Agricultural News
Volume 1, Issue 1
January & February 2018 Dates of Interest call for more details
BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) recertification by appointment through our office. February 27th– 10 am and 6pm Private Applicators Pesticide Recertification March 7 Mid South Stocker Conference Russellville
March 26, 6p Tobacco GAP Training at the Nelson County Extension Office
Rob’s Report by Robbie Smith As I begin to write this the snow may finally begin melting, which will bring on a whole new set of problems. With the thaw comes the sloppy feeding mess that puts the livestock at risk and you yourself at risk. Be careful. A recent study by Dr. Lloyd Murdock’s team at the UK Princeton research center has identified a problem and a solution that has the potential to impact cropping in Nelson County. We have known for a long time that some soil types are prone to fragipans (hard restrictive layers in the soil profile) at various depths within the profile. What the team has discovered is that this problem can be remedied and unlock much more yield potential in certain soils. The fix, if you will, is
the planting of a cover crop of rye in the fall. The long root system and the chemicals that the plant produces has the ability to break up the fragipan over time and studies have shown an increase of 30 bushels per acre on corn. When I began looking into this for our county I discovered that we do have several soil types that are fragipan prone. Bedford, Lawrence, Robertsville, Tilsit, Zanesville, and Nicholson are soil types in our county and are prone to this issue. This is just the beginning of this conversation more information will be in the next issue of this newsletter but I wanted to make you aware of the potential impact.