We are starting up face to face Pesticide Applicator Trainings (PAT) again. I have scheduled two trainings. 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. 

My first observations after Tropical Storm Laura came through was that we escaped with very little damage. Now I would like to change that statement. It looks like that storm system blew in some late season diseases. I am seeing several fields showing blast on the head and narrow brown leaf spot on the stems and heads. Depending on the stage of the rice when the storm went through depends on the amount of damage. I have seen a field that has several blanked heads and another field that still has grain, but the heads are barely hanging on. Late season diseases are frustrating because there is nothing you can do for them. Hopefully we can get these fields out before more damage is done. These weekly showers aren't what we need for crops right now.

Soybean fields are really starting to turn. We need to keep an eye on these late planted fields. I have seen a lot of green stink bug nymphs in some fields. We need to make sure we keep scouting those beans that haven't reached R6 yet.

Also keep an eye on those velvetbean caterpillars, they are still defoliating beans. If we start getting about 25% defoliation before R6.5 we need to consider a treatment.

The SRVP field is pretty much done at this point. We have reached 6.7 and the only insect that could possibly hurt us at this point is the redbanded stinkbug and we haven't seen any of those in several years in Faulkner County. We are now just waiting for harvest.

We are officially done with moth trapping for 2020. We will start up again next spring.

Nitrate poisoning in cattle is caused by the consumption of an excessive amount of nitrate or nitrite from grazing crops, hay, silage, weeds, drinking water, lubricating oil, fertilizer, etc.

Nitrate toxicity in cattle is primarily a problem associated with some annuals, certain perennial weeds and some cool­ season grasses (fescue, bromegrass, orchardgrass, small grains and ryegrass). Warm season grasses generally cause fewer problems. Corn and sorghum have occasionally caused problems. Sorghum-­sudan hybrids have probably caused more problems than any other summer annual forage. Accumulators of nitrates, ranked from highest to lowest, are as follows:

• Weeds

• Sudangrass

• Corn

• Cereal grains

• Sorghums

• Tame forage grasses

While these plants are the most common cause of nitrate poisoning, any grass or weed beyond the seedling stage with a high stem ­to ­leaf ratio is more likely to be a problem than a less stemmy forage.

If anyone is concerned they may have a nitrate problem, give me a call. I have a test kit that will detect the presence of nitrates. If nitrates are detected, then we can send a sample to Fayetteville to find out the levels of nitrate.

For more information about nitrates click on the link to 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.  

Here are links to information about winter forages including planting rates and dates.

2020 has proven as unpredictable a year for cattle producers as for anyone else. An upcoming webinar from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture aims to shed some light on the coming fall marketing season, taking into account aspects both perennial and (one hopes) unique to this year.

The hour long webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., CDT. In addition to current market conditions, the webinar will cover factors that affect bid price, calf management, and supplemental feeding for preconditioned marketing and more.

Shane Gadberry, professor of ruminant nutrition for the Division of Agriculture, said this year’s event takes place in a notably different market environment from previous meetings and webinars dedicated to fall cattle marketing.

“Since August last year we've seen turmoil in the cattle markets,” Gadberry said. “The fall of 2019 was associated with a fire at a processing plant. This spring, markets were responding to the stock market and a backlog of cattle in feedlots as processors were working through employee illnesses and worker safety issues due to COVID-19.  

“With the uncertainty of what a combined flu plus COVID-19 season will look like, cattle producers will want to pay attention to cattle markets and evaluate if marketing sooner or later fits best,” he said.

James Mitchell, assistant professor of livestock marketing and management for the Division of Agriculture, will discuss likely market influences this coming fall and spring.

“We will talk through where cattle markets have been, where they are today, and where they might be going,” Mitchell said. 

He said a discussion of the current supply and demand situation for the beef industry will be followed by a look at supply and demand factors that will likely influence fall feeder cattle and cull cow markets, including drought conditions in the western united states, feeder cattle placements and the backlog of cattle in feedlots from COVID-19 related disruptions, cow-calf producer costs and returns and economic uncertainty from COVID-19. 

Mitchell and other panelists will also discuss multiple “sell versus retain” marketing scenarios, he said.

The webinar, which will be presented on the Zoom online conferencing platform, is free to attend, but registration is required. To register, visit http://bit.ly/FALL20CATTLEMARKETS

Armyworm reports have went down considerably this week. I am hoping we are on the downhill side of the 2020 worm invasion. I would still be cautious around winter annuals that were recently planted.

Extension forage specialists with the University Of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture and in the southeast U.S. would like your help in gathering information on hay feeding methods and time required for feeding hay to help develop more effective forage educational programs.

We would appreciate you taking the time to complete a survey regarding your hay feeding methods. If you do choose to participate, we appreciate your feedback and all information will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by applicable State and Federal law. By completing the survey, you are agreeing to allow the use of your responses for educational purposes. If you do not wish to complete the survey, your refusal to do so will have not any effect on your relationship with the University Of Arkansas System Division Of Agriculture. To opt out of taking the survey, simply do not complete the survey.

If you have questions or concerns about this study, you may contact John Jennings at (501) 671-2350 or by email at jjennings@uaex.edu. For questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant, please contact Ro Windwalker, the University’s IRB Coordinator, at (479) 575-2208 or by e-mail at irb@uark.edu.

Information gathered from the survey will provide direct insights into current hay feeding practices, and allow us to better develop forage educational programs. Additionally, the information provided will be used to prioritize research and Extension outreach efforts moving forward to more effectively address your needs.

Please click on the link below to access the survey. It should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

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

Fall Cattle Market Webinar - September 29 at 6:30 pm. Register at this link

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.