1

Cooperative

Extension Service Bullitt County

384 Halls Lane

Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6263

(502)543-2257

Fax: (502)543-6940

http://ces.ca.uky.edu/bullitt/

http://www.ca.uky.edu/ces

September 2015

County Extension Agent for

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Table of Contents

Page 2—Cattle

Page 3—Pokeweed

Page 4— Pigs and Weeds

Page 5— Young Farmers

Page 6—U of K Research

Page 7— B.C. Cattlemen

Page 8-9—Woodland Recreation

Page 10— Fall and Winter Pasture

Page 11— Outlook Conference

Page 12—Hemp

Page 13—Fall Webworm Control

Page 14—Fall Weed Control

Page 16—Ft. Knox and New Agent

Page 17—18 Land Judging

Page 19—Ham Breakfast

Page 20-21—HEEL

Silage Harvest at the Young and Robards Farm

2

September

Review Weekly

Kentucky Department of Agriculture Grain

and Marketing Reports.

Record average price for class and weight

important to your operation.

Spring Caving Herd

Preweaning working

Consult your veterinarian on the merits of

a preweaning working of the herd which

may include:

Vaccinating calves for:

IBR-P13-BVD-BRSV

Mannheimia hemolytia (pneumonia)

Clostridial diseases (blackleg)

Brucellosis for heifer calves, if will be

exporting out of state.

Pregnancy examination of the cows

Make final selection of replacement heifers

after pregnancy checking. Consider

permanent identification, such as freeze-

branding, for heifers which are selected as

herd replacement.

Blood test of cows for herd certification

Treatment of cows for grubs and lice

Deworming if retaining calves more than

30 days

Creep feeding may give extra gain and

prepare calves for eating dry feed at

weaning.

Plan your calf marketing program.

Alternatives include CPH-45 sales (check

local sale for specific requirements and

dates), weekly auction markets, private

treaty sales to dealers or feeders,

backgrounding the calves yourself, or

retaining ownership through the feedlot.

Fall Calving Herd

Calving season begins

Cows should be moved to clean, accessible

pasture for calving.

Move cows with calves to best quality fall

pasture after calving. If you apply

nitrogen to a fescue pasture this month,

accumulated fescue should be available to

these cow-calf pairs in November-

December when their nutrition needs are

great.

Identify calf with ear tag and/or tattoo

while calves are young and easy to handle

and record dam ID and birthdate.

Commercial male calves should be

castrated and implanted according to

product recommendations. Castration and

dehorning are less stressful when

performed on young animals.

Registered calves should be weighed

during the first 24 hours.

Schedule A.I. technicians if applicable.

Environment Monitor ponds, streams, and riparian areas

throughout grazing season to assess cattle

impact

Ensure access to shade for very hot and

humid days. Consider installing portable

shades if natural shade is not available.

Ensure access to clean/cool water, limit

access to streams/ponds, and consider

portable or permanent water system.

Forages Continue taking soil samples for perennial

crops and apply fertilizer as needed.

Plant perennial grasses at optimal rate,

date, and depth.

Harvest hay as needed.

Harvest alfalfa by mid-September.

Continue harvest of corn silage. Source: 2015 Beef Integrated Resource Management Calendar

3

Pokeweed

Pokeweed prefers rich,

moist soil and cultivated land.

Its habitat includes barnyards,

open woods and thickets,

waste areas, and recently

disturbed ground. It grows

along creek banks, pond

margins, ditches, roadsides,

and fencerows.

Mature pokeweed contains a poisonous

chemical compound called phytolaccatoxin.

One of the ingredients that makes this

compound so toxic is saponin, a soaplike

substance found in some poisonous plants,

including foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), com

cockle (Agrostemma githago), bitterweed

(Actinea odorata), and bouncing Bet

(Saponaria officinalis). Pregnant cows have

been known to miscarry from eating the

mature leaves and stems of pokeweed.

Generally speaking, though, livestock are

rarely tempted to eat these extremely bitter

top parts. The roots are the most toxic part of

the plant, and pigs have been poisoned after

digging them up and eating them.

