Volume 1, Issue 1 Steve Musen

Jessamine County Extension Agent

Agriculture and Natural Resources

at 502-

Cooperative

Extension Service

Jessamine County

95 Park Drive

Nicholasville, KY 40356

(859) 885-4811

www.jessamine.ca.uky.edu

Inside this issue:

Upcoming Events

in Agriculture 2

Cook Wild!

Recipe—Venison

Sloppy Joes

2

Upcoming

Training Oppor-

tunities

3

Water Safety

Reminders 4

Recycle that

Garden Waste 6

AGRICULTURE NEWS Jessamine County

Agriculture

July, 2021

Production Perspectives: Youth Seminar

On Wednesday July 21st, summer intern Landry Woodrum will be hosting a seminar for high school students interested in production agriculture. Guest speakers will cov-er a variety of topics including:

Acquiring and maintaining credit Drafting business plans Improving on existing family operations Making smart education decisions Goal setting Q & A session with farmers and industry partners Content will be geared towards high school students, perfect for equipping the next generation of the family farm with more information or sparking a love for the indus-try in a young person with no experience. Please arrive at the extension office at 12 o’clock, lunch will be provided and the program will begin at around 12:30. Please RSVP or reach out with any questions by emailing Landry at lowo223@uky.edu or by calling him at 859-374-0332.

July 5-10 Jessamine County Fair

July 5 Beef Show

Garden Show

Crop Show

Horticulture Show

July 6 Goat Show

July 8 Hog Show

July 10 Dairy Show

July 15 Vegetable Production Field Day

Woodford County Extension Office

5-7 PM, flyer attached

July 19 Jessamine County Cattleman

Association Meeting @ JCEO

July 21 Production Perspectives Youth

Seminar @ JCEO (12-3)

August 17 KY Forage and Grassland Council

Annual Field

4:30p-8:00p @ Lincoln County

See attached flyer

Upcoming Events in Agriculture

Page 2 AGRICULTURE NEWS

For more information on any of these programs, please contact the Jessamine County Extension Office

Healthy

Recipe

From

Cook Wild

Kentucky

Page 3 AGRICULTURE NEWS

Upcoming Training Opportunities:

Commercial Vegetable Production Field Day The Woodford County Extension Office will be hosting a commercial vegetable pro-duction field day on Thursday, July 15th from 5-7 p.m. The topics will be taught by Rachel Rudolph, Ric Bessin, and Nicole Ward and focus on basic information needed to manage a commercial-scale vegetable garden

Jessamine County Cattlemen Association The Jessamine County Cattlemen are planning to meet in-person at 6:30p on Mon-

day evening, July 19th at the Jessamine County Extension Office.

Production Agriculture Youth Seminar Jessamine County Extension agriculture intern Landry Woodrum is hosting a seminar on the challenges and opportunities in choosing full time production agriculture as a career for high school students on Wednesday July 21st. Topics will include acquiring and maintaining lines of credit, building business plans, establishing a network in the field, and several others. It will be held at the extension office from 12 to 3 PM and lunch will be provided.

Heart of America Grazing Conference The Heart of America Grazing Conference will be held in Mt Vernon, IL on August 11 with a pasture walk held the previous day. Kentucky’s very own Forage Specialist Extraordinaire, Jimmy Henning will be on the program. Contact the extension office for more information.

Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council—Annual Field Day

The KFGC’s Annual Field Day will be held on Tuesday, August 17th at Bill Holtzclaw’s Farm in Lincoln County located at 4610 Hwy 590, Stanford. Registragon will start at 4:30p and will conclude with a meal at 7:30p. Wagon tour and educational sessions will include Grazing Summer Annuals, Alfalfa Weed Control, Establishing Alfalfa and Making High-Quality Baleage.

Pandemic Cover Crop Support from USDA

A new financial support program has been introduced for farmers raising cover crops, for more information visit https://www.farmers.gov/pandemic-assistance/cover-crops

Follow Us on Facebook!

Stay up to date on upcoming programs and trainings available through the Jessamine County Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources by following us on Facebook. Search “Jessamine County Agriculture” or search @jessaminecountyagriculture.

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 4 AGRICULTURE NEWS

Water safety reminders

Amanda Gumbert—Water Quality Specialist

“While many of

our waterways

are safe to swim

in or eat fish

from, some are

not due to

unsafe levels of

pollutants and

bacteria.”

There is nothing like cooling off

with a day at the lake or nothing as relax-

ing as going fishing. As you enjoy Ken-

tucky’s wonderful waterways this sum-

mer, remember to take measures to stay

healthy.

While many of our waterways are

safe to swim in or eat fish from, some are

not due to unsafe levels of pollutants and

bacteria. It is important to check water

quality advisories before heading to your

favorite waterway for recreation. You can

see the latest advisories for swimming,

fishing and harmful algal blooms on the

Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabi-

net’s website https://eec.ky.gov/

Environmental-Protection/Water/Pages/

Advisory.aspx. Do not swim in or con-

sume fish from rivers, lakes, ponds,

creeks or streams with an advisory.

Any waterway in which you spend

time can potentially affect your health. If

you come in contact with contaminated

water, you may experience symptoms

like gastrointestinal issues, skin rashes,

respiratory issues or eye or ear infec-

tions. If you experience these symptoms

or suspect you have come in contact with

water pollutants, contact your primary

care physician.

