Marion County Field Day focuses on beef industry, family fun

For Kentucky producers to make profits in the beef industry, it's important for them to look for ways to improve their herd, reduce production costs and increase profits.

Marion County beef cattle producers learned ways to get the most productivity from their herds at the county's recent field day on a local producer's farm.

"The beef industry is a very competitive market, and especially in this economy, it's very important for producers to maximize their profits by looking at different marketing opportunities that may provide higher premiums," said George McCain, Marion County agriculture and natural resources agent with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

Representatives from The Beef Connection, Gold Star Labs and the Kentucky Beef Network presented information on topics including maximizing marketing opportunities, feed conversion, recordkeeping, BVD-PI testing and CPH sales. In the afternoon, participants toured the farm and looked at the types of forages grown there.

"This was an educational field day," McCain said. "Hopefully after hearing the speakers and touring the farm, some of the participants will be interested in different marketing opportunities and types of quality forages."

In addition to information presented on improved beef production, the field day also offered family and consumer sciences and 4-H activities that ran concurrently with the agricultural presentation.

Elizabeth Creed, the county's family and consumer sciences extension agent, and Juanita Herron, the county's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program assistant, led participants in crafts and showed them how to make salsa. Keith Brock, coordinator of the Marion County Solid Waste and Environmental Office, talked to participants about recycling.

Linda Schmal, the county's 4-H program assistant, led 4-H'ers in games, crafts and face painting. A librarian from the Marion County Public Library offered storytelling, and the Marion County Cattlemen's Association provided lunch.

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