Research and Extension Updates
Vol. 4 No. 1
January 14, 2002
From the Director: Our goal is and has been to provide the faculty
in the county extension offices with the latest news, dates, and other
information from the various disciplines of
research and extension programs which take place at NFREC-Marianna, Quincy, and Live Oak. We hope you are able to use information from
ongoing research in your county newsletters and education activities. If you
would like additional information, contact the faculty member author or our
editor,
Regards, Dr.
Dates of Interest:
St. Johns County Extension Office, 3125
Agricultural
3:30 pm - 4:00
pm Sign-in and 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm Workshop
January 22: Panhandle Watermelon/Cucurbit Meeting, Agricultural Center, Marianna, FL
January 24: Georgia/Florida Small Grain/Soybean Expo
Tifton, Georgia
January 31: Deadline for “Name the Mural Contest”
February 26: NW Florida Beef Conference & Trade Show
March 2: Florida Bull Test Sale
MORE INFO ON DATES
TENTATIVE
AGENDA
TRI-STATES
WATERMELON/CUCURBIT MEETING
JACKSON COUNTY AG CENTER,
HWY 90 WEST, MARIANNA, FL
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2002
4:00 P.M.* Registration/Restricted
Use Pesticide CEU sign-in; 3 CEU’s have been approved for this meeting
4:30 P.M. Update on Cultural Practices/Methyl
Bromide-Dr. Steve Olson
5:00
P.M. Disease Control in Melon and
Cucurbit Crops & DDIS Procedures-
Dr. Tim Momol
5:30 P.M. Break (Supper/ Refreshments) Pending
Sponsorship by Ag. Businesses
6:00 P.M. Update by the Seed Company Representatives on Varieties offered, and by the Irrigation and Chemical Companies on their new products offered
Florida Seed, Rogers Seed, Sakata Seed, Sawan Seed,
Seedway Seed, Seminis Seed, Shamrock Seed and others
Bell Irrigation, Inc.; Hendrix and Dail, Inc.; and
Fertilizer/Chemical Reps
6:30 P.M. Report on Seedless Watermelon Production
Techniques on Melons - Dr. Steve Olson
7:00 P.M. Weed Control and Labels on New Products
in Florida, Sandea Label on Cucumbers-
Dr. Bill Stall
7:30 P.M. Irrigation, and Fertilization of
Melons/cucurbits under Irrigation- Dr. Eric Simonne
8:00 P.M. Fall Insect Problems/Insect Control and
(Labels) Use of New Materials- Dr. Susan Webb
8:30 P.M. Labor Costs/ Concerns/ How to deal
with, get, and Keep Reputable Brokers
and Store Representatives- Charles Brasher
8:55 P.M. Further Questions for the Speakers and
Wrap Up
9:00 P.M. Adjourn
* All times listed are Central Standard.
Those
persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations should contact
Sharon D. McRoy, at (850) 482-9620, no later than Wednesday, January 16th,
so that proper arrangements can be made.
|
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an
equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research
educational information and other services only to individuals and
institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap,
or national origin. For information on
obtaining other extension publication, contact your County Extension Service
Office, Florida Cooperative Extension Service/Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences/University of Florida/Christine T. Waddill, Dean |
(Brasher, NFREC News, 4-1)
GEORGIA/FLORIDA SMALL
GRAIN/SOYBEAN EXPO
will include an Update on 2002 Farm Bill, 2002 World Outlook for Soybeans and Wheat,
“Is there a future for Biodiesel in Georgia?”, Status of Georgia Oilseed Project, Georgia Soybean Association Report, New Research and Education Developments, Awards Presentation, and ending with the Georgia/Florida Soybean Association Board of Directors Meeting.
Please RSVP by phone (606) 542-2351
or FAX (706) 542-9397 by January 18, 2002 to attend the Expo.
There will be a $15 registration
fee.
(Barnett, NFREC News, 4-1)
NOTES of
INTEREST
Faculty
and staff have been moving into the new facility at NFREC-Quincy. After waiting and watching the building
construction progress from the ground up, it has been pretty exciting to
move. Welcome to the Monticello faculty, Dr. Gary
Knox, Dr. Russ
Mizell, and Dr. Jeff
Norcini and their respective staffs who now officially join NFREC-Quincy.
New
phone numbers,
all (850) area code: Dr. Gary Knox 875-7162,
Dr.
Jeff Norcini 875-7167, Dr. Russ
Mizell: 875-7165, Jim Aldrich 875-1732,
Stephanie Bloem 875-7136, and Charlie Riddle 875-7161.
