Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Katie Hughes
Major Program: Grains
The problem: The Union County Grain Day has been around for several years for producers to attend this meeting in the winter and also earn their private applicator card for the year. The educational program response: this past year was the first year to do the training for private applicators to seat through the whole program to listen to speakers and then training at the end of the program. The past the training was at the start and then people would leave without attending the educational
Author: Emma Lee
Major Program: Grains
Last year, a producer who grows sweet sorghum came to me asking for recommendations to increase sugar content in his crop. I have diligently worked with him through soil tests, hay tests, and manure tests to narrow down the solution to increasing sugar content. He only uses manure as fertilizer, so we sent the manure off to be tested for nutrient content. We talked to multiple specialists to get ideas on what can be done. As of yesterday, this client came in and informed me that his sorghum suga
Author: Beau Neal
Major Program: Grains
Grain bin entrapment is a serious issue every year with farmers across the country. Lives are lost every season due to either falling in by accident, or stepping through a "crusted" over spot inside the grain bin. With the cooperation of the Fayette County Ag Development Council, and Fayette County Farm Bureau who provided the much needed grain bin rescue equipment, the Lexington Fire Department was properly trained on how to use it given an on-farm emergency. Grain f
Author: Brandon Sears
Major Program: Grains
Grain storage bins have been in use since their invention by Illinois farmer Fred Hatch who is thought to have constructed the first modern one in 1873. According to Purdue University’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department who has been documenting and investigating grain bin incidents since the 1970’s, in 2022, there were 83 incidents reported across the Mid-West with 24 of those being fatalities. In January of 2022, a farmer in Casey County Kentucky became trapped in a
Author: Nick Roy
Major Program: Grains
In 2020, the Adair County Agriculture Advisory council identified trucking costs of grain crops as a major concern of the long-term sustainability of grain crop production in Adair County. In 2020, grain farmers estimated trucking corns of corn to exceed $100 per acre. In 2023, trucking costs rose to $160 per acre. In response, the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service began collaborating with the local Economic Development Authority to identify strategies to recruit indust
Author: Jason Phillips
Major Program: Grains
Over the last few years, Italian Ryegrass has become an increasingly problematic weed for grain producers in Simpson County and in south central and western Kentucky. It grows aggressively and competes for light, nutrients and water with desirable crops. It can be challenging in winter wheat, corn and soybeans. Several Simpson County producers have had to destroy corn crops and replant due to the invasive nature of Italian Ryegrass. The first herbicide resistant Italian R
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Grains
A four-week webinar series was conducted by the Field Crop Pest Management Extension Specialist of the University of Kentucky’s Research and Education Center at Princeton from 2 to 30 of November 2023 to provide row crops clientele with research-based information in Entomology, Plant pathology and Weed science. This series also provided continuing education credits to Certified Crop Advisor, County Agent In-service training, and pesticide applicator. Webinar series speakers and topics incl
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Grains
My program has been conducting studies in soybeans since 2017. Previously, mollusk attacks were very rare, but they have become more frequent and destructive in recent years. For mollusks (snails and slugs) the metaldehyde poison pelleted baits is used anywhere else in the U.S. however, it was not registered in KY. In 2023, a request by soybean growers to register this pesticide was completed to get the registration of two metaldehyde compounds. These two molluscicide were registered under the E
Author: Clinton Hardy
Major Program: Grains
The 2022 census of agriculture revealed Daviess County had the greatest amount of income from soybeans and corn in Kentucky at $195,239,000. The majority of annual crop sales revenue is from soybeans, with more than 110,000 acres planted annually in Daviess County. Soybean acres are expected to be substantially greater and corn acres expected to be substantially less in 2024 due to the price of corn sliding slower in the past 18 months. The anticipation of soybean profitability