To minimize your risk of getting a

water-related illness, the Kentucky De-

partment for Public Health and Kentucky

Division of Water recommend you avoid

ingesting or inhaling water. When you

leave for the day, make sure you thor-

oughly wash your hands and any other

body parts that came in contact with wa-

ter. Do not put open wounds in the wa-

ter, as it could cause the wound to get an

infection. Do not get in water that smells

bad or has surface scum. Avoid getting in

water after a heavy rain event, especially

in dense residential, urban or agricultural

areas. Steer clear of waterways located

below wastewater treatment facility

outfalls, animal feedlots, straight pipes or

other obvious pollution sources.

Page 5 AGRICULTURE NEWS

Water safety reminders

To minimize your risk of getting a

water-related illness, the Kentucky De-

partment for Public Health and Kentucky

Division of Water recommend you avoid

ingesting or inhaling water. When you

leave for the day, make sure you thor-

oughly wash your hands and any other

body parts that came in contact with wa-

ter. Do not put open wounds in the wa-

ter, as it could cause the wound to get an

infection. Do not get in water that smells

bad or has surface scum. Avoid getting in

water after a heavy rain event, especially

in dense residential, urban or agricultural

areas. Steer clear of waterways located

below wastewater treatment facility

outfalls, animal feedlots, straight pipes or

other obvious pollution sources.

Also pay close attention to the water

your pets and livestock consume. Do not

let them drink from water sources with a

bright green or blue surface scum. It can

cause them to experience gastrointesti-

nal issues. Keep your livestock from

loafing in ponds or other waterways.

Their urine and feces contaminate the

water. Consuming this water can give

them gastrointestinal issues. It can also

lead to a fish kill.

More information on water quality

and water safety is available at the Jessa-

mine County office of the University of

Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Ex-

tension Service serve all people regardless of economic

or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of

race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion,

political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,

gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic

information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental

disability.

“Many men go

fishing all of their

lives without know-

ing that it is not

fish they are after.”

Page 6 Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 6 AGRICULTURE NEWS

Recycle that Garden Waste

William Fountain & Rick Durham

“Composting

yard waste is

a controlled

biological

process where

bacteria, fungi

and other

organisms

decompose

organic

materials like

leaves, twigs,

grass clippings

and food

wastes”

A little miracle happens when you

compost garden waste. In a few months

you get rich, crumbly, beautiful organic

material filled with microbial life that will

improve your soil and make your garden

thrive.

Composting yard waste is a con-

trolled biological process where bacteria,

fungi and other organisms decompose

organic materials like leaves, twigs, grass

clippings and food wastes. Here are a few

tips for creating top-notch compost.

You will speed up the process if

you confine your pile within a smallish

space; one square yard is about right.

You can buy ready-made compost bins,

or you can make them from clean wood-

en pallets. Place one pallet on the

ground, drive metal stakes into the cor-

ners, then slide four pallets vertically on-

to the stakes. Or drive four stakes into

the ground to form a rectangle and wrap

with 3-feet high garden fencing or chick-

en wire.

You need both green and brown

materials in your compost pile. Grass

adds necessary nitrogen, but grass alone

will begin to compact and stink. Brown

materials such as dried leaves and twigs,

or even shredded newspaper or plain

white paper, add carbon to the mix and

will speed up the composting process.

However, paper is heavy in carbon and

can throw off the nitrogen to carbon ra-

tio, so it’s probably better to recycle most

of your paper products another way. The

ideal grass to leaves ratio is three parts

tree leaves (brown material) to one part

grass clippings (green material).

There are other acceptable materi-

als to use in your compost pile. Kitchen

wastes, such as coffee grounds (your

worms will love your coffee grounds),

eggshells and vegetable scraps work well.

Keep a covered crock or pot under your

sink to stash your kitchen parings. That

way you can delay your trips to the com-

post pile until the crock is full.

Page 7 AGRICULTURE NEWS

Recycle that Garden Waste

Sawdust may be added if nitrogen

is supplied at the rate of one pound of

actual nitrogen (6 cups of ammonium

nitrate or 4 cups of urea) per 100 pounds

of dry sawdust. Wood ash acts like lime,

which is alkaline, and should not be add-

ed at more than one cup per bushel of

organic matter. Composting works best

when the bin is at a neutral pH.

Don’t add animal products, pet

droppings or fat to your compost pile.

They will attract wildlife.

Composting can happen either aer-

obically (with oxygen) or anaerobically

(without oxygen). Microbes need oxygen

to efficiently break down organic wastes.

Decomposition will occur under anaero-

bic conditions, but the process is slow

and produces foul odors. Your goal

should be 100% aerobic decomposition.

Oxygen is added to a compost pile by

layering bulky brown materials with more

solid green materials and by turning the

compost with a garden fork. If the com-

post pile is too large or is turned infre-

quently, the interior of the compost pile

can become anaerobic while the exterior

is aerobic.

Finished compost should be dark

brown or black and crumbly with an

earthy smell. You should not be able to

discern the initial materials used for com-

posting, unless there are peach and avo-

cado pits, which break down very slowly

and remain as discernable objects that

can be removed. The pH will be neutral

to slightly alkaline.

Compost may be used as a soil

amendment to improve the soil’s physi-

cal condition and fertility. Compost

makes heavy clay soils easier to work and

improves aeration, root penetration and

water infiltration. Adding compost to

sandy soils helps retain water and nutri-

ents.

Although compost contains some

nutrients, their is not as high as most syn-

thetic fertilizer. Additional fertilization

may be necessary to achieve maximum

plant growth and production, unless you

are able to spread an inch or more of

compost on your planting beds.

“There is no

such thing as

away, when

we throw

something

away it must

go

somewhere”

Jessamine County Extension Service 95 Park Drive Nicholasville, KY 40356