The “Name the Mural Contest” is underway for the lively
and colorful artwork which graces the main lobby of the new facility. If you haven’t seen the new facility or the
mural, we would encourage you to visit us soon. Dr. Jimmy Rich is in charge of the Name the Mural
Contest. He said that proposed names
submitted thus far are very creative. Dr. Rich also wishes
to remind everyone that the person who submits the best name for the mural will
receive a nice prize. But,
hurry, the deadline is January 31. Dr. Rich’s phone no.
is (850) 875-7130 and e-mail address is: jrich@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
PERSONNEL
Welcome
back to Charlene Cupp who returned to work at NFREC-Quincy just before the holidays. Charlene was
on maternity leave with baby Savannah.
Hats
off to Tom Bolton, NFREC-Quincy,
who has done a superb job as chairman of the Demonstration Committee. Tom has had a
major role in planning, planting and care of the demonstration plots across the
road from NFREC-Quincy and all the “behind the
scenes” effort required to make this project a success. Good job, Tom!!
Applause
for A.D. Walker, who has done so much to get
the new facility connected with new
phone
lines. Another project that involved a
great deal of sweat… Thanks, A.D.!!
Jeff Jones, NFREC-Marianna, and Dr. Steve Olson, NFREC-Quincy, have done a very good job
with the wildlife food plot studies.
Keep up the good work, Jeff and Steve!!
Thank you to John
Allen Smith, all of the farm crew, and maintenance staff Tom Bizzle and Anthony Hobbs
for moving us into the new facility and making sure we had the
necessities to do our jobs. These guys
moved a multitude of heavy things for us and we extend our gratitude!!
Jefferson
County Dates and News
Winter / Spring – January, 2002
The following events are scheduled in Jefferson County or at near-by
sites. Contact us or visit the county
website [ http://jefferson.ifas.ufl.edu ] for details.
Arboriculture Arboriculture
Course. Instructor, Sam Hand. At the Green Industries Institute (former
NFREC-Monticello), US 90 west of Monticello. Saturdays, Jan 12 through
April 27, 9:00am-
1:00pm. Students completing the course may sit for the IAS
"Certification Arboriculturist"
exam. Tuition: $150 plus fees. Register through NFCC
AgriTourism Opportunities to
diversify Your Farm through Agritourism. Live Oak/Suwannee County
Coliseum, beginning at 9:00, January 17, 2002 (RSVP to 386-362-1725 by
Jan 14)
Watermelon Growers
Panhandle Watermelon and Other Cucurbit Grower Meeting, 4-9pm at the
Jackson County Ag
Center (US 90 west), Marianna. Tuesday January 22, 2002. 3 Pesticide
CEUs for
participants. For information, contact Jackson County Extension,
850-482-9620.
Crop Disaster Program
Deadline for sign-up for 2000 Crop Disaster Program is January 18,
2002. Contact USDAFSA
for details of CDP.
Master Gardener Class
We will sponsor a new class of Master Gardeners, beginning January 31,
2002. Classes will
meet on Monday and Thursday evenings through mid-May, with a total of
50 hours of
instruction. Master Gardeners are required to commit to 50 hours of
volunteerism, particularly
in horticulture education or service, but other areas such as leading
4-H activities also is
encouraged. The 2002 class will include Madison and Taylor gardeners.
If you are
interested, contact us.
Beginner Computer Classes
We will offer beginner classes for PC/Windows users each Wednesday
afternoon, beginning
Jan 30 and running through early March. Classes will last two hours in
our 4-H computer lab.
General file handling, Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Internet/Web use
and Financial
Recordkeeping will be introduced. Call the extension office to enroll.
Cleansweep
Operation Cleansweep is coming to Jefferson County, Feb 5, 2002. FREE
collection of out-of-date and other pesticides from commercial farms, golf
courses and landscapers, nurseries
and pest control operators. Site is Solid Waste / Recycling Center, US
19 and Waukeenah
Street. Contact us or Scott Reid for details. Jefferson County has been
designated as a
collection site for Madison, Leon, Taylor and Wakulla Counties. [ see
page 2 ]
Certified Nursery Professionals
Florida Certified Nursery Professional. Instructor, Gale Allbritton. At
the Green Industries
Institute (former NFREC-Monticello), US 90 west of Monticello.
Wednesdays, Feb 6 through
April 24, 9:00am-1:00pm. Students completing the course may sit for the
FCNP exam.
Tuition: $150 plus fees. Register through NFCC
Lawrence A. (Larry) Halsey
County Extension Director
Phone: 850-342-0187 or 711 for hearing
impairment
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity - Affirmative Action Employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin.
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE,
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES, SEA GRANT AND 4-H YOUTH, ST ATE OF FLORIDA, IFAS
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND BOARDS OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS COOPERATING.
Beef Conference
North West Florida Beef Conference and Trade Show at the Jackson County
Ag Center (US
90 west), Marianna. Tuesday February 26, 2002. For information, contact
Doug Mayo at the
Jackson County Extension, 850-482-9620.
