Faulkner County Agriculture Update
April 23, 2021
General Conditions
Weather

This week was an intense week as we waited to see if we would get a big freeze or not. Wednesday morning we got down to about 33 degrees around Conway. I haven't heard how cold it got in the north part of the county, but all in all I don't think it got as cold as predicted. I hope this is the last freeze we have to put up with. I am ready for things to straighten up.
Arkansas River
Drought Monitor
Chicken Litter

As fertilizer prices go up, applying chicken litter has become an option for producers in both row crops and forages. Chicken litter is a good source or phosphorous and potassium. Nitrogen is harder to determine in litter. There are several factors that go into how much actual nitrogen is in the litter as it is being applied. My recommendation to anyone applying litter is get it tested. It costs $27 to get a test run and that information could be very valuable.

I had a few samples come through the office last year, and on average litter was testing 60-55-60 per ton. I would say that 90% of the phosphorous and potassium are available for the plant while only about 50% of the nitrogen will be used by the plant.
Row Crop
Crop Progress

This was a good week for planting. Several acres of corn and rice went in the ground.

Wheat Headed - 25%

Rice Planted - 15%

Corn Planted - 30%

Soybeans Planted - 1%
Cold Temperatures

We waited on pins and needles early Wednesday morning to see how cold it was going to get. The key temperatures we were looking for were 28 degrees on wheat in boot and 30 degrees on wheat that was headed. We needed to reach those temperatures for two hours to be worried about damage. The chart shows temperatures from the airport in Lollie. We only got down to 33 degrees so I think most of the wheat is going to be okay. The majority of the wheat that was headed was around the airport while the wheat that was down by the river where it might have gotten a little colder was still in the boot stage. Corn that was up has a pale yellow color but should recover fine. There was only a couple fields of rice that were trying to emerge so they shouldn't have been effected either. I will continue to monitor these field early next week, because if we do happen to have damage we won't be able to see it until next week.
Rice

More acres of rice went in the ground this week getting us up to about 15% planted. Everyone did a good job of getting Command out ahead of the rains this weekend. This is critical for weed control. The first rice that was planted is starting to emerge.

The DD50 program is up and running. It is easy to enroll your fields and the information you get from the DD50 program is very valuable as we progress through the year. If you need help with emergence or enrollment questions feel free to give me a call.

Below is the link to last weeks Arkansas Rice Update from Dr Jarrod Hardke.
Wheat Stripe Rust

I found stripe rust in a few wheat fields in Faulkner County this week. These fields are just starting to split boot and I recommended to apply a fungicide asap. I have been through a few stripe rust years and it isn't anything to mess around with. In a year when wheat is above $6.00 a bushel and many of our fungicides are less expensive generics now, it doesn't take but a few bushels to recover a fungicide application. I will scout some more fields early next week.
Corn

We planted the corn hybrid trial on Thursday morning. The trial contains 15 different hybrids. We have 13 Bt hybrids and 2 non-Bt hybrids planted. There are several different traits in the 13 Bt hybrids so I will evaluate these hybrids later for corn earworm damage in the ears.

This week is the first week for a growing degree chart. The first corn was planted the first week of April, with several acres being planted this week. I will use a starting date of April 16 as an average planting date for Faulkner County this year. As you can expect, this week we didn't collect many heat units. It takes about 150 heat units from planting to get emergence.
Ryegrass Burndown Demonstration

Wednesday was 28 days since I established the ryegrass burndown demonstration. I will keep the signs up for another week or so then I will take them down so we can plant soybeans. Feel free to stop and take a look at them this next week before I pull the flags. Here are my final thoughts on the plots.
  1. The best treatment was 1 quart of Roundup Powermax plus 16 ounces of Select Max (in the pictures). Not only did it do the best job on the ryegrass, but it also cleaned up the buttercup and curly dock that was in the plots. It wasn't 100% control, but I would say it was 80 plus.
  2. The least successful treatment was Leadoff. It did good on the buttercup and dock but only turned a few leaves on the ryegrass purple and maybe controlled 10% or less.
  3. Gramoxone and Roundup Powermax both did a decent job. The Gramoxone treatment was instant kill and looked like 100% control, but of course after a couple of weeks the ryegrass started growing back. I think a follow application would have taken all the ryegrass out. I am going to say that I probably got about 40% control with the Roundup. It did better than I thought it would, but it also started regrowing.
  4. Select disappointed me big time. It was very slow and turned the ryegrass purple, but I don't know if it is going to totally kill the ryegrass or not. I will keep an eye on it, but it was my least favorite treatment, and I probably won't recommend Select by itself again.
  5. Two treatments I didn't include and wish I did was a Gramoxone followed by Gramoxone and a combination of Gramoxone and Metribuzen. I think those two treatments could have shown some good results.
Training Links

