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Pine & Isanti County Update
Agriculture, Horticulture, & Natural Resources
June 2024
From Your ANR Extension Educator
Planting is done or nearly done, depending on your farm location, and soil health is on the top of producers minds. Soil is the basis for all crop and livestock success, effective production, and farmers' profitability.
Nutrient management is the key to making money and producing a high yield. This is why soil tests are so important for farmers. They help us manage nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). Timing of adding these macro-nutrients to our soil is essential for plant success, and every plant is a little different as to when they need the extra boost.
For example, in a forage system the cool season grasses need a nitrogen application in early spring, however, warm season grasses require nitrogen in mid-summer. In this type of situation a split application (3/4 in early spring: 1/4 in mid-summer) may be necessary.
Farmers understand the impact that nutrients can have on water quality and strive to protect it while also making a living. Maximize your return and protect the environment by following fertilizer recommendations and spreading only what you need!
~Katie Hagen
University Resources Made For You
Farmland Rent & Economics
Are you a landowner wanting to know what to charge for land rent? Or perhaps you are a operator wondering what is a fair price to pay for land rent? Make data-driven decisions on a fair price by reviewing historical data from across Minnesota and completing a worksheet to understand your own situation. Do you have cropland, pastureland, or irrigated land for rent? These rental rates vary and data can be found on each type. In addition, lease templates and information are available to download. Also, workshops on this topic are held every winter by Agricultural Business Extension Specialists. Click here to read this resource!
Diagnose a Problem: Insects
What insect is this? The identification of insects can be difficult, but this tool can help you make a proper identification. Simply let the diagnostic tool know where the insect was found - in the house, garden, or in a tree or shrub. There's also a category for general curiosity if you're unsure. Once you click on the size of the insect, the tool will give you a variety of insects that may fit your description. So if you are curious about an insect, give the diagnostic tool a try!
Get ready for more local and statewide opportunities and events this month!
All About Insects Webinar Series
Where: Online
When: June 10, 12, 14, & 18, 2024 @ 12-1 PM
Cost: Free
About: Join University of Minnesota Extension educators for a 4-session webinar series covering all things insects. Topics covered include identification, integrated pest management, beneficial insects and pollinators. Each session will dive deeper into the big world of our tiny insect neighbors. After the webinar series, participants will have access to a resource folder that with information covered in the series and other resources.
Strategic Farming: Weed & Insects Updates
Where: Online
When: Wednesdays from May 8 - August 21, 2024 @ 8 AM
Cost: Free
About: The growing season is filled with a host of challenges, including insect, disease, and weed pests, resistance concerns, agronomic issues, and soil fertility questions. The Field Notes weekly program is designed for farmers and agricultural professionals as a weekly webinar program addressing all your crop-related questions and issues in real-time in an interactive, discussion-based format.
Minnesota's Future Climate Webinar
Where: Online
When: June 4, 2024 from 12-1 PM
Cost: Free
About: The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership recently launched Minnesota CliMAT, an interactive online tool allowing Minnesotans to access highly localized climate projections. Users can view climate projections down to a 2.5-mile scale across the state, that allow you to visualize how even specific towns will likely be affected in the coming decades. These public webinars cover how to use the tool, share examples of its application, and provide background on climate models and projections.
Be a 4-H Volunteer or Summer Help!
Summer is coming, and 4-H members are ready to put their best foot forward! Pine and Isanti County fair is an important time for the 4-H programs, and we're looking for adults to help support the amazing youth.
Opportunities in Pine County include:
Livestock show support roles - It takes many hands to run a livestock show. Whether you can share your talents by opening and closing gates, recording ribbon placings, taking photos, or announcing the show, you can help youth share their hard work with the judge and spectators.
Animal Science interview judge - if you have experience with any Animal Science species (beef, dairy, dairy goat, dog, horse, meat goat, poultry, rabbit, sheep, swine) and good conversation skills, we invite you to apply as an interview judge. You’ll meet with 4-H members to talk about their Animal Science projects ahead of the fair and score their knowledge and skills. Interview judges are thanked with a mileage payment and food stand coupon.
If interested contact Sarah Odendahl, 4-H Extension Educator - Pine County, at 320-591-1654 or sodendah@umn.edu.
