Lewis County Agriculture & Natural
Resources Newsletter
January 2013
Cooperative
Extension Service
Lewis County
284 Second Street
Vanceburg, KY 41179
(606) 796-2732
Fax (606) 796-6428
philip.konopka@uky.edu
Strawberries
Phase I
Although we are in the middle of winter now,
it is not too early to start thinking
about putting out a strawberry
patch. The Extension Office will
be taking orders for strawberries.
The strawberries will cost $6.00
for a bundle of plants. A bundle will contain
about 25 plants. The variety will be Honeoye.
Honeoye is a beautifully large to extra-large red
berry that produces early. It’s a leading variety
for holding its size during harvest. It is winter
hardy and the flavor is very good. Honeoye
processes well as long as you don’t let the berries
over ripen on the plant. How many plants do I
need for my space you ask? Here is some
common plant spacing: 36 inch row with 12 inch
plant spacing in the row, 36 inch row with 18
inch plant spacing in the row, or 42 inch row with
30 inch plant spacing in the row. It is up to you
on how thick you want your strawberry patch to
be. All the proceeds will go to 4-H camp
scholarships. You can place your orders by
calling 796-2732 or stop in and see us. Orders
are due in to the Extension Office by Friday,
March 1st.
We had a huge turn out on the Phase I Cost
Share Program this time.
We had 128
applications turned in this time and we were able
to fund 78 of them. If you did get approved you
have until August 16, 2013 to complete your
project and receipts turned in to the extension
office or the
Master Cattlemen
We still have space for you to sign up for
Master Cattlemen 2013. It will be hosted in the
Buffalo Trace counties. We will take an in-depth
look at health, environment, nutrition,
management, forages, genetics, reproduction,
marketing, facilities, and the end product. This is
a good class to take if you are in the cattle
business or thinking of getting in the cattle
business. There is an $80 registration fee for the
class. You must register by January 31st. If you
have any questions about the course please give
me a call.
Farmers’ Market
The Lewis County Vegetable Producers
would like you to learn
about how to control
disease in your vegetable
garden. On February 19th
at 6:00 p.m. we will be
talking about how we can
control some common
diseases in our garden. You do not have to be a
market member to attend the meeting. It will
take place at the Extension Office.
Forages
Don’t forget about the Forage Meeting on
January 28th at the Extension Office. It will start
at 7:00 p.m. We will be talking about preparing
for more and better pastures and strategies to
stretch our hay supplies for your cattle herd.
Pesticide Certification
If you need to get your pesticide license
(yellow card) this year or have it renewed you
can come to the Extension Office on February
28th at 6:00 p.m., March 7th at 6:00 p.m., or you
can come to the Tollesboro Volunteer Fire
Department on March 19th at 6:00 p.m.
prepare a calving area where assistance can be
provided easily if needed. Purchase ear tags for
calves and number them ahead of time if
possible. Plan for enough labor to watch/assist
during the calving period.
 Move early calving heifers and cows to
Pastures that are relatively small and easily
accessible to facilities in case calving assistance
is needed. Keep them in good condition but
don’t over feed them at this time. Increase their
nutrient intake after they calve.
 Keep replacement heifer calves gaining
enough to reach their “target” breeding weight
(65% mature weight) by spring.
2013 Ohio River Agronomy Day
The 2013 Ohio River Agronomy Day will
take
place
on
February 6th at the
Mason
County
Extension
Office
starting at 9:00 a.m.
and will run to 3:00
p.m. We will be
talking about Soil Compaction, Fertilization,
Vegetable Diseases, Pasture management, Effects
of Variety and Harvest Management on Burley
Tobacco, MH Sucker Control for Tobacco, Crop
Diseases, and Private Applicator Certification. If
you need CEU for Commercial Applicator those
will be available throughout the day.
Fall Calving Cow Herd
 Provide clean windbreaks and shelter for
young calves.
 Breeding season continues. Keep fall
Calving cows on accumulated pasture as long as
possible, then start feeding hay/grain. Don’t let
these cows get too thin.
 Remove bulls by the end of the month.
That means that your 2013 fall calving season
will end in early November.
 Catch up on castrating, dehorning and
implanting.
Timely Tips
Dr. Roy Burris, University of Kentucky Beef
Specialist
General
 Feed hay in areas where mud is less of a
problem. Consider preparing a feeding area with
gravel over geotextile fabric.