Below are the links to the Enlist and Paraquat Trainings. Enlist training is required every year.
Beef & Forage
Use Caution When Grazing Johnsongrass After Frost
John Jennings
Extension Forage Specialist

Frosts occurred across much of the state last night (earlier this week) and will increase toxicity risk when grazing pastures containing johnsongrass. Johnsongrass has reached grazeable heights in southern Arkansas (and Faulkner County). When johnsongrass becomes stressed, it can produce prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) which is very toxic to livestock. Prussic acid toxicity can kill cattle quickly, often before a producer has a chance to observe that the animal is under stress. The forages that are prone to prussic acid are johnsongrass, sorhgum/sudan, greengraze, grain sorghum, and forage sorghum. Freeze damage from frosts can cause these forages to become toxic. These forages should not be grazed following a hard frost until the plants become completely dried out and paper brown colored. Do not graze at night when frost is likely. To reduce risk even farther, don’t turn hungry cattle directly out on johnsongrass pasture. Make sure they have grazed other forages first or fill them up on hay.

Prussic acid dissipates as the plants dry out. Properly dried johnsongrass hay does not contain prussic acid and is safe to feed. Silage may contain toxic quantities of prussic acid, but it usually escapes in gaseous form while being moved and fed. If frosted forage is ensiled, allow fermentation to take place for at least six weeks before feeding.
Hay Quality

37 hay samples were tested through our office in 2020. I took some time to look at all these hay samples and see how well they would meet the nutritional needs of cattle in Faulkner County. The nutritional needs of cattle are different depending on if they are in gestation or are nursing a calf.

The first chart shows the nutritional needs for a lactating cow. When a cow is lactating and has a calf by her side is when her nutritional needs are the greatest. She needs a feed that is 11 percent protein and at least 70 percent TDN. If you look at the first chart you can see that only 3 hay samples met both protein and energy requirements. One hay sample had enough energy but not enough protein, while 9 samples had enough protein but not enough energy. That means 24 of the 37 samples needed supplementation for protein and energy to get that cow through the winter.

At mid-gestation is when a cow is at her lowest nutritional need. Protein requirement is only 7 percent while TDN is 47 percent. Only 4 hay samples fell below the needed protein requirements for a mid gestations cow. The majority of our hay is sufficient for dry cows.

In the upcoming weekly updates I will focus a section on hay quality. There is an old saying that a fellow County Agent always says that goes "You can pay me now or your can pay me later". When it comes to cattle you can either put money into your hay crop and go for the best quality hay with little supplementation, or you can go with two cuttings and get lots of bales with low quality, but you will pay for supplementation in the winter. The money will have to be spent, it just depends on where you want to spend it.
Brucellosis Vaccinations

It is time for our spring brucellosis vaccination schedule. The dates for the spring schedule is May 20 and 21. It is highly recommended that if you are keeping heifers that you get them vaccinated for brucellosis. This is a free service from Arkansas Livestock and Poultry. Heifers need to be between 4 to 12 months of age. Mr. Ebert McClure, from the Livestock and Poultry Commission will be giving the vaccinations. Adequate handling facilities and personnel are necessary. You, or someone to represent you, must be present to help the technician.

It is necessary that your heifers be up, separated and ready for the technician to administer the vaccine. Please remember to have these heifers either weaned or being weaned. The vaccine is a modified live virus and exposure to bred cows could cause abortion. 

If you want to be added to the schedule either call the Extension office at 501-329-8344 or email Mindy Beard at rbeard@uada.edu by Wednesday May 12.

We will need the following information:
  • Name
  • Address
  • Address of where the cattle will be
  • Phone Number
  • Number of Head
In this weeks Cattle Market Notes Weekly:

Feeder Cattle Prices and Factors to Watch By: Josh Maples
Livestock Market Report

The weekly livestock market report is available on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture website.
Faulkner County Extension Volunteer Tax

I would like to thank everyone that supported the Faulkner County Extension Office by contributing to us through the voluntary tax last year. I was excited and moved by how much the clients in our county supported us. Thank you so much!

As we move into 2021 I would like to again ask and encourage everyone to contribute to the voluntary tax. This tax helps us continue to provide quality educational programs to Faulkner County citizens.
Upcoming Events
Brucellosis Vaccinations - May 20 and 21. Register by calling the Extension Office at 501-329-8344 or emailing Mindy Beard at rbeard@uada.edu
Contact Information
Please make sure to change my email in your address book.

My new email is klawson@uada.edu.

The Extension webpage address is uaex.uada.edu.
Social Media

For more updates on upcoming events and to keep up with what's going on in agriculture in Faulkner County follow me on Facebook and Twitter
Contact Kevin Lawson, County Extension Agent–Staff Chair, Faulkner County | www.uaex.uada.edu/faulkner