2015 Cotton – Planting Projections

We are at the beginning of another growing season and many cotton growers in New Mexico have already prepared their fields in preparation for planting. The cotton industry has continued to suffer under fluctuating lint prices which has affected the decision of many farmers in the cotton belt to grow cotton. The price drop that was experienced last year has created uncertainty about the acreage that will go into cotton in New Mexico during 2015 season. According to USDA Cotton Outlook, the area planted to cotton in USA will likely reduce by 12% during the coming season (down from 11 million acres in 2014 to estimated 9.7 million acres in 2015). According to the National Cotton Council, about 9.3% reduction in cotton acreage is predicted for New Mexico (down from 43,000 acres in 2014 to estimated 39,000 acres in 2015). Please, send your comments and contributions to John Idowu (email: jidowu@nmsu.edu; phone: 575-646-2571. Previous editions of the Cotton Newsletter are posted on http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/ifcpm/cotton-production.html

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID CPR TO COMMUNITY SAFETY

One in five adults in the United State will suffer from a mental illness this year. Mental health disorders are more common than heart disease and cancer combined. You are more likely to see or be with someone having a panic attack than you to see someone having a heart attack. Yet most of us lack the knowledge and skills to appropriately respond. This class is intended for a variety of professions such as law enforcement, human resources persons, educators, faith communities, friends and family of individual with a mental illness or addiction or just about anybody who work with people as a supervisor of employer. Everyone can benefit form this training. Mental health first aid is based on the goals of traditional first aid: to create an environment where people know how to help someone in emergency situations. It is not intended to make you a mental health professional. This is an eight hour course that will be taught a half a day one day and a half a day the next. The next class will be offered from 1 to 5 pm on April 30 and from 9 am to 1 pm on May 1, and participants must attend both sessions. They will be held in the large meeting room of the Eddy County Extension Office 1304 West Stevens in Carlsbad NM. There is limited seating so you must register by calling 575-887-6595. If you are in need of special assistance due to a disability in order to participate please tell us when you register for this class. Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating.