Operations Cleansweep provides
farmers, nursery operators, golf course operators and pest control
services a safe and cost effective way to dispose of their cancelled,
suspended, and unusable pesticides
(CSUP) at no cost. Proper disposal can be costly and a regulatory
burden for small farmers and other
pesticide users. Operation Cleansweep offers an opportunity to avoid
these formidable barriers and to
promote safe and environmentally sound pesticide use, handling and
disposal. This program is a free collection program. No questions will
be asked. We want your pesticides, not your name.
Collection site in Jefferson County is the Solid Waste Management /
Recycling Center at US19 and
Waukeenah Road. Collection date is February 5, 2002; the contact person
is Scott Reid at 342-0184. Or
contact us at the County Extension Office, 342-0187
I will offer pesticide training on collection day, Feb. 5, for growers
who need CEUs. We’ve scheduled
one-hour units at 9am, 11am, and 2pm for CORE and at 10am, 1pm and 2pm
for Private Applicator
Ag on a drop-in basis. Anyone delivering pesticides for amnesty pick-up
has the opportunity to get
one credit in each category on a two-hour stay.
Extension Agents is Grady and Brooks Counties, Georgia, have announced
the following meetings, and
invite Jefferson County growers to attend. I am applying for Florida
pesticide CEUs for these events.
Grady County (Georgia) Extension Service
(65 11th Avenue NE, Cairo GA; 229-377-1312)
Jan 31 9:00 am Risk Management
Feb 1 Noon Peanut Insect & Weed
Control
Feb 8 Noon Vegetable Production, Disease &
Weed Control/ Bromide Alternatives
Feb 1 Noon Pecan Update (in Thomas
County)
Feb 13 Noon Nursery Production
Feb 19 7:00 pm Cotton Insect & Weed Control
Feb 21 Noon Cotton Production & Economics
Feb 26 Noon Peanut Production & Economics
Mar 14 7:00 pm Aquaculture Alternatives
Brooks County (Georgia) Extension Service
(Moultrie Hwy 33, Quitman GA; 229-263-4103)
Jan 31 10:30 am Vegetable Disease Seminar
Jan 31 Noon Vegetable Sprayer
Setup/Calibration
Feb 4 7:00 pm Aquaculture
Feb 7 10:00 am Cotton, Peanut, Vegetable
Fertility
Feb 8 11:00 am Corn Grain/Silage
Feb 11 7:00 pm Cotton Physiology
Feb 12 7:00 pm Aerial Imagery Seminar
Feb 18 7:00 pm Cotton Physiology (continued)
Feb 25 7:00 pm Cotton Physiology (continued)
Feb 28 5:30 pm Peanut Production
Feb 28 7:00 pm Cotton Production
May 11 8:30 am Cotton Scouting
We must update our mailing lists. If you want to receive this
newsletter, Jefferson Farm Advisor,
from the County Extension Office, fill out the blocks below and send
it to the Jefferson County Extension
Service. Make sure we have your E-911 address and e-mail if you have
one.
Name
e-mail Address
New E911
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Cell or Truck Phone
(Halsey,
NFREC News, 4-1)
NFREC
HISTORY
“In
general, the work at the North Florida Station progressed very satisfactorily
throughout the year. This was due in
particular to a more nearly adequate amount of rainfall than in 1931 and 1932
and to the rather large number of laborers placed at our disposal by the
Gadsden County Unemployment Relief Council.
From 20 to 60 of these men were working on the Station farm from three
to five days a week throughout the year…”
(1933
Annual Report)
Naturalists Share Their
Findings Online
By JAMES GORMAN (edited from article in New York Times)
As long as there have been amateur
naturalists, the field notebook has been an indispensable tool. Where else to
note the abundance of salamanders in a particular summer, or the paucity of
bluebirds?
Gradually, binoculars have also become an
absolute necessity for birders, and more recently for
butterfly-watchers.
The latest technological innovation for the
trampers of woods and fields, though, is the interactive online database.
Amateur observers of nature are being
recruited by professionals to keep an eye on their natural
neighborhoods, to count hawks and other
birds, to report butterfly sightings. The nature lover's newest role is
collector of data.
"We are in the midst of a sea change in
the way people view themselves in relation to the environment," said John
W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
"And technology is making the
difference."
The specific technology he is referring to is
the personal computer connected to the Web. Several conservation organizations
are promoting a variety of "citizen science" projects that make use
of amateur observations. One of the first such projects, the Audubon Christmas
Bird Count,
dates back a century. (This year's begins
tomorrow and continues through Jan. 5.) But in the last five years a number of
new efforts have been started, all based on the capacity of the Web both to
receive data from just about anywhere and to display it quickly and clearly.
A bird-watcher can now enter the sighting of
a cardinal at the backyard feeder, or a kettle of hawks over a nearby mountain,
directly on a home computer. Analyses of the data
are available in tables, maps and other
forms, so contributors see how their data is being used. The hope, Dr.
