AGLINE
This Issue
Extension is 100 Years Old
P. 1
Save the Date
P. 1
Calendar of Events
P. 2
Ag Crop Insects
P. 3
Gov. Buy Local Cookout
P. 4
New UMD Pathologist
P. 4
AgrAbility News Link
P. 4
Soybean Variety Tests Link
P. 5
Twitter Webinar Link
P. 5
Crop Insurance Info
Household Stormwater
P. 5
Wild & Woolly News Link
P. 5
EB 236 & FarmLINK Info
P. 6
Tri-County Newsletter—Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s Counties
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M A Y
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SMITH LEVER ACT OF 1914
Happy Birthday
100th Anniversary of Smith-Lever Act and University
of Maryland Extension
On May 8, 1914 the Cooperative Extension
system was officially created. The SmithLever Act established a system of cooperative
extension services, connected to the land-grant
universities, in order to inform people about
agriculture, 4-H, public policy/government and
many other related subject. The Smith-Lever
Act, also known as the Agriculture Extension
Act, stated that “work shall consist of the
development of practical applications of
research knowledge and giving of instruction and practice
demonstrations of existing or improved practices or technologies in agriculture”. Congress wanted the land-grant institutions in the United
States to work together, share research and education, and relay the
information to the communities each college served. For 100 years, the
Smith-Lever Act has stimulated innovative research systems and vital
educational programs for youth and adults through progressive information delivery systems that improved lives and shaped a nation.
Today, the University of Maryland Extension is proud to deliver
research-based information in agriculture, natural resources, food safety and nutrition, economic and community development, and 4-H youth
development.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
2014 Mid-Atlantic Precision Ag
Equipment Day
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Wye Research & Education Center
124 Wye Narrows Drive
Queenstown, MD 21658
More information to follow...
MEMORIAL DAY! MAY 26
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MAY 2014:
May 1…
Cecil County Breeder’s Fair entries due.
May 3-4...
Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sat.
9:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. Sunday. Howard County Fairgrounds, 2210
Fairground Rd., West Friendship, MD 21794- 9604 No dogs Please leave pets at home. Contact : office@sheepandwool.org or
leave message at 410-531-3647. Contact Gwen Handler, Chairman, e-mail: chairman@sheepandwool.org.
May 19…
33rd MD 4-H Golf Tournament, Tee Off: 1 p.m., Montgomery Country Club Golf Course, Laytonsville, MD. Registration deadline is
May 2, 2014.. Call for registration form.
May 20…
Grain Marketing Meeting, 6:30 a.m., Sudlersville Methodist
Church Hall, 103 N. Church St., Sudlersville, MD. $10 breakfast
May 21…
Queen Anne’s County FFA Banquet, 6:00 p.m., Queen Anne’s
County High School. Dinner: Cafeteria; Meeting: Auditorium. There
will be a silent auction as well.
May 3…
Master Gardener Plant Sale, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Q.A.’s County Public Library, Centreville, MD. Call Sabine Harvey for details: 410-778- May 21…
Strawberry Twilight Tour, Wye Research & Education Center,
1661 or Molly at 410-758-0166.
6-8:00 p.m., Farm Operations Complex, Queenstown, MD. Rain or
Shine. Contact Mike Newell, 410-827-7388 or mnewell@umd.edu.
May 5…Deadline
Directions: http://agresearch.umd.edu/wye
Governor’s Buy Local Cookout, held at Government House
in Annapolis July 24, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Recipes must
May 26…
be submitted by May 5 and include products from at least Offices closed in observance of Memorial Day.
one Maryland farmer, waterman, or other producer.
May 6…
Grain Marketing Meeting, 6:30 a.m., Sudlersville Methodist
Church Hall, 103 N. Church St., Sudlersville, MD. $10 breakfast
May 10…
Plant Clinic with Sabine Harvey, 8 a.m. – Noon, Farmers Market,
Fountain Park, Chestertown, MD. Bring your plant samples for
identification and troubleshooting of problems.
