pasture protection – Griffin Fertilizer Company

UF/IFAS Research Team Locates Cogongrass-Eating Insect

Erika Aldrich — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:41:51 +0000

A UF/IFAS research team found a natural enemy of cogongrass on the other side of the world.

A pervasive weed in Florida and the southeastern U.S., cogongrass, may have met its match, thanks to an international research team led by UF/IFAS entomology professor James Cuda and retired entomology professor Bill Overholt. The team explored insects and other arthropods from around the world, looking for natural foes of the “noxious weed that elbows out pasture grass, golf course greens and valuable ecosystems,” according to a UF/IFAS release on the research. Read a summary of what they found below.

A Cogongrass Foe

The team located various arthropods in locales in Asia and Africa that “might help in the battle against cogongrass,” according to the UF/UFAS piece. The most promising seems to be a midge from Indonesia. Midges are small flies.

According to the UF/IFAS article, the midge, Orseolia javanica, eats cogongrass. The midge’s feeding “causes cogongrass to produce linear galls at the expense of leaves.”

The weed is an invasive pest for many industries in Florida, so finding something that will harm cogongrass is important. “This invasive grass infests cattle pastures, golf courses, lawns and also thrives in poor soil conditions such as ditch banks, roadside and railroad rights-of-way as well as reclaimed phosphate mining areas,” Cuda is quoted as saying in the UF/IFAS article. Cogongrass is especially troublesome because the weed grows quickly and changes the way the habitats it invades work.

Unfortunately, the specimens the team brought back to the quarantine facility at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Florida, did not reproduce, meaning the team will first have to study the insect before assessing how the flies may be able to fight cogongrass. Current controls for the weed include herbicides and mowing, so the midge may offer a more eco-friendly, natural biological control.

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.

Photo courtesy of elaine ross baylon.

Florida’s Top Colleges and Universities for a Sunshine State Ag Education

Erika Aldrich — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:29:27 +0000

Explore the ag education offering of colleges and universities in Florida.

Ranking colleges is a common occurrence, letting students and parents know where certain colleges and universities stand. If fact, the website College Rank, a website that evaluates and ranks college programs and other college-related factors, recently released the Top 35 Best College Farms. While the ranking seemed to be based on the farms themselves alone, we were disconcerted to not see any of our Florida colleges and universities on the list. We believe there are some excellent programs in The Sunshine State for an ag education; find a summary of the top two below.

Florida Colleges and Universities Offering an Ag Education

College Rank spokesperson Monica Dennis was quoted in a Growing Produce article as saying, “Farming in America provides nearly 10% of jobs in the United States. University farming and agricultural programs allow students to gain invaluable experience before leaving to start their careers. Hands-on learning offers students the opportunity to learn how large functioning farms work, both in agriculture and animal management and care.” The following are Florida-based secondary schools that offer a good ag education.

University of Florida. Located in Gainesville, they offer 21 undergraduate majors, more than 50 areas of specialization and 23 graduate majors in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS). CALS is dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, the life sciences, as well as enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life. The University also hosts the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), a world-renowned “Federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible.”

Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. Located in Tallahassee, FAMU’s College of Agriculture and Food Sciences (CAFS) offers 10 outstanding academic program options that develop workplace readiness through internships, co-ops and fellowships in the U.S. and abroad. Students can select a field of study to earn their undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, certificate and associate degrees from FAMU.

Many of the colleges in the Florida state system—formerly community colleges—offer associate’s degrees in agriculture or related disciplines that allow applicants to transfer as juniors into traditional four-year colleges like the two above.

A Summary of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD)

Erika Aldrich — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 02:26:36 +0000

Find the details of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) final rule from the FDA that started at the beginning of the New Year.

If you have livestock, then you’ve surely heard of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD), It’s a ruling by the FDA that livestock producers must have a “working relationship” with a local licensed veterinarian in order to get written documentation allowing you as a producer to use a VFD drug in or on the animals feed. The details of the Veterinary Feed Directive are shared in a UF/IFAS article. See a summary of it below.

Veterinary Feed Directive Details

The VFD program took effect at the beginning of 2017. The UF/IFAS article labels a VFD as “a written document from a licensed veterinarian, that you have a valid working relationship with, allowing you as a producer to use a VFD drug in or on the animals feed. This written document can be referred to as a VFD order.”

Important points of the ruling include:

Your veterinarian can only authorize the use of antibiotics in the feed or water of your animals if you have a veterinary client-patient relationship (VCPR). Establish a relationship with a local, licensed vet now; this means they come out to your farm or ranch and have a relative understanding of the ins and outs of your operation.
Additional antibiotics used in cattle feed which will now require a VFD include oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline and tylosin.
Antibiotics which are not considered medically important for humans, and therefore will not require a VFD, include monensin, lasalocid and bacitracin. However, the UF/IFAS article maintains that “if these are used in the feed along with a VFD drug for which concurrent use of both drugs is on their respective labels, then this concurrent use must be authorized by the veterinarian on the VFD for the drug requiring veterinary oversight.”
Antibiotics that can be used for animals and humans alike can no longer allowed to be used for growth promotion purposes.
Feed that required a Veterinary Feed Directive due to antibiotics or other VFD drug cannot be kept after the VFD order has expired.
Producers are required to keep VFD records for at least two years.

