Blogging with Brian

Summer started this week and the high temperatures normally reserved for late July into August seemed to arrive earlier than normal.  The Tyler area is behind in rainfall for 2009 about 7 inhces below normal.  June, unless something changes this weekend, is about 3 inches below normal. 

Make sure to take care of yourself and your livestock.  This is a good time of year to make sure that your livestock have adequate access to water.  Cattle need 7 to 18 gallons of water a day depending upon size and stage of lactation.  Horses require about the same amount of water as cattle.  Sheep and goats, which are smaller animals need between 1 and 4 gallons daily.  A good rule of thumb is that most animals require around 2 gallons per 100 pounds of body weight per day.

Make sure to take care of yourself as well when working with animals.  The following link to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service's Familiy and Consumer Sciences web site talks about preventing heat exhaustion and heat stress.  Drink plenty of cool water and take your time.   

http://fcs.tamu.edu/health/child_health/heat/heat_exhaustion_heat_stress.php

One of the more challenging weed species to control in this part of the state has historically been sandburs. Sandburs are found throughout the state and are a common weed of pastures, ditches, vacant lots, lawns with a lot of weeds, and areas of disturbed soils.

When mature the plant's inflorescence (seed head or flowering part of the grass) contains a cluster of burs (hence the name) each containing between 8 and 40 spines and 1 to 3 seeds.

The spiny nature of the bur helps the plant to distribute itself into new territory by hitching a ride on unwilling hosts. The spiny nature of the bur also keeps it from being heavily grazed by livestock and greatly diminishes its value as a forage crop.

Sandburs in East Texas typically mature and produce burs from mid-summer into fall. Mowing sandbur plants repeatedly will cause them to spread more horizontally rather than vertically in order to allow them to produce their seed crop.

Sandburs are pretty easy to identify when they are mature and full of burs; however, bermudagrass pasture managers have a new chemical tool available that will enable them to gain the upper hand in the battle against the bur, but the key is early identification and spraying of this plant pest.

Dupont chemical company has received a Section 18 emergency use exemption for the use of their new pasture herbicide called Pastora in bermudagrass pastures from the Texas Department of Agriculture. Pastora is a restricted use pesticide in Texas and can only be purchased and applied by persons with Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide licenses.

The key to good control with Pastora, according to Dr. Paul Baumann, Texas AgriLife Extension Service weed specialist, is to apply it to bermudagrass stands when sandburs are less than 1.5 inches tall. In order to ensure that the product comes in contact with the sandburs, the label also specifies that the bermudagrass should be 4 inches tall or less (so application following the first hay cutting may be a good option). Applying to sandburs taller than 1.5 inches, the label states, may result in suppression of the plants and may result in a reduction of seed heads.

This product is not labeled for use in pastures with desirable bahiagrass. An application of Pastora may temporarily yellow or delay growth in a bermudagrass field. Pursuant to the Section 18 exemption, producers must be in possession of the Pastora label when making the application.

In order to assist producers in identifying seedling sandburs, Dr. Baumann has developed an identification guide that shows sandburs at various stages of growth from seedling to mature. The plant has somewhat flattened stems which are often purplish in color at the base. It is sometimes possible to dig up suspected sandbur seedlings and find a bur still attached to the roots.

A copy of the Pastora Section 18 label as well as Dr. Baumann's identification guide can be found below.

Sandbur (Grassbur) identificaion guide sheet:  Grassbur.pdf

Pastora Herbicide Section 18 Label for Texas:  PastoraSection18LabelTexas.pdf  

Texas Parks and Wildlife, along with the Cypress Basin and the East Texas Chapters of the Texas Master Naturalists will be hosting a workshop on aquatic, non-native invasive species of concern.  This workshop is aimed at individuals who own and operate business such as nurseries, sports stores that sell fishing equipment, pet shops, and business that sell boats and other water recreational crafts.

This workshop will be held at the TJ Taylor Community Center in Karnak, Texas on May 13, from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM.  Cost is $30 per person and includes lunch.

For more information and a registration form, please click on the following PDF file.  Note that late registratio at the door is $40 per person:  Aquatic Invasives Workshop May 13 2009.pdf

The East Texas Farm and Ranch Club will meet on May 21, 2009, at 6 PM for their May meeting.  The topic will be "Invasive Insects - Old and New" presented by Dr. Scott Ludwig, Extension Program Specialist - Integrated Pest Management with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

Dr. Ludwig's presentation will include valuable information for farmers and ranchers in the East Texas area.  The program will include an update on the status of Red Imported Fire Ants and Africanized Honey Bees.  Attendees with Texas Department of Agriculture Pesticide licenses will receive 1 hour of CEU credit in IPM. 

The meeting will be held at Juanita's Mexican Restaurant in Lindale (just north of the intersection of Highway 69 and Interstate 20).

Please Note that Space is Limited to the first 20 people who pre-register by phone for each session. 

Sheep and goat producers in East Texas are extremely aware of the constant need to monitor internal parasite problems in their herd. De-worming the herd using anthelmetics is a time consuming and expensive procedure. Strategically de-worming, an integrated pest management approach to fighting internal parasites, allows producers to save money by only using these chemicals when a problem exists in the herd or flock. Frequent de-worming with the same medication over and over again can lead to the build-up of resistant parasite populations on the farm. Two strategies employed by these producers to help delay parasite resistance are the FAMACHA technique and conducting fecal egg counts from animals within the herd.

Last summer, the East Texas Farm and Ranch Club and the Smith County Extension office hosted a FAMACHA training that was attended by over 70 producers.

This spring, the Tyler Junior College Ag Club will be joining these two groups in hosting an Internal Parasite Fecal Egg Count training for sheep and goat producers on May 21 on the campus of Tyler Junior College.

To accommodate both full and part-time ranchers, there will be a session offered from 2 PM until 4 PM, and a session offered from 6 PM until 8 PM. Each session will offer a hands-on opportunity for producers to learn how to identify parasite eggs in fecal samples using microscopes and learn the economic thresholds of egg numbers required before de-worming is necessary.

Cost is $10 per person (or couple) to attend the training, and each session is limited to the first 20 who pre-register by telephone to the Smith County Extension (903) 590 - 2980 office by May 19. Participants are asked to bring fecal samples from their own sheep/goat herd to use during the hands-on portion of the training. Location on the Tyler Junior College campus and parking information will be provided to participants as they register for the event.

Persons with special needs are asked to call at least 5 days in advance so that accommodations can be made. Educational programs sponsored by Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, religion, disability, age or national origin.