There is also information about controlling mosquitoes around your home, maintaining your lawn, growing hydrangeas, and tips for cattle production.

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1 Wolfe County June 2016 Ag Newsletter Cooperative Extension Service Wolfe County 20 N Washington St PO Box 146 Campton, KY (606) Fax: (606) Greetings! Summer is almost upon us. Soon hay season will be in full swing and we ll be trying to get the hay up before a pop-up summer storm. In this issue you will find information on baleage (aka haylage) and how you can get your forage crops harvested at a higher moisture content that traditional hay. There is also information about controlling mosquitoes around your home, maintaining your lawn, growing hydrangeas, and tips for cattle production. I know calendars are filling up fast, so here are some dates to mark down: - June 8: Growing Ginseng and Appalachian Forest Botanicals for Market (6:00pm At Community Building at Robinson Center, Jackson, KY) - June 13: Insect and Disease Management Options for Vegetable Gardens (6:00pm at Robinson Center Auditorium in Jackson, KY) - July 13: Pasture to Plate (5:00pm Morgan County) - September 15: East KY Hay Contest (6:00pm at Robinson Center) - September 17 (tentative): East KY Bred Heifer Sale (Lee City Stockyards) - October 1: Mountain Field Day (Robinson Center) Be safe, be healthy, and be happy! Heather K. Graham The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn t still be a farmer. Will Rogers

2 Controlling Mosquitos Where You Live Sources: Lee Townsend, UK entomologist Controlling mosquitos is challenging to say the least. You may even think you are fighting a never-ending battle. With mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus becoming more prevalent, it s even more important to know how to take control of these pests around your home environment. Learning to do a few simple things could help protect you from more than the itchiness of a mosquito bite. warblers, swallows, martins, and other insect feeding birds. It s a good idea to start these practices early in the season. Just because the mosquitoes aren t biting yet, doesn't mean that they re not developing. For more information about mosquito control, visit index_files/page601.htm Photo: University of Kentucky All mosquitos need standing water to develop through their larval stages and that doesn t necessarily mean a lake or pond. It also includes bird baths, kiddie pools and even discarded soda pop cans. The key to controlling them around your home is to stop them from breeding in the first place. Some things you can do include: Drain and remove trash, bottles, and any debris that holds water. Recycle any unused containers that could collect water, especially old tires. Change water weekly in bird baths, wading pools, watering troughs and animal bowls. Fill in holes, depressions, and puddles in your yard. Make sure your culverts and ditches are draining properly Check and clean out clogged gutters to ensure drainage. Keep ornamental ponds stocked with fish. Fix leaky hoses and faucets. Drain water from flowerpots and garden containers. Turn over wheelbarrows, buckets, and other items that collect water. Adjust tarps covering woodpiles, boats, and grills to remove standing water. Encourage natural enemies of mosquitoes, such as Timely Tips Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Professor, University of Kentucky General Harvest hay. Work around the weather and cut early before plants become too mature. Harvesting forage early is the key to nutritional quality. Replenish your hay supply! Rotate pastures as needed to keep them vegetative. Clip pastures to prevent seedhead formation on fescue and to control weeds. Prevent/control pinkeye. Maintain salt-mineral feeders. Provide free choice mineral. Maintain a clean water supply. Ensure access to shade for very hot and humid days. Spring-Calving Herd Observe performance of bulls during breeding season. If the number of cows returning to estrus is large, try to determine the cause and consider changing bulls. Breeding pastures that contain fescue should be low endophyte (if available) and contain legumes. Fall-Calving Herd Finish collecting cow and calf weights at weaning. Pregnancy test cows. Consider selling open cows and heifers, cows weaning lightweight, poor quality calves, and problem cows. Make initial selection of replacement heifers.