Author: Carrie Knott
Major Program: Grains
As climate variability becomes more extreme, spring growing conditions in winter wheat have also become more extreme. These extreme conditions are more routinely resulting in spring temperatures that can result in damage to the wheat crop. To provide immediate information to wheat producers, preliminary work has been initiated to monitor soil surface temperatures in wheat fields-including several farmer fields across the state. From two years of data, we have been able to communicate to producer
Author: Daniel Carpenter
Major Program: Grains
Hardin County has just under 60,000 acres of grain production which is mainly corn, soybeans, and wheat. The market value of those crops in 2022 was around $47.5 million dollars. With increasing pressure on productive farmland, maximum output and efficiency are of the upmost importance to our area farmers. We have several farmers who utilize extension agents for measuring yield contest entries for state and national contests. In 2023, the Hardin County Agriculture Agent measured 14 corn entries
Author: Linda McClanahan
Major Program: Grains
As we have fewer people involved in the agriculture industry and in food production it becomes increasingly more important to educate people, including youth, about where their food, fiber, fuel and other products we depend on farmers for comes from. For a number of years now the ANR agent has partnered with the 4-H agent, other extension staff to have school enrichment days for various grade levels. Each day has a different theme and central focus. This year we had 3rd grade Ag Day, 4th grade H
Author: Clinton Hardy
Major Program: Grains
The widespread adoption of fungicide application to corn has led to improved yields by better control of foliar diseases. This adoption has created a paradigm shift in the farmer approach to in-season corn management and ever-increasing opportunities related to application technique, fungicide product options and now, short-stature corn hybrids which increase the number of acres ground-driven spray equipment can navigate. An on-farm trial was established in Daviess County in 2023 in cooperation
Author: Clinton Hardy
Major Program: Grains
Land utilized for corn and soybean production comprises approximately 148,000 acres, nearly 50%, of Daviess County’s land surface. Combined, their gross value annually meets or exceeds 200 million dollars. The Daviess County Extension grain variety demonstration plots for corn and soybeans are the most trusted and relied upon source of data chosen by farmers and landowners when selecting brands to plant on their farms. Major regional and national seed suppliers contact th
Author: Leann Martin
Major Program: Grains
Kentucky and Tennessee are both large grain crop producing states, boasting a combined total of 9,804,901 acres and $4,921,112,000 in annual grain crop sales, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture from the United States Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Statistic Services. Seeing the importance of continued growth in both production yields and personal attributes of the grain crop producer, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agents in Logan & Todd counti
Author: Traci Johnson
Major Program: Grains
Grain production is an important source of farm income in Todd County. Todd County ranks 7th in Kentucky for value of grain production at $64.4 million, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Challenges facing grain farmers include managing herbicide-resistant weeds and dealing with weather extremes that impact crop health and yields. Because of the importance of grain production here, agriculture agents in Todd and Logan Counties in Kentucky and Montgomery and Robertson C
Author: Chad Lee
Major Program: Grains
Several younger farmers were extremely interested in setting up grain bins for storage. The young farmer C.O.R.E. program through the KY Corn Growers organized a tour of grain bins from central KY to western KY. Dr. Sam McNeil and I attended. At every stop, farmers learned about what worked and what could be improved at each location. At one point, one of the younger farmers called back home and had a crew adjust the amount of concrete he was ordering for a new bin. Other farmers reached back ou
Author: Chad Lee
Major Program: Grains
A farmer had a field of corn that was showing yellow symptoms on the young plants. I visited the field with the county agent and determined that causes. I provided the farmer with a couple of options to remedy to issue. The farmer followed through with the suggestions and improved the visual health of the plants. The field is yet to be harvested, but the remedy likely added $1600 to the 20-acre field revenue.
