Farm Family School Begins January 7th

The 2010 Farm Family School is scheduled to begin on Thursday, January 7th with the Mid State Producers Annual Meeting. Ben Neal with TLN will discuss marketing opportunities for Beef Producers. January 14th will include Dr. Fred Hopkins and Dr. Jim Neel discussing management tips for “Weaning Healthy Calves”. While Dr. Hopkins has made been a frequent speaker, it’s been several years since Dr. Neel has been at the Cannon County Farm Family School. The Cannon County Farm Bureau is sponsoring Beef Night.

The following two weeks will feature meetings in Murfreesboro for the (TCA) Tennessee Cattlemen’s Convention on the 21st, and Manchester on the 28th for the Middle Tennessee Grain Conference. If you are planning to attend the Middle Tennessee Grain Conference (MTGC), please preregister before Friday, January 22nd. Pre-registration cost is $5.00 and can be dropped off or mailed to the Cannon County Extension Office. For additional information about the Convention, either contact Charles Hord or go to the TCA’s web site at www.tncattle,org and go to the “Convention” link.

Davy Sneed has arranged an Animal Health Night sponsored by Pfizer on the 4th of February. Animal health reps will discuss changes and updates. If you plan to attend, please call Davy at the Coop at 563-4056 or the Extension Office at 563-2554 so we can be assured to have plenty of food.

The Woodbury FFA has invited the farm school back to the high school to showcase their work in hydroponics and greenhouse production on February 11th .The Woodbury Future Farmers of America will sponsor this session. Mr. Courtney Nichols will feature his hydroponic low cost fodder production. The meeting will be held at the ag building at the high school at 7:00pm.

On February 18, 2010, the Cannon County Soil Conservation District will sponsor a workshop on “Introduction to Organics”. This workshop is intended to create awareness about the USDA’s National Organic Program for producers and consumers. Those attending will be undated on the definition of “organic”, assistance available through USDA/NRCS to organic producers or producers who want to transition to organic production, assistance available through TN Dept of Agriculture including funding opportunities and marketing help for organic producers, certification process required for organic producers. Speakers scheduled for the session are: Pamela Hoskins, District Conservationist with the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jon Frady, Agricultural Marketing Specialist – Producer Diversification and Organics Coordinator with Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Matthew Young, Inspector with the TN Crop Improvement Association.

The session on crops will be held on Friday, March 5th beginning at 9:00am. Dr. Larry Steckel and Scott Stewart will update producers on the latest in herbicide and pest management. BASF representative, Tony Odeneal, will also be at the meeting to discuss the herbicide Sharpen, an alternative to control the glyphosate resistant marestail. The Woodbury Farmers Coop is the sponsor for crops night.

March 18th will be the annual horse night. Patricia Lance and the Cannon County Walking Horse Association are assisting with this event. Location and topic are still being planned. Hopefully, funds will be available to support the 2010 Ag Enhancement Programs. Regardless, we want you to be as knowledgeable as possible concerning the programs, so an event is being planned to target Ag Enhancement. Currently, we are planning to have the meeting at the Expo building. We will keep you updated as details are completed.

Also in the plans is a grape production and wine making session. The University of Tennessee Fruit Specialist, David Lockwood and Food Technology Specialist Bill Morris, have been contacted. Coordinating with the two on the dates still available for this year’s Farm Family School. If you have a topic you would like included in Farm Family School, give us a call at the Extension Office at 563-2554.

All meetings except the FFA Night, Middle Tennessee Grain Conference, Horse Night and the Ag Enhancement Update will be held at the Woodbury Lions Club Building. All meetings will begin at 7:00 with the exception of the Middle Tennessee Grain Conference which will be held in Manchester and the TCA convention will be in Murfreesboro.

In the event of severe weather, listen to WBRY or go to WBRY.com.

The Extension Office will be closed from December 28th thru January 1st. The office will reopen on January 4th. The mailing address is 614 Lehman St, Woodbury, TN 37190.