The spring of 2012 is certainly turning out to be much better that last year. Timely rain-

fall in the winter months and into the spring along with a very mild winter has brought

the possibility of a very good wheat crop this year. With the early May rain we may also

have a good corn crop. Early season hay is turning out very good this year too with yield

reports of about three rolls per acre. Livestock pastures are doing very well with the

rains also.

This winter and spring have been very busy at the Extension office with many programs

and events. We hope you have had the opportunity to attend some of our programs. If

you haven’t, that’s ok, we still have a lot planned for the summer and fall.

In this 2nd quarter issue of the Ag Newsletter we will let you know about those programs

along with a recap of some of the very successful programs we have had thus far. Also

included is news on livestock, pastures, crops, horses and wildlife. Hope you enjoy.

TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE COLLIN COUNTY

2012 2nd Quarter Collin County Extension Agriculture Newsletter

In this Issue: Beef Cattle News Grain Crop News Pasture Forage and Hay News Horse Industry News Wildlife and Conservation

825 N. McDonald, Suite 150

McKinney, TX. 75069

Phone: 972-548-4233 Fax: 972-548-5530

E-mail: r-maxwell@tamu.edu

TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE

COLLIN COUNTY

BEEF CATTLE NEWS NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS BASIC AGRICULTURE FIELD DAY BEEF CATTLE PROGRAM The 6th annual North Central Texas Basic Agriculture Field Day and Expo was conducted on Friday, April 27th at Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney. More than 300 were in attendance to hear presentations and witness demonstrations in the areas of Beef Cattle Production, Horse Care and Management, Wildlife and Pond Management, Pasture and Hay Management, Horticulture Hoop House Construction, Irrigation Design and Composting. The educational presentations were conducted by Extension Agents, Noble Foundation Consultants, Area Agriculture Professionals, College Instructors and Master Volunteers. Programs were also conducted for area youth with sessions on bee keeping, composting, ATV safety, horse care and management, horticulture (planting strawberries), entomology, and agriculture in general (Farm Bureau Ag Venture Trailer). Along with the educational presentations was a large trade show consisting of 46 area and regional agriculture and horticulture businesses which offered resource advice in their areas of expertise to all attending. There were four beef cattle topics presented that included live cattle demonstrations. Fannin County Extension Agent, Roger Skipper and Samuel R. Noble Foundation Cattle Consultant, Clay Wright were responsible for organizing all the cattle topics which included: 1) Calendar of Operations for a Spring Calving Herd presented by Noble Foundation Beef Cattle Specialist, Bryan Nichols, 2) Pregnancy Testing: Palpation & Tail Bleeding presented by Roger Skipper and Brad Jones, 3) Grass-Fed/Natural/Organic Beef Production presented by Jeri Donnell, Noble Foundation Agriculture Economist, and 4) Basic Herd Health & Nutrition presented by Clay Wright, Noble Foundation Beef Cattle Consultant. The live cattle for demonstrations were provided by Walking T Ranch and Melissa Feeders LTD. of Melissa, Texas and the brand new Priefert Cattle Squeeze Chute used to work the cattle was provided by Gebo’s of McKinney. All of the beef cattle topics were well attended and all attending seem to enjoy the demonstrations on beef cattle production. Those attending also received Beef Quality Assurance

Credits. Our thanks to Roger and Clay and all of the speakers for their contribution in making the Basic Ag Field Day a success.

2012 NORTH TEXAS BEEF 706 PROGRAM SERIES CATTLE BEST MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES This summer and fall North Texas Beef Cattle Producers will have the opportunity to participate in the famed Texas A&M Beef 706 program series. The series will consist of three sessions in this beef cattle management series. The Beef 706 Series is co-sponsored by the Texas Beef Council and Texas AgriLife Extension. Counties participating in the North Texas program series will be Collin, Cooke, Denton, Grayson, Fannin and Montague. The three session times, dates and locations are listed below. Session 1: June 25, 2012, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Feeder Calf Evaluation and Management Location: Gainesville Livestock Market, Gainesville, Texas (Dinner provided) In this first session, cattle producers will learn about genetics, nutrition, and calfhood health factors that impact the development and marketing of feeder calves. The participants will select and evaluate one of 8 feeder calves selected from the North Texas area and will follow through the feed yard and packing house phase of the beef industry. The New Gainesville Livestock Auction is located at 1920 Refinery Road, Gainesville, Texas. Session 2: October 18, 2012, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Factors that Impact Feed Yard Performance and Finished Steer Evaluation Location: Myers Park and Event Center, McKinney, Texas, 7117 County Road 166 (Dinner Provided) In session 2 participants will review the finished steers, learn how finished cattle are marketed and get a better understanding of factors that impact feed yard performance. Session 2 will also coincide with the 2012 North Texas Cattleman’s Conference, so if you cannot go through the