TICKS

TICKS This past weekend my red healer started shaking his head and rubbing it against anything he could. So having a master degree in parasitology I immediately thought of ear tick or mite. I was right, looking into his ear with a flash light I found spinose ear ticks. These are the most common tick in NM in cattle and horses. This the first time I found them in a dog. It looks like this year may be a bad year for ticks, in livestock as well as companion animals. All stages of ticks are exclusively parasitic. Most ticks that attack domestic livestock are in the family Ixodidae, the group referred to as hard ticks. In the family Argasidae, soft ticks, there is one species that is damaging to cattle, the spinose ear tick. Historically the way to control ticks and their diseases was to use pesticides, acaricides, to kill the ticks and their infectious agents. Slowly many ticks are becoming resistant to the commonly used pesticides. Early removal of attached ticks is important in minimizing the risk of contracting tick-borne diseases. Acaricide choices are limited to diazinon, pyrethroids, carbaryl and avermectins. Dipping vats have been shown to be effective ways to treat cattle by making them walk through the acaricide baths but recent years have shown a decrease in this method except at the border for cattle fever tick populations. This is still a good option for dogs however. Applying the products with a high pressure sprayer or pour-ons are other options, as well as dusts. Ear tags were originally designed to be used against ticks and are still very effective in preventing infestations but the movement away from ear tags for horn fly control has lead to an increase in tick outbreaks on cattle. Vaccines have been shown to be effective in others countries against tick infestations but are not yet usable in the United States, hopefully one day they will be. Field management provides another way to control tick populations by eliminating stages of ticks not on the host by destroying or removing vegetation where ticks hide. Vegetation changes can be done by burning or clearing, ticks need cover to prevent desiccation from the heat. Eradication had been achieved before with the cattle fever tick, but not a possibility anymore due to the amount of time, money, personnel and resources needed to attack tick populations in the amount of force needed to completely rid the US of them. There are five major genus of ticks, but only four in Eddy County. Demacentor, include the American dog tick and is a three host tick, it must take three bloodmeals from three different hosts. American dog ticks are major pests of people and domestic animals. Adults will attack dogs, medium mammals, livestock and humans. Adults are most abundant in late spring and early summer. American dog ticks are a major vector (carrier) of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the eastern US. The genus Rhipicephalus includes the brown dog tick and the brown ear tick. They are mainly found on mammals and sometimes on birds or reptiles. Brown dog tick prefers dogs and often infests houses, especially when dogs are kept inside. They cause considerable stress to owners and dogs that encounter thousands of them during summer months. The genus Amblyomma contain medium to large sized ticks that parasitize all terrestrial vertebrates. Important species include the Gulf Coast tick, the Lone Star tick, and the tropical bont tick. Not common to Eddy County but I have found a few. Rocky Mountain wood tick is an important pest attacking livestock and wildlife in western North America. They are the primary vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Colorado tick fever virus. Lone star tick is one of the most notorious tick pest species in the US. All stages of the tick attack companion animals, livestock, wildlife, and humans. Deer are the primary hosts for the adults The spinose ear tick is in the genus Otobius, the adults do not feed but the young are found in the auditory canals (ears) of cattle, horses and most mammals including wildlife. Ticks have four stages of their lifecycle, egg, larvae, nymph and adult. All ticks feed on blood during some or all stages. Ticks have remarkably long lives with many surviving for one or more years without feeding. Hard tick females take one large bloodmeal after mating in which they swell and then drop from the host to lay hundreds to thousands of eggs. The female will then die after laying eggs. The male will feed repeatedly and mate several times before death. Soft tick females take repeated small bloodmeals and lay several batches of eggs after each feeding. They can go several months between feedings and typically mate off of the host, they are resistant to starvation. The spinose ear tick is very different in that the female does not feed, so they lay eggs without feeding. Feeding begins with the secretion of a cement-like substance during the first 2 days. The tick then gradually begins to feed and creates a new outer layer to accommodate the massive bloodmeal. Ticks transmit many microbial disease agents to livestock and companion animals. They also can be debilitating and sometimes fatal to the host. Heavily infested livestock and poultry may experience economic reductions that can be significant. Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating.

Scientists dispute study on antibiotic residues in feedyard dust

Scientists dispute study on antibiotic residues in feedyard dust John Maday | Updated: Apr 08, 2015 In January, we covered a report from Texas Tech University’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health, outlining a study in which researchers detected antibiotic residues, bacteria and genetic material related to antibiotic resistance in particulate matter downwind of Texas feedyards. The research paper, titled “Antibiotics, Bacteria, and Antibiotic Resistance Genes: Aerial Transport from Cattle Feed Yards via Particulate Matter,” was published in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives. This week, Michael D. Apley, DVM, PhD at Kansas State University, Samuel E. Ives, DVM, PhD at West Texas A&M University and H. Morgan Scott, DVM, PhD at Texas A&M University released a white paper citing concerns over the conclusions listed in the Texas Tech report. The three research veterinarians focused on issues of bacterial viability, likelihood of bacterial repopulation and the concentration of antimicrobials found in the feedyard particulates. “In this paper, many inferences are presented as conclusions when in reality they are actually untested hypotheses,” they wrote. Contrary to much of the media representation of this research, the data do not indicate that there are any viable bacteria present in their samples. The likelihood of non-viable bacterial genes transforming into other living bacteria is of very low probability. The antimicrobial concentrations used in this study are not grounded in appropriate air and soil volume concentrations and do not accurately represent the dispersion and dilution of these agents in the environment.” In an interview published this week in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, Dr. Ives says “qPCR techniques only reveal the presence of bacteria, not their viability. That doesn’t translate to transference to the environment and beyond.” Read the full white paper from Drs. Apley, Ives and Scott. Find this article at: http://www.cattletradercenter.com/ctc_newsletter/Scientists-dispute-study-on-antibiotic-residues-in-feedyard-dust-299050651.html

