Office Closed 
September 2, 2019
Our office will be closed on Monday, September 2nd for the Labor Day Holiday.
|
Come See Us At The Historic Morganton Festival
September 6 & 7
NC Cooperative Extension and Burke County 4-H will have a booth at the Historic Morganton Festival on September 6th & 7th. We will be selling our #ExtensionEats Cookbooks; handing out informational hand fans and flyers; and staff members and volunteers will be available to speak with visitors.
If you're at the festival, stop by and see us!
|
Establishing Late-Summer Forages
Sources: Jimmy Henning and Garry Lacefield
The period from late summer into early fall is the best time to establish the major cool season grasses such as orchardgrass, tall fescue, timothy, and bluegrass for pasture or hay. These four grasses are our pasture mainstays, making up 95 percent of the acreage. Many years of research results show this late summer through early fall time frame is the best opportunity for successful establishment. Mother Nature had a hand in this time frame because seed produced in late spring remain dormant until late-summer and early-fall rainfall provides the moisture necessary for the seed to germinate.
To increase your success rate, remember these four points:
First, address soil fertility needs. Take soil samples now to determine fertility needs and to give you enough time to supply the needed nutrients. Inadequate levels of phosphorous, potassium, or limestone can limit the success of late summer seedings. For pure grass stands, apply nitrogen at the rate of 40 to 60 pounds per acre.
Second, control competition. Late summer seedings most often fail from competition and lack of water. When you control existing vegetation with herbicides or tillage, the emerging seedlings will have access to whatever water and nutrients are present without having to compete with weeds. To maximize the success of seedings, use a burn-down herbicide to kill annual weeds. Translocated herbicides can be used where labeled to kill or suppress perennials such as johnsongrass.
Remember to wait two to three weeks after spraying translocated herbicides before you plant in no-till situations. This will allow time for killed weeds to dry out and for residual effects of the herbicide to decay.
Third, select high quality seed of an adapted variety. Planting high quality seed is an essential step toward establishment and longevity of a pasture. These seed have high percentages of germination, low percentages of weed seed, and freedom from noxious weed seed.
Certified seed meets or exceeds minimum standards for purity, germination and quality. This seed has a blue tab attached to the bag. The certified seed should be from an "improved" variety adapted to your farm. "Improved" means the variety has been selected for improved yield, quality, persistence, disease resistance, or other positive traits. Varieties greatly differ in yield, persistence, disease resistance, and cost. Expensive varieties aren't necessarily good, and the cheaper ones aren't necessarily bad.
Fourth, seed at the proper time and depth. Legumes and grasses should be seeded before mid-September. Grasses are less sensitive to later seeding than legumes. The major cool season grasses will not do well if you simply broadcast them onto existing overgrazed or mowed pastures. Forages should be seeded no deeper than one-fourth to one-half inch. For more information on establishing late summer forages, contact the our office at 828-764-9480.
|
Fall Webworms
We are fortunate to have plenty of large, beautiful trees here in western NC. But not so much lately...these days our trees are full of worms-fall webworms to be exact.
Contrary to popular belief, they are not tent caterpillars. Tent caterpillars show up in the spring while fall webworms build their nests in late summer and are usually located at the ends of the tree limbs, surrounding clusters of leaves.
Adult moths lay eggs on leaves in June. Larvae hatch and begin feeding and building the nest throughout the summer. Once the caterpillars hatch they feed for about 6 weeks before falling to the ground where they pupate for the winter.
It all sounds and looks worse than it really is. Because larvae feeding happens in late summer, no real damage is done to trees even when they are defoliated. Sufficient food has already been stored to get the tree through the winter so the absence of leaves does no harm to the tree although it looks alarming. Nests can be sprayed with pesticides when they are small but after the webbing becomes thick, pesticides cannot penetrate the protective covering.
On a cheerier note, did you ever think about the fact that if the leaves are eaten by fall webworms, you won't have to rake them this fall? Just something to think about!
|
|
Come out and watch the Youth Livestock Show!
|
$40 includes all-day cropping, your own table space, door prizes, and access to a Cricut machine.
Vendors will be onsite and there will be a
Scrapbook Page and Card contest.
Continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided.
Registration is due by October 8, 2019.
|
Burke County Beekeepers 
Monday, September 9, 2019
6:00 pm
The Burke County Beekeepers Association (BCBA) meets monthly at the Burke County Agricultural Building located at 130 Ammons Drive in Morganton. There is a featured speaker each month and the public is invited to attend. The BCBA is a chapter of the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association.
*The September meeting will be the annual Beekeepers Picnic. Members and their families are invited to attend. The BCBA will provide the hamburgers and hotdogs and members are asked to bring a favorite side dish, dessert, snacks or drinks.
|
Nursery Crop Field Day 
September 20, 2019
Hard & Flossie Clark Community Park
5435 Adako Road
Lenoir, NC 28645
Pesticide Credits and Landscape Contractor Credits will offered for participants that attend all workshop sessions.
Registration:
$25 per person before September 13
$40 per person after September 13
Only those pre-registered will be guaranteed a meal ticket for lunch
Visit our website for a printable registration form:
|
Pesticide Recertification Classes
September 17, 2019
Burke County Agricultural Building
10:00 - 12:00
Categories: ABGHIKLMNOTDX
2 hours credit
1:00 - 3:00
Category: V
2 hours credit
These FREE classes are open to any licensed pesticide applicator that needs renewal credits. Call our office at 828-764-9480 to register.
|
Fall Lawn Care for the Homeowner 
September 21, 2019
Morganton Ace Hardware
10:00am - 12:00pm
Join our Horticulture Agent, Donna Teasley at Ace Hardware in Morganton for an informative, free workshop on lawn care for the fall and getting the lawn ready for winter.
|
|
 4-H Update
September
Tuesday, September 3rd
4-H Discovery Night & County Council Meeting
5:00 pm
Tuesday, September 24th
4-H Jr. Beekeepers
6:00 pm
|
|
NC State Extension is committed to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, political beliefs, family and marital status, sex, age, veteran status, sexual identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability.
|
|
|
|
|
|