May 10…
Eastern Shore Spring Show, 9 a.m., Queen Anne’s Co. 4-H Park,
Centreville, MD. Call 410-778-1661.
May 12…
Webinar: Status of Emerald Ash Borer in Maryland for Woodland Owners, Urban, and Suburban Areas, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00
p.m. Go to https://connect-test.moo.umd.edu/umeforestry/ to login.
Select "Enter as Guest." See more at:
http://extension.umd.edu/news/events/mon-2014-05-12-1200webinar-status-emerald-ash-borer-maryland-woodland-ownersurban-and#sthash.YPe593ql.dpuf
May 13...
Commercial Poultry Growers Meeting, 11:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m.
Tilghman Terrace, Centreville, MD. Light lunch. Call 410-758-0166
or email jrhodes@umd.edu to register. Topics: Legal Issues on
your poultry farm and Animal Welfare.
May 14…
Social Media Webinar .. How to use Flickr, sharing photos,
Noon, For information & to register visit: https://extension.umd.edu/
womeninag/resources/webinars
May 15…
Kent Ag Center Board Meeting, 7:00 p.m., Kennedyville
Community Hall, Kennedyville, MD. Open to all.
May 17…
Adkins Arboretum Garden Tour. Details: www.adkinsarboretum.org
May 31…
Cecil County Breeder’s Fair, 8 a.m., Fair Hill, MD.
http://www.americantowns.com/md/elkton/news/cecil-countybreeders-fair-2014-18558964
JUNE 2014:
June 14…
MD Ag Education Foundation celebrates 25 years.
www.maefonline.com/25
June 18…
DPI College Scholarship Golf Tournament, Green Hill Country
Club, Quantico, http://www.dpichicken.org/events/
June 20-21…
FINAL Delmarva Chicken Festival, Q.A.’s Co. 4-H Park, Centreville, MD http://www.dpichicken.org/festival/visitor/
June 29…
Maryland 4-H Day at Oriole Park, Baltimore, MD, 1:35 p.m. Go to
http://www.orioles.com/tix/maryland4h
Gardening questions? Pest Problems?
The Home and Garden Information Center can help!
Consultants are available by phone
Monday -Friday, 8 AM to 1 PM.
Call 1-800-342-2507 or 410-531-1757
or visit the HGIC website at:
http://extension.umd.edu/hgic
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Agronomic Crop Insects
By Joanne Whalen, Extension IPM Specialist; University of Delaware
Small Grains As we see more wheat acres planted before the “fly free date” in the fall, I get
questions about the potential problems from Hessian Fly. Although populations still remain low
in our area, each spring I see an occasional field with an economic problem. Most of the new information regarding the management of this insect pest has been developed by entomologists in
states to our south where Hessian fly is a perennial problem. Dominic Reisig from NC State has
an excellent blog and a series of you-tube videos that address the biology and management for
fall and spring infestations of Hessian fly. Please visit the following links for the most up to date
information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4WnuXs0QGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKHAaGtShU&feature=share
http://www.nccrops.com/
Field Corn With the continued introduction of new BT corn traits, it is helpful to have a quick
reference to the most up to date information. Drs. Chris DiFonzo (Michigan State University)
and Eileen Cullen (University of Wisconsin) publish a “Handy Bt Trait Table” each year. This
great reference provides information for transgenic hybrids on the types of Bt proteins expressed, insects controlled, herbicide tolerance, and refuge requirements for selected traits. They
update it frequently so you will want to book mark their site for the latest information:
http://msuent.com/assets/pdf/28BtTraitTable2013.pdf.
Alfalfa Continue to scout fields for both alfalfa weevil and pea aphids. Under dry weather conditions, you may need to reduce the following thresholds, especially when both insects are present
in a field. As a general guideline, you should consider a treatment in alfalfa less than 10 inches
tall if you find 40-50 aphids per stem. The treatment threshold for alfalfa 10 inches or taller in
height is 75- 100 per stem. Beneficial insects can help to crash aphid populations and as a general rule, you need one beneficial insect per every 50-100 aphids to help crash populations. For
alfalfa weevil, the following thresholds, based on the height of the alfalfa, should be used as a
guideline when making a treatment decision: up to 11 inches tall – 0.7 per stem; 12 inches tall –
1.0 per stem; 13 – 15 inches tall – 1.5 per stem; 16 inches tall – 2.0 per stem; 17 – 18 inches tall –
2.5 per stem.
