Kentucky Meat Goat Field Day set for June 4 in Berea

QUICKSAND, Ky, (May 21, 2009)

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were more than 3.15 million meat goats in the United States in 2008. However the USDA report stated that U.S. producers still could not meet the demand, and they still have a difficult time finding information dealing specifically with meat goats.

Berea College, the University of Kentucky Robinson Station, Kentucky State University and the Madison County Cooperative Extension office will offer specific meat goat educational opportunities at the Kentucky Meat Goat Field Day June 4 at Berea College.

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT, the morning workshop will take place at Hall Science Building in room 106 on the Berea College campus. The workshop will cover topics such as selecting, establishing and maintaining livestock forages, meeting the nutritional needs of goats with forages, breed evaluation research, developing a meat goat enterprise budget and goat parasite management.

After lunch, events move to the Berea College Farm at Hunt Acres with 20-minute presentations on general herd health, predator control, fencing options, rotational grazing, tall fescue grazing, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Forage Testing Program, and an optional FAMACHA© training. Attendees will get directions to the farm at the morning workshop.

Field day registration is $10 per person and an additional $15 for the optional FAMACHA© training. Make checks payable to "Kentucky Meat Goat Field Day," and mail to Brandon Sears, Madison County Cooperative Extension Service, P.O. Box 270, Richmond, KY 40476.

A Berea College campus map is available at http://www.berea.edu/campusmap. For more information contact the Madison County Cooperative Extension office at 859-623-4072.

Contact: Brandon Sears, 859-623-4072; David Ditsch 606-666-2438, ext. 231

Extension helps vegetable growers branch out into hydroponics

Matt and Jerry Wyatt of Heartland Hydroponics in Marshall County, always had been traditional vegetable producers but wanted to better utilize...
read more

For tree farms, less is more when it comes to pesticides

Some commercial tree farm managers who are used to applying large volumes of pesticides to control insects and diseases on their operations are trying a new management system using half the amount. 

Horticulturalists with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture are part of an effort led by The Ohio State University (OSU) to teach nursery and farm managers...
read more

Blame cool July on El Niño

With less than one week left in July, no hurricane has formed in the Atlantic Ocean.  Meteorologists at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture largely attribute this anomaly to El Niño, which  also may be the reason July 2009 will be one of the coolest Julys in the past 100 years.

"The Climate Prediction Center defines El Niño as...
read more