Author: Mattea Mitchell
Major Program: Grain Crops
Our annual Winter Ag Conference focused on two new chemicals and the new label guidelines for them. With 89% of the land in Fulton County in row crop along with 91% in Hickman and 83% in Carlise County the new guidelines for Xtendimax Max and Engenia for soybeans will be a choice farmers will have to make again this year. Crop sales just in Hickman County is $56,841,000. The need for this new information to get out is necessary to our producers. We teamed up with Adult agriculture educators from
Author: Sam McNeill
Low-Cost Grain Moisture Meter for Developing CountriesSuccess story by Sam McNeill, Extension Professor in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and Co-PI on two USAID funded projects in Ghana and NigeriaGrain is commonly stored in jute or polyproplyene bags in Africa, Asia, Latin America and many under-developed contries, many of which have environmental conditions that are suitable for mold growth and insect activity throughout the entire year. Current storage losses in many areas are common
US farmers and elevator operators have expanded grain drying and storage capacity in recent years to keep pace with increased production. On-farm and commercial storage has grown to 13.2 and 11.1 billion bushels, respectively (205 and 80 million bushels in KY). To help growers effectively manage these systems, agricultural engineers in the U.S., including two from the University of Kentucky, have produced a new edition of the Midwest Plan Service “Grain Drying, Handling and Storage Handboo
Author: Matthew Adams
In January of 2018, Hardin and Larue Counties Collaborated to host an early pre-season Grain Crops Workshop. UK and NRCS Specialists were brought in to discuss various issues from the previous year, as well as possible issues for the coming season.Dr Raul Vilanueva, UK Entomologist, discussed recent issues with slugs, possible control measures, and causes of slug infestations in grain crops. Dr Vilanueva also talked about why management of these pests is often so difficult. Slugs
On farm, county level research has always been an important aspect of Hardin County Agriculture Extension Programming. One of the longest lasting, most utilized research programs in Hardin County are the Corn and Soybean Variety Trials.As seed companies continue to release more technology through new corn and soybean hybrids, unbiased, local, research based, variety trials that showcase how these new hybrids perform in Hardin County, under our farmer’s own unique growing conditions an
Author: Carl Bradley
Fungicide resistance is an issue in grain crops production that is beginning to cause problems for growers trying to manage foliar diseases of grain crops. The biggest challenge has been managing frogeye leaf spot of soybean, due development of resistance to strobilurin fungicides in the causal pathogen, Cercospora sojina.To help get the word out about fungicide resistance, Dr. Bradley has been an important national leader in partnering with key programs and developing extension products that ca
Southern rust of corn can be an extremely damaging disease of corn if weather is favorable and if infections occur early enough in the season for yield losses to occur. Although southern rust does not impact corn yields in Kentucky every year, the 2016 growing season was an example of a year where southern rust reduced yields by up to 60 bushels per acre in some fields. Fortunately for Kentucky corn growers, southern rust does not overwinter much in the U.S., but it does survive in sou
Author: Kelsey Mehl
Historically, wheat has been an important crop to Kentucky. While field days are helpful to get information to larger groups of people, it was felt that a more in-depth training was needed to help make management decisions at critical time periods during the wheat growing season. In order to have these trainings, the Field School was developed at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center. These trainings are more in-depth, and hands-on in order to better educate crop advisors, far
One important way of disseminating information from the University of Kentucky is through the use of extension publications. Since extension publications are available online, it is an easy way for anyone to find information about plant diseases that pertain directly to the area. Since this information is available to the public, it is important to keep this information current and relevant. Over the last year, we have been updating and adding to the Plant Pathology extension publication library
Author: Glen Roberts
Collaborators: ANR Agent, Glen Roberts, KSU SFA, Danny Adams, Wayne County Grain Growers, KY Corn Growers, KY Wheat Growers, and KY Soybean Growers, University of KY Grain Yield Contest, USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, KY Field OfficeWayne Co grain growers are faced with a limited amount of available, suitable land for row cropping. They need to optimize yields and maximize efficiency in order to compete with farmers in other areas who have access to more acres. The Kentucky Extens
Author: Chad Lee
We invited the Kentucky Distillery Association to visit Spindletop Farm for a Bourbon Grains Field Day. At this field day, we displayed ancient corn next to modern hybrids. We explained differences between types of corn. We provided them with grain samples of barley and rye from our experiemental research. This was the first field day of this kind by the university. In attendance were grain buyers, master distillers, suppy chain managers and others representing some of the largest distilleries i
With interest in gorwing rye as a grain crop in Kentucky, two farmers and I traveled to Germany and Poland to learn about rye production. That region is the most productive for rye in the world. They have centuries of experience raising rye. We gained some useful knowledge and ideas on how to make rye work in Kentucky. The trip was heavily subsidized by a major distilling company in Kentucky. We appreciate their partnership in this endeavor.
For about five years, we have been discussing options and plans to expand research, teaching and extension capabilities at the Research and Education Center in Princeton, KY. During the spring of 2018, we held our groundbreaking ceremony for that expansion. We successfully received a $15 million grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board and are receiving other donations as well. That award was reported in the research grants area, but numerous years of extension activities with vari
Author: Edwin Ritchey
Specialists, researchers, and support staff came together tocreate a wheat field school training series with funding from Kentucky SmallGrain Growers Association. This program is not a field day type setting, rathera hands-on training where participants take measurements, make management decisions,and have to problem solve issues involving wheat production. We have completedtwo of the three trainings to date that covered topics wheat managers wouldcontend with during green-up and at pre-flower.
We initiateda new training series at UKREC beginning in 2016 to provide real life scenariosfor crop advisors and managers. This training was focused on wheat and is nowbranching out to include other agronomic crops important to Kentuckyagriculture. We offered three trainings each year after the initial debut thatincluded participation from crop advisors, agri-business, governmentalagencies, university employees, and producers from Kentucky and multiplesurrounding states including Tennessee, Miss
I became theUK representative to the Kentuckiana Certified Crop Advisors Conference in2011, a program that was in place for several years prior to my arrival at UK. Thislongstanding program provides current information for crop production common toKentucky and Indiana agriculture. Approximately 200 CCA’s attend thisconference annually from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri. Themajority of the participants are repeat attendees. I am responsible forcontacting and confirming half of
Author: Timothy Stombaugh
Harvesting is a critical part of grain production. Timely and efficient harvest can greatly increase the amount and quality of grain harvest from the field. There are many new technology advances in modern grain combines, but operators still need to have a fundamental understanding of the harvesting process to optimally utilize modern machinery. A workshop was developed and offered to farmers to help them gain a deeper understanding of combine functionality and adjustments. The farmers that part
Author: Linda McClanahan
Grain crops have emerged as an important part of the agriculture industry in Mercer and surrounding counties. ANR agents in these counties partner together to host the Area Grain Meeting each year. Around 80 producers attended the meeting. Survey results found that 87% of respondents gained knowledge. Survey responses also indicated attending this meeting has improved profitability in the past by increasing yield, improving pest control practices and better crop managemen
