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Cooperative Extension Service
Scott County
1130 Cincinnati Road
Georgetown, KY 40324-8931
Phone: (502) 863-0984
Fax: (502) 863-2392
The Scott County Extension
Service will CLOSE for the
holidays on Monday,
December 24th, and
reopen on Wednesday,
January 2nd.
Scott County Ag and Natural
Resources Program Assistant, Kendal
Bowman, will be at the Extension
Office weekly on Thursday's.
Scott County
Agriculture & Natural Resource Newsletter
December 2018
“The Farmacy”
What To Do With My Live Christmas Tree? If you had a real Christmas tree this year, there is always a question of what to do with it once the holidays have concluded. Real
Christmas trees, even when they end up in the landfill, break down much quicker than synthetic trees. They leave a lower
environmental foot print because they are composed of natural wood material which decays rapidly. However, it is good to
eliminate waste in the landfill anytime we can, since it takes fossil fuel consumption to transport our waste. There are other ways
that cut Christmas trees can be utilized.
Consider making a wildlife feeder. Over time the needles from your tree will fall off. The limbs that are left are great to hang
homemade bird or wildlife feeders. Just make sure if you do, that you use appropriate feed. Birdseed on peanut butter, or strings
of popcorn with cranberries work well. Even if you don’t choose to make your old tree a wildlife feeder, it is still great to create
habitat for wildlife. Assuming that you have some place on your property to place your old tree that will not be in the way, and
that it is out of sight. Old Christmas trees make great habitat for small game and rodents. Various birds may also enjoy them from
time to time.
Consider using your old tree for fish habitat. Do you have a pond on your property? Old trees make great fish habitat. Place them
under the water level around the edge of the pond to create spawning habitat, or shelter for smaller fish. However, it is not a
good idea to dispose of your tree in public waterways, or a neighbor’s property (unless you have permission). This is considered
illegal dumping. Never place trees in open flowing streams either. Although they still would make good fish or wildlife habitat,
dumped trees could potentially cause flooding or erosion problems. Trees dumped into streams can become a catch basin for
trash or other debris that become caught up in storm run-off.
Check with your sanitation provider to see about a tree pickup. Some companies have special pickup days for trees that are to be
recycled. Many companies that offer a yard waste pickup day will also probably collect your tree.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations located in Kentucky as a result of excessive rain, excessive moisture, flooding and flash flooding that occurred from April 1 through Nov. 8, 2018.
The loans are available in the following counties: Bath, Bourbon, Boyd, Bracken, Carter, Casey, Clark, Elliott, Fayette, Fleming, Franklin, Garrard, Grant, Greenup, Harrison, Jackson, Jessamine, Johnson, Laurel, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Martin, Mason, McCreary, Menifee, Mercer, Morgan, Nicholas, Owen, Pendleton, Pulaski, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Scott, Wayne and Woodford in Kentucky.
“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to eligible entities, affected by the same disaster,” said Kem Fleming, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East.
Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers.
The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 2.5 percent for private nonprofit organizations of all sizes and 3.58 percent for small businesses, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA determines eligibility based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition. These working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at Disasterloan.sba.gov. Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to [email protected].
Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Submit completed loan applications to SBA no later than
July 29, 2019.
Source LEX18
Time to Double Check Your Heifer Development Program
Source: Dr. Les Anderson, Beef Extension Specialist,
University of Kentucky
The first week of January is an important “check-point” 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 5 consecutive years in a single a herd. The percentage of heifers that were pubertal on the first day of the breeding season ranged from only 21% to as high as 64% over the 5- 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 that regulate puberty in the heifer is weight. For puberty to occur, heifers must weigh at least 65% of their mature weight. This weight is referred to as their target weight. Most heifer development programs require that heifers reach their target weight, approximately 65% of their expected mature 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 700-800 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 - 1.6 pounds each day to reach their target weight by mid-April. Heifers should reach a BCS of 5.0-5.5 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 disease complex which includes PI3, BRSV, BVD and IBR; modified-live vaccine is preferred), dewormed, and pelvic area measurements should be obtained. Heifers with small pelvic areas and especially large heifers will small pelvic areas 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 AI. Estrous synchronization and AI has many advantages which include: higher pregnancy rates, heavier, more uniform calves at weaning, and increase production and labor efficiency. The greatest advantage of AI is the ability to use superior, more predictable sires. Since a majority of calving problems in a herd occur when calving first-calf heifers, it seems only logical to synchronize and AI your heifers to proven calving ease bulls. Contact your local AI technician to schedule a time to breed your heifers. Next month, I will discuss various methods for estrous synchronization.
Proper heifer development is one of the key components to profitability in a beef cattle operation. Understanding the principles of heifer development can enable producers to incorporate management techniques to improve the efficiency of the operation
The University of Kentucky is committed to a policy of providing opportunities to 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 expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. The University of Kentucky is an equal opportunity university. Questions concerning compliance
with regulations may be directed to the Institutional Equity & Equal Opportunity Office, 13 Main Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0032, (859) 257-8927 or at http://www.uky.edu/evpfa/eeo.
Kendal Bowman Program Assistant for
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Cooperative Extension Service
Scott County
1130 Cincinnati Road
Georgetown, KY 40324-8931
Phone: (502) 863-0984
Fax: (502) 863-2392
Email: [email protected]
Sharon Flynt
County Agent for Horticulture
Keenan Bishop
County Agent for Agriculture
And Natural Resources Education
Venison Sloppy Joes
5 pound ground venison 5 onions, medium, chopped finely 5 green peppers, chopped 2 cups chopped celery 1 cup brown sugar 10 tablespoons vinegar
Mix together all ingredients. Cook in a skillet until onions and venison are done. Nutritional Analysis(5 ounces): 480 calories, 64g protein, 37g carbo-hydrate, 8g fat
For more information or recipes please call (502) 863-0984 or visit http://www2.ca.uky.edu/HES/fcs/factshts/FN-SSB.044.PDF
10 tablespoons lemon juice 2 cans (8 ounce) tomato soup 5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 cup water 5 teaspoons mustard
