CooperativeExtension ServiceMarshall County

1933 Mayfield Hwy.Benton, KY 42025

(270) 527-3285Fax: (270) 527-1555

http://marshall.ca.uky.edu

The December edition of

Nikki’s NewsMarshall County’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Update

Top Story

Farm Bill Training to be Held in Marshall County

Marshall County Cooperative Extension Service will be holding an information-al meeting in conjunction with the FSA office on December 16th at 9:00am. The meeting will be held at the Children Arts Center in Benton, on account of the extension office’s kitchen remodel currently in process.

Marty Haley, with the FSA, will be giving a presentation. Also, Tom Miller, Ex-tension Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent for Ballard County, has been working for the last 2 months on understanding all the complexities of the farm bill and the decisions that go along with it. He has graciously agreed to come to Marshall County and talk about his findings.

His presentation will include: -Landowner or farmer decision and power of attorney -Updating yields -Reallocating base acres -ARC vs. PLC

Page 2

Horticulture News Christmas Cactus

Page 3Homeowner News

Picking the Perfect Christmas Tree

Page 4 Livestock and Forage News Timely Tips

Page 5Wedding

AnnouncementsNikki and Josh

Page 5From The Field to

the Table Baked Apples and

Sweet Potatoes

Horticulture News

Step 3- June-August: Continue watering and fertilizing your plants as in the spring. Summer rainfall may give the plants all the water necessary for good growth.

Step 4- September 1: Begin dry period, reduce the frequency of watering by one-half to reduce disease prob-lems. Fertilize only every six weeks.

Step5- September-October: Plants should remain outdoors until October 15 to allow flower promotion during the cool weather. Protect plants from frost on the coldest nights. Thanksgiving cacti flower consistently after the dry, cool temperature treatment or sporadically without treatment. Plants flower for three to four weeks beginning in mid-November. If Christmas cacti do not remain outdoors until October 15, treat plants with the uninterrupted night (short day) treatment below. Late, inconsistent flowering with fewer flowers will be apparent at Christmas without the flower promotion treatments.

Short Day treatment- September 21 to October 1, give the plant 14 hours of uninterrupted darkness and 10 hours of bright sunlight each day. For example, each day place the plant in a light-free closet or under a box at 6 p.m. each evening and return it to the sunny window at 8 a.m. the next morning. Or simply place the plant in a little used south facing room and be sure not to turn the lights on in the room from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. each day. Continue to water and fertilize. Rotate the plant each day to give all sides even light.

Step 6- November 15-December 15: Enjoy a beautiful holiday cactus!

-HortFacts 60-03

How to Rebloom Your Holiday Cactus

Pictured -Marshall County Cooperative Extension Office’s Christmas Cactus

The following schedule is appropriate for all holiday cacti, the true Christmas cactus and the Thanksgiving cactus.

Step 1- January-May: Give plants a sunny location indoors. Water the plants two to four days after the soil appears dry. This plant prefers to be drier than most houseplants but not as dry as other cacti and succulents. Fertilize each month with a complete house-plant fertilizer.

Step 2- June 1: Bring plants outdoors to a location that receives about six hours of sunlight each day. Repot into 8” or 10” pot or basket and use very light, well-drained growing media.

Homeowner News

Picking the perfect Christmas Tree The perfect Christmas tree doesn’t loose all of it needles before New Years, it doesnt bend over when heavy or-naments are placed on it, and it always has tons of presents under it! So, how do you pick this perfect tree off the lot?

First, scope the lot for -Trees stored in shaded areas. These are going to stay moist longer. -Trees with a water source are even better. -Trees that have been recently cut are the best.

* Remember not to get your tree too early. The tree should have gone into dormancy before cutting or this can cause the tree to drop needles faster.

Second, use these two tricks to check for dryness: 1. Bend a green needle between thumb and forefinger. If it snaps rather than bends the tree is probably too dry... try another.

2. Grab a hold of the tree and thump it on the ground, if brown needles fall out that is okay but if green ones do that is another sign the tree maybe too dry... try another.

