 (270) 384-2317 Fax: (270) 384-9167 www.ca.uky.edu/ces/adair
Pesticide Trainings
Monday – February 2 Tuesday – February 10 2:00 pm 6:00 pm
You are invited to attend one of the above Pesticide Training meetings. All meetings will be held at the Adair County Extension Office in Columbia. By law you are required to attend a pesticide session to receive a restricted use card or to have your card renewed. EPA Worker Protection Standards require that all farm workers be trained in pesticide safety and you are required by law to ensure that your workers have been trained in safety issues pertaining to pesticide safety. Remember that pesticide safety foes far beyond just application. The easiest way to train your workers is to have them attend the pesticide training course with you. If you employ any migrant employees who are not fluent in English, we do provide Pesticide Safety Sessions using a DVD in Spanish. Those sessions are arranged as needed.
CENTER OF KENTUCKY
DAIRY SHORT COURSE
■ Sessions begin at 10:00 am CT at the following locations: ▪ February 12 – Adair County Extension Office ▪ February 24 – Taylor County Extension Office ▪ March 2 – Green County Extension Office ■ $30.00 Registration fee includes session materials and meals. ■ Topics include: ▪ Technology on Dairy Operations & Calf Management ▪ Exploring Your Ration ▪ Economics of Leasing vs Owning vs Custom Hire of Machinery For registration or information any of the educational meetings, call the Adair County Extension Office at 270-384-2317 or email nick.roy@uky.edu
Nick Roy County Extension Agent For Agriculture & Natural Resources
Get Ready for Buttercup in Pastures!
By: Nick Roy
We can all remember the yellow blooms that filled pasture fields last spring. Chances are good that if you had buttercup problems in your field last year, they will be back to haunt you again this spring. This attractive ‘wildflower’ possesses several weedy characteristics that make it difficult to control in pastures. Buttercup populations are greater in low areas of fields that tend to remain wet for a long period and in pastures with poor stands of grass. Overgrazing the forage usually increases the buttercup population. Buttercups have a relatively low potential for poisoning livestock. All above ground plant parts may contain the toxin and the primary signs of toxicity are oral or gastrointestinal irritation. Buttercups pose no threat if harvested in hay since the drying process eliminates the toxic agent. Typically, buttercups are not palatable and grazing animals rarely consume them if other forage is available. Pasture management
techniques that promote growth of the pasture grasses will provide competition with the buttercups and inhibit their growth. These practices include proper soil fertility and pH, avoidance of overgrazing, timely mowing, and timely herbicide treatments. Herbicides may be applied from mid-February to late March before Buttercup flowering. Any day in that range when temperatures are above 50 degrees F and there is no wind will be suitable. Start scouting fields now to determine if buttercup exists in your fields. Treatments made after flowering will not prevent seed formation and will likely require additional applications. Below is a summary of a study performed by UK Specialists on the effectiveness of several herbicides. Follow label directions for spray coverage and addition of surfactants. All chemicals listed below are toxic to Red Clover and will diminish or greatly reduce Red Clover populations. Use of trade names does not imply endorsement of products. For more information, contact me at 3842317. Pictures by Virginia Tech
Cold Snap Changes Cow Energy Requirements
By: Tyler Melroe, Extension Educator, South Dakota I guess it really is winter now. Maybe it was the late corn harvest or a lot of the other fall projects that still haven't been completed, but it seems like it came too quick. As the temperature drops it is important that we realize the change in nutrient requirements for our beef cattle, principally when temperature drops below the average cow's critical temperature around 32° F. When it comes to heat production and retention, cows are a lot like our houses. One obvious factor is the size, or more specifically the surface area of the object. The more total area exposed to cold conditions the greater the area available for heat loss. Next are the insulation factors. Cattle have two primary types of insulation they depend on for heat retention and cold evasion. The first is external insulation, or hair coat. Hair's effectiveness is dependent on wind speed, precipitation, mud, and hide thickness. After that is internal or tissue insulation, and this primarily relates to subcutaneous (back)fat. Consequently, a manager must decide how to manage these factors which affect the cow's predisposition to cold stress. Management will focus on two primary areas; 1) insulation and 2) nutrient input (feed).
Insulation: * Thin cows will be more susceptible to cold; consequently cows with body condition scores less than 5 are the primary candidates for supplementation. * Manage the hide. Keep cows dry and out of the wind by placing cows where there is shelter and provide bedding to keep cows as dry as possible. Minimizing wind and moisture can save up to 20% on maintenance requirements for cattle. Nutrient Input (Feed): * A good rule of thumb is that for each degree below the cow's critical temperature, increase energy by 1%. This can be accomplished by offering additional moderate to high quality roughage during cold spells, either free choice or in total mixed rations. If this quality hay is not available consider supplementing grain to compensate for energy deficiency. * Because diets are primarily fiber-based, corn supplementation should be limited to 0.25% of body weight, or 3.5 pounds for a 1400 pound cow, to avoid negative associative effects on fiber digestion. High fiber alternative feeds like distiller's grains (when protein is needed) or beat pulp (when protein is sufficient) work well in this scenario. * Grazing cows exposed to cold early in the season often reduce forage intake, consequently supplementation may be a necessity, even if it is troublesome. * As cows approach calving, it is important to meet the additional nutrient demands of late gestation.
Stop by the Extension Office to pick up any of the following:
√ Farmer’s Tax Guide √ Farm Record Books ($5.00 each) √ Beef IRM Calendar √ AGR-6 Weed Control for Grain Crops √ AEN-95 GPS Changes: How to be Prepared’ √ AEN-94 Saving Fuel in the Field √ AEN-93 Proper Ballast and Tire Inflation
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