Photo Monitoring Workshops for Rancher in Lost River Valley June 23 and 24th

The University of Idaho Extension will be offering photo monitoring workshops in Leadore June 10th, Challis June 22nd, Mackay on June 23 and Arco on June 24th.  The workshops will be lead by Amanda Gearhart, the University of Idaho Extension Range Specialist.  The workshops include classroom and hands-on field components. Lunch is being sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission.  Those completing the workshop may take advantage of the memorandum of understanding between the Idaho Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management, to have photo monitoring of existing BLM monitoring sites performed by permittees and entered into the permit records for future use in official evaluation.

Agricultural AUV Demonstration in Idaho Falls May 21

click on image to enlarge an or go to Empire Unmanned

Drones or UAV's are the latest in agricultural technology.  New developments in batteries have made it possible to build small "drones" that can carry sophisticated technology, which can lead to indepth agricultural analysis.  Empire is the first businesses that is licensed to use UAV's for commercial purposes, which includes sophisticated software, that can provide maps in as little as 48 hours.  Learn more about this technology in Idaho Falls on May 21.  Email tcolesfarm@gmail.com.

Master Gardener 2015 Regional Convention June 25-26, 2015

The 2015 Master Gardener Convention will take place on the BYU-Idaho Campus at the Thomas E. Ricks Gardens at 525 South Center Street in Rexburg on June 25th and 26th.  The program is sponsored by the University of Idaho Extension.   The program is open to master gardeners, students and to the public. Pre-registration is requested.

Thursday, June 25th will kick off with a keynote presentation by Dr. Stephen Love, "Where Wildflowers and Roads Meet".  The presentation will be located in the Benson Building in Room #219 on th eBYU-Idaho Campus.  It will begin at 6 :00 PM.

The Convention Will continue on Friday, June 26th with classes and tours.  Registration and check in will be from 8:00 AM to 8:40 AM on the East side of the Benson Building.  Look for signs pointing the way.

Strip Rust on the Move in - Protect Susceptible Varieties

PROTECT susceptible spring wheat with fungicides applied at herbicide timing. A fungicide efficacy chart is attached to this email at this link. Variety ratings of spring wheat to stripe rust in 2014 are available in the 2014 Small Grain Research Report (also on our website). This cool, wet weather will allow rapid spread and infection to occur.

Stripe rust is spreading in western Idaho. Stephens is widely grown in western Idaho and is susceptible to stripe rust. Fields are being sprayed with fungicides but are getting close to the cut-off point for spraying with specific fungicides. Be aware of the PHI (pre-harvest interval) associated with the fungicide being applied - in some cases the PHI restriction may not be when crop is 50% flowering, but before. Know the crop growth stage prior to application to avoid residue issues and off-label applications. 

Manage N Applications to Cereal Hays to Avoid Livestock Nitrate Poisoning

By Chad Cheyney, Extension Educator

As we are facing a water-short year, I suspect that some ranchers are planning to plant some kind of cereal hay crop that might make pretty good tonnage with a limited amount of water.  Livestock operators that are planning a pea and oat or other cereal hay crop should be cognizant of the potential for livestock nitrate poisoning.  The Extension Offices in Butte and Custer Counties can help you minimize this risk with soil analysis and field nitrate testing of suspect forages.

Certain plants, including cereals and some weeds, including kochia, lambsquarter and pigweed, have a propensity to accumulate nitrogen under stress conditions.  This tendency in cereal hay crops can be increased to a dangerous level if operators attempt to increase production by heavy nitrogen fertilizer applications, especially if drought or lack of irrigation water does not permit the crop to mature fully.

In reality, animals are not poisoned by nitrate per se, but one of the intermediate products in the rumen is nitrite.  If the feed is high in nitrate, not all of the nitrite is converted to ammonia in the rumen and passes into the intestine and finally the blood stream.  In the blood, the nitrite combines with hemoglobin to form meth-hemoglobin which cannot transport oxygen.  The animals die of asphyxia.  Chocolate colored blood is an indicated of the condition.

Prevention of nitrate poisoning has five components:

·         Soil testing and split applications of N in challenging environments to prevent over fertilization

·         Control of weeds, especially kockia, lambsquarter and pigweed which are nitrate accumulators

·         Use cereals with higher water use efficiencies such as winter wheat or spring grains

·         Plant cool season forages that are likely to mature before stress sets in.

·         Qualitatively test forages in the field using the “quick test” method from the Extension Office and lab test all forages that show moderate or high nitrate levels by the “quick test”.

For more information on nitrate toxicity see MontGuide MT200205AG, which can be found by “googling” MontGuide MT200205AG, or stop by or call your local University of Idaho Extension Office.

Stripe Rust Reaches Tetonia

Yesterday afternoon I was at the Tetonia Research Station rating winter wheat for snow mold, and I noticed stripe rust on some lines that were from Washington State’s pathology program. I don’t know the line names / pedigree of infected lines.