Newsletter ANR

Ag Dates to Remember

***** Usually there is an Early Bird Meeting at Sedalia in December but UK has cancelled this program.

***** If you usually wait until spring to do a soil sample it would be wise to do them this FALL-the soil samples in the spring will all have to be sent to Lexington and the return time could be very slow!!!!

Cooperative Extension Service Carlisle County 65 John Roberts Road Bardwell, KY 42023-0518 (270) 628-5458 Fax: (270) 628-3722 extension.ca.uky.edu

Carlisle County ANR Newsletter November, 2017

November 16- Women in Ag –Columbus Belmont State Park- sign up is open call the office. (Flyer attached)

November 21-Farm Bill Listening Session-Mayfield-(flyer attached)

December 12- Dicamba Meeting-Larry Steckel UT-Hickman County Extension Office ***

January 11- Weed Meeting-meet new UK weed specialist-Travis Legleiter-Fulton Co. ***

January 18- KY Commodity Conference-Bowling Green

January 25- Fungicide Meeting-Carl Bradley UK-Hickman County Extension Office ***

January 30-Commodity Marketing-Alex Hayes-Carlisle County Extension Office ***

February 6, 2018-Winter Ag Conference-Lowry Farm-more information to come ***

*** Flyers coming soon on all meetings-Joint effort of all three counties

Newsletter ANR

Fall is a Great Time to Sample Soil Source: Frank Sikora, UK soil test coordinator

If you think spring is the best time to take soil samples, you might want to rethink that. Fall is actually

the optimum time to take soil samples for fertility analyses.

Fall sampling gives you plenty of time to follow fertility recommendations before planting season.

As soon as you receive the soil test results, look at the recommendations for lime and pH, a measure

of soil acidity that affects plants’ uptake of all nutrients. If the soil pH is too low, it decreases the

uptake of essential nutrients, and elements like aluminum and manganese can become toxic to

growing plant roots.

Applying limestone neutralizes soil acidity. Because agricultural lime takes about six months to

break down and react with the soil, it should be applied in the fall to be fully effective in the spring.

Unlike fertilizer, lime is needed every three to five years, depending on your crop rotation and

nitrogen fertilizer history. The only way to determine if your fields will need lime next year is by soil

testing this fall.

The turn-around time for test results is much faster in the fall, usually within a week of

submission, because fewer people are submitting samples.

You can also apply all the recommended fertilizers, except nitrogen, in the fall. Often a fall

application will save you considerable money, because fertilizer prices generally are cheaper in the

fall as a result of lower demand. In addition to lower fertilizer prices, it’s easier to get the spreader

truck in the field during the fall, because the soil usually is drier.

If you don’t soil test, you can only guess at the fertility needs of your fields, and far too often those

assumptions are wrong. Guessing at the amount of fertilizer to apply often results in applying more

than the recommended rate. Some producers want to be sure there’s plenty of fertilizer available in

Newsletter ANR case they have a bumper crop next season. However, studies have shown that crops need the same

amount of fertilizer in a good year as in a poor year.

If you’re interested in collecting fall soil samples, stop by your local county Extension office. We

can give you details on how to take accurate soil samples and where to send the collected cores.

Remember, spending some effort on soil sampling this fall can keep you from wasting time and

money. Fall soil samples also can provide big returns for next year’s crop.

For more information, contact your Carlisle County Cooperative Extension Service. Educational

programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic or

social status and will not discriminate

Another reminder: Pesticide Certification will be in February- dates coming in Dec. I did notice we have fewer needing recertification this year.

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Stink Bug Management Source: Lee Townsend, UK extension entomologist

A stinky brown army is marching across Kentucky this fall, accidentally entering your homes and

offices and they look for protective overwintering sites. Brown Marmorated stink bugs leave a stain

and a very unpleasant odor when mashed. Once winter ends, the insects move on and resume their

normal life cycle. But they can leave a path of plant damage in their wake. You take charge and

reclaim your structures and fields from these invaders.

The best treatment is prevention. First, you need to learn to differentiate between the brown

marmorated stink bug and other types of insect look-alikes. The brown marmorated stink bug has the

characteristic shield-shaped stink bug body. Winged adults are approximately five-eights-inch long

with a mottled brown-gray body. The fourth segment of each antenna has a white band. Edges of the

abdominal segments that extend laterally from under the wings are alternatively banded with black

and white. The underside of the body is white to light gray with gray or black markings, and the legs

are brown with faint white bands.