entire Beef 706 series, please make plans to attend Session 2 along with the North Texas Cattleman’s Conference. Session 3: October 29-30, 2012 Beef 706 Finished Cattle and Carcass Value and Wrap-up Location: Texas A&M University in College Station, 1.5 day Workshop The Beef 706 portion of the program will consist of a 1.5 day hands-on workshop taking the fed cattle through the harvest, grading and fabrication process. The value of the original 8-10 steers from the feeder calf to the packer will be discussed. Producers will better understand grid vs. live marketing of cattle. All the data collected on each of the steers, from feeder calf to boxed beef, will be used to discuss important beef quality management concepts. Hotel – Ramada College Station, Texas A&M, 506 Earl Rudder Freeway South, College Station, Texas, 979-846-0300 Registration – The North Texas Beef 706 Beef Management Series is limited to the first 45 people to register. The registration fee for all three sessions is $75. The registration fee will cover the cost of the Hotel (double occupancy) and transportation to College Station. Contact your Texas AgriLife Extension Office to register. Contacts – Texas AgriLife Extension – Rick Maxwell, Collin County; Wayne Becker, Cooke County; Roger Skipper, Fannin County; Chuck Jones, Grayson County; Justin Hansard, Montague County and for Denton County contact Rick Maxwell or Wayne Becker. 2012 TEXAS A&M BEEF CATTLE SHORT COURSE: The 58th annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, conducted by Texas AgriLife Extension Service, is scheduled for August 6-8 at Texas A&M University in College Station. Dr. Jason Cleere, AgriLife Extension Beef Cattle Specialist and conference coordinator, announced a variety of cattle production management topics will be presented at this year’s short course including a weather outlook.

“Our topics this year will fit right into what Texas beef producers are experiencing with forage management, beef cattle management and beef cattle marketing,” Cleere said. “The long-term cattle market outlook is one of the many other topics that will be discussed in the 22 different cattleman’s college sessions at the short course.” The general session will feature a virtual tour of a U.S. feed yard and U.S. beef packing plant, a presentation on what consumers want to know about raising beef, as well as challenges and opportunities for ranchers in the next 20 years. Sessions will be held at various locations on the Texas A&M campus with the main general sessions at Rudder Auditorium. “Planning committee members from around the state have met with us and helped us put together another outstanding program,” he said. “The short course has become one of the largest and most comprehensive beef cattle educational programs in the U.S.” “The cattleman’s college portion of the three-day short course provides participants with an opportunity to choose workshops based on their level of production experience and the needs of their ranch,” Cleere said. “These concurrent workshops will feature information on introductory cattle production, management practices in the areas of forage, nutrition and reproduction, record keeping, brush-busting, cattle handling, landowner issues and much more.” In addition to classroom instruction on August 6-7, participants can attend one of the popular demonstrations on the morning of August 8th. “There will be demonstrations on chute-side calf working, cattle behavior, penning, selection, and brush-busting,” Cleere said. “These provide an opportunity for ranchers to see beef cattle production practices put to use.” “The goal of the short course each year is to provide the most cutting-edge information that is needed by beef cattle producers, and this year is no exception.” “Participants can receive a Texas Department of Agriculture private pesticide applicator’s license during the short course and can earn at least seven pesticide continuing education units if they are already licensed,” Cleere added. An industry trade show will be held during the event, featuring more than 110 agriculture businesses and service exhibits. Registration is $160 per person and includes educational materials, a copy of the 600 page Beef Cattle Short Course proceedings, trade show admittance, admission to the prime rib dinner, lunches, breakfasts and daily refreshments. Registration information and a tentative schedule will be mailed to previous participants in May, but can also be found on the short course website at http://beef.tamu.edu.

