High prices have lured farmers across Alabama into growing wheat this year—with acreage reaching a 27-year high. With the increased acreage comes a greater interest in storing grain on-farm to save time during harvest and to lock in the best sales price. Professionals with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System agree that this could be a profitable strategy if farmers take steps to maintain grain quality and handle grain safely.

Dr. Kathy Flanders, an Extension entomologist, says not paying attention to these basics could exact a heavy toll, both in terms of farmers’ financial bottom lines and even their personal safety.

“Some have never stored grain before, and for others it’s been along time,” says Flanders, who says that growers may not be aware of or may have forgotten the potentially destructive power of insects.

To help ensure farmers are familiar with the best practices for storing grain, Extension and the Alabama Wheat and Feed Grain Check-Off Committee are conducting a stored grain workshop on Thursday, May 15 at Auburn University’s Black Belt Substation and a nearby farm.

More information on the workshop can be found at http://www.aces.edu/dept/grain/documents/WestAlabamaStoredGrainPestManagementWorkshop.pdf. Interested producers can also contact Rudy Yates, a regional Extension agronomy agent, at (334) 295-5959 or (334) 422-1135 or at yatesrp@aces.edu.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System will hold a hay and forage field day for horse owners. An Extension regional animal science agent says the course will be offered Saturday, June 7 in Morgan County.

“This class is a follow up to the Grazing Management Course we offered last year to horse owners that was well attended and very well received,” says Kent Stanford, who serves a four-county area northeast of Birmingham. “The course includes both classroom-type instruction and hands-on exercises.”

The field day will begin at the Morgan County Extension office in Hartselle. Red Oak Farm in Danville will host the hands-on exercises and demonstrations.
Stanford’s colleague Gerry Thompson says forages are important resources for horse owners.

“Hay and forages can provide much of the nutrition for most horses,” says Thompson, an Extension regional agent in north Alabama. “But many horse owners don’t have a broad understanding of hay and forages.”

Both say the course’s goal is to help horse owners improve their understanding of forages, hay selection, and hay productions. Topics include forage species selection, matching hay quality to horse needs, and fire ant control options for pastures and hay fields, among others. A highlight of the program will be equipment demonstrations and a walking tour of the various forage species being grown at Red Oak Farm.

The course costs $20 per person, which includes all course materials as well as lunch and refreshments. Each additional family member can register for $10. Preregistration is required by June 2, and fees must be paid in advance.

The workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. and will end at 4:00 p.m. Contact Thompson at (256) 353-8702, Ext 25 or Stanford at (256) 299-0683 for more information and registration forms

The Alabama 4-H Achievement Awards identify outstanding Alabama 4-H members who have excelled in their 4-H career. Applications are judged by a screening committee of Alabama Cooperative Extension System professionals, 4-H volunteers, and appropriate industry representatives. Interviews for the awards were April 26 at the Alabama 4-H Center.

The fourth annual BET Summer Camp for Girls, sponsored by the BET Foundation (BETF) and General Mills, will be held July 20 - 27 at the 4-H Center in Columbiana, AL.

This year, up to 150 girls, ages 10 to 12, will be selected for an all-expense-paid trip to the program.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs Unit at Alabama A&M University in partnership with the Goat and Sheep Producers of Alabama will offer a series of free gastrointestinal parasite identification and FAMACHA training workshops.

The workshops are slated for Bullock County April 26, Baldwin County May 3, Chilton County May 17, and Marshall County May 24. All workshops will be at the county Extension offices from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with a one-hour lunch on your own.

The workshops are conducted at the beginning of the grazing season in early spring because spring is a time when gastrointestinal parasite (worms) infections are prevalent. The objective of the workshop is to educate farmers, veterinarian practitioners, Extension agents and others on a number of topics.

• Small ruminant production and alternative herd management
• Life cycle of gastrointestinal worms
• Consequences of parasite-host interactions
• Parasite deworming treatments to reduce infection among goat and sheep herds

Participants will also learn how to administer FDA-approved and non-FDA-approved products effectively to minimize the use of chemicals in the control of GI parasites. The FAMACHA test was developed by South African scientists and is a management tool used to control barber pole worm infection of sheep and goats.

The workshop brochure is also available online at http://www.aces.edu/urban/Parasiteworkshops08.pdf. For additional information, contact Dr. Maria Leite-Browning, Extension Specialist at Alabama A& M University, at
(256) 372-4954.