Agriculture

When you drive through the rolling land in Henry County, you can find many black cherry trees, including some in farm fencerows. While standing upright, there is not much danger, but if one of these trees or a limb falls in a windstorm, there can be problems for livestock.

The leaves of black cherry trees, especially wilted ones, are high in cyanic acid, which can kill livestock by depriving them of oxygen. You can reduce the likelihood of livestock losses due to wild black cherry trees by cutting them out of fencerows.

Tractor Supply Company, in partnership with the National 4-H Council, recently announced the launch of its spring 2014 Paper Clover Campaign.

Tractor Supply Company, the largest retail farm and ranch supply store chain in the United States, raised more than $3.2 million for 4-H programs across the country through the Paper Clover Campaigns over the last four years.

While change isn’t easy for some people, it’s inevitable in some circumstances. Throughout the history of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, countless agents have worked to help Kentuckians learn about and embrace important changes. This year will mark the anniversary of the passage of the Smith-Lever Act, which formally established the national Cooperative Extension Service system. The UK Cooperative Extension Service is celebrating ways that extension has helped clients change their lives for the better.

Near the end of most winters, diagnosticians at the veterinary labs, veterinarians, and producers see a few aged beef cows in poor body condition and a rumen full of forage material (hay) just ‘run out of gas’ with a belly full of hay and green grass just around the corner. However, this winter, they have seen these ‘malnutrition’ cases on a much more frequent basis, at a much earlier date, and have seen younger cows affected.