Faulkner County Agriculture Update
January 26, 2024
Extension Office Open House
We would like to invite everyone to come to our Open House on March 16, 2024 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Extension office located at 844 Faulkner Street in Conway.

We have lots of activities planned for everyone that comes out. We will be taking soil samples that day. Just get a sample from your yard, garden or pasture and put it in a Ziplock plastic bag and bring it by and we will get it sent off for you.
Homesteading Conference
We are excited to announce our upcoming Homesteading Conference on March 11, 2024 at the Extension Office from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm. We will cover topics like Home Composting, Beekeeping, 4-H, Fertilizer Management for Small Farms, Food Preservation Basics, Economics of Food Preservation and Cheese Making.

Cost is $25 per person and a meal will be provided. We are excited for everyone to come out and learn more about homesteading.
General Conditions
Weather

Another crazy weather week for Faulkner County. We started off Monday with freezing rain that seemed to last longer than it should. One comment I keep hearing is "I have never seen a snow last as long as this one". I have to agree, the ground was just so cold it kept everything hanging around. Now we are paying the price of a frozen ground with some really bad mud. I have places in my driveway that have never had mud like this and it has to do with the freezing and thawing of the ground. This is going to lead to some messy hay feeding areas. I have some advice with what to do with those areas on in the newsletter.

The forecast looks like a round of rain tonight and then maybe we can have some sunshine for a little bit. Temperatures are going to stay mild the rest of this week with another chance of rain coming at the end of the week.
Arkansas River
For the first time in awhile it looks like we have some flow on the river. I know everyone hates the mud, but we really needed this rain. We need some water in the Arkansas and Mississippi to help with barge traffic. Driving around this morning I noticed all the tributaries are full and flowing to the Cadron and down to the Arkansas, with a little minor flooding in some really low areas.
Drought Monitor
Row Crop
River Valley Rice Production Meeting

The next production meeting is the River Valley Rice Meeting which will be held on February 28, 2024 at Yesterday's in Morrilton.
2024 Arkansas Soybean Quick Facts

The 2024 Arkansas Soybean Quick Facts is now available at the link below. The quick fact sheets were developed to give producers a quick one page reference guide to Extension recommendations for different crops.
Beef & Forage
Tri County Beef and Forage Conference

Faulkner, Conway and Van Buren Counties are going together to present the 2024 Tri County Beef and Forage Conference on February 27, 2024 at the Cowboy Church in Damascus. The meeting will start at 5:30 pm with a meal followed by the program. Speakers will include Dr. Maggie Justice our State Beef Specialist, Danny Griffin the Van Buren County Extension Agent - Staff Chair and Kevin Lawson the Faulkner County Extension Agent - Agriculture.
2024 River Valley Beef Conference

The 2024 River Valley Beef Conference will be held at the I-40 Sale Barn on February 20, 2024.
KOMA Beef Cattle Conference

On February 12th & 13th the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture will be hosting the KOMA Beef Conference in conjunction with Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Missouri Extensions. This event will center around beef cattle research updates from each extension service and include keynote speaker, Dr. James Mitchell on risk management. There will be two chances to attend this event, February 12th in Mt. Vernon, MO and February 13th in Poteau, OK. We hope to make this a yearly event with the conference coming to Arkansas in 2025. 
Hay Feeding Areas

We have a muddy mess out there, and our hay feeding is going to make a big mess even bigger. The freeze and thaw has led to a very muddy situation and every place a hay bale is fed the grass sod is getting trampled into soup. Now the question is, “will the grass regrow in those spots”? Some will try to burn the old uneaten hay, some will pull a drag or disk to smooth over the hay feeding spots, and some will leave the spots alone. By most observations, whatever is done, the hay feeding spots tend to become weed patches in summer that are full of pigweed and other undesirable plants. Looking at it from the outside reveals why – the hay spot is trampled, with no forage competition, and lots of soluble nutrients from hay, manure, and urine. It’s a fantastic garden for weeds to grow.

What do we do with these trampled bare hay feeding spots? Our specialists have done on farm demonstrations over the years by broadcasting seed into some hay feeding spots and compared what was growing there by early summer with unplanted hay feeding spots. Crabgrass or clover overseeded into hay feeding spots quickly populated the sites. On one farm, crabgrass and clover were overseeded into the bare hay feeding spots in March. Stand counts in early summer showed crabgrass and clover percent at 81% with very few weeds, whereas crabgrass percent was only 15% in unseeded hay spots with no clover and a high percent of weeds. On another farm, white clover was overseeded into the bare hay feeding spots and counts in later spring showed about a 70% stand of clover compared to about 40% ragweed in the unseeded spots. On a third farm, stand counts of crabgrass averaged nearly 100% in seeded spots. Unseeded spots had 42% weeds and undesirable plants. This is an easy fix for those bare spots and provides a reservoir of high quality forage that can spread throughout the pasture as cattle consume the seed of mature plants and move it around. Other forages such as bermudagrass, fescue could be planted as desired. 
Faulkner County Cattlemen's Meeting

Faulkner County had a Cattlemen's meeting on January 25, 2024. The group was treated to a hamburger meal from Cypress Valley Meat Company followed by an update. The other sponsor was Arkansas Auction with an update from Randy Goodman.

