Trichomoniasis Prevention

This article is based upon Colorado State University Extension Service: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/livestk/01628.pdf I am getting a lot of reports about trichinosis (Trich.) around the county again. I have worked with a couple of producers and their veterinarian who have had this disease in their herd. It can and is devastating. One herd had only a 10% conception rate. Trich is a protozoan organism, so it is a parasite. It is transmitted by sexual contact during mating so it is a parasitic Sexual Transmuted Disease, (STD). You can not know if your cattle are infested until you have a veterinarian test. Risk factors are: Bulls exposure from neighboring pasture cattle, Cow exposure from neighboring pastures of cattle if you have a closed herd. Exposure of herd from bring in untested bulls. Retaining open cow into the next breeding season. Background The parasite lives in the sheath of the bull penis and in the re protective track of the cow. When the cow becomes infected from a Bull the infections can cause the cow to be infertile, she will cycle again and again until she builds up immunity. Unfortunately immunity is short and she can be reinfected. The cow can settle but will abort early usually first 3 months or so and goes back into heat. She can go full term and remain infected and shed the infective Trich parasite after calving. Bulls will show no signs of the Disease and will be source of infection until dead. ONLY WAY TO WIN! Is to work with you veterinarian; your adjoining ranches and develop a compressive Integrated Disease Management Plan. (IDMP)

Poor control of common lambsquarters with glyphosate: El Passo Extension IPM Agent

Poor control of common lambsquarters with glyphosate: On June 16, I inspected a cotton field southwest of Fabens with poor weed control after 2 applications of Roundup PowerMAX®. Both applications were made with a spray mixture of 15 gal/acre (using a 300-gallon tank), a spray width covering 18 cotton rows, and adding the non-ionic oil concentrate Penetrator®Plus at 1%. The first application was made on June 1, 2015 using 32 oz of Roundup PowerMAX®/acre. After observing poor weed control, a second application was made on June 9 using 48 oz of Roundup PowerMAX®/acre. Now (over two weeks after the first application), most weed species are dead, but approximately 10-15% of common lambsquarters plants, also known as Goosefoot in the plant family Chenopodiaceae, are doing well. Following suggestions by Dr. Charles Allen, I used RTU RoundUp to spray two herbicide rates in two rows. The first row received a “light” application and the second row received a “heavy” spray (soaking the plants well to the point of runoff). I returned to the field one and two days after treatment and I noticed herbicide-damaged cotton plants adjacent to the handsprayed lambsquarters. These weeds appeared undisturbed while the cotton leaves showed herbicide damage. It is too early to make any conclusions, but I will continue visiting this field and evaluate alternatives. Dr. Peter Dotray, Professor of Weed Science with Joint Appointment at Texas A&M Agrilife Research & Extension Service and Texas Tech University, indicated that broadleaf weed control in cotton is difficult, but it is possible to use Staple herbicides when weeds are small and being mindful of crop rotation restrictions. Also, the Liberty herbicide may be used in Liberty Link cotton varieties. Another possibility is the use of hooded sprayers with herbicides such as: Aim, ET, Liberty, or Gramoxone. Ultimately, in some cases, cultivation and hand hoeing may be the best options. I observed a mixture of dead, dying, and live common lambsquarter plants; which to me would suggest the possibility of a glyphosate resistance problem. However, there has not been a documented case of lambsquarter resistance to glyphosate anywhere in the world. We may be dealing with naturally reduced glyphosate susceptibility in these lambsquarter plants. Later in the season, I would like to obtain lambsquarters seeds, from this field, and send to Dr. Dotray for glyphosate-resistance studies. The extension publication “4-step Program for Managing Glyphosate Resistant Pigweeds in Texas Cotton” offers great advice on glyphosate resistance management (click here).

