Century program recognizes stability

By its very name, the Century Farm recognition program exists to recognize those farm families who have held the land and farmed for over 100 years.

The Tennessee Century Farms Program was created in 1975 by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as part of our nation?s bicentennial celebration. In 1985, the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University assumed the responsibility for the program.

The program was originally designed and continues to be a recognition and documentary effort. First, it honors and recognizes the dedication and contributions of families who have owned and farmed the same land for at least 100 years. After 30 years, the statewide and ongoing program has certified over 1000 farms. Many farms have been in the same family for more than 200 years. I know there are several farms here in Warren County that will qualify for this designation.

Last year, Ed Chastain, B. F. Moffitt and Joe Adams were honored. If you?re interested in finding out more about this program go to the following website; Http://histpres.mtsu. edu/centfarms/index.html for more information or give me a call here at the Extension office (473-8484). There is no cost to the family to nominate their farm and be a part of the program. Completing the paperwork for daddy or a grandfather would sure make a great father?s day present.

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HAY WEATHER TODAY IS GONE TOMORROW

Did you purchase protein supplements to feed to your beef cows last winter?

If you did, then you may need to evaluate your hay production. Several farmers have cut a little hay the past two weeks but if they got it up without getting it wet it was a miracle. It looks like this spring?s hay crop will be cut late and that generally means lower quality hay. As the hay matures and starts forming a seed head, the protein and energy levels decrease quickly. Lack of protein in hay is the main reason that beef producers feed supplemental protein to their cattle. By planning ahead, you can harvest hay that has enough protein to meet the nutritional needs of the beef herd.

You can try to harvest hay without letting rain wet it. Watch for those windows in the weather when there?s no rain predicted for three or four days, it looks like we may have one this week.. Cut only the amount of hay that you can harvest before the rains come. Hay that gets wet will suffer a big nutrient loss.

If you?ve got the hay up in good shape be thinking about how you can reduce the spoilage due to the weather by storing those large round bales in the dry or by getting them off the ground and under some kind of cover. Good storage can reduce your hay spoilage losses to less then 10%. More and more farmers are recognizing the value in storing hay properly. Give me a call here at the Extension office for more information.

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Pinkeye Prevention for Cattle Producers

Though we haven?t had much summer weather yet, the hot weather that will come will bring flies, house flies and, for beef producers unfortunately, pinkeye. With pinkeye season rapidly approaching, now is a good time to give thought to prevention of this disease and prepare to treat affected cattle. Most producers can recognize pinkeye in its advanced stages. However, early detection of pinkeye is a very important factor in treatment success, according to UT Specialist Dr. Fred Hopkins.

?The earliest signs of pinkeye are squinting (in one or both eyes) and tears streaming from the eye,? he said. ?Treatment at this early stage is usually successful, and the animal will suffer from the disease for a much shorter period of time.?

As early as three days after these first signs appear, the cornea (or clear part) of the eye will become cloudy. If pinkeye is discovered at this stage or later, much of the damage is done and producers should watch more closely for new cases, Hopkins cautioned.

?Treatment will still help,? he said. ?About a week after the disease, blood vessels can be seen growing across the cornea. Treatment may relieve some discomfort, but healing time is not affected.?

A number of eye sprays have been used to treat pinkeye. Probably the most common were yellow-colored sprays containing nitrofurans, Hopkins said.

?These sprays are no longer available due to residues found in treated animals and the fact that nitrofurans are considered to be potential cancer-causing agents,? Hopkins warned.

The best pinkeye treatment available is oxytetracycline containing antibiotics. This antibiotic is generally effective against the bacteria and it concentrates itself in the eye. Hopkins says two injections of long-acting tetracycline given two days apart is a generally effective treatment. Dr. Hopkins also says that eye patches to keep out irritating sunlight and fly sprays to decrease spread to other animals should also be a part of the treatment for pinkeye.

A Pinkeye treatment plan should go hand in hand with an effective fly control and pasture clipping program for your cattle herd. If you have questions about reducing losses to pinkeye give me a call here at the Extension office (473-8484).

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Start Watching for Bagworms

Bagworms only have one generation per year and they will be hatching from eggs soon. The tiny caterpillars rappel from the bottom of the bags on nearby trees and shrubs. This form of dispersion allows the bagworms to infest previously un-infested plants.

While picking off the bags in the winter can improve the aesthetics of the plant, chemical control is usually still needed. Since a single bag could contain several hundred eggs, if you miss picking just a few, you could potentially have a damaging population emerge. Fortunately, one application of insecticide targeting these tiny first or second instar (stage) bagworm caterpillars by early June will usually take care of the problem for the rest of the year.

While Sevin and pyrethroid insecticides are effective, ?green insecticides? such as BT (Dipel and other brands), spinosad (Conserve SC), and even all-season horticultural oil can be effective if applied to these early instars. Start looking for the worms on the plants you picked off a bunch of bags last year or earlier this spring. Give me a call here at the Extension office (473-8484) for more information about home and garden pests.