The best way to manage the insects is to seal up structures so they never make it inside in the

first place. Look around your homes and other buildings for cracks around windows, doors, siding,

utility pipes, behind chimneys, underneath the wood fascia and other openings. Seal the cracks with a

good quality silicone-latex caulk. You should also repair or replace damaged screens on windows and

doors.

Exterior insecticides may offer some relief from infestations when sealing a structure is difficult or

impossible. Products containing active ingredients deltamethrin, cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin,

cypermethrin or permethrin are some options for you to consider. You need to apply these products in

the fall as the bugs begin to congregate. Sunlight will break down these chemicals, so you’ll have to

stay vigilant and be ready to reapply every few days or every week to make sure they are effective.

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If the bugs make it inside your home or building, try to find where the insects are entering and

seal those entrances up with caulk. You can remove live and dead insects with a vacuum cleaner, but

understand that your vacuum may acquire a smell of stink bugs for a time. Entomologists at the

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment don’t recommend using

insecticides after bugs enter a structure. Although insecticidal dust treatments most likely will kill stink

bugs, you will have a possible problem with carpet beetles feeding on the dead stink bugs and then

moving on to your woolens or stored dry goods.

Aerosol foggers will kill stink bugs that have amassed on ceilings and walls. More insects often

appear after the room is aerated. So these are just not good long-term solutions once you already

have a problem. For more information about the brown marmorated stink bug, contact the Carlisle

County Extension office. If you find an insect you believe is a brown marmorated stink bug in a county

not shaded in this map http://pest.ca.uky.edu/EXT/BMSB/welcome.html, bring it the extension office.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic

or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin,

creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions,

pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

Identifying the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Newsletter ANR

Soybean Delivery App released in time for harvest

Jordan Shockley explains the technology and guides the user through customization in a short, easy-to-follow YouTube video. PHOTO:

PRINCETON, KY.

The Kentucky Soybean Board partnered with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and

Environment to develop an app to help soybean producers accurately calculate and compare the price offered

by elevators, with consideration to delivery costs and high-moisture penalties for harvested grain.

The app, named Best Bean Buyer, was developed by UK agricultural economist Jordan Shockley using checkoff

dollars invested by the Kentucky Soybean Board to provide value and a competitive advantage for Kentucky’s

producers.

While increased on-farm storage has decreased the amount of beans that some farmers directly deliver to the

elevator, farmers face a reduction in price paid at the elevator for beans sold with high moisture content.

Storing the crop to lessen the moisture content is an expensive proposition, though. Farmers have to truck the

grain to their on-farm storage bins, load it into the bins, then load the grain back into trucks and haul it to the

elevator. This process results in extra fuel costs and additional labor.

Not all farmers have on-farm storage, and this app may very well be the tool that helps them determine their

profit margin by calculating transportation costs to various elevators. With high moisture content grain that is

trucked straight to the elevator from the field, the moisture discount can make a significant difference in profit

by the load and for the crop year.

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This free app, available now on both the Apple and Android platforms, calculates in real-time the comparative

prices that a producer can expect to receive from different elevators based on grain moisture and costs to haul

it to each elevator. While the inputs affecting transportation and moisture discounts may be complex, this app

helps producers eliminate the unnecessary cost of delivering to an elevator that will result in a smaller net

profit.

It relies on five important features of mobile devices: mobility and availability, connectivity and real-time

information, computational power, sensors and individual customization.

The mobility and availability of these devices means that the producer can use this service in the field. Internet

connectivity means that the app can easily request the driving distance between a location and every elevator

under consideration. This same connectivity provides the mechanism for farmers to enter current prices for

each elevator. The computational power of these devices is used to evaluate the complicated equations that

govern grain drying so that comparisons between different elevators are possible. The location sensors on a

device are used to determine current field location if the producer is using the app in the harvested field. The

app can also store information such as individual producer costs for grain transportation.

The app does require some set-up and customization to make it fully functional. Shockley developed a short

YouTube tutorial to help producers get the app set up and ready to use. It may be found at

https://youtu.be/2KvGAy-B5LE.

Information released by

Chuck Flowers Carlisle County Extension Agent for Agriculture & Natural Resources

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