Symptoms of poisoning begin right after

eating. The first symptom is a burning feeling

in the stomach, followed within two hours by

vomiting, diarrhea, and gastroenteritis

(inflammation of the lining of the stomach

and intestines). As the toxin enters the

bloodstream and central nervous system, more

general symptoms appear, including

salivation, sweating, vision disturbances,

weak pulse, and shallow breathing. Death

results when the narcotic effect of the toxin

paralyzes the respiratory system. Autopsy

reveals severe liver damage and bleeding and

ulceration of the stomach and intestines.

A veterinarian may recommend an antidote

for livestock known to have eaten pokeweed.

The treatment may include a stimulant for the

respiratory system, as well as a sedative for

the digestive and nervous systems. Dilute

tannic acid is sometimes administered.

Wild birds find the large juicy berries of

pokeweed a good source of food. Species

whose diets rely heavily on the berries include

mourning doves, bluebirds, catbirds, and

mockingbirds. Opossums and raccoons also

eat the fruit.

Pesticides made from pokeweed may be

used to discourage snails in vegetable crops

and to control parasitic diseases spread by

snails.

Like many poisonous substances,

pokeweed extract can be medicinally

beneficial in small quantities. Early

Americans treated rheumatism, ulcers, and

parasitic skin disorders with juice from the

roots. The berries were used to treat tremors,

hemorrhoids, and constipation.

Control

Grassland that is badly infested with

pokeweed may be plowed up and planted in a

cultivated crop for two years, if the soil type

and topography allow. If plowing is not

possible, plants can be destroyed by being

chopped off below the root crown. Pokeweed

is susceptible to many of the herbicides

commonly used to control broadleaved weeds.

Pokeweed has a perennial root system.

Therefore, a systemic herbicide, which

reaches the roots, will be more effective than a

contact herbicide, which merely burns off the

upper part of the plant. Systemic herbicides

should be applied to the leaves in late

summer, when the plant is mature, actively

growing, and translocating nutrients to the

roots for winter storage.

Taken from article prepared by Betsy Ann Wertz,

agricultural writer, Penn State College of Agriculture.

Weed Identification 22

4

UF/IFAS Researchers Use Pigs to Root

Out Problem Weeds

Sometimes, the old-fashioned

ways are the best ways.

Back before chemical pesticides and

herbicides, farmers had to come up with ways

to kill the weeds that took over their fields.

One method used “back in the day” was

letting pigs loose in fields that were not being

used for crops for a season and allowing the

pigs to do what they do naturally: dig up the

roots of weeds and fertilize the land.

In the last year, Greg MacDonald, a weed

science researcher with the University of

Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural

Sciences, decided to give the method a try to

combat nutsedge, a weed that looks like grass

and is so resilient it can sprout up through

plastic row-crop coverings and even the

plastic lining of above-ground pools.

“It forms huge numbers of tubers per

plant and comes back year after year,”

MacDonald said. MacDonald built pens and

brought in domesticated pigs.

“Old-timers were practicing these

methods, but nobody’s ever done any research

on it,” says Dr. Daniel Colvin, the director of

the Plant Science Research and Education

Unit in Citra , recalling the farmers he knew

as a boy using the pigs after the summer

peanut crop had been picked. “You’d come in

the next year and have almost no weeds.”

In addition to feeding them regular swine

feed, the pigs were allowed to root up the

tubers in fields that had been heavily infested

with this major weed.

“In the last year, they reduced the nutsedge

by 48 percent,” MacDonald said.

He could calculate the reduction by pulling

multiple soil samples throughout the field,

counting the number of tubers in the sample

before they moved in the pigs and then three

months later.

This method of weed control could be used

in organic farms, he said. And while he did

not test for fertilizer levels in the soil,

MacDonald said it is certainly an added

benefit.

Source: IFAS News by Kimberly Moore Wilmoth

Photo Caption: Professor of Agronomy and Weed Science

Greg MacDonald with his pigs. UF/IFAS

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August 4

Young Farmers

6

UKAg Research Hopes to Create More

Environmentally Friendly Lawns

Researchers in the University of

Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and

Environment are looking for ways for home

lawns to give Mother Nature a helping hand.

