There will be a Pesticide Collection on November 6th at the county road department on Acklin Gap road in Conway. This is a chance to get rid of any unused pesticides you may have on your farm with no questions asked. In order to have an idea of how much pesticide needs to be collected, we ask that you fill out an inventory form ahead of the collection. The inventory form is available at our office or you can click on the button below to download one. Please return these forms to the Faulkner County Farm Bureau located at 300 E Dave Ward in Conway.

Several more acres of wheat went in the ground this week. It is looking like we will have several acres of wheat this year. Fields that were planted last Thursday have already emerged and are growing really fast. When planting early like this, wheat will emerge fairly quick, so if you are wanting to apply glyphosate to emerged weeds, you need to do it quickly.

The Faulkner County Corn Hybrid Trial was harvested on October 8. We had 10 hybrids originally, but Terral Seed Company is no longer in business, so we won't have Terral Rev hybrids or varieties anymore.

Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) affects cattle of all ages and is considered the most costly viral cattle disease in the United States. Cattle that become infected with BVD exhibit a wide variety of clinical signs according to the age of the animal and the particular strain of BVD virus. Some animals infected with the BVD virus may never show clinical signs while others show signs of severe disease, such as respiratory disease, acute enteritis (intestinal inflammation), reproductive failure, congenital abnormalities and mucosal disease.

Transmission of the virus occurs through secretions from infected animals that are shedding the virus. Infection leads to immunosuppression in newly infected animals, making them more susceptible to other infectious diseases.

For more information on BVD click on our fact sheet.

The next BQA training will be held on October 29, 2020 at 2:30 at the Greenbrier Events Center located at 5 Lois Lane in Greenbrier. This training is open to 20 participants so you will have to pre-register. To register you can call the office at 501-329-8344 or email my administrative assistant Mindy Beard at rbeard@uaex.edu.

There is no cost for this training.

Participants must wear a mask into the room, but once seated you may take off the mask. If you decide to get up and leave you will have to put your mask back on. This is a requirement to be able to hold this meeting.  

We finally have some rain in the forecast. Hopefully we will get just enough to help any winter forages that have been planted. If you haven't planted yet and we get this rain then you will be in the drivers seat for planting ryegrass.

The Arkansas Forage and Grassland Council Fall Forage Conference will be virtual this year. There is a great lineup this year. Some of the information that will be presented on costs of growing hay is data that was collected here in Faulkner County. It should be a great conference! You can either scan the code below to register or just go to this website: https://www.uaex.edu/farm-ranch/animals-forages/pastures/

The weekly livestock market report is available on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture website.

There are two PAT trainings scheduled for October and November. Both trainings will be held in the community room of the Greenbrier Events Center located at 5 Lois Lane in Greenbrier.

The two dates are:

Both of these trainings are limited to 30 people. If you want to attend these trainings you MUST pre-register. I will only take the first 30 people.

To register you can call the office at 501-329-8344 or email my administrative assistant Mindy Beard at rbeard@uaex.edu.

Participants must wear a mask into the room, but once seated you may take off the mask. If you decide to get up and leave you will have to put your mask back on. This is a requirement to be able to hold these meetings.

The training will cost $20. If you bring a check please make it out to Faulkner County Extension Office.

The online course is still an option also. If you want to use the online options, the link is below. 

This year we have the opportunity to vote on 3 ballot issues. There were originally 6 issues but issues 4, 5 and 6 have been taken off the ballot. It is important to be an informed voter and one of the best sources of information on ballot issues is our voters guide. We have these guides at our office, the judge and clerks office and most of the city halls.

You can also download a copy. Click on the button below to download your copy of the 2020 Arkansas Ballot Issue Voter Guide.

Pesticide Applicator Training - October 22 and November 19 at 2:30 pm at the Greenbrier Events Center, 5 Lois Lane Greenbrier. Open to the first 30 participants that register. To register call 501-329-8344 or email Mindy Beard at rbeard@uaex.edu.

Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Training - October 29 at 2:30 pm at the Greenbrier Events Center, 5 Lois Lane Greenbrier. Open to the first 20 participants that register. To register call 501-329-8344 or email Mindy Beard at rbeard@uaex.edu.

Pesticide Collection - November 6 from 8:00 until 1:00 at the County Road Department on Acklin Gap Road.

AFGC Fall Forage Conference - November 10 at 6:30.