APHIS Releases Partial Epidemiology Report on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

June 15, 2015 – The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today released an epidemiology report outlining its initial findings through June 5 about how highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was likely entering new premises during this period of time. After conducting investigations on over 80 commercial poultry farms, APHIS analysis indicates that there are likely several ways the virus could be transmitted, including lapses in biosecurity practices and environmental factors. APHIS cannot, however, associate HPAI transmission with one factor or group of factors in a statistically significant way at this time, and will continue to update this report regularly as more analyses are completed. APHIS scientists believe wild birds were responsible for introducing HPAI into commercial poultry. While wild birds are the original pathway for the virus’ introduction into the United States, it appears the virus was spreading in other ways as well, given the number and proximity of farms affected by HPAI. For instance, the report provides evidence that a certain cluster of farms was affected by identical viruses, pointing to possible transmission among those farms. In addition, genetic analyses of the HPAI viruses suggest that independent introductions as well as transmission between farms were occurring in several States concurrently. For example, APHIS has observed the following: sharing of equipment between an infected and noninfected farm; employees moving between infected and noninfected farms; lack of cleaning and disinfection of vehicles moving between farms; and reports of rodents or small wild birds inside the poultry houses. APHIS is compiling these practices and will present these findings in a subsequent update of this report. Based on an analysis by APHIS, environmental factors may also play a part in transmitting HPAI. APHIS found that air samples collected outside of infected poultry houses contain virus particles, indicating that the virus could be transmitted by air. In addition, preliminary analysis of wind data shows a relationship between sustained high winds and an increase in the number of infected farms approximately 5 days later. APHIS is conducting additional analyses to better characterize environmental factors that may contribute to virus spread. While USDA has always worked with States and industry to promote biosecurity, it has continued to step up this collaboration throughout the outbreak, including meeting with industry representatives, producers, and federal, state and local government officials on to discuss the importance of biosecurity. Moving forward, APHIS plans to continue sharing what it learns with State and industry partners through regular conversations and meetings, including an Industry/USDA/State Animal Health Meeting in July where the agency will focus specifically on biosecurity. In addition, APHIS will continue to regularly communicate with its partners about all HPAI issues, hosting monthly calls with State agriculture officials, weekly calls with industry and State veterinary officials, and daily calls with officials in HPAIaffected States. APHIS appreciates the cooperation of poultry producers in providing the information needed for these epidemiology investigations. APHIS values its partnership with industry and believes that with their continued support and assistance, the agency will be well positioned to learn all it can about this virus. USDA plans to issue regular progress reports on its Web site to share updated findings with States, industry, and stakeholders.

National Hay Assoication Request

Please give the following your attention and call Randall Hughes, 903.748.2491, to discuss how you can help: Greetings from your fellow NHA members Randall and Sue Hughes in Texarkana! I am sure by now you are well aware of the flooding that is going on around the Red River in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. We are far enough from the river that our land has not been flooded but our fellow cattle raisers in our county, Miller County, Arkansas, and adjoining county, Bowie County, Texas, have had to move their cattle to higher ground. There have not been enough empty pastures to accommodate all the displaced cattle so there is an urgent need for hay. Since this area has received way over the normal amount of precipitation from February through May, there is not any 2015 hay available and not much 2014 hay left. Randall asked me to email you and see if you thought this might be an opportunity for the NHA to help in this relief effort. Some hay producers outside our area are going to make donations through hay at reduced cost. Would you please give Randall a call at 903.748.2491 to discuss possible NHA involvement? Thanks so much, Randall and Sue Hughes Rockin WH Hay Co. Texarkana, AR Ph: 903.748.2491

USDA Opens Enrollment Period for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Safety-Net Programs 06/15/2015 02:13 PM EDT

USDA Opens Enrollment Period for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Safety-Net Programs WASHINGTON, June 15, 2015 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that eligible producers may now formally enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2014 and 2015. The enrollment period begins June 17, 2015, and will end Sept. 30, 2015. "The extensive outreach campaign conducted by USDA since the 2014 Farm Bill was enacted, along with extending deadlines, is central to achieving an expected high level of participation,” said Vilsack. “We worked with universities to simplify these complex programs by providing online tools so producers could explore how program election options would affect their operation in different market conditions; these tools were presented to almost 3,000 organizations across the country. The Farm Service Agency also sent more than 5 million educational notices to producers nationwide and participated in over 4,880 educational events with more than 447,000 attendees. I am proud of the many committed USDA employees who worked hard over the last several months to provide producers support to help them make these important decisions.” The new programs, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, trigger financial protections for agricultural producers when market forces cause substantial drops in crop prices or revenues. More than 1.76 million farmers have elected ARC or PLC. Previously, 1.7 million producers had enrolled to receive direct payments (the program replaced with ARC and PLC by the 2014 Farm Bill). This means more farms have elected ARC or PLC than previously enrolled under previously administered programs. Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent of corn farms, and 66 percent of wheat farms elected ARC. 99 percent of long grain rice farms, 99 percent of peanut farms, and 94 percent of medium grain rice farms elected PLC. For data about other crops and state-by-state program election results go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc. Covered commodities under ARC and PLC include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity. The 2014 Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for the taxpayer. Since enactment, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill. # USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