The Vilonia FFA was there to give an update on some of their projects and to give some talks. The youth did a tremendous job.

New ACA Executive Vice President Michelle Bufkin Horton gave an update from the state office and Matthew Bean from the NRCS gave a presentation on NRCS programs that are available to producers in Faulkner County.
Managing Perinatal Mortality in Lambs

Perinatal mortality can be one of the greatest sources of financial loss on your farm. There are many causes of perinatal mortality, but small changes in your farm’s management can greatly reduce your losses. You should keep pets and wildlife out of your feed and water. Keep a close watch on lambs that have higher risk of perinatal deaths like ram lambs, underweight lambs, lambs from first parity ewes and lambs from difficult or prolonged births. Manage your ewes’ nutrition so that their needs are met and they lamb in good body condition. Select rams whose lambs are robust and lively. Finally, select calm ewes that are good mothers who easily give birth to average­ weight, twin lambs. Your lamb losses will decline and your profits will rise with less worry and labor on your part.

Click on the link below to learn more.
Pond Management Tasks for January:
by: Scott Jones - Extension Pond Specialist, UAPB

Winter drawdowns, for the appropriate situations, should be underway. Application of agricultural lime for water chemistry adjustments can continue. Fertilization, feeding and herbicide applications should be suspended until spring. Aquatic dye can be applied for aquatic weed control, but it will need more frequent booster doses during the wet season to maintain effective shading. Fish stocking, especially forage fish like fathead minnow, golden shiner, and bluegill, can continue. Periodically inspect drains and spillways to clear debris and clogs. Continue daily operation of aerators if desired. There is benefit to continuously operating aerators through winter, but those wanting to save a little on electricity and wear/tear can turn off their aerators for the winter once water temperature decreases into the mid to low 50’s°F.
Disaster Assistance for 2023 Livestock Forage Losses

Producers in Faulkner and Perry Counties were designated a D3 (extreme drought) on the U.S. Drought Monitor on October 24, 2023, making those counties eligible for 2023 Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) benefits on mixed grass forage for grazing.

LFP provides compensation if you suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land or fire on federally managed land.

You must complete a CCC-853 (LFP Application) and the required supporting documentation no later than January 31, 2024, for 2023 losses.

Contact the Conway County USDA Service Center at 501-354-2000 ext. 2 to make an appointment or for additional information or visit fsa.usda.gov.

Deborah Bolin
County Executive Director
Conway/Faulkner/Perry and Van Buren County Farm Service Agency
Here is this weeks Cattle Market Notes Weekly
Livestock Market Report

The weekly livestock market report is available on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture website.
Pesticide Applicator Training
There are two PAT trainings scheduled for Faulkner County. All trainings will be held at the Extension Office located at 844 Faulkner Street in Conway.

The dates are:
March 12, 2024 - 6:00 pm
May 14, 2024 - 2:00 pm

To register you can call the office at 501-329-8344 or email my administrative assistant Mindy Beard at rbeard@uada.edu.

The training will cost $20. If you bring a check please make it out to Faulkner County Extension Office.

The online course is still an option also. If you want to use the online options, the link is below.

If you happen to miss ours, I have a flyer below with the dates and places of the ones in Conway and Perry County also.
Upcoming Events
Pesticide Applicator Training - March 12, 2024 at 6:00 pm and May 14, 2024 at 2:00 pm at the Faulkner County Extension Office, 844 Faulkner Street Conway. To register call 501-329-8344 or email Mindy Beard at rbeard@uada.edu.

KOMA Beef Cattle Conference - February 12, 2024 in Mt. Vernon, Missouri and February 13, 2024 in Poteau, Oklahoma.

River Valley Beef Conference - February 20, 2024 at the Ozark Sale Barn in Ozark Arkansas.

Tri County Beef and Forage Conference - February 27, 2024 - 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm at the Cowboy Church in Damascus

Rice Meeting - February 28, 2024, Yesterday's in Morrilton.

Homesteading Conference - March 11, 2024 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at the Faulkner County Extension Office, 844 Faulkner Street, Conway.

Extension Office Open House - March 16, 2024 - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm at the Faulkner County Extension Office, 844 Faulkner Street, Conway.
Contact Kevin Lawson, County Extension Agent–Agriculture, Faulkner County | Kevin Lawson