Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, April 13
8am to 2pm
Corsicana Library Civic Room
This is the required 4 hour training that you must complete in order to obtain your private pesticide applicator license from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Cost: $40 for study manuals available in the Extension office, please pick up before the training to familiarize yourself with the material
RSVP by April 7th at 903-654-3075
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Friday, November 20, 2009
December 9, 2009
Fairfield Civic Center @ 839 East Commerce in Fairfield, TX
$35/person
8am – 1pm
5 CEU’s Offered !
(2 IPM, 2 General and 1 Laws & Regs)
TOPICS
- Aquatic Weed Control
- Forage Legume Management
- Weed Management in Pastures
- Insect Management in Pastures
- Reading Pesticide Labels
Call 903-654-3075 to RSVP by December 5, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
When it comes to making winter feeding decisions for the cow herd it is easy to get overwhelmed. The numbers can be mind numbing! When you look at prices, amounts, crude protein, nutrition requirements, days in the feeding period, cow size, desired daily gain, body condition score, etc they all start to run together and make your head hurt. Oklahoma State University, the land-grant agricultural institution in Oklahoma, has a computer based program that assists producers in summarizing the data, comparing options and making a decision. This program was recently highlighted at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Shortcourse in a powerpoint presentation that you can view (http://animalscience.tamu.edu/ansc/BCSC/BCSC09%20Nutrition%20Management%20Section.pdf).
According to the website: “OSU Cowculator is an excel program designed to assist cattlemen in making informed decisions associated with beef cow nutrition. Animal criteria (such as cow weight, body condition, stage of production and breed), as well as the feed and forage library can be customized to each operation or to specific scenarios within an operation. Animal requirements and performance predictions are based on years of research data, including the 1996 and previous versions of the National Research Council's Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle. Cowculator can be used as a decision making tool for individual operations and is especially useful as a teaching tool.”
The program is free to download onto your personal computer. You will need Microsoft Excel to operate it. It is very user friendly and allows you to compare different feeding options such as range cubes versus whole cottonseed versus cottonseed meal. When using make sure prices are in-line with local prices to ensure accurate cost analysis. You can download the program and a user handbook at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/cowculator/.Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I will be leading an online web-course covering Pasture Management starting November 2. This is a great opportunity to access technical training at the university level. The course has been developed by Texas A&M University and Texas AgriLife Extension Service Specialists. Topics will cover Nutritive Value and Quality, Stocking Rate, Hay Storage and Feeding and Forage Establishment. The cost is $50 and those interested can visit the Small Acreage Landowner Webcourse site at http://grovesite.com/page.asp?o=tamu&s=RI&p=227590.
Landowners can register for the courses at http://agrilifevents.tamu.edu/.
The course will be accessed (once you register) from http://campus.extension.org/. Other courses include: Resource Inventory, Beef Cattle Management, and Introduction to Enterprise Budgeting.
Questions? 903-654-3075 or jdscasta@ag.tamu.edu
Cattle and hay producers in Navarro County will want to mark October 29 on their calendars for the annual Fall Forage Workshop. The program will begin at 6pm and run until 8:30. Topics for the evening include: Dr. Larry Redmon, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Forage Specialist providing an update on pasture management and soil fertility; Kelly Cross, Fort Dodge Animal Health will then provide an update on Trichomoniasis management and how to integrate a vaccine into your program. We will also have updates on a pasture result demonstration and results from the Hay Testing Drive (which include forage analysis and supplemental feeding recommendations).