Gregg Munshaw, UK turf extension

specialist, and Dan Potter, UK entomology

professor, are studying the benefits of white

clover as a habitat for pollinators and as a way

to reduce nitrogen fertilizer applications.

In the project about increasing pollinator

habitats, they are looking at three different

smaller varieties of white clover to see which

attracts the most pollinators. Their research

plots consist of only white clover, only turf

and a mixture of turf and clover.

“Our goal is to eventually attract

pollinators to the entire yard, rather than just

to flower beds,” Munshaw said. “We think

these clovers will be more popular with

people who want to help improve bee habitat

while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing

yard.”

Recent studies from Potter’s lab have

found that white clover in lawns is an

important urban habitat for pollinators.

“Dozens of bee species, including several

rare and declining bumble bee species, were

documented visiting naturally occurring white

clover in low-input yards in Central

Kentucky,” Potter said. “Even a small patch of

clover in a backyard helps sustain beneficial

urban bees that are responsible for pollinating

our ornamental plants and home and

community gardens.”

The researchers will survey the test plots

for bees and compare their findings of bee

populations and species diversity with those

found on the more commonly occurring larger

white clover yards and the pollinators that

visit only grass plots. They will also sample

the soil of the small white clover test plots for

common lawn pests, such as white grubs. If

the smaller varieties of white clover prove to

be more resistant to the insects than other

lawns, it could help reduce the needs for lawn

pesticides.

In a recent separate study, Munshaw

looked at the influences planting date and

planting method had on establishing the

traditional-sized and the smaller white clover

into typical cool-season lawns comprised of

Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue. By adding

white clover, a nitrogen-fixing legume, to

established cool-season lawns, it would help

reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer the

lawn needs without doing an entire turf

renovation. Nitrogen fertilizer is a contributor

of nonpoint source pollution of groundwater

and natural water bodies.

He found that homeowners could

successfully establish both clover varieties in

a mature stand of cool-season grass during the

spring and summer with commonly available

equipment. However, the best white clover

establishment occurred in cool-season lawns

that were scalped or closely mowed before

sowing the clover. This treatment was the only

one that would result in a high enough

population of white clover to reduce the need

for home lawn nitrogen applications.

Writer: Katie Pratt

UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment through

its land-grant mission, reaches across the commonwealth with

teaching, research and extension to enhance the lives of

Kentuckians.

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August 11

Bullitt County Cattlemen

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9

10

Fall and Winter Pasture Management

Summer is winding down and now is the

time to consider what you can do to maximize

forage yields and quality and reduce weed

control problems this fall and next spring.

Management of fertility, seeding, grazing and

weeds will provide quality, healthy pasture.

Fall is a good time for an application of

fertilizer to enhance fall and spring growth.

This will also help pasture plants put on the

needed leaf and root growth in order to

produce high quality fall, winter and spring

feeding. It is important to have your soil tested

before adding any amendments.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur

and lime, can be added in the fall. Fall rains

and winter snows will help to move

broadcasted nutrients into the soil. When there

is a potential for surface water runoff, such as

on hillside or severely compacted pastures,

broadcast applications of any nutrient have the

potential for causing surface water

contamination. Extreme care must be

exercised as to when and how applications are

made.

Overseeding of pastures is an excellent

management tool that improves pasture

production, forage quality, and ensures a good

ground cover the following year without major

pasture renovations. Overseeding consists of

planting seed in a field with existing grass

cover in order to fill in bare patches and

thicken the stand. It can be done over the

entire pasture or limited to trouble areas. The

best time for overseeding is the fall when

weed competition is low and ideal growing

conditions exist for cool-season grasses.

Controlling competition from weeds is an

important step in overseeding. While

herbicides are an effective way of controlling

weeds, spraying may also hinder young

seedlings, resulting in a failed establishment.

Carefully check the label for the recommended

waiting period before seeding. In general,

weeds are less aggressive in the fall, making it

the best time to overseed. Usually, close

mowing or grazing can help seedlings

establish.

Fall is also the time to map out and flag

weed problems for control next spring. Most

of the important broadleaf weeds start out as

small rosettes in the spring, which is when

they are most easily controlled, either by

herbicides or by hand.

The rule of thumb for grazing is to take

half and leave half. In other words do not

graze below three inches in height in order to

not damage pasture plants. Excessive grazing

in the winter makes pasture plants more

vulnerable to winter damage, disease and

reduces spring re-growth. Overgrazing also

compacts soil. Allowing livestock onto wet

pastures can cut roots and crush plants and

open up spaces for weeds to become

established.

Now that you know not to keep your

animals out on your pastures when the soils

are wet, you need to know how much hay you

need to have on hand to keep your animals

healthy. Cows and horses need 800 to 1000 lbs

of forage a month, per 1000 lbs of body

weight. Sheep and goats need 200 lbs of

forage a month. Ten percent should be added

to account for waste.

Taken from article written by Brian Tuck– OSU

Overseeding information from article written by Ray Smith –

UK AG Master Grazer

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August 13

Midwest, Great

Plains and Western

Outlook

12

Federal Measure to Allow Processing,

Transporting of Legal Industrial Hemp

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch

McConnell secured a provision in the Senate

Agriculture Appropriations bill to allow the

processing of legally grown industrial hemp.

The language would help farmers to transport

legal industrial hemp between states so the

crop can be developed for commercial

purposes.

“Kentucky’s industrial hemp pilot

programs continue to prosper and I want to

make sure our legal hemp producers can

safely transport their crops between states,

including to states that maintain processing

facilities, so they can fully capitalize on the

commercial potential for this commodity,”

said McConnell.

“This latest language reemphasizes that

industrial hemp from a farm bill research

program is an agricultural commodity. The

ability of Kentucky to research the full

potential of industrial hemp through

processing, marketing, and sales is vital to

understanding the future possibilities for

industrial hemp. Kentucky’s agriculture

community continues to be indebted to

Senator McConnell for his continued

leadership on industrial hemp,” said Kentucky

Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer.

In June, McConnell worked with Senators

Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Jon Tester (D-MT)

to secure language in the Senate Commerce,

Justice, and Science Appropriations bill to

ensure that legal industrial hemp pilot

programs, like those in Kentucky, can

continue without federal disruption.

These latest hemp provisions build upon

McConnell’s work in last year’s Farm Bill,

which gave state agricultural commissioners

and universities the federal

authority to cultivate industrial

hemp for pilot programs.

"The ability of Kentucky to research the full potential of industrial hemp through processing, marketing, and sales is vital to understanding the future possibilities for industrial hemp,” said Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer. University of Kentucky

13

Fall Webworm

The fall webworm is a pest that is

distributed throughout most of the United

States and Canada. It will feed on almost all

shade, fruit and ornamental trees except for

evergreens. In Kentucky some of the preferred

trees include American elm, maples, hickory,

and sweetgum.

The fall webworm differs from the eastern

tent caterpillar and the forest tent caterpillar in

that fall webworms always place their tent on

the end of branches and there is usually more

than one generation each year.

The fall webworm caterpillar is about one

inch long, is very hairy and is pale green or

yellow. They may have either a red or black

head. The blackheaded larvae have black spots

along the back while the redheaded have

orange to reddish spots. The blackheaded

larvae will create a flimsy web while the

redheaded larvae make a larger, more dense

web.

The caterpillars overwinter as pupae in

cocoons that are hidden either in the bark of

trees or in the soil. The moths emerge from

mid-March to mid-late April. They are satin

white with brown wing spots.

After mating, the female moth lays her

eggs on the underside of leaves in masses of

200-500 eggs. In most years, the moths of the

blackheaded webworms will lay their eggs

about a month before the moths of the

redheaded webworms.

The first generation of caterpillars start to

feed sometime in mid-spring to early summer.

After feeding, they pupate in the soil and a

second generation of webworms will be

observed during August or September. The

second generation of webworms usually

causes more defoliation than the first

generation.

Control

Control of all three of these pests is

essentially the same. Destroying the tents,

especially when the tents are small, is an

effective way of getting rid of the caterpillars.

