User-Friendly Program Updates Phosphorus Management

A more comprehensive and consistent system for modeling phosphorus loss is now available, thanks to work by ARS scientists whose user-friendly spreadsheet program can predict field-scale phosphorus loss in runoff for a whole year, and can also be used in many different states to quantify field-scale phosphorus loss and soil phosphorus changes over 10 years for a given set of runoff, erosion, and management conditions.  

 

A more comprehensive synopsis of the program and links to the research, magazine article and the free computer program are available HERE!

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2013/130418.htm

Cereal Disease Forcast for East Idaho for 2013

It will be difficult to forecast disease for the upcoming year, as everything depends on mother nature and the production practices of each grower. I have no control of either! However, I can give an opinion of what I expect to see in wheat and barley.

Evaluating Alfalfa Stands In the Spring

Dr. Dan Understander, extension forage specialist at the University of Wisconsin has done a lot of work on early season evaluation of alfalfa stands for winter kill and disease.  He has found that stands with less that 50 stems per square foot can be expected to have reduced yields.  While Understand and other have listed 6 plants per square foot as necessary for maximum yield but the stem count seems to work out better, integrating the health of the plants.  Glenn Shewmaker, University of Idaho extension forage specialist, feels that one might go down to 3 plants per square foot with slight yield reduction.

Dr. Understand has a video on evaluating plant health at http://youtu.be/hoJUU1rmCko.    He also has associated Extension Publications, Alfalfa Stand Assessment : Is it good enough to keep at:

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3620.pdf

 

In addition there is a wide variety of UW related alfalfa publications available at:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/alfalfa.htm

 

 

eXtension Entrepreneurship Webinar Series Begins April 11th with Farmers Market

Mark your calendars! The eXtension Entrepreneurship webinar series is finishing the season with three presentations of interest to farmers' market vendors and  farmstand owners. All webinars will air monthly on the second Thursday at 2:00pm (ET); 1:00pm (CT); 12:00pm (MT); 11:00am (PT) at https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/etc-cop.

On Thursday April 11, 2013 join Londa Nwadike, University of Vermont Extension Food Safety Specialist, for Food Safety for Farmers Market Vendors. Farmers Markets are a great venue for food producers and value-added processors to introduce their products to consumers, make sales, and also to get valuable feedback on their products. To protect this valuable outlet for your food products, it is essential that all the food sold at the market is as safe as possible and follows local, state and federal regulations. This helps to assure your customers that your business, as well as the entire Farmers Market, has product safety and quality in mind. This webinar will provide information on the food safety risks associated with direct marketing of foods, the regulations that farmers market vendors are required to follow, and strategies/best practices for maintaining a safe environment at farmers markets.