Garrard Coffey

Following record breaking years, the Kentucky agricultural economy, like the overall U.S. agricultural economy, slumped in 2015, with concern looming for 2016. On the national front, USDA is projecting 2015 net farm income to plummet to $56 billion, down 28 percent from 2014 levels and 55 percent off the record high established in 2013. In response to mounting supplies and depressed demand, prices for most crops and livestock are falling from their record high levels of recent years. U.S. agricultural exports declined from its peak in response to a strengthening U.S. dollar, sluggish economic growth overseas, and abundant supplies. Land values and crop rents appear to be slowly adjusting to...

“This year’s first observed eastern tent caterpillar egg hatch is seven days earlier that 2015, reflecting the warm spring temperatures,” said Lee Townsend, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Extension Entomologist. “The hatch is not synchronized; tiny larvae will continue to emerge over the next two weeks from eggs laid last summer on wild cherry, flowering cherry, apple and related trees. This is a hardy insect so low temperatures in the 30-degree Fahrenheit range should not affect their survival.” Eastern tent caterpillars spend the winter as tiny, fully developed insects in distinctive egg masses that encircle twigs of wild cherry and related trees. It is one of...

• Stay alert!  The spring calving season should be in full swing now, top priority should be to get a live calf and keep cows in sufficient body condition to rebreed early. Calving areas should be accessible and as clean and as free of mud as possible. Pastures which have good sod and are close to handling facilities work best. Be prepared for severe weather and avoid calving losses that were common last winter. • Check cows at least twice daily and first-calf heifers more frequently than that. Be ready to assist those not making progress after 1 to 2 hours of hard labor. Chilled calves should be dried and...

The Kentucky Division of Water may contact you for a variety of reasons. The division’s mission is “to manage, protect and enhance the quality and quantity of the commonwealth’s water resources for present and future generations through voluntary, regulatory and educational programs.” With oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Kentucky Division of Water carries out its objectives through permitting and educational outreach. The division’s oversight in the following areas may impact water quality: wastewater treatment, construction, oil and gas, drinking water treatment, groundwater, agriculture, coal extraction, streams and floodplains, etc. One of the duties of the division is to regulate agricultural entities. If you are a livestock producer, you...

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) lessened restrictions on poultry February 22 - the same day Indiana officials gave the all clear. After some devastating bird flu incidents in the United States since December 2014, KDA put into place several restrictions regarding poultry and associated sales and fairs. Kentucky is home to about 850 large-scale poultry farms and more than 3,000 poultry houses in 42 counties. The restrictions were meant to protect the state’s Number 1 agricultural and food commodity industry valued at $1.2 billion in 2014. “KDA briefly lifted restrictions in early January; but then bird flu resurfaced in Indiana, and the restrictions were put back into place,” said Dr....

Raising small poultry flocks on the farm or in the backyard has become very popular. The most important things to remember when choosing the type of housing are provisions for adequate shelter from weather, adequate ventilation and also protection from predators. You should choose housing that is easy to build from readily available materials. Housing should also have a low maintenance cost and support the changing needs of your flock. Over the years, a variety of designs for backyard flocks have hit the market - each with its own pros and cons. The best design for you depends on the number and types of birds you have and on how much...

Raising small poultry flocks on the farm or in the backyard has become very popular. The most important things to remember when choosing the type of housing are provisions for adequate shelter from weather, adequate ventilation and also protection from predators. You should choose housing that is easy to build from readily available materials. Housing should also have a low maintenance cost and support the changing needs of your flock. Over the years, a variety of designs for backyard flocks have hit the market - each with its own pros and cons. The best design for you depends on the number and types of birds you have and on how much...

Is fat a bad word? Not necessarily. Simply put, fat is just the body’s storage form for energy. If an animal consumes more energy than it uses, its body will store the excess calories as fat - like money in the bank they can use in an energy shortage (think cows calving in late winter). Fat imparts flavor to food (like a T-bone steak), but it also adds calories. So managing fat can be a delicate issue in the cattle business. Presently, the quality of beef is estimated to a large degree by the amount of marbling (intramuscular fat) that it contains. Tenderness is also important but is generally a...

Blister beetles belong to a family of plant-feeding insects (Meloidae) that produce cantharidin, a toxic defensive chemical. Contact with it in the blood of live or dead beetles causes blistering of the skin or mucous membranes of sensitive mammals, especially horses. Cantharidin is stable and remains toxic in dead beetles for a long time, so animals can be poisoned by eating crushed beetles in cured hay. The severity of the reaction depends upon the amount of cantharidin ingested and the size and health of the animal. The lethal dose for livestock is estimated to be 0.45 to 1.0 mg of the chemical per kilogram of body weight. Clinical signs associated with...