Fitzpatrick and others say, is that the ability to share with many others what
you have seen and counted - nuthatch, redheaded woodpecker or tiger swallowtail
(a butterfly) - will be an incentive to go out and look again. The ultimate
indoor technology, known to cause eyestrain, headaches and precipitous loss of
a good tan, is being used to get people to go outside.
Frank Gill, the director of science at the
National Audubon Society, has worked hand in hand with Dr. Fitzpatrick and the
Cornell Lab, a membership organization that is affiliated with Cornell University,
to create some of these projects.
Dr. Gill said that the cooperation began a
few years ago. "I said, `Fitz, let's do something together,' " he
recalled. The two organizations created a project for absolute beginners based
on the capacity of the Web, the Great Backyard Bird Count. To take part, all
anyone has to do is look in a backyard or a nearby park, and then log on and
report what was seen. The fifth annual count will take place in February and is
open to everybody. The online directions are designed for beginners, with lists
of birds likely to be found in specific areas and a question that lets a
participant estimate how sure he or she is of the identification. There are
also filters that make it
unlikely that sightings of Andean condors in
Central Park will make it into the compilation of data.
The event has "motivated people to be
outside and connected with birds at home in a way they wouldn't have
otherwise," Dr. Gill said. What makes participation appealing, he said, is
that people can share what they observe with others immediately and see their
information become part of the whole.
So far the bird groups are most active
online. But butterfly-watchers, people who use binoculars rather than nets to
observe and identify butterfly species, have their Web database too, at
www.naba.org, the home of the North American Butterfly Association.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/13/technology/circuits/13BIRD.html?ex=1010948
421&ei=1&en=eaf09dafd881384b
(Sheftall, NFREC News, 4-1)
Managing Insects Infesting Stored Clothing
With the onset of cooler weather many individuals are beginning to dig out the heavier winter clothing and, in some cases, finding that the items are infested with ‘bugs’. If the infestation is accompanied by holes in the fabric that were not there before, clothes or carpet beetles are probably to blame. These insects are capable of damaging any item composed of animal fibers, e.g., wool, fur, silk, feathers, felt or leather. Items commonly infested include wool sweaters, coats, blankets, carpets, down pillows and comforters, upholstered furniture, toys and animal trophies. Cotton and synthetic fabrics, such as polyester and rayon, are rarely attacked unless blended with wool, or if they are heavily soiled with food stains or body oils.
Larvae of carpet beetles are about 1/8 to 1/4-inch long, tan to brownish in color, and densely covered with hairs or bristles. This is the life stage likely to be encountered since only the larvae feed on fabrics and cause damage. (Adult carpet beetles feed primarily on flowers.) Frequently, only the shed (molted) skins of the larvae are present on the damaged item.
Adult clothes moths are 1/2-inch in length and are buff-colored with narrow wings fringed with hairs. They are seldom seen because they avoid light, preferring to hide in dark places such as the backs of closets. The larval stage damages fabric. Clothes moth larvae spin silken feeding tubes or patches of webbing as they move about on the surface of fabrics. They also deposit tiny fecal pellets similar in color to the fabric.
The key to managing a carpet beetle or clothes moth
problem is to locate all infested items and areas of infestation. Larvae
of both pests prefer to feed in dark, undisturbed areas where susceptible items
are stored for long periods. Once all infested items are located, insecticide
products containing active ingredients labeled for flea control (e.g.,
permethrin), or with fabric pests listed on the label are effective. The best
way to avoid future problems with fabric pests is through prevention. Woolens
and other susceptible fabrics should be dry- cleaned or laundered before being
stored for long periods. Cleaning kills any eggs or larvae that may be present
and also removes perspiration odors that tend to attract pests. Articles to be
stored should then be packed in tight-fitting containers. Individuals choosing
to use mothballs or flakes should read and follow label directions. The vapors
from these materials are only effective if maintained at sufficient
concentrations by sealing susceptible items in large plastic bags, and then
storing the bagged articles in tight-fitting trunks, boxes or chests. Cedar
closets or chests may not be effective by themselves because the seal is
usually insufficient to maintain lethal or repellent concentrations of the
volatile oil of cedar. (Sprenkel, NFREC News, 4-1)
Thought
for the Day: Success is a journey, not a destination.
Cheryl
Vergot,
Public Relations NFREC - Quincy, U/F IFAS
E-Mail: cvergot@ifas.ufl.edu
Phone:
(850) 875-7112
The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative
Action Employer authorized to provide research, educational information and
other services only to individuals and institutions that function without
regard to race, color, sex, age handicap or national origin.
COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY & CONSUMER SERVICES, STATE OF
FLORIDA, IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND
BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER COOPERATING
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Institution