Range Grasshoper meeting June 22

In cooperation with area County Extension Offices, we will host an informational meeting on range grasshoppers June 22 from 2-4 p.m. Shawn Carson, USDA-APHIS Plant Protection & Quarantine will be available on June 22 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability in Corona to provide an update on statewide grasshopper population estimates and trends, as well as, provide further information and answer questions related to species found in the area, forage loss calculations and RAAT application (Reduced Area Agent Treatments) for risk management. Please join us if you can! Please reply to this email if you think you might attend to help us guesstimate attendance for to make sure we have plenty of handout information available for everyone, but a reply is certainly not necessary to attend. Attached is a flyer, announcing the afternoons program. Shad Shad H. Cox, Superintendent/Programs Operations Director Corona Range and Livestock Research Center & Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability Animal and Range Sciences Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences New Mexico State University P.O. Box 392 Corona, New Mexico 88318 575.849.1015 office 575-849.1021 fax www.corona.nmsu.edu Facebook: /nmsucorona

Chile-peddling NMSU business grads have farming roots that run deep

DATE: 06/08/2015 WRITER: Amanda Bradford, 575-646-1996, ambradfo@nmsu.edu CONTACT: Preston Mitchell, 575-267-2246, admin@hatch-green-chile.com Chile is big business in New Mexico – growers in the state produced 65,000 tons of chile in 2013, worth $49.5 million – and nowhere is it bigger than the Hatch Valley, where some of the region’s longstanding farming families have been raising the crop for nearly a century. Second-generation New Mexico State University alum Preston Mitchell comes from one of those farming families – his great-grandfather, Joseph Franzoy, is widely credited with being the Hatch Valley’s first chile farmer, coming to the region in the early 1920s. Another branch of his family tree is great-grandfather Ed Berridge, who started Berridge Farms in 1944. And while Preston and his wife, Elaine Mitchell – herself a third-generation Aggie with family ties to agriculture in the region – recently earned their bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of Business and are working full-time with successful financial firms, they’re also carrying on the family chile tradition. The young entrepreneurs own and operate the Hatch Chile Store, a chile e-commerce site, and recently acquired the fresh and frozen online sales portions of Biad Chili Products. They also opened a processing facility and storefront on West Picacho Avenue in August 2014. The facility is closed and quiet now, but was abuzz with some 30 seasonal employees during the peak of the chile harvesting and processing season last fall. Buying Biad’s operation was a big scaling-up for the Mitchells. “We went from processing a few thousand pounds of product to processing tens of thousands of pounds of product overnight,” Preston said. “It was a big jump – but we’re hoping to grow through acquisition again in the next few years.” Most of their chile comes from Berridge Farms, along with a few other growers in the Hatch Valley. They ship the prized peppers all over the country, often to transplants who’ve moved away from New Mexico, but still need their fall chile fix. Elaine said it’s a lot of work, but it’s a business they really love. “It’s really fun, and we use so many of our skills that we learned at NMSU and from our parents,” she said. “It’s a great business and something that people love, so it’s really easy to sell our product.” It’s also a business that allows them to embark on their careers in financial services. With her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting under her belt, Elaine is working as a staff accountant with local firm Beasley, Mitchell & Co. After earning bachelor’s degrees in management and accounting and information systems, as well as a master’s in accounting, Preston is working as an auditor with KPMG, a top national firm. Before the ink was dry on their degrees, the couple was looking for ways to give back to NMSU. In October, they visited with the College of Business ambassador group to encourage them to explore their business ideas now. “We talked about becoming entrepreneurs in college and not waiting,” Elaine said. “A lot of students have great ideas and they might not follow through with them because it’s scary. But it’s actually a great time to try something.” The pair is also contributing a portion of their proceeds from the Hatch Chile Store to NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute in support of the research being done there and the resources the institute offers to businesses like theirs. “They’re working on solving the disease problems that the industry struggles with,” Preston said. “They’re making strains that are more resistant to disease and more consistent in flavor, heat level, size and even how quickly the peppers peel.” Eventually, the Mitchells hope to set up a scholarship or contribute to some of the funds they benefited from during their time at NMSU. Learn more about the Hatch Chile Store at www.hatch-green-chile.com.