2 CEU’s will be offered in (1 General and 1 IPM) for producers with Texas Department of Agriculture Pesticide Applicator Licenses. Cost is $5 per person for a BBQ meal. Sponsors for the 2009 Hay Testing Drive and Fall Forage Workshop include: Ag Texas Farm Credit Services, Community National Bank, Forrest Green Polled Herefords, JPM Company, Kerens Grain and Elevator, Rosewood Ranches, Texas Land Bank, Vitters Tractor and Williams Gin and Grain. Please call 903-64-3075 to RSVP by October 26.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Each year brings about its own set of challenges and 2009 has been no different. A dry fall/winter, a late April freeze and sporadic rainfall have presented challenges to producing hay. However, one tool we can use year-in and year-out is testing our hay for quality. Knowing the quality of our hay will enable ranchers to make wise decisions in supplementing their livestock herds this winter. To address this issue the Navarro County Extension Livestock Committee will sponsor the Navarro County Hay Testing Drive and Fall Forage Seminar.
Any livestock producer in the county may submit up to two samples of any type of hay for a crude protein analysis at no charge. Additional samples may be submitted for analysis at a cost of $5.00 per sample for coastal or a legume or $10.00 for sudan, johnsongrass or cool season annuals. Sampling of the hay will be conducted by members of the Extension Livestock Forage subcommittee and sent to the Extension Forage Testing Laboratory in College Station for analysis. Samples will be received at the Precinct 1 County barn located at the intersection of W. Hwy 31 and FM 2555 on Thursday, October 1 from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon. Prior to October 1, samples may be left @ Williams Gin and Grain in Frost, the Kerens Grain and Elevator in Kerens or at JPM Co. in Dawson.
Samples may be submitted from any type of hay or bale. Samples should weigh at least 10-15 pounds whether taken from square bales, large round bales or other types of bales. Samples should be put in large plastic trash bags and tied. Each sample should include the following information: the producer name, sample identification number, mailing address, telephone number, type of hay and which cutting the sample is from. The forms which may be used for your entries are on the back of this letter.
Results of the crude protein analysis and feed value will be on display at the Fall Forage Seminar on Tuesday, October 29, 2009. Speakers and topics for the program will include Dr. Larry Redmon, Texas AgriLife Research Scientist to discuss Nutrient Availability and the Economics of Grazing and Haying Systems and a speaker representing Fort Dodge Animal Health to discuss their Trichomoniasis vaccine. Additional information will be provided on results from a pasture shredding and renovating/harrowing demonstration.
The program will be held in the Fannie Mae Vernon Room of the Navarro County Expo Center beginning at 6:00 p.m. with a chili supper and 2 CEU’s will be offered. This is an excellent opportunity to get your hay tested and design your supplemental feeding system. Please RSVP at 903-654-3075 by Oct 21 so arrangements for meal and seating can be made.
Contact me at 903-654-3075 or jdscasta@ag.tamu.edu.
Friday, May 29, 2009

Many producers in the county are cutting, raking and baling hay right now. The good spring we have experienced has provided a decent hay crop. It does seem however as if our forages have struggled some due to the hard fall and winter in terms of root storage and recovery and hay yields are a bit lower in terms of biomass than expected. All in all though the hay crop is coming along okay. Now with hay being such a precious and expensive commodity to produce it is important to consider how you will store it in order to minimize losses. A recent University of Tennessee trial compared different methods of storing large round bales of grass hay. The hay was cut and baled in June in Moore County, TN. Bales were weighed at the time of harvest and storage and then weighed again the following January at the time of winter feeding. The following results show the type of storage method used and the percentage hay loss.
- On Ground, No Cover - 37% loss
- On Tires, No Cover - 29% loss
- On Ground, Covered - 29% loss
- Net Wrap, On Ground - 19% loss
- On Tires, Covered - 8% loss
- In Barn - 6% loss
When looking at these percentages lets put them into a little better perspective: 37% loss on a 1,000 pound bale is 370 pounds versus 6% loss which is 60 pounds. That is very significant. Lossess can be significant depending on the type of storage. This information also indicates that storage losses occur from moisture getting into both the top AND bottom of the bales. If hay can't be stored in a barn, the next best option it to at least get the hay off the ground and under a tarp or plastic cover. So as you start to store hay this spring and summer think about storage options and protect your hay investment.