See the UF/IFAS article for a table with a comprehensive list of the drugs that will and will not be impacted under the VFD final rule.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Grazing Florida Cracker Cattle Could Help Conserve Wetlands

Erika Aldrich — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 01:29:35 +0000

Florida’s cattlemen and women are true stewards of the land they utilize for grazing Florida cattle. Case in point is the 282 acres of Peter Frederick just south of Gainesville. The land was bought by Frederick and his wife some 15 years ago. Frederick, in an article in Southeast Farm Press, maintained, “It is a sanctuary, a personal space for work and developing land management techniques.” Frederick also works in the University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, teaching wetland science and restoration, and he’s put the land to good use.

An Easement and Grazing Florida Cracker Cattle

The land borders Kanapaha Prairie and features prairie land, freshwater marshes, hammocks and stands of longleaf pine. The entire region hosts over 600 different species of plants and animals, including 29 species that are listed as threatened and/or endangered. The area is also key to recharging Florida’s all-important aquifer.

Frederick entered the land into a conservation easement in 2008 with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Alachua County Forever. Such easements protect wild land and water from development, but allow the land to continue to be used for agricultural purposes.

For the past 10 years, the land has been grazing Florida Cracker Cattle owned by Jack Gillen, and Frederick has been exploring the dynamic between grazing and wetlands. He cites examples from around the world where cattle are used specifically to preserve wetlands. “A longstanding practice all over the world,” he said, “grazing keeps the trees out and maintains the wetlands. Many places in South America have centuries-long histories of ranching in grasslands and wetlands. The Venezuelan Llanos and the Brazilian Pantanal are good examples. Some of those ranches are over 300-years old,” he shared in the article.

Frederick is also conducting field testing on plots that are roughly half an acre, examining the effects mowing, burning and grazing have on the diversity and productivity of the wetlands. ““It’s a constant reminder that we can produce food and wildlife in the same space, and keep ecosystems intact,” Frederick said.

Thoughts on Establishing Pastures

Erika Aldrich — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 23:48:44 +0000

In Florida, spring and summer are the prime times to establish pastures or to reestablish old ones. The wet season brings somewhat reliable rains and there’s plenty of sunshine to nurture young plants. Whichever you are choosing to do, the good folks at UF/IFAS have some points for you to consider. The main points are to determine what your forage needs are, and what type of forage best fits the needs of your operation.

Taking some time to evaluate the land of the new pasture and the needs of your operation will allow you to do the job right the first time, which saves time and money down the road. The first step is to identify the forage that best fits your operation’s needs. You should consider the following in the new pasture area:

Is the drainage good or poor? Or a combination?
Will the pasture host grazing, hay, or both?
How high will the stocking rate be?
Are you willing to intensively manage the pasture?

Reestablishing Pastures

The common recommendation is that pastures should be reestablished when 40 percent or less of the pasture is growing ‘desirable forage species.’ Anything above 40 percent, and the usual recommendation is to over-seed to improve the pasture to desired levels for foraging.

Once you have decided what forage you will plant and how the land will be used, the next step is to test the soil fertility, or pH. You will need to amend the soil with dolomite or lime to reach the optimum pH for your chosen forage, and it can take up to half a year to reach the desired pH.

Next, remove all unwanted foliage, taking down trees and bushes by hand and other unwanted plants by plowing or using a disc on the ground. This may need to be repeated a few times. You should also retest the soil pH after rotation. Then, follow the planting directions of your chosen forage.

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame to Celebrate Three New Inductees

Griffin Fertilizer — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:42:50 +0000

The Selection Committee for the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame has announced its latest three inductees: Dr. William S. Castle, John C. Norris, and Victor B. Story, Jr.

These men will be honored for their lifelong contributions to Florida’s citrus industry and the leadership they’ve demonstrated over the years. A piece of the profits from all ticket sales will go to sponsor an Educational Outreach program that educates the public about the history of the citrus industry in the Sunshine State.

The luncheon takes place in the Hollis Wellness Center at Florida Southern College in Lakeland on Friday, March 11th. Invitations have been sent to patrons and sponsors and more tickets are available online at www.FloridaCitrusHallofFame.com. Patron seating starts at $100 or $1,500 for a Sponsor Table, which includes seating for 8 attendees, table signage, and a listing in the luncheon’s program.

For more information, contact Brenda Eubanks Burnette at (561) 351-4314 or BBurne1003@aol.com.

What’s Happening at the Cattlemen’s Convention

Griffin Fertilizer — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 00:01:05 +0000

Cattle is one of the country’s largest ag commodities, so it’s no surprise that this year’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention & Trade Show is the oldest and largest cattlemen’s convention for the nation’s cattle industry. Held January 27^th through 29^th in San Diego, California, the 118^th annual convention will feature both work and recreation for all attendees. Also in attendance will be accompanying industry organizations, such as the American National Cattlewomen, Inc. and CattleFax.

The three-day event will hold a sundry of committee sessions, meetings, luncheons and receptions, and award ceremonies. The convention is a time of learning and education—like the Cattle College—networking, policy-setting and decision-making; if you’re invested in the cattle industry in the U.S., then you should attend this event.

At the trade show, cattle industry members will have the opportunity to network with exhibitors on key issues to beef cattle production, such as breeding, finance and insurance, herd management, irrigation, seed products, animal identifications, and much more.

Additional activities include a BEEFit 5K Fun Run/ Walk, a Stars and Stripes WWII-themed USO Show aboard the USS Midway, a Cowboy Concert Series with Martina McBride, and a Red, White and Brew after party, just to name a few.

Since 1959, we’ve been committed to helping our customers— both growers and ranchers— make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize their health of their pasture. As a full service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection products distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture.