Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resource Educa on—Kenton County

Coopera ve Extension Service Kenton County 10990 Marshall Rd. Covington, KY 41015 (859) 356‐3155 Fax: (859) 356‐0363 extension.ca.uky.edu

Agriculture Newsletter Fall 2019

KENTON COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

450 Kenton Lands Road, Erlanger, KY 41018

Dear Ag Community,

In early August, Kenton County Extension service opened a second building in Erlanger. This was done to extend all our programs closer to the urban neighborhoods of Kenton County. All programs will continue to be based from the Marshall Road office. The Erlanger Kenton Lands Road office will be open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. We thank our District Board for helping us expand our reach to Kenton County citizens.

Dan Allen

Work Day in the Woods October 10, 2019 9:00 am—1:30 pm We wish to use the Kenton Lands location as an outdoor urban classroom. Volunteering as a means to help conserve and protect the environment means you can be part of this mission. Wear sturdy shoes, and long pants as we are going to do some trailblazing in the woods surrounding our Kenton Lands Extension office. Our focus for the day is honeysuckle control and clean up along the seasonal stream of our property. Lunch will be provided!

Wildflower Work Day November 20, 2019 9:00 am—1:30 pm Learn about establishing a wildflower meadow and the native wildflowers of Kentucky. In our effort to expand the outdoor classroom at the Kenton Lands Road location, join us as we learn about late fall planting of wildflowers. Wear sturdy shoes. Lunch will be provided!

Register online at www.kentoncountyextension.org or call (859) 356-3155.

Aging Safely on the Farm Thursday, October 24, 2019 6:30 pm

Kenton County Extension Service 450 Kenton Lands Road

Erlanger, KY 41018 A light meal will be served.

Join Family and Consumer Sciences and

Agriculture Agents as they address strategies for aging in place on the farm. Ideas for home

and farm building/equipment modifications that will assist individuals as they age will be shared.

Are you ready to spend your golden years on the farm?

Have you planned for Long Term Care?

Do you have the right farm equipment?

Do you have physical limitations?

Is your house ready?

Timely Tips Dr. Les Anderson, Beef Extension Professor, University of Kentucky Spring-Calving Cows Bulls should have been removed from the cow herd by now! They should be pastured away from the

cow herd with a good fence and allowed to regain lost weight and condition. It is a good time to evaluate physical condition, especially feet and legs. Bulls can be given medical attention and still have plenty of time to recover, e.g., corns, abscesses, split hooves, etc. Don’t keep trying to get open spring cows bred – move them to fall calving or sell them when they wean this year’s calf.

Repair and improve corrals for fall working and weaning. Consider having an area to wean calves and retain ownership for postweaning feeding rather than selling “green”, lightweight calves. Plan to participate in CPH-45 feeder calf sales in your area.

Limited creep feeding can prepare calves for the weaning process since they can become accustomed to eating dry feed. This will especially benefit those calves which you are going to keep for a short postweaning period – like the CPH-45 program. It’s time to start planning the marketing of this year’s calf crop.

Begin evaluating heifer calves for herd replacements – or culling. Each time you put them through the chute you can evaluate them for several traits, especially disposition.

This has generally been a good year for pastures but many parts of the state are dry now. Evaluate moisture condition and consider stockpiling some fescue pastures. It’s not too late to apply nitrogen for stockpiling fescue if moisture conditions have improved,

Stresses associated with weaning can be minimized by spreading-out other activities commonly associated with weaning – like vaccinations, deworming and, perhaps, castration and dehorning (which should have already been done!). Therefore, this month is a good time to do a “preweaning” working of cows and calves.

When planning the preweaning working, consult with your veterinarian for advice on animal health products and procedures. Some procedures which can be done now are pregnancy checking cows (which will allow time to make culling decisions prior to weaning time). The remainder of the work, like booster shots, can be done at weaning time.

Fall-Calving Cows Fall-calving should start this month. Get your eartags ready. Cows should be moved to a clean,

accessible pasture and be watched closely. Tag calves soon after they are born and record dam ID and calf birthdate, etc. Castration is less stressful when performed on young animals and calves which are intended for feeders can be implanted now, too.

If you haven’t started calving quite yet, then it’s time to get ready. Be sure you have the following: record book eartags for identification iodine solution for newborn calf’s navel calf puller castration equipment

Watch for those calves which may come early and be prepared to care for them. Be on guard for predators – especially black vultures. Move cows to best quality fall pasture after calving. Stockpiled fescue should be available to these

cows in November-December to meet their nutritional needs for milking and rebreeding. Start planning now for the breeding season. If using AI, order supplies, plan matings and order semen

now. Stockers Calves to be backgrounded through the winter can be purchased soon. A good source is Kentucky

preconditioned (CPH-45) calves which are immunized and have been preweaned and “boostered”. Plan your receiving program. Weanling calves undergo a great deal of stress associated with weaning,

hauling, marketing, and wide fluctuations in environmental temperature at this time of year. Plan a program which avoids stale cattle, get calves consuming water and high quality feed rapidly. Guard against respiratory diseases and other health problems.