 Increase feed as the temperature drops,
especially when the weather is extremely cold
and damp. When temperature drops to 15
degrees F, cattle need access to windbreaks.
 Provide water at all times. Cattle need 5
to 11 gallons per head daily even in the coldest
weather. Be aware of frozen pond hazards. Keep
ice “broken” so that cattle won’t walk on the
pond trying to get water.
 Consider renovating and
improving
pastures with legumes, especially if they have
poor stands of grass or if they contain high levels
of the fescue endophyte. Purchase seed and get
equipment ready this month.
Spring Calving Cow Herd
 Study the performance of last year’s calf
crop and plan for improvement. Plan your
breeding program and consider a better herd
sire(s). Select herd sires which will allow you to
meet your goals and be willing to pay for
superior animals.
 Consider vaccinating the cows to help
prevent calf scours.
 Start cows on the high magnesium mineral
supplement
soon.
Consider
protein
supplementation if hay is less than 10% crude
protein. If cows are thin, begin energy (grain)
supplementation now.
 Get ready for calving season! See that all
equipment and materials are ready, including
obstetrical equipment, record forms or booklets,
eartags, scales for obtaining birth weights, etc.
2
disease complex which includes P13, BRSV, BVD
and IBR; modified-live vaccine is preferred),
dewormed and pelvic area measured. Heifers with
small pelvic areas, especially if they are also large,
tend to have greater difficulty calving. Now is the
time to contact your local veterinarian to schedule this
pre-breeding work.
Producers should consider estrus synchronization
and/or artificial insemination. Estrus synchronization
and A1 is the ability to use superior, more predictable
sires. Since a majority of calving problems in a herd
occur when calving first-calk heifers, it seems only
logical to synchronize and A1 your heifers to proven
calving ease bulls. Contact your local A1 technician
to schedule a time to breed your heifers. Proper
heifer development is one of the key components to
profitability in a beef cattle operation. Understanding
the principles of heifer development can enable you to
incorporate management techniques to improve the
efficiency of your operation.
January is a Good Check Point for
Spring Heifer Programs
January is an extremely important “checkpoint” in
spring heifer development programs. The key to
proper heifer development lies in understanding the
factors that influence conception in yearling heifers.
One key factor regulating heifer fertility is age at
puberty. Most producers don’t consider age at
puberty of their heifers to be a major problem, yet few
know how many heifers are actually cyclic at the
beginning of the breeding season.
A Nebraska study demonstrated that the proportion
of heifers that were pubertal on the first day of the
breeding season varied greatly over five consecutive
years in a single herd. The percentage of heifers that
were pubertal on the first day of the breeding season
ranged from only 21 percent to as high as 64 percent
over the five-year period. For maximum fertility and
reproductive performance, heifers must have had at
least one estrus before the beginning of the breeding
season. Our goal then is to incorporate reproductive
management techniques to reduce the age of puberty,
increase fertility and shorten the interval to
conception.
One of the largest factors responsible for
regulating puberty in heifers is weight. For puberty to
occur, heifers must weigh at least 65 percent of their
mature weight. This weight is referred to as their
target weight. Most heifer development programs
require that heifers reach their target weight by the
onset of their first breeding season. Because fertility
increases until the third estrus after puberty, heifers
should reach their target weight at least 30 days
before the start of the breeding season. I refer to this
date as the target date.
January is the time to determine if your heifers are
“on track”. Most yearling heifers will need to reach
700 to 800 pounds (their projected target weight) by
mid-April to ensure high fertility, assuming that the
heifer breeding season starts about mid-May. Weigh
your heifers to determine how much they have left to
gain to reach their target weight. If the heifers
weighed on average 600 pounds and their target
weight is 750 pounds then they will need to gain 150
pounds or 1.5 to 1.6 pounds each day to reach their
target weight by mid-April. Heifers should reach a
body condition score of 5.0 to 5.5 by their target date.
The next important phase in heifer development
occurs one month prior to the start of the breeding
season. At this time, heifers should be vaccinated
(Vibrio fetus, Leptospirosis and the respiratory
Soybean Winners
Congratulations to Jim and Matthew Meadows.
They received second in the State Soybean Quality
Award for their soybeans. Their beans tested 34.96%
protein. They were recognized at the Kentucky
Commodity Conference in Bowling Green on January
18th.
Jim Meadows, Matthew Meadows, and Dennis Clark
(Chairman of Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board)
Sincerely,
Philip Konopka
County Extension Agent for
Agriculture & Natural Resources
3