Timothy Cereal rust mites remain active in fields so if you have not checked for this pest, be
sure to sample all fields. Symptoms can appear as retarded growth, leaf curling, stunting, and
plant discoloration. Injured plants appear to be drought stressed even when adequate moisture
is available for plant growth. There are no established economic thresholds for the pest; however, treatment is recommended in fields with a previous history of cereal rust mites and/or when
25% of the plant tillers exhibit curled tips of the new leaf blades within several weeks following
green-up. The use of a 20x-magnifying lens is often necessary to find mites on leaves. The only
effective and labeled material on timothy is Sevin XLR Plus. Be sure to read the label for information on the number of applications per season as well as the days to harvest. For effective rust
mite control, the use of the higher labeled rate and at least 25 gal/acre of carrier to get good coverage of leaf surfaces generally results in better control.
Peas Be sure to sample peas for pea aphids as soon as small seedlings emerge. On small plants,
you should sample for aphids by counting the number of aphids on 10 plants in 10 locations
throughout a field. On larger plants, take 10 sweeps in 10 locations. As a general guideline, a
treatment is recommended if you find 5-10 aphids per plant or 50 or more aphids per sweep.
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Recipes due May 5 for Governor’s Buy Local Cookout
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley invites chefs using local Maryland ingredients
to submit original recipes for the 7th Annual “Buy Local Cookout,” which will be held at Government House in Annapolis on Thursday, July 24, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Recipes must be submitted by May 5 and include products from at least one Maryland farmer, waterman, or other
producer. This year, chefs are being asked to submit simple but creative recipes that showcase
ways the average Maryland family can prepare delicious, nutritious meals with locally produced food at home. The cookout promotes the statewide Buy Local Challenge Week (July 1827, 2014), during which all Marylanders are encouraged to eat at least one local product each
day of the week.
“The Buy Local Cookout and Buy Local Challenge have become an annual celebration of Maryland agriculture and Maryland cuisine,” said Governor O’Malley. “Again this year, we look forward to encouraging Marylanders to buy local products from Maryland farmers as we highlight the benefits of preserving our family farms and open space, protecting the environment
and supporting local economies.” Recipes will be chosen in each of the following categories:
appetizer, main dish, side dish or salad, dessert and beverage. Selected teams will be invited
to provide, prepare, and share their dish for at the Governor’s Cookout. Chefs should note that
recipes may be published in the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s 2014 Maryland Buy
Local Cookout Recipes cookbook. Complete rules of entry and additional information are posted online. Recipes should be submitted online.
Chefs who have questions, should contact Karen Fedor at Karen.fedor@maryland.gov or
410-841-5773.
New Grape/Small Fruit Extension Pathologist
at University of Maryland
Dr. Cassandra Swett has accepted the position of Grape/Small Fruit Extension Pathologist at
the University of Maryland. Her primary responsibility is for Extension and research in grape
and small fruit pathology and disease management in support of the Mid-Atlantic Fruit Consortium which supports the industries in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. She will
be located in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of
Maryland. Dr. Swett’s starting date is May 1, 2014.
AgrABILITY HARVEST NEWSLETTER (Volume 5 Number 1)
The AgrAbility Harvest newsletter provides an ingathering of helpful information on disability in agriculture.
You can view this current issue at the following web address:
http://www.agrability.org/Documents/AgrAbilityHarvest_1_1.pdf
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2013 MARYLAND SOYBEAN
VARIETY TESTS
To receive this newsletter every month and
featured videos go to:
Available on-line at:
http://www.mdcrops.umd.edu/Soybeans/2
013_AF_32_final.pdf
https://www.extension.umd.edu/
newfarmer/contact-us
Recorded Twitter Webinar for Beginners
Sponsored by Women In Ag
Below is the recording for those who may have missed the webinar, or would like to listen to the information again.
