SOACDF scholarship opportunity
By
David Dugan-
This is the second year for this scholarship that is being offered by the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation. The details are included in the news release from the SOACDF below.
The Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation will once again offer the Educational Excellence Competitive Grant for school year 2011-12. The Educational Excellence grant is a one time award of up to $7,500 toward the cost of tuition, on campus housing, lab fees and books that can be billed through the college or university. To be eligible, students must be tobacco quota owners, quota owners/growers, or grower/tenants of Farm Service Agency (FSA) record in any single crop year from 1997 through 2004 or their immediate family dependents that are enrolled at an accredited institution and are seeking an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Applicants must be enrolled as a full time sophomore, junior or senior in the 2011-12 school year to be eligible.
Applications and guidelines for the Educational Excellence Competitive Grant are now available at your local FSA office, at the SOACDF office or online at www.soacdf.net. The application period is Jan.15, 2011 to Feb. 15, 2011. Applications will not be accepted either before or after this period. If you have questions, please call the Foundation Office at 937-393-2700.
Calving season
As we get started into 2011, I am sure some beef producers have started calving already in the Ohio Valley. That would most likely be a pretty safe statement if I made it anytime of the year due to the fact we have some producers that are producing show cattle or “club calves,” spring calving producers which could mean January or May and everything in between, fall calving producers which could be anywhere from August until December, and there are some that leave the bull with the cows year round.
Whenever your calving season starts and ends, there are several things to get prepared prior to the first calf hitting the ground. Depending on how long that is, you may have time to do some preventative vaccinations to the cows that may help, too. If scours have been a problem in the past, consult your veterinarian about some options.
Other ideals that might be worth looking into, if scours has been a problem in the past, would be to have some rotational pastures for calving.
Grouping cow/calf pairs after 10 days to 2 weeks may reduce the spread of the problem and prevent an outbreak. It will take some extra time, but it might be less time than it would take to treat a bunch of sick calves.
Other things you can consider as you get close to the beginning of your calving season would be how you feed your cows. Cows that are in good body condition will be more likely to have healthy calves. Corn and other feedstuffs are higher this year and it may be tempting to cut corners. Feeding even a small amount of a high energy concentrated feed will help the cows stay in good shape.
Cows in good body condition not only produce healthier calves, but in most cases the calves will be up and nursing quicker. That is really important when they are born in weather like we have in the forecast for this week. Cold and wet conditions are stressful for a newborn, so the quicker that newborn gets up and nurses the better chance it has. The quality of the mother’s milk will most likely be much better if she is in good shape and has been fed well in the last 2 or 3 months of the gestation period.
The first milk, or colostrum, is very important for the health of the calf in the first 3 months of its life. This is also where the vaccination of the cows can be passed onto the calf. It is always better to be prepared for the exception. You may have to pull a calf, where are the chains? Do you have an area to calve cows during extreme weather? Do you have a place to warm a chilled calf? Do you have any frozen or commercially produced colostrum on hand? Do you have a bottle? Do you have a tube to feed the calf that will not nurse? Talk to your local veterinarian about vaccines and vitamins that you may want to administer to the newborn calf, too.
Things to remember
Farmer’s Tax Guides are available free at OSU Extension Offices while supplies last.
The 2010 Ohio Corn, Soybean, and Forage Performance Trials, printed by Ohio’s Country Journal, are available now at the OSU Extension Offices.
Pesticide Re-certification dates for Adams, Brown, and Highland Counties are as follows: January 18 at North Adams High School in Seaman starting at 12:30 p.m.; February 9 at Eastern Brown High School starting at 5:30 p.m.; and February 22 at Whiteoak High School starting at noon.
You must pre-register at least five days prior to the class date. Meal and handouts are included in the $35 fee that can be paid at any of the three county extension offices in person, or by mail. There will be an additional charge after the deadline. There will be a couple of dates for Pesticide License Testing announced soon.
• The Small Ruminant Health School (sheep and goats) program is in Athens on Jan. 25, Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22. You can contact Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County at (740) 593-8555 or via email at: lewandowski.11@osu.edu for more information or to register.
• Cow School – Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24, and March 3 at Eastern Brown HS at 7 p.m. Check out the OSU Extension web page for details.
• 3rd annual Small Farm Conference – This is a two day event at Wilmington College on March 12 and 13. Details and registration materials will be available soon.