GRAIN CROP NEWS May Wheat Update All wheat in the region has reached physiological maturity. It appears that harvest will begin much earlier than usual, and some of the earliest maturing varieties will be ready to harvest soon. Yield prospects are excellent. Herbicide Resistant Ryegrass- by James Stewart, Extension Entomologist (IPM), Texas AgriLife Extension Some growers are still getting good control with Axial XL, but we are seeing many more herbicide failures following treatment with this product this year. Some growers are reporting partial control with this product, and others are reporting almost no control at all. Under these circumstances, I am recommending that growers who experienced reduced control with this herbicide make a note of the farms where it occurred. We have to assume that the ryegrass in these fields is beginning to or has developed resistance to this product. The best option for fields with resistant ryegrass populations is to rotate to some other crop next year. Corn appears to be the best rotation option available, but soybeans and cotton would also be a good choice. If wheat is the only option available this fall, we suggest that growers initiate a two-step herbicide program with Axiom as an early post emergence application (as soon as possible after wheat emergence) followed by Axial XL at the two to three tiller stage of ryegrass development. We will be sending additional information on the two-step program later on this summer.

North Texas Small Grains Field Day: The annual North Texas Small Grains Field Day was conducted on Thursday, May 10th in Leonard, Texas at the Bear Creek Country Store. 40 Collin and Fannin County wheat farmers were in attendance to hear topics on Crop Insects by Dr. Allen Knutson, Extension Entomologist, A Texas Wheat Board Update presented by Kody Bessent of the Texas Wheat Producers Board, Research Variety Trials Across the State presented by Daniel Hathcoat, Texas AgriLife Extension Small Grains Specialist, Wheat and Corn Market Outlook presented by Dr. Blake Bennett, Extension Agriculture Economist and a report from Mrs. Amy Lindsay, USDA-Farm Services Agency. After lunch participants toured the small grains research plots near Leonard. Information on wheat variety research was presented by Russell Sutton, Texas AgriLife Research and wheat herbicide research was presented by Dr. Curtis Jones, Extension Agronomist and Texas A&M University-Commerce Professor. We had a great attendance at the Small Grains Field Day. The Extension Offices of Collin and Fannin Counties would like to thank the sponsors for the field day which included: Bear Creek Country Store, Texas Wheat Producers Board, Machinery Link Inc., DuPont Chemical, Helena Chemical and Leah’s Restaurant in Leonard for catering a very good meal.

USDA-Farm Services Agency News Deadline Approaches for Three Farm Service Agency Programs Collin County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Eileen Haley, reminds producers that the approaching June 1, 2012, deadline is for Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE), the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE).

"It is crucial that producers meet the deadline for these programs in order to receive disaster and income support," said Haley. "FSA realizes that farmers and ranchers take risks everyday and these programs form part of the safety net that can keep producers operating after devastating natural disasters and during times of low market prices," she said. The SURE program compensates producers for production and/or quality losses during times of disaster. All producers who have experienced crop production and/or crop quality losses during the 2010 crop year must apply for SURE program benefits by the June 1 deadline. Eligibility requirements differ between producers located in counties designated as a primary or contiguous disaster county by the Secretary of Agriculture and between producers located in non-disaster counties. In addition to other eligibility requirements, producers must have purchased crop insurance through the Federal Crop Insurance Act or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). While SURE helps after natural disasters strike, DCP and ACRE provide income support when there is a decline in commodity prices. Eligible DCP participants receive a direct payment and/or a counter-cyclical payment. Direct payment rates are established by statute regardless of market prices. FSA reminds producers that the 2008 Farm Bill does not authorize advance direct payments for 2012. Counter-cyclical payments vary depending on market prices, and are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is below its target price. ACRE protects producers from farm market revenue declines when revenue triggers are met for a commodity at both the state and farm level. All owners and operators who will share in the DCP and ACRE payments on the farm must sign up by June 1. "ACRE elections and enrollment must be completed by the June 1 deadline as late file provisions are not available for ACRE," said Haley. "If elected in a previous year, producers must enroll for 2012 by June 1 to receive payment," she said. For questions regarding SURE, DCP or ACRE sign-up, please contact the Collin County FSA office at 972-542-0081 extension 2.

PASTURE AND HAY NEWS Basic Ag Field Day Pasture Programs As stated in the Beef Cattle news segment, the 2012 North Central Texas Basic Ag Field Day and Expo was conducted on April 27 at Myers Park and Event Center. Pasture Management was another topic area that received lots of attention. With the terrible drought of 2011, area livestock and horse pasture owners and hay producers have concerns about what to do this year. David Annis, Noble Foundation Soils and Crops Specialist, and Dr. Wayne Becker, Cooke County Agriculture Agent, worked together to organize four very timely soil and pasture topics for the field day. The first topic titled The Economics of Hay Production was presented by Jeri

Donnell, Noble Foundation Agriculture Economist. This was followed by the topic Soil Samples and Fertility presented by David Annis, Noble Foundation Soils and Crops Specialist. David Annis and Dr. Wayne Becker, Cooke County Agriculture Extension Agent, presented a topic on Pasture Weed Control. The last pasture topic of the day was presented by Dr. Wayne Becker and titled Managing for Forage Quality-Grazing or Haying. All pasture topics were very well attended and received. Those attending all four pasture topics received four Continuing Education Units for their Pesticide Applicator’s License. USDA-Farm Services Agency News Farm Record Changes June 1, 2012 is the deadline to provide changes to your farm records at the local FSA office for the 2012 crop year. If you are changing your operation entity type, adding or dropping cropland or farms, or adding entities to your operation, contact the FSA county office by June 1.

Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE)

The sign-up for 2010 losses runs through June 1, 2012. The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) provides benefits for farm revenue losses due to natural disasters that occurred during the 2010 crop year. SURE is available to eligible producers on:

Farms in counties with Secretarial disaster declarations, including contiguous counties, that have incurred crop production or quality losses, or both, and includes all crops grown by a producer nationwide, except grazed crops. Any farm in which, for the crop year, the actual production on the farm because of disaster-related conditions is 50 percent or less than normal production of the farm.

2012 DCP/ACRE SIGN-UP 2012 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) enrollment started January 23, 2012 and will end June 1, 2012. Here are some IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

All producers with an interest in DCP base acres must be included on the DCP/ACRE contract and receive a proportionate share of DCP/ACRE payment for the farm.

All producers receiving a share greater than zero on the DCP/ACRE contract must sign the contract no later than June 1, 2012.

Changes on the farm after enrolling June 1st in DCP/ACRE must be reported to your local FSA office such as:

· Ownership changes

· Producer changes (Individuals and Entities)

· Change in crop shares arrangements

Note: Changes cannot be made after September 30, 2012.

For more information on bulletin subjects or details regarding your GovDelivery subscription with this County FSA Office, contact Eileen Haley, Collin County Executive Director eileen.haley@tx.usda.gov or 972-542-0081 extension 2.

Summer Hay Field Day Texas AgriLife Extension, Collin County will conduct a Summer Hay Field Day at the farm of local hay producer, Wendell McCarley (FM 545 Blue Ridge, Texas.) on Tuesday evening, July 10th from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Mr. McCarley and his son grow some of the best Tifton 85 Bermudagrass hay in North Texas. Mr. McCarley will discuss his haying operation along with management practices needed to grow high quality hybrid bermudagrass hay. Registration cost to attend the field day will be $20 and will include a meal and all program materials on a CD. Two CEU’s will also be offered to those who have a current Pesticide Applicator License. If you are interested in growing or purchasing high quality hay, please make plans to attend this program. Please call the Collin County Extension office at (972) 548-4233 or email r-maxwell@tamu.edu to pre-register for the field day on or before Friday, July 6th.

HORSE INDUSTRY NEWS

2012 has been very busy for the Collin County Lone Star Equine Council with the horse related events that were scheduled for the spring. Horse Industry Tour 2012 The Lone Star Equine Council annual Horse Industry Tour was conducted on Saturday, April 14th with a full tour bus consisting of 50 area horse enthusiasts attending. The tour bus left the Extension office at 8:00 a.m. in route to 3 horse farm tour stops. The first stop was in Celina, Texas at Punk Carter Cutting Horse Ranch. Mr. Carter, his daughter and three grandsons provided demonstration on cutting and breakaway calf roping. Mr. Carter was very gracious in presenting information about his family quarter horse ranch and the cutting horse industry in general. The tour bus then proceeded to our second stop at Mandolynn Hill Farm near Aubrey. Michelle Morgan, ranch owner, presented information on her family farm and the racing Arabian horse industry. Mrs. Morgan then gave a tour of the ranch and some of her Arabian race horses. The next stop was to Betty’s Café in Aubrey for an excellent buffet meal and Paul Taylor’s Tack Shop in Aubrey. We were given an opportunity to shop for any items needed for our horses and barns. The final stop of the day was at Cavallino Ranch located between Pilot Point and Gainesville. At Cavallino Ranch they breed and train Gypsy Cobb and Vanner horses. Ranch owner, Mr. Bob Smith and his wife, presented demonstrations on some of the training procedures for their young Gypsy horses, followed by a tour of their stables. A special thanks to all of the farms that allowed our tour to stop at their place. Thanks also to the Collin County Lone Star Equine Council members who attended and helped with the tour. A special thanks to Tom and Pat Pollard and Shannon Cole of Happy Trails Carriage Service for