Please feel free to share this information.
http://udel.adobeconnect.com/p2370zl7xvz/ For the supporting resources from the webinar please
http://extension.umd.edu/womeninag Click on the “resource” section. Stay tuned- Dates and topics
for upcoming webinars will be released soon! See website for other recorded and upcoming social
media webinars: https://extension.umd.edu/womeninag/resources/webinars
New Fact Sheets –
Changes for Crop Insurance
Crop Insurance Eligibility and Maryland's Cover Crop
Program Risk Management Agency (RMA) adopted
NRCS’s rules for cover crop termination. Those producers with cover crops will need to make sure they
stay incompliance with NRCS’s rules to stay eligible
for the crop insurance program and can insure the
commodity crop. That factsheet is available here:
https://extension.umd.edu/learn/crop-insuranceeligibility-and-marylands-cover-crop-program
Organic producers or considering the switch to organic, RMA made some changes for the 2014 crop
year and forward to how crop insurance works for
organic crops. That fact sheet is available here:
https://extension.umd.edu/learn/2014-changesorganic-crop-insurance
The University of Maryland has released a report
on the “Adoption of Household Stormwater Best
Management Practices”
David Newburn, Assistant Professor D epartment of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland
This report summarizes findings of a household survey regarding demographic and other factors affecting the adoption of stormwater best management practices (BMPs), including rain gardens, rain barrels, low fertilizer lawn care,
and conservation landscaping. Furthermore, this study examined the homeowner response to a hypothetical rebate
program for rain gardens. The analysis should assist local
governments and stormwater professionals to target their
educational awareness campaigns and to design effective
rebate programs to encourage rain garden adoption. This
project received generous financial support from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Responsibility for the content of this report
is the authors alone. Report is available at: http://
drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/14974/1/Househ
old_Stormwater%20BMPs_UMD%20Extension%
20Bulletin%202013.pdf
SPRING 2014 ISSUE OF WILD & WOOLLY NEWSLETTER
The Spring 2014 issue of Wild & Woolly has been posted to the web at http://www.sheepandgoat.com/news/
Spring2014.html.
You can download a PDF (printer-friendly) version of the newsletter at http://www.sheepandgoat.com/news/PDF/
Spring2014.pdf.
Wild & Woolly is a newsletter for sheep and goat producers and anyone else interested in small ruminants. It is
published quarterly by University of Maryland Extension and Western Maryland Research & Education Center.
5
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PD
PERMIT NO 16
ELKTON, MD
University of Maryland Extension,
Cecil County
County Administration Building
200 Chesapeake Blvd., Suite 1500
Elkton, MD 21921
The University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race,
age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation,
or gender identity and expression.
Contact your local UME Agriculture Educator:
Cecil County ~ Doris Behnke at 410-996-5280 or dbehnke@umd.edu
Kent County ~ Emily M. Joyce at 410-778-1661 or ejoyce@umd.edu
Queen Anne’s County ~ Jennifer Rhodes at 410-758-0166 or jrhodes@umd.edu
Commercial 2014 Vegetable Production
Recommendations Maryland EB 236
On-Line at http://extension.umd.edu/news/2014-commercialvegetable-production-recommendations-maryland
Also available in a new very interactive format at the Delaware Extension site at:
http://extension.udel.edu/ag/vegetable-fruit-resources/commercial-vegetableproduction- recommendations
VCE’s Pest Management Guide For Field Crops 2014
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/456/456-016/456-016.html
By providing valuable workshops & more for new and
established farmers, Maryland FarmLINK can help to keep the
region's farmland productive and the agricultural economy
strong and vibrant. Maryland FarmLINK website at
www.marylandfarmlink.com
In the interest of conserving our environmental resources, we would like to send our monthly newsletter via email. If you are able to receive our email
electronically, please contact your county office and share your email address. Thank you for helping to preserve our environment.