Beef Quality Assurance class qualifies farmers for grants

To qualify for the many state department of Agriculture grants for beef and dairy producers, the producers must have a Premise ID number and a Beef Quality Assurance number.

These numbers and owning cattle and land are about all a producer needs to qualify for these state grants.

You can get your premise ID number by going to the Farm Service Agency and filling out the necessary form. To get your Beef Quality Assurance Number you must attend a two-hour class, pass a test and send payment of $20 to the TN Cattlemen’s Association. This number is good for two years.

I’m teaching the class on this Friday, Sept. 21, starting at 3 p.m. It’ll take about two hours. The class will also be taught on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m. This class is also required for a producer to take the Master Beef Course which will be offered after the first of the year.

Applications for cattle equipment grants will be accepted until Dec. 1. Applications for hay barn grants will be accepted until Oct. 1.

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UT HORTICULTURE SPECIALIST SPEAKS

Carol Reese, UT Extension Horticulturist in Jackson, will be here in a few week to speak at the Middle TN Nursery Trade Show. She has agreed to come a day early to speak on Thursday night, Oct. 4, at the Extension office.

Carol will give a great program about ornamental shrubs, trees and flowers. Carol will speak at 5:30 p.m., Oct. 4, in the Magnolia Room of the Warren Co. Admin. Bldg. at 201 Locust St. All interested gardeners and home landscapers are well to attend. She will talk about various shrubs, vines and flowers that she has found in her travels, that offer solutions to landscape problems and opportunities for use in your landscape. The Warren County Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of age, sex, country of origin, handicap or race. We welcome everyone to our programs and events.

Please RSVP to secure a seat by calling 473-8484. Carol is an experienced gardener and heavily sought after speaker. Make plans now to attend this event and learn more about landscaping from UT Extension’s Carol Reese. Hope to see you on Oct. 4.

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GET READY TO CLEAN UP YOUR GARAGE

Another sign of fall around my house is we clean out the garage and shed of all the useful items that we’ve collected during the summer and last winter’s home projects. You know all the home projects like spraying to kill bugs and weeds, painting because you were told to do it, replacing TV’s, computers and all those things that you own but they’re old. One of the problems with doing chores like these is you can’t throw them in the convenience center.

However, thanks to the efforts of Mary Lou Ward, at the County Accountants office Warren County government offers its citizens the opportunity every fall to get rid of dangerous household items that you can’t dispose of through normal channels. Household chemicals, automotive chemicals, lawn and garden pesticides, paint cans are just some of the items that they’ll be looking to dispose of for you at the HOUSE HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION DAY on Sept. 29 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Three Star Mall. If you have questions or need more information Mary Lou Ward at 473-2381 can help you. Now that you’ve got a place to put all that junk you can get that garage or shed cleaned up.

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Danger to cattle from frosted forage

Cooler weather in the forecast means that area beef and horse owners may need to pay attention to the possibility of frost damages forage crops.

It may be early to start worrying about frost, but even a light frost can turn certain common forage plants into deadly poisons for cattle and other grazing animals.

Grain sorghum, sudan grasses, sorghum-sudan hybrids and johnsongrass all contain compounds that produce cyanide when plant cells are ruptured by a frost. Wild cherry leaves also contain cyanide-producing compounds, commonly called prussic acid.

Any stress, such as drought or frost, has the potential for producing hydrocyanic (prussic) acid. The plants reach toxic levels very quickly after a frost. The danger decreases over the next few days and is usually gone within 10 days to two weeks, if there are no more frosts.

In Tennessee, the danger is often extended. There’s often a light frost that induces prussic acid toxicity but doesn’t kill the plant. Then, after a week or two, there’s another frost, and the toxicity is present again.

This is why many producers remove cattle from areas with stands of plants that produce prussic acid from first frost until at least 10 days after the plants are killed.

Here are some simple pointers that should help to reduce toxicity problems.

Graze sorghum or sorghum-cross plants only when they’re at least 15 inches tall.

Don’t graze plants during and shortly after droughts that severely reduce growth.

Don’t graze wilted plants or plants with young tillers.

Don’t graze for two weeks after a non-killing frost.

Don’t graze for 10 days to two weeks after a killing frost or freeze, or until the plants have thoroughly dried.

Don’t graze prussic acid-producing plants at night if frost is possible.

Don’t allow access to wild cherry leaves, whether they’re wilted or not. Always check pastures for fallen wild cherry limbs following storms.

Another plant that often can cause problems in the fall for beef producers is Perilla mint, which is very common in Tennessee. Its toxic to cattle, sheep and horses and often grows around barns, fence rows and in shaded areas around a pasture woods line..

The plant typically grows 2-3 feet tall, has a purple shading on the stem and underside of the leaf and a pungent odor when crushed.

Luckily, livestock are normally reluctant to eat Perilla mint, but hunger or unusual situations, such as moving animals into a different pasture, may lead to their eating this plant.

Watch out for Perilla poisoning!