Extension Notes: Free pesticide cards available next week
This is a one-time special offer for all Warren County farmers who have a pesticide card in their pocket that expires on Oct. 21, 2005. Next Tuesday and Thursday, Aug. 9 and 11, we will have pesticide re-certification classes at 6 p.m. at the Extension office. All participants will receive free private applicator pesticide cards. These cards are issued by the Department of Agriculture and are good for three years. They allow the holder to purchase restricted use pesticides to use on their farms and nurseries here in Warren County. Restricted use pesticides include such commonly used products such as Gramaxone, Dursban and Asana, Astro and Attrazine.
At the last pesticide training I had about 40 folks that got certified and re-certified. That’s pretty good attendance, but I figure about 600 folks here in Warren County ought to have a pesticide card. We’ve got a ways to go. All pesticide cards expire this fall on Oct. 21. If you have a card that has already expired or have never had a private applicator’s card you must attend original certification. Original certification meeting will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, Aug. 9 and 11, starting at 4:30 p.m. You will fill out a form that I will provide and send the form and a check or money order to the state Department of Agriculture. They will then issue you a card.
Who needs a private applicators restricted pesticide card? Anyone who buys and uses pesticide that carries a Restricted Use Label In fact you cant purchase these products unless you have a current private applicators card. If you are trained as certified as a Worker Protection Standards Trainer you must not allow your card to expire or you can lose your trainer certification.
Most folks that are going to put out a crop need a current pesticide card. I will be holding a series of training meeting coming up in the next few weeks that you can get re-certified without a lot of trouble and with no fees involved. If you don’t have a current card that expires this fall you will have to pay a certification fee. Bring your card to the meeting that you attend. The pesticide re-certification meetings will be held in the Magnolia room in the front of the Warren County Administrative Building located on Locust Street.
If you need a pesticide card you must be re-certified by Oct. 21. Ill have some more meetings in September and October, but why wait? Get re-certified now for free. All it costs you is some time if you have a current card. If your card isn’t current or you need to be certified give me a call here at the Extension office (473-8484). Don’t get caught needing to buy restricted use pesticides for your operation and find out you can’t. Give us a call for more information.
NATURAL AIR CONDITIONING
You can cut air-conditioning costs by 10 to 50 percent and beautify your home landscape by planting trees. Trees in the home landscape shade houses from the blazing sun, the water that evaporates, or transpires, from their leaves also cools the air, said Larry Tankersley, a forester with the Agricultural Extension Service at the University of Tennessee. Deciduous trees that shed their leaves in the winter allow more sunlight to fall on the house to help warm it during cold weather. What more could you want from the simple investment of a few trees in your home landscape. They will increase the value of your home, reduce your cooling costs and provide beauty and enjoyment.
PILE UP THE FEED NOW
If you have some good fescue pasture or hayfields that you’ve just cut or have them grazed down now is an excellent time to make a few steps that will produce over a ton of hay on the stem for your animals to graze this fall or even into the early winter.
Stockpiling fescue is an old practice that more producers take advantage of now days because of the cost of running machinery. Fescue works well for stockpiling because the plant won’t make a seed head this fall. It puts all its energy into producing leaves and that’s where the food value is for cattle.
Stockpiling is easy. Get the cattle off the field and clip it to even it up if needed. Apply 45 pounds of nitrogen as ammonium nitrate per acre and step back and watch it grow. Research in Kentucky show that fescue produced about 25 pounds of additional forage for every pound of nitrogen added. Start grazing in October or even as late as January. It makes excellent feed for a fall calving cow herd as it will provide enough feed to allow the cows to milk and gain weight for re-breeding. You can get even more feed from the stockpiled pasture if you limit the amount of grazing area you give the cows at a given time. Often this can be done by simply putting a hot wire in front of the herd and moving it on back every few days.
The grass that the cow eats herself is the cheapest feed on the farm. Stockpiling is a good method of extending the grazing season of your fescue pastures and improving the quality of the feed that your cows have to eat. Give me a call for more information.
FARMER’S MARKET SEEING BIG CROWDS
I was up at the Farmer’s Market about 6 a.m. this past Saturday, and now is certainly the height of the growing season. Several vendors indicated to me this past Monday that Saturday’s Market was one of the best this year. That’s no surprise to me. There’s lots of quality vegetables and fruit available on the market now. Blackberries, blueberries, peaches, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn, and about any summer vegetable you can name are available in quantity. More vegetables mean more customers. Fresh Warren County cantalope, tomatoes, corn and half runner beans were my choices this last week and I’ll be back for more this week. Local growers, local produce equals a good place to support Warren County and get something mighty good to eat.
SOYBEAN RUST UPDATE
Rust infections on soybeans and Kudzu are still located in southern Georgia and Alabama and seem be spreading very slowly. Many area farmers have sprayed early beans and I think most of them will soon be past the stage of growth where infection is likely to occur. The out look for the next two weeks seems low for any significant rust infections at least for early soybeans. Spraying for late season diseases should proceed as needed. The same fungicides that do a pretty good job on frogeye leaf spot or anthracnose will help prevent a rust infection. Soybeans after wheat will be at risk for a few more weeks. Give me a call for more information.