PRESS RELEASES
FA R M C R E D I T M I D - A M E R I CA R E T U R N I N G $ 2 0 0 M I L L I O N I N PAT R O N AG E TO C U S TO M E R S FINANCIAL COOPERATIVE CONTINUES PATRONAGE PROGRAM FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR This month, Farm Credit Mid-America will pay a record $200 million in cash patronage dividends to eligible customerowners through its Patronage Program. Of this amount, $49 million will be returned to customers in Kentucky. The distribution brings the total amount returned to customers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee over the last five years to $648.5 million. As a customer-owned cooperative, Farm Credit Mid-America understands that extra capital can make a big difference in a customer’s operation. “The past several years have presented more than their fair share of challenges for the resilient men and women in agriculture,” says Bill Johnson, Farm Credit Mid-America president and CEO. “Despite the challenges
of 2020, our cooperative continued to grow. One of the many powerful benefits of belonging to a cooperative is the opportunity to share in our collective successes. This year’s Patronage Program will return a record amount of capital to eligible customers, and we hope these distributions provide a welcome boost for their operations.” Patronage payment is not a guarantee – the Association’s board votes to approve the program annually, and not all customerowners will receive a check. The amount each eligible customer receives is proportionate to his or her transaction level with the Association during 2020. Since patronage is taxable income, customers will receive IRS forms related to this year’s patronage in January 2022. Farm Credit Mid-America encourages recipients to speak with their
financial advisors. In addition to receiving Patronage, customer-owners of Farm Credit MidAmerica may contribute to our purpose to secure the future of rural communities and agriculture in a variety of ways. These include participation in annual Board of Director and Nominating Committee Elections, the ability to vote on issues that influence the operations of the Association, and the opportunity to serve on the Advocate Council, a diverse group of professionals and leaders from across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee who deepen our impact, relationships and support for customers. For more information about Farm Credit Mid-America’s Patronage Program and its eligibility requirements, visit e-farmcredit. com/Patronage.
Farm Credit Mid-America is a financial services cooperative and has served the credit needs of farmers and rural residents across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee for more than a century. Backed by the strength of more than $28.8 billion in assets, Farm Credit Mid-America provides loans for real estate, operating, equipment, housing and related services such as crop insurance and vehicle, equipment and building leases. For more information, call 1-800-444-FARM or visit www.e-farmcredit.com.
F O R B U C K H O R N P L A N TA I N , S C O U T N OW, S P R AY S O O N Buckhorn plantain may well be in your pastures and hay fields now. You don’t want it. As spring arrives, it becomes an aggressive invader. Buckhorn plantain has been tough to control, but the task is easier now as technology has improved. “Buckhorn plantain is competitive in pastures, but it’s a real headache in hay fields,” says Jeff Clark, a pasture market development specialist for Corteva Agriscience. “You open up a hay field when you cut hay, and afterwards you can see an explosion of buckhorn plantain. It will make a mat.” Clark battles the weed in his own pastures and hay fields near Alderson, West Virginia. Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceolata), also known as narrowleaf plantain, is a clumping perennial in a rosette shape. Mature leaves are 2 to 12 inches long and less than 1 inch wide with three to five prominent veins running parallel to the leaf edge. Leafless stalks up to 24 inches tall are topped with a cluster of tiny
white flowers. The plant can bloom from April through October. Seeds germinate through the fall and winter. The plant spreads through both seeds and new shoots produced at the base of the plant. Roots are slender and fibrous from a long taproot, which helps it survive drought. Plants can regenerate from the taproot even when cut at or below the soil surface, so mowing is of little help in control. Tolerant of clipping, close grazing and drought, buckhorn plantain can be persistent. Native to Europe, buckhorn plantain is now naturalized throughout the South and much of the country. “Several herbicides may make buckhorn plantain look sick, but it will pop out again after a rain,” Clark says. “Now with DuraCor® herbicide, you really can control it in the fall, spring and summer. You have that flexibility, but earlier is better.” In early spring, spray buckhorn plantain when you have at least three days where
temperatures are 60 F or higher. Anytime you spray buckhorn plantain, Clark says, there are two other keys to getting good control: Use enough herbicide, and use enough water. From March to early April, he recommends DuraCor at 12 fluid ounces per acre. Increase the rate to 12 to 18 ounces per acre in May and, after that, increase it to 20 ounces per acre. The more mature the weed, the higher rate you’ll need.
DuraCor offers soil residual activity to control weeds that germinate for several weeks after spraying, Clark says. But if the herbicide solution gets intercepted before it reaches the soil, there is no soil residual activity. So ample water is a key ingredient. Finally, although nonionic surfactants work, Clark prefers to use methylated seed oil (MSO). “It just looks like sharper, quicker control to me,” he says.
Then use an adequate volume of water — no less than 20 gallons per acre. “When you spray a pasture, you’re trying to cover three canopies,” Clark says. “The first canopy is tall weeds above grass. In the second canopy, you’re trying to penetrate the grass to hit medium weeds. Finally, the third canopy is the soil surface. “You have to use enough water to hit the soil surface to get the real value from a residual herbicide.”
Buckhorn plantain is tolerant of clipping, close grazing and drought. Left untreated, it can be invasive and persistent in pastures and hay meadows.
™ ® Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. Under normal field conditions, DuraCor® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions. 76
COW COUNTRY • APRIL 2021
• A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E K E N T U C K Y C AT T L E M E N ’ S A S S O C I AT I O N