Author: Chad Lee
Major Program: Grains
Working with one of our partners in the distillation industry for the past decade, we have discussed no-till, minimum till, crop rotations, soil health and related issues. Within the past year, I have witnessed this partner talk about these concepts with peers in the industry. In addition, this partner is working directly with farmers to help capture the story of the benefits to these practices in our grain cropping systems. This dialogue between the distiller and the farmers was not existent wh
Author: Andy Mills
Major Program: Grains
The problemIn today’s world farmers, especially those that raise grain crops, have a difficult time sorting through the propaganda and agribusiness sales pitches. There are many different products available on the market that have claims and and unbiased research that show a positive net return. However, most university research proves otherwise it is very difficult to almost impossible for farmers to sort through this much information and be able to identify what is beneficial.The e
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Grains
The 60 minute, bi-weekly In the Weeds with IPM Zoom calls held during the growing season between Agriculture and Natural Resource Agents and Extension Specialists continued to build on participation in 2023-2024, while providing a platform for Agents and Specialists to share vital information regarding Pest Management topics in both agronomic and forage cropping systems. The Zoom calls also provide a platform for specialists to inform ANR agents of potential upcoming or emerging pest issues
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Grains
Snails and slugs are becoming key and recurrent pests in field crops. From 2021 to 2024 the entomology program at the UK- Research and Education Center at Princeton tested baits and developed an IPM protocol to test this bait working collaboratively with farmers. These studies produced valuable data on the efficacy of baits. In 2024 early planted soybeans in many counties of Western KY and central KY had outbreaks of mollusks. In February 2024 and May 2024 I wrote the potential two of outbreaks
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Grains
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group continued to build on the success of the Kentucky Crop Health Conference in 2014 (KCHC). The conference featured both University of Kentucky Extension Specialists and guest speakers from universities in other states to provide a diverse range of topics and enhance education of integrated pest management practices. The goal of the conference is to create a better understanding of integrated pest management among s
Author: John Grove
Major Program: Grains
In early July 2023 Chelsea Sapp asked me to visit several corn fields in southern Marion County. I met with the farm manager and we proceed through three corn fields that all exhibited similar problems, though with different patterns of symptom expression. The complex of symptom expression was potassium deficiency and late crop emergence. As we walked, we discussed the various causes for each symptom and, finally, causes that were associated with their coincidence. Prior soil erosion/clayey text
Author: John Grove
Major Program: Grains
In 2022 I gave a presentation where I showed that sensor Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) values could result in an erroneous diagnosis of the causal nutrient deficiency. In early September of 2023 I was contacted by Darrin Malone, certified crop advisor/marketing specialist with AMVAC Corp. Mr. Malone had received a photo of one of my slides and was interested in a succinct explanation of the point. When I explained that the NDVI sensor sensed canopy color and extent, but could not
Author: Teresa Rogers
Major Program: Grains
At each KATS training, attendees complete surveys to evaluate that training in particular, and also offer recommendations on needed and desired topics for the future. Over the past year, KATS has offered 4 trainings based off these responses. These include an IPM training, Crop Scouting Clinic, Drone Pilot Certification course, and a Soils Properties Workshop. The audience varies from producers, extension agents, crop consultants and ad supply dealers. All of whom can use the information g
Author: Colette Laurent
Major Program: Grains
UKREC is the home base for many Grain Crops Programs and research. Over the course of the past year, our University of KY Martin Gatin College of Agriculture Food and Environment Extension Specialists and researchers have worked together to produce the Corn, Soybean and Tobacco Field Day, the Winter Wheat Meeting, and the Wheat Field Day. More than three hundred people were given the opportunity to gain insight and education credits as they were presented subject material from economics and IPM
Author: Colette Laurent
Major Program: Grains
The Wheat Science Group held its annual Winter Wheat Meeting in January of 2024. This meeting brings together a group of growers, consultants, industry people and ANR agents from across Ky and surrounding states including Tennessee, Indiana. This meeting features talks intended to address current issues facing Ky wheat growers. 120 individuals attended. Over 70% of those polled responded that this meeting was worth $10 or more per acre.
Author: Joshua Jackson
Major Program: Grains
The problem: Traditional chemical applications are constrained by various factors, including field size and shape, soil conditions and moisture levels, the presence of waterways, power lines, and trees.The educational program response: In collaboration with agents from Christian and Shelby counties and researchers from KSU, workshops focusing on sprayer drones were conducted. These sessions were specifically designed for producers and service providers interested in incorporating drone sprayers
Author: Edwin Ritchey
Major Program: Grains
I became the UK representative to the Kentuckiana Certified Crop Advisors (CCA) Conference in 2011. This program is a joint effort between the University of Kentucky and Purdue University. This joint effort has been serving producers in Kentucky, Indiana and surrounding states for 30 years and is the largest UK sponsored CCA event offered by UK Cooperative Extension Services focused towards row crop production. This longstanding program provides current information for crop production common to
Author: Edwin Ritchey
Major Program: Grains
The UK Wheat Field School was initiated in 2016 to provide real life scenarios for crop advisors, managers, and others in the agricultural field. In 2018 the Wheat Field School was changed to KATS to include other crops commonly grown in Kentucky and surrounding states. The trainings in 2020 started out with two in-person and have grown to provide up to more than five to six trainings per year. We have dealt with COVID 19, an EF 4 tornado, inadequate facilities for inside trainings after the tor