The best time to do this is around dusk or

early morning when the larvae are in the tent.

Burning the tents should be avoided because

the fire and intense heat may damage the tree.

On smaller trees, egg masses may be pruned

off and destroyed. For larger trees or trees that

have several nests, a spray may be needed.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and a number of

chemical insecticides are effective against

these caterpillars. If an insecticide application

is made, it should be made when the larvae are

small and easiest to control, not when they are

full grown and have already done their

damage. The insecticide should be applied in

the evening or early morning when the insects

are in the nest. A high pressure spray may be

needed in order to get the insecticide into the

tents.

CAUTION! Pesticide recommendations in this publication are registered for use in Kentucky, USA ONLY! The use of some products may not be legal in your state or country. Please check with your local county agent or regulatory official before using any pesticide mentioned in this publication.

Of course, ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS FOR SAFE USE OF ANY PESTICIDE!

ENTFACT-424

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Control Marestail

by Spraying in the Fall

Fall-applied herbicides

often provide more

effective and consistent

control of emerged

marestail as compared with spring-applied

(i.e., burndown) herbicides, says Aaron Hager,

weed specialist with U of IL Extension. Here

are tips from the Extension service for fall-

applying herbicide to control emerged

marestail.

1. Apply 2,4-D (1.0 lb acid equivalent per

acre) anytime between mid-October and late

November to control emerged marestail. This

treatment should not be expected to provide

much soil-residual activity, so marestail plants

that emerge after application will most likely

not be controlled.

2. Do not rely solely on glyphosate (either

in the fall or spring) to control emerged

marestail.

3. Do not simply assume that fields treated

with fall-applied herbicides will be free of

marestail next spring. Be sure to scout fall-

treated fields before spring planting and take

appropriate measures (i.e., supplemental

herbicides, tillage, etc.) to control any existing

marestail plants.

4. Do not plant soybean into an existing

marestail population. Residual herbicides

should be applied close to soybean planting

to control summer annual species, including

spring-emerging marestail.

5. If a soil-residual herbicide will be part

of a fall herbicide application, select an

application rate that will provide control of

winter annuals throughout the remainder of

the year. Source:

Fall Buttercup Control

Buttercups emerge in the fall and are

small and actively growing then. One of the

keys to getting good control is to spray them

before they bloom. This is an automatic with

fall applications, given that buttercups

generally do not bloom until spring. Also the

risk of off-target damage to sensitive plants is

lower in the fall.

The same rules apply as with spring

applications. Favorable weather (3 days of day

time highs of 60 F), plenty of water (at least

20 gallons per acre spray volume), and the

addition of a good, nonionic surfactant (1

qt/100 gallons of spray mix) are all important

ingredients in success .

An added bonus for fall spray program is

that it is also a very good time of the year to

control musk thistle, buckhorn plantain and

wild turnip. These are controlled by 2,4-D also

and are often present in the same fields

alongside buttercups. If buckhorn plantain is

severe, consider increasing the rate of 2,4-D.

Keep in mind that 2,4D, unlike some of our

newer pasture herbicides, breaks down

relatively quickly in soil. A benefit of this is

that with fall applicationsof 2,4D, clovers can

be planted the following February.

Always remember to thoroughly read

the herbicide label before application and

follow all directions and precautions.

Source;Fall Buttercup Control in Grass Pastures and Hay

Fields by Neil Rhodes/Extension Weed Management Specialist

at University of Tennessee Extension

15

Before there was Crossfit, there was working on the farm.

Extension100Years

16

August 14

Ft. Knox Crew

August 31

Bullitt County Welcomes our 2nd 4-H Agent,

David Littlejohn

David Littlejohn, wife Maranda and daughter Brooke

17

August 14

State Fair 4H

Land Judging

prep

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August 21

State Fair 4H Land Judging at

Bernheim Forest

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August 27

Farm Bureau Ham

Breakfast at the KY State

Fair.

Ham sold for

$400,000.00

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Cooperative

Extension Service Bullitt County

384 Halls Lane

Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6263