General Always keep a good mineral mix available. The UK Beef IRM Basic Cow-Calf mineral is a good

choice. Do not give up on fly control in late summer, especially if fly numbers are greater than about 50 flies

per animal. You can use a different “type” of spray or pour-on to kill any resistant flies at the end of fly season.

Avoid working cattle when temperatures are extremely high – especially those grazing high-endophyte fescue. If cattle must be handled, do so in the early morning.

Provide shade and water! Cattle will need shade during the hot part of the day. Check water supply frequently – as much as 20 gallons may be required by high producing cows in very hot weather.

Plan the winter feeding program. Take forage samples of hay which you will feed this winter. Request protein and TDN analysis so that supplemental feed needs may be estimated. Don’t wait until you run out of feed in February to purchase extra feed. Plan to minimize hay storage and feeding losses because feed is too expensive to waste.

If you have adequate moisture, stockpiling fescue might be a viable option. Nitrogen application to fescue pastures can be made now and allow them to grow and accumulate until November, or when other sources of grazing have been used up. To make best use of this pasture, put fall calvers, thin spring-calvers or stockers on this pasture and strip graze.

Don’t graze sorghum or sudan pastures between the first frost and a definite killing frost because of the danger of prussic acid poisoning. Johnsongrass in stalk fields can also be a problem after a light frost. Grazing can resume after the sorghum-type grasses have undergone a killing frost and dried up.

Complaint Procedure

The Cooperative Extension Service prohibits discrimination in its programs and employment

on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief,

sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status,

genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

To file a complaint of discrimination, contact Tim West,

UK College of Agriculture, 859-257-3879;

Dr. Sonja Feist-Price or Patty Bender,

UK Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity,

859-257-8927; or the USDA, Director Office of Civil Rights,

Room 326-W Whitten Bldg., 14th & Independence Ave. SW,

Washington, DC 20250-9410 (866-632-9992).

Join us for our Fall Open House on Saturday, October 12th!

RSVP at 859-278-0899 or kbn@kycattle.org

November 7, 2019 6:30 p.m.—8:30 p.m. 10990 Marshall Road Covington, KY 41015

2019 CAIP Guidelines: Large Animal All Beef & Dairy applicants must become Kentucky Beef Quality & Care Assurance (BQCA) cer tified before funding is received.

For more information visit: h ps://www.kybeefnetwork.com/beef‐quality‐‐care‐assurance‐bqca.html

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 6:30 p.m. 10990 Marshall Road, Covington, KY 41015

Learn strategies about managing your woodland areas.

Learn the value of preserving our forests.

Know the differences between native and invasive species.

Register online at www.kentoncountyextension.org or by calling (859) 356-3155.

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Wednesday, January 15, 2020 1:00 p.pm.—3:00 p.m.

450 Kenton Lands Road Erlanger, KY 41018

Apply principles of sustainability to your yard, garden or woods.

Discover which fertilizers and garden materials are most sustainable.

Learn about scientifically-proven garden products can you make yourself at home.

Make and take home newspaper seedling pots for this spring’s garden.

Free, but registration is required. Call (859) 356-3155 or visit

www.kentoncountyextension.org

Kenton County 10990 Marshall Road Covington, KY 41015 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID

INDEPENDENCE, KY PERMIT #59

Seven ways to help a drought-stressed lawn Source: Gregg Munshaw, Plant and Soil Sciences Extension Associate Professor Kentucky’s been pretty dry the past few weeks. September and October are usually our driest months. Even if we get a heavy rainfall in the near future, it won’t completely alleviate drought symptoms. When a lawn becomes excessively dry, the soil surface develops some water repellency that prevents water from soaking in during a quick, hard rain event. Here are some things you can do to help your thirsty grass and hopefully avoid having to completely reseed your lawn. 1. Water every other day or every third day until good, soaking rains begin. 2. Apply about two-thirds of an inch of water each time. You can check this by probing the soil with a

knife or screwdriver to determine if the soil is wet 2 to 3 inches deep. 3. Water in the early morning to help reduce diseases, remove dew and reduce evaporation water loss. 4. Water areas that have the earliest browning first. These are often on southern or western facing slopes

or areas with heavy clay soils, very compacted soil or rocks near the surface. 5. If possible, don’t mow a drought-stricken yard until you can water it or you know a soaking rain is on

the way. Weeds are still growing and flowering during summer droughts. Wait for the rain, then mow off the weeds.

6. Don’t apply herbicides during a summer drought. They won’t work when weeds are suffering and can damage drought-stressed grass more than weeds.

7. Wait for a soaking rain before applying nitrogen to the lawn in the fall. Nitrogen can greatly improve a lawn’s drought recovery.