Third, pick the right type of Christmas tree for you.Most common Christmas trees in Kentucky are White and Scots Pine but there are also Douglas Fir, Colorado Blue Spruce and Norway Spruce. Let’s take a closer look at each.

Scots Pine- have medium length needles, stubby branches, and will hold all kinds of ornamentsWhite Pine- are very soft, have great fragrant foliage, flexible branches but will not support heavy ornamentsDouglas Fir and Spruces- hold ornaments well but have shorter needles and won’t look as full. Fraser Fir- pleasantly oderful, but not grown in KY.

Forth, and most importantly the perfect tree is picked out and decorated with family! Nikki Bell Reference FOR-105

Livestock NewsTimely Tips

By: Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Professor, University of Kentucky

Spring-calving cow herd• A postweaning feeding period will allow you to put rapid, economical gains on weaned calves, keep them through the fall “runs” and allow you to participate in Kentucky CPH-45 sales. Consider this health and marketing program which is designed for producers which are doing a good job of producing high quality feeder calves. • Evaluate body condition of cows after weaning their calves. Sort thin (less than CS5) cows away from the cow herd and feed to improve their condition. Two and three-year olds may need extra attention now.• Culling decisions should be made prior to winter feeding for best use of feed resources. Consider open, poor-pro-ducing and aged cows as candidates for culling. • If you need to replace cows, consider buying bred heifers in some of the Kentucky Certified Replacement Heifer sales which are being held across the state this month. • Dry cows in good condition can utilize crop residues and lower quality hay now (but don’t let them lose any more body condition). Save higher quality feed until calving time. Keep a good mineral supplement with vit. A available.• This has been a good year for fall pasture growth. Extend grazing to decrease the amount of stored feed needed.• Replacement heifers require attention during the winter, too. Weaned heifer calves should gain at an adequate rate to attain their “target” breeding weight (2/3 of their mature weight) by May 1.

Fall-calving herd• Continue to watch fall-calving cows this month. Catch up on processing of calves including identification, castra-tion and vaccinations.• Vaccinate the cows while they are open and prior to the breeding season. Move cows to accumulated pasture or increase feed now.• Start the breeding season in late November or early December for calving to begin in September of 2015. If you are using AI and/or estrous synchronization, get your supplies together now. Don’t forget Breeding BSE on your

General• This is a good time to take soil tests and make fertili-ty adjustments to your pastures. Good prices on calves should allow you to pay attention to good soil fertility. • Have your hay supply analyzed for nutritive quality and estimate the amount of supplementation needed. Consider purchasing feed now. • This is also a good time to freeze-brand bred year-ling heifers and additions to the breeding herd.• Graze alfalfa this month after a “freeze-down” (24 degrees for a few hours).• Don’t waste your feed resources. Avoid excessive mud in the feeding area. Hay feeding areas can be constructed by putting rock on geotextile fabric. Feed those large round bales in hay “rings” to avoid waste. Many producers are building concrete feeding pads.

Beef Checkoff

On December 5, 2014 , Kentucky beef producers passed the referendum in favor of creating the Kentucky Beef Checkoff. In a vote conducted at local Kentucky Cooperative Extension offices on Thursday, November 20th, bovine producers voted in favor of collecting an additional $1.00 per head sold. The final tally was 1,816 in favor of the state checkoff and 1,423 against. Collections of the state checkoff will begin April 1, 2015. Marshall Coun-ty only had around 10 voters participate. - Statistics and Information from the Cattleman Association.

From the Field to the Table

For more information go to http://marshall.ca.uky.edu/AgNaturalResources

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Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent

Marriage AnnouncementsMarshall County ANR Agent, Nicole C. Rhein,

daughter of Christina and Greg Rhein and Joshua J. Bell, son of Jim and Michelle Bell were joined in marriage on November 1st , 2014, in

front of their family and friends in Belleville, IL. The happy couple enjoyed a honeymoon in

Gatlinburg and have returned as Mr. and Mrs. Josh Bell!