3 Spring Lawn Care Tips Andy Rideout Springtime always brings with it a renewed interest in maintaining a healthy lawn. Spring is the time to prepare your lawn for the rest of the year. There are many good management practices that will help you keep a healthy lawn throughout the season. Mowing at the proper height is a great start. The recommended mowing height for tall fescue is 2 to 3 inches, and for Kentucky bluegrass the height is 2 to 2.5 inches. Mowing at the best height for the grass encourages a deeper root system, discourages weeds, and helps reduce watering. Setting up your mower is a relatively easy task. Park your mower on a concrete or other hard surface and measure from the blade to the surface to get the proper height. There is no need to be exact but within ¼ inch is great. Following recommendations for mowing height and frequency will make your lawn care duties easier and result in a more attractive yard. A good sharp blade throughout the mowing season is also very important. Surgeons use very sharp instruments so the cut will heal quickly. When your mower blade cuts the tip of the grass blade, the wounds are susceptible to infections and insects. The sharper the blade, the quicker you grass will recover and minimize potential disease infections. A good fertility program for your lawn should be based upon a soil sample. Most of the time, you should not apply nitrogen in the spring. Nitrogen promotes top growth and will only increase your time on the mower. For most lawns, nitrogen should be applied in the fall to help develop the roots, increase density, and prepare the plant for the spring green up. While mowing the lawn, what should be done with the grass clippings? The answer is, leave the clippings on the lawn. Leaving grass clippings on the lawn saves time, money, and energy, since you don t have to stop and empty the bagger or buy trash bags. Clippings also add free fertilizer to the lawn, possibly as much as 25 percent of the lawn s annual nutrient needs. Remember, grass clippings are not accepted in the garbage. Grass clippings do not increase thatch. Clippings contain 75 to 85 percent water and decompose quickly. Thatch is a tight, intermingled organic layer of dead and living shoots, stems, and roots that develops between the green leaves and soil surface. A little thatch is good, since it helps moderate temperature extremes at the soil surface and provides a cushion effect on the surface. Weeds can be a big problem in home lawns. Good weed management starts with a healthy lawn so make sure you are mowing at the proper height and fertilizing correctly before attacking your weeds. There are two types of weed control-pre-emergent control and post-emergent control. Pre-emergent is the best way to control the most common home lawn weeds, such as crabgrass, dandelion, and many others. Most pre-emerge products come in combination with a fertilizer so make sure the nitrogen content is very low. Timing your pre-emerge application is important. You must make sure that you get it applied before the weeds you are trying to control start growing. As soil temperature increases this spring, your weeds will start to germinate. Instead of monitoring your soil temperature, there are indicator plants that will let you know when you need to apply your weed control. A good indicator plant for preemerge application is the forsythia. When you see the bright yellow flowers starting to bloom, it is time to apply your pre-emerge. Make sure to follow all label directions when applying control products. Different grass varieties and soil types require unique management practices. The extension office has detailed information on home lawn maintenance and can take your soil samples to help you customize your lawn maintenance.

