Navarro County Pecan Grading Demonstration & Conference

Corsicana Library Conference Room
December 2, 2009 - 1pm to 3pm
2 CEU’s (1 IPM and 1 General)

Participants will learn how to grade pecans for sale based upon the standards by which buyers set the price on marketable pecans.

RULES
Who is Eligible: Commercial growers, orchard managers and homeowners

Entry Limit: Limit one entry per variety per participant. Enter as many varieties, seedlings, known hybrids or natives and smallest native as desired. The exhibitor must be the grower. Sample entries from one orchard cannot be entered in two county shows. Pecans should be from Navarro County or adjoining counties which do not have a show.

Entry Size: A minimum of 40 pecans, preferred 42, are necessary for each entry. Sample of 40 should represent the variety and be uniform in size and shell color. * Mixed samples (more than one variety in an entry) will be disqualified.

Selecting Your Entry: The growers may wish to select the heaviest pecans by weighing individual nuts. A varietal entry may be composed of nuts from more than one tree. For example, if the grower has ten Choctaw trees, each tree could contribute nuts to the grower’s one Choctaw entry. Nuts should be without insect and disease damage. The pecans should be free of dust, dirt and shuck remnants. They should not be rubbed to the extent that shape or color is altered. Avoid discolored shells and kernels. This problem may result from peeling pecans from the shucks too early. Pecans exhibited must be from the 2009 crop. Name, Address and Variety should be included with each entry.

Deadline: By Monday, November 30, 5pm to Navarro County Extension office or to Corsicana Public Library on Tuesday by 8:30 am on December 1, 2009

Awards: Ribbons will be awarded at 1 pm on December 2 to the first three entries in each variety. Champions will be named in the Commercial, Classic and Native divisions. Entries and results of the Pecan Grading demonstration will be on display for public viewing on Tuesday, December 2.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AND CEU’S: Following the 1 pm results on December 2, two educational programs will be offered. Dr. Tommy Thompson, USDA Pecan Breeding Specialist will provide a discussion on variety selection, quality and management. Dr. Allen Knutson, Texas AgriLife Extension Entomologist will then provide an update on pest management options for the home and commercial producer.

Technology Tip: Oklahoma State University – Cowculator v2.0

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/.

Online Pasture Management Web-Course Starts November 2nd

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

Fall Forage Workshop Set for October 29 at Fannie Mae Vernon Room

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.

Navarro County Hay Testing Drive Set for October 1st

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.

Grazing Management and Stockmanship Workshop Set for September 25 in Corsicana, TX

When it comes to beef cattle production, reducing animal stress can increase animal performance and the profitability of an operation. With that in mind, a Grazing Management and Stockmanship Workshop will be held in Corsicana at the Navarro County Exposition Center on Friday, September 25. The program will start at 8:30 am and run until 3:30 pm and cost is $10 per person to cover the steak lunch and materials. If you are a ranch owner or manager, day worker, horse owner or have any interest in working cattle and beef production you will want to make plans to attend this program.

Presenters and topics for the day include the following: Dr. Dennis Sigler, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Equine Specialist, will kick the program off by discussing grazing strategies and impacts of horses and the unique nutritional needs of horses. Mark Moseley, Texas State Grazing Land Conservation Initiative Coordinator and Range Management Specialist with USDA-NRCS, will then cover grazing management for beef cattle operations. Stacy Fox, Members Program Managers for Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, will then discuss Trichomoniasis in Texas and regulations that producers need to be aware of. This is a timely issue as this bovine disease may be more prevalent in the state of Texas than previously thought and compliance will be critical. At 11:15am, the program will then break for a Trade Show and a steak lunch cooked by Third Avenue Meat Market - Corsicana.

Following lunch, the program will move to the enclosed livestock arena and receive hands-on instruction from Curt Pate and Dr. Ron Gill on effective stockmanship and low stress cattle handling. Curt Pate is a stockmanship instructor, lifelong rancher and was selected three years in a row as the AQHA Clinician of the year. Dr. Ron Gill serves as a Livestock Specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service and is a lifelong cattleman. Demonstrations will be conducted horseback using live cattle. Wrapping up the day we will have a chute side demonstration and focus on tips and methods to reduce stress when working cattle through a chute and headgate.

Sponsors for the program include: Texas AgriLife Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resource Conservation Service, Texas State Grazing Land Conservation Initiative, Blackland Prairie GLCI, Central Texas Quarter Horse Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers, Bluebonnet RC&D and Leon-Bosque RC&D, Purina, Midcontinent Livestock Supplements, Miraco, Merial, Tru-Test, Priefert, AQHA, Livestock Marketing Association, National Cattleman’s Beef Association and the Beef Checkoff. If you are interested please RSVP by 9/21 at 903-654-3075 or jdscasta@ag.tamu.edu. For the full flier, information about presenters and map/directions to the facility go to http://navarro-tx.tamu.edu -> "Grazing & Stockmanship Workshop". More information about Curt Pate and Ron Gill is also available at www.effectivestockmanship.com.

Quail Restoration Workshop Set for September 4th

Have you ever wondered what happened to quail in Texas? It seems like not to long ago there were bobwhite quail all over the central part of the state. What happened and what can we do to improve the current situation? On Friday, September 4 we will discuss just that at a Quail Restoration Workshop held in Navarro County. The program will be located at the Shadow Mountain Ranch, southwest of Blooming Grove, TX. Starting at 8:30 we will hear from the President of the Western Navarro Bobwhite Restoration Initiative or WNBRI, Jimmy Stewart and Sharron Lane, owner of Shadow Mountain Ranch and WNBRI cooperator. Jim Willis from the WW Ranch in southeast Texas will shed some light on his restoration efforts and then Dr. Dale Rollins, Extension Wildlife Specialist from San Angelo, will talk about the demise of quail and quail biology. Sara Robinson from Audubon Society will discuss the Quail and Grassland Bird Iniative, Jay Whiteside with TPWD and WNBRI Advisor will highlight the WNBRI program. Derek Scasta, Navarro County Extension Agent for Agriculture will then discuss Brush Sculpting and we will view a brush sculpting project on the ranch. Then the group will head to a range restoration sight where cropland was converted to native prairie. Jay Whiteside will discuss Rangeland Planting Techniques and plant ID. Finally, Jeff Goodwin, USDA-NRCS Range Management Specialist, will highlight Grazing management to optimize bobwhite habitat. This looks to be a tip-top program that you will not want to miss. To RSVP and reserve your spot and your meal call 903-654-3075 by September 1st. For the flier log on to http://navarro-tx.tamu.edu –>Publications –> Events –> Quail Restoration Workshop.