Opportunities in Isanti County include:
- Summer Coordinator - Isanti County - Work with the local 4-H Extension Educator and a team of youth and adult volunteers. Examples of job duties would be guiding, planning, and coordinating aspects of the 4-H program, while communicating with program leaders, volunteers, and families. This is a paid position based out of the Isanti County Extension Office with 20-40 hours a week. If interested contact Cora Rost, 4-H Extension Educator - Isanti County, rostx034@umn.edu or call 763-689-1810.
Thank you for supporting Minnesota 4-H youth!
Ag. Topic of the Month
Biosecurity for Livestock Operations
Biosecurity sounds scary and you may think it doesn't apply to you with a small herd or flock, but biosecurity is for everyone who owns animals or livestock. Cattle operations across the United States have been tested and found to have Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) circulating in their herds - no matter the size. Poultry operations have had substantial losses in the last two years. So, when someone says "biosecurity," what does that mean?
Biosecurity practices and procedures are actions that you take to reduce transmission of disease-causing organisms (pathogens) between and within farms. Having a biosecurity plan in place can protect your farm from external pathogens and minimize the transmission of diseases within your operation.
Why is biosecurity important?
Using biosecurity practices decreases the chance of harmful diseases affecting your animals and livestock. Protecting your farm from outside pathogens helps your business to continue unaffected with productive livestock. Also, if a foreign animal disease outbreak occurred, having a day-to-day biosecurity plan could protect your farm from becoming infected before a disease is contained. Having an additional plan to increase biosecurity will help you to acquire permits when animal movement is restricted and keep your business running as usual during an outbreak. As for the food products we get from our livestock, milk or meat, you must produce and provide food that is safe for the public.
Types of Biosecurity
Before getting into creating a plan and how to start putting biosecurity practices into play, let's discuss the types of biosecurity: external and internal biosecurity. External biosecurity refers to procedures and practices that reduce the transmission of pathogens from sources off of your farm, which is the type most people think of first. This includes the management of routine visitors such as the milk truck, feed deliveries, custom harvesters, borrowed equipment, etc. External biosecurity also provides for the management of bought or leased animals. In comparison, internal biosecurity refers to procedures and practices on the farm to prevent transmission of pathogens between areas of your farm. Most harmful diseases within a farm transfer from older animals to younger animals. An example of an internal biosecurity practice is to wash boots before entering a calf barn or hatchery or to have an entirely different set of clothes for that particular barn. Washing boots or having separate clothes helps prevent potentially harmful organisms from being transferred from the older to the younger population.
Making a Plan & Implementation
Determine the goal of your biosecurity plan by asking if there is a specific disease you wish to reduce or prevent acquiring altogether. This question can help you determine how rigorous the biosecurity protocols need to be. If you don’t have a specific goal, feel free to ask your veterinarian for help. Your veterinarian is one of the only people you work with that can comment on your entire system and how everything works together. They have specific biosecurity training that can help you develop a plan that targets your most significant transmission risks.
Writing down a specific protocol and set of practices is essential. You, your employees, and everyone else that visits your farm needs to have something they can reference. Even if the protocol is simple, write it down. Consider making materials that are visual reminders to yourself and staff, such as signs and posters. Your plan should include a way to measure whether or not it is having an effect once put into place. Make sure everyone is aware because biosecurity only works if EVERYONE follows the protocols. One person can affect the whole operation. Make sure everyone understands what to do and why it is important. When an employee or child knows why we are asking for something to be done and what impact it has, they are more likely to continue the practice.
Once the plan is ready to go, don’t procrastinate, put it into practice. The sooner it is in place and the more often you check, the sooner you can refine the protocols and identify problem areas that need to be resolved. The only way to know the plan is being followed is to check often. Typically, actual practices tend to drift away from the original protocol. You need to continually check to make sure things are on track. You should also have a way to measure whether your plan is working or not. Many times, when specific diseases are targeted, we can objectively measure how many animals are affected. If your plan has been given enough time to work, you can decide if you need to change your plan based on your evaluation. Ask your veterinarian for help with this step.
Beef and dairy producers check out these plans/templates!
Based on the article written by Joe Armstrong, DVM & Extension educator
Connect With Us
Contact Me
Katie Hagen
Ag Production, Hort & Natural Resources Extension Educator
Email: hagen@umn.edu
UM Ext Isanti County
555 18th Ave. SW
Cambridge, MN 55008
763-689-8254
UM Ext Pine County, County Courthouse
635 Northridge Dr NW #280
Pine City, MN 55063
320-591-1650
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Listen live on the radio Friday of every other week @ 100.9 WCMP & Nice 95.5 KBEK
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