4 Wrap it Up and Improve Your Forage Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler, Extension Beef Specialist and Dr. Ray Smith, Extension Forage Specialist, University of Kentucky One should not complain about spring rains, but when it begins to interfere with hay making, the gloves are thrown off and it is go time. This seems to be the case every spring in the Bluegrass state. The spring rains helps the cool-season forages grow, but it impedes our field work. Since we can t control the weather or the forage from maturing, we have to dig deeper into the toolbox to find some help. Harvesting high moisture forage as baleage may be the tool of choice for some. Several folks have called about wrapping annual cereal grain forage this spring. Let s talk a few minutes to cover some basics so any forage made as baleage this summer has the best chance of resulting in a high quality winter feed. At a minimum 4 layers of plastic should be applied, but 6 millimeters is recommended to limit oxygen from getting through the plastic. 5. Allow the bales to ferment for 4-6 weeks. Samples should be obtained and analyzed for ph and ideally a fermentation profile which will provide the level of acids in the silage. This information is important to help determine the quality of silage made and whether there is a potential risk for a disorder. There are thousands of bales made for silage annually with few cases of botulism or listeria occurring in animals. The key to lowering the risk of poor fermentation is following the five basic steps outlined above. 1. Forages need to be cut at the boot to early flower stage for optimum quality. This helps ensure adequate soluble carbohydrates for the microbes to ferment and drop the ph to preserve the forage. 2. Forage should be baled at the proper moisture, 40-60%, to ensure a successful fermentation. Higher levels of moisture increases the risk of a clostridial fermentation and botulinum growth. Too dry impedes fermentation and again to lead to a poorly preserved forage. Obtain a windrow moisture meter, bale moisture probe or utilize the microwave technique for determining moisture levels in forage. 3. Slow down the tractor speed when baling to ensure a tightly wrapped bale is made, particularly with cereal grain forages. It is important to limit the amount of air or oxygen so that anaerobic fermentation occurs soon after baling. 4. Wrap bales in plastic ideally within 6 hours of baling to limit air and oxygen exposure. Stretch film should be applied to provide 6 millimeters of plastic thickness. This is often accomplished by having 6 layers of plastic. Growing Hydrangeas in Kentucky Michael Boice and Lauren State Primarily known as a source of summer color flowering June through August long after most shrubs have finished. Hydrangeas interesting bark and flower heads can also provide winter texture when left untrimmed until spring. Four species are commonly used in Kentucky landscape plantings. Big Leaf Hydrangea is the most widely used hydrangea species. Its large flowers range from white to pink to blue. While white cultivars remain white, pink or blue cultivar color is determined by soil ph and availability of aluminum. A soil ph range between 5.0 to 5.5 will generally produce the blue flowers, and a ph of 6 and above inspires pink flowers. Most cultivars of this species bloom on the previous season s wood. If temperatures drop too low, the flowers for the next season will be lost. New selections like Endless Summer bloom on current season s growth, providing blooms even if flower buds are killed by late spring frosts. Continued on next page

5 Smooth Hydrangea is popular for its large, white blooms from June to September every year on new growth. Removing the flowers as they turn brown will encourage a second flush of flowers in August. Part shade is best in locations where the weather is generally hot and dry. This hydrangea grows three to five feet tall, making it a possible choice in smaller landscape spaces. There are several good cultivar selections, but the most popular is Annabelle. Panicle Hydrangea is one of the larger shrubs growing six to ten feet tall and six to ten feet wide depending on the cultivar. This plant will grow best in full sun. Enjoy the white to purplish-pink flowers from June to September. Blooms can be pruned when they turn brown or during the winter. One popular selection of this species is Limelight with large, light green flowers that mature to white. Oak Leaf Hydrangea, native to the southeastern United States, is known for its large, oak leaf-shaped foliage, and is a popular landscape choice for areas with part shade. The white to purplish-pink flowers are four to twelve inches long with three- to four -inch wide panicles. The flowers are abundant and fragrant. In the fall, the foliage turns to shades of red, orange-brown, and purple, adding additional color to the landscape. Herbed Pork Chops Ingredients 4 Kentucky Proud pork loin chops, 3/4 inch thick 4 tablespoons chopped fresh Kentucky Proud herbs (chives, basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary--any combination.) 1 cup reduced-fat Italian dressing. Directions Place chops in resealable plastic bag. Add dressing and herbs; seal and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours. Remove chops from marinade; discard marinade. Grill chops over medium-high heat (or broil 4 inches from heat) for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once. Credit: Kentucky Proud If you would like to receive this newsletter via , please contact our office.

6 Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky Wolfe County 20 N Washington PO Box 146 Campton, KY RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED In This Issue Controlling Mosquitoes Where You Live Timely Tips Spring Lawn Care Tips Wrap It Up and Improve Your Forage Growing Hydrangeas in Kentucky Herbed Pork Chops Recipe