Western snow pack

This report summarizes snow course and Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) network data, streamflow forecasts, and reservoir storage data collected and analyzed by the National Water and Climate Center. Precipitation during March was well below normal throughout almost the entire West, with the exception of Interior Alaska. Precipitation thus far in the water year (beginning October 1, 2014) is now below normal over most of the West except for some northwestern areas and coastal Alaska. Snowpack has declined significantly since last month throughout the West due to the warm and dry March. Only high-elevation areas in the Rocky Mountains and Interior Alaska retain somewhat near normal snowpack. Streamflow forecasts have dropped since last month due to a lack of snow accumulation during March and an early snowmelt, with most regions now expecting below normal streamflow. Reservoir storage is currently below normal in the Southwest and Nevada, with near to above normal storage elsewhere. Read more >>

USDA to Issue Disaster Assistance to Help Honeybee, Livestock and Farm-Raised Fish Producers

04/06/2015 01:25 PM EDT Release No. 0042.15 USDA to Issue Disaster Assistance to Help Honeybee, Livestock and Farm-Raised Fish Producers Farm Bill Program Offers Producers Relief for 2014 Losses in more than 40 States WASHINGTON, April 6, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency today announced that nearly 2,700 applicants will begin receiving disaster assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) for losses experienced from Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2014. The program, re-authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides disaster relief to livestock, honeybee, and farm-raised fish producers not covered by other agricultural disaster assistance programs. Eligible losses may include excessive heat or winds, flooding, blizzards, hail, wildfires, lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions and diseases, or in the case of honeybees, losses due to colony collapse disorder. Beekeepers, most of whom suffered honeybee colony losses, represent more than half of ELAP recipients. The farm bill caps ELAP disaster funding at $20 million per federal fiscal year and the Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by Congress, requires USDA to reduce payments by 7.3 percent, beginning Oct. 1, 2014. To accommodate the number of requests for ELAP assistance, which exceeded 2014 funding, payments will be reduced to ensure that all eligible applicants receive a prorated share. Today's announcement was made possible by the 2014 Farm Bill, which 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, USDA 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 http://www.usda.gov/farmbill. To learn more about ELAP, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/elap. For more information about USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance programs, visit disaster.usda.fsa.gov or contact your local FSA office at http://offices.usda.gov. 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).

GMO what are they and what is the science.

In almost every Master Gardener presentation I give, I am asked questions about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). Although this is not my specific area of expertise, I try to answer the question(s) as best I can. Recently, the Extension Master Gardener Coordinators Online Discussion Group through eXtension presented a webinar titled “Natural? Organic? GMO? Good, Bad, Ugly or Evil?” (It is available at the web address below: Click on the February 18 link titled “Helping MG’s answer GMO Questions”). The webinar is presented by Dr. Mary Keith (Ph.D. in Food Science), a Family and Consumer Science Agent with the University of Florida. http://create.extension.org/node/93850. This is obviously a very controversial subject, and people believe what they believe for a lot of different reasons, but people engage us in discussions on this subject and are interested to hear what we have to say. I watched this webinar and found it very interesting – it takes an hour to watch the full presentation. You might find this webinar helpful in answering questions from Master Gardeners and the general public. You may also consider showing it to interested Master Gardeners (I suggest you watch it first, just so you know the content of the presentation). An Internet search on GMO’s will result in a lot of information from a variety of sources, including the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/food-technology/faq-genetically-modified-food/en/) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/biotech-faq.pdf). You may also have Family and Consumer Science Agents in your office who get questions on this subject – please feel free to share this information with them. If you are not a member of the Extension Master Gardener Coordinators community and listserve, you might consider joining (there is a link at the top of this webpage). They offer a lot of useful resources for Master Gardener coordinators and offer monthly webinars on a variety of subjects. I hope you find this information useful,