• 2nd annual Family Farm Night at Maysville Community and Technical College on March 15.[[In-content Ad]]
The Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation will once again offer the Educational Excellence Competitive Grant for school year 2011-12. The Educational Excellence grant is a one time award of up to $7,500 toward the cost of tuition, on campus housing, lab fees and books that can be billed through the college or university. To be eligible, students must be tobacco quota owners, quota owners/growers, or grower/tenants of Farm Service Agency (FSA) record in any single crop year from 1997 through 2004 or their immediate family dependents that are enrolled at an accredited institution and are seeking an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Applicants must be enrolled as a full time sophomore, junior or senior in the 2011-12 school year to be eligible.
Applications and guidelines for the Educational Excellence Competitive Grant are now available at your local FSA office, at the SOACDF office or online at www.soacdf.net. The application period is Jan.15, 2011 to Feb. 15, 2011. Applications will not be accepted either before or after this period. If you have questions, please call the Foundation Office at 937-393-2700.
Calving season
As we get started into 2011, I am sure some beef producers have started calving already in the Ohio Valley. That would most likely be a pretty safe statement if I made it anytime of the year due to the fact we have some producers that are producing show cattle or “club calves,” spring calving producers which could mean January or May and everything in between, fall calving producers which could be anywhere from August until December, and there are some that leave the bull with the cows year round.
Whenever your calving season starts and ends, there are several things to get prepared prior to the first calf hitting the ground. Depending on how long that is, you may have time to do some preventative vaccinations to the cows that may help, too. If scours have been a problem in the past, consult your veterinarian about some options.
Other ideals that might be worth looking into, if scours has been a problem in the past, would be to have some rotational pastures for calving.
Grouping cow/calf pairs after 10 days to 2 weeks may reduce the spread of the problem and prevent an outbreak. It will take some extra time, but it might be less time than it would take to treat a bunch of sick calves.
Other things you can consider as you get close to the beginning of your calving season would be how you feed your cows. Cows that are in good body condition will be more likely to have healthy calves. Corn and other feedstuffs are higher this year and it may be tempting to cut corners. Feeding even a small amount of a high energy concentrated feed will help the cows stay in good shape.
Cows in good body condition not only produce healthier calves, but in most cases the calves will be up and nursing quicker. That is really important when they are born in weather like we have in the forecast for this week. Cold and wet conditions are stressful for a newborn, so the quicker that newborn gets up and nurses the better chance it has. The quality of the mother’s milk will most likely be much better if she is in good shape and has been fed well in the last 2 or 3 months of the gestation period.
The first milk, or colostrum, is very important for the health of the calf in the first 3 months of its life. This is also where the vaccination of the cows can be passed onto the calf. It is always better to be prepared for the exception. You may have to pull a calf, where are the chains? Do you have an area to calve cows during extreme weather? Do you have a place to warm a chilled calf? Do you have any frozen or commercially produced colostrum on hand? Do you have a bottle? Do you have a tube to feed the calf that will not nurse? Talk to your local veterinarian about vaccines and vitamins that you may want to administer to the newborn calf, too.
Things to remember
Farmer’s Tax Guides are available free at OSU Extension Offices while supplies last.
The 2010 Ohio Corn, Soybean, and Forage Performance Trials, printed by Ohio’s Country Journal, are available now at the OSU Extension Offices.
Pesticide Re-certification dates for Adams, Brown, and Highland Counties are as follows: January 18 at North Adams High School in Seaman starting at 12:30 p.m.; February 9 at Eastern Brown High School starting at 5:30 p.m.; and February 22 at Whiteoak High School starting at noon.
You must pre-register at least five days prior to the class date. Meal and handouts are included in the $35 fee that can be paid at any of the three county extension offices in person, or by mail. There will be an additional charge after the deadline. There will be a couple of dates for Pesticide License Testing announced soon.
• The Small Ruminant Health School (sheep and goats) program is in Athens on Jan. 25, Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22. You can contact Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County at (740) 593-8555 or via email at: lewandowski.11@osu.edu for more information or to register.
• Cow School – Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24, and March 3 at Eastern Brown HS at 7 p.m. Check out the OSU Extension web page for details.
• 3rd annual Small Farm Conference – This is a two day event at Wilmington College on March 12 and 13. Details and registration materials will be available soon.
• 2nd annual Family Farm Night at Maysville Community and Technical College on March 15.[[In-content Ad]]