organizing the tour stops, sponsoring the tour, and to the Pollards for the goody bags and door prizes for the attendees. Reining and Working Cow Horse Clinic Our first Reining and Working Cow Horse Clinic was conducted on Saturday, May 12th at Myers Park and Event Center. A total of 14 horses and riders participated in the clinic. Scott Buckley of Buckley Performance Horse was the clinician for both the reining and working cow horse sessions. All morning and part of the afternoon was devoted to the cow horse discipline. All of the participants were given the opportunity to work cattle twice during the clinic. Scott spent the later part of the afternoon session working on reining with the participants. All participating expressed an interest to have more of these type clinics in the future, possibly even having a monthly or bi-monthly cow horse clinic. This certainly is a possibility and something we will consider. I would like to express my appreciation to Scott Buckley for directing this clinic and to Mike McCreary of McCreary Ranch in Blue Ridge for supplying the cattle for the clinic and to Chad for delivering the cattle to Myers Park for the event. I would also like to thank Keely Helton, Collin County Lone Star Equine Council member for assisting with registration and helping with the clinic. Spring Horse Herd Health Clinic The Spring Horse Herd Health Clinic was presented on Thursday afternoon and evening, May 17th at the show barn at Myers Park. The clinic is a service provided by the Lone Star Equine Council for area horse owners to have reduced cost services provided at one stop. Services provided included dental care (teeth floating) by Rick White, certified Equine Dental Technician, hoof care, provided by Shannon Cole, certified farrier, vaccinations and Coggins tests provided by Dr. Scooter Brown, D.V.M., and permanent identification (freeze branding) provided by Troy McKinney, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Special Ranger. Emily Smith with Platinum Performance Equine Supplementation Products was also at the clinic to offer advice to horse owners on supplementation products. The spring clinic was very successful even though we didn’t quite have the turn out we had last fall. We will continue next fall in September with the Fall Horse Herd Health Clinic offering the same reduced cost services to area horse owners.

WILDLIFE AND POND MANAGEMENT NEWS 2nd Quarter Feral Hog Meeting Thursday, June 28th will be the 2nd meeting for 2012 for the Collin County efforts in feral hog abatement. The meeting will be at Myers Park and Event Center Landing (7117 CR 166, McKinney) at 6:00 p.m. We encourage Collin County farmers, ranchers and land owners who are experiencing problems with feral hogs to attend the meeting as well as area feral hog hunters and trappers who are interested in helping us in the collaborative effort to reduce the feral hog population in Collin County. We started the Collin County Feral Hog abatement program last fall by participating in the Texas Department of Agriculture Hog Out grant program. We submitted our application for the grant program which consisted of two educational programs, two informational meetings and the count of feral hogs taken by hunting and trapping during the reporting period of October 1 – December 31. We placed 16th in the state for all counties that participated. Since the grant program, we decided to hold quarterly meetings throughout the year to keep everyone informed of the progress in the county to control the feral hog population. At the March 20th meeting we discussed the report from the grant process and the building of a county feral hog website that would include a Hog Hotline of hunters and trappers in the area. At this meeting we will look at the progress of the hotline and discuss feral hog hotspots in the county as well as the intent to again participate in the Hog Out grant program. Please make plans to attend if possible. For information on the meeting, please call the Collin County Extension office at (972) 548-4233 or email r-maxwell@tamu.edu.

Pond Management This year we will not have our regularly scheduled Pond Management program as we included 3 pond management topics at the April 27th Basic Agriculture Field this year. Chuck Jones, Grayson County Agriculture/Natural Resources Agent, along with Will Mosely and Steven Smith, Noble Foundation Wildlife and Fisheries Specialists developed and presented the three pond management topics along with a wildlife drought management topic. Chuck presented Minimizing the Impact of Drought on Wildlife topic, Will Mosely presented Aquatic Vegetation Identification and Management along with Managing an Existing Fishery topics and Steven Smith presented Pond Construction and Initial Fish Stocking. We hope you had the opportunity to attend the field day, but if you didn’t and have any wildlife or pond management questions, please give us a call, email or come by for a visit and we will do our best to answer your questions.

Every Saturday morning around 9:30 am tune into the North Texas Ag Show on KHYI 95.3 FM The Range or listen live at www.khyi.com. Listen to Rick Maxwell and Greg Church talk about agriculture and horticulture and hear a market outlook report from Dr. Blake Bennett. The program features interviews with local experts on a range of topics related to livestock, horses, crop production, gardening, landscaping and the environment and much more.

If you haven’t heard, Rick and Greg are celebrities!