FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Researchers and extension specialists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will present on future forage programs, hay verification and winter feed options at the Beef and Forage Field Day next month.

BEEF AND FORAGE — The 2024 Beef and Forage Field Day will take place on April 5 at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope. Research updates, cattle buying tips and vaccine management are all on the agenda. (Division of Agriculture photo).

The event is scheduled to take place on April 5 at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope. Those interested in registering or learning more about the event can contact the center at 870-777-9702. There is no cost to register.

Alongside the research and extension updates, Daniel Rivera, associate professor of animal science and the center’s director, will be introducing Jonathan Kubesch, a new assistant professor and forage specialist who starts with the Division of Agriculture on April 1. Experts from outside the Division of Agriculture will also discuss cattle markets and outlooks and the proper management of vaccines for cattle health.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to compare steak samples from cattle that were finished at the station against steak bought from a grocery store. This was made possible as part of an Arkansas Beef Council grant, Rivera said.

“I am excited to showcase the projects we have done at the station, as well as having a local order buyer discuss discounts and premiums and have that visual example for the producers,” he said.

A cattle order buyer purchases cattle at livestock auctions, usually on behalf of another party, like a stocker operator, feedlot or meat processing company.

“Hopefully producers can come away with insight on what type of cattle they should be producing,” Rivera said.

Rivera thanked the Ouachita district extension ag agents for working with him to put the event together.

Speakers and topics:

Kubesch will discuss his upcoming forage programs with the Division of Agriculture.
Michelle Johnson, a graduate research assistant in the department of animal science, will share updates on her beef finishing study.
Les Walz, agriculture and forages educator, will discuss the hay verification program.
Maggie Justice, assistant professor and beef cattle specialist, will discuss winter feed options.
Jake Cartwright, director of commodity activities and economics for beef, equine and dairy, for AR Farm Bureau.
Ken Blue, senior food animal technical consultant at Elanco, and Harold Newcomb, technical services veterinarian at Merck Animal Health, will host a veterinarian roundtable to discuss vaccines and methods to improve calf health.
Lanny Ford, owner of F&F Cattle, will discuss the good and bad traits he looks for when purchasing cattle.

The schedule is as follows:

9:00-9:30 — Registration
9:30-9:45 — Future forage programs with Kubesch
9:45-10:00 — Beef finishing study with Johnson
10:00-10:30 — Hay verification program with Walz
10:30-11:00 — Winter feed options with Justice
11:00-11:30 — Cattle Market Outlook with Cartwright
11:30-12:30 — Veterinarian roundtable on vaccines and methods to improve calf health with Blue and Newcomb
1:00 — Premiums and discounts in purchasing feeder/stocker cattle with Lanny Ford, F&F Cattle

Lunch will be served from 12:30-1:00 p.m.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

HOPE, Ark. — More than 130 people braved the heat Wednesday at the 2023 Horticulture Field Day to hear from experts with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture on issues facing Arkansas specialty crop growers.

Crowd of field day participants listens to researcher's presentation.

FIELD DAY — The 2023 Horticulture Field Day featured talks on a variety of subjects, including pest and weed control. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

The Southwest Research and Extension Center hosted the annual event with information on growing blackberries, watermelons, peaches, pumpkins and ornamental trees. People from 27 counties in Arkansas and two counties in Texas attended.

Management tactics to combat pests were a dominant theme across the field trials, including research that seeks pumpkin varieties with natural tolerance or resistance to the dreaded melonworm that damaged a significant portion of the state’s pumpkin crop in 2020-2021. Melonworm, Diaphania hyalinata, is a tropical moth species that migrates to Arkansas each year from coastal regions from August to October.

Aaron Cato, extension horticulture integrated pest management specialist, said the pumpkin trial includes nine varieties from four different cucurbit species planted in mid-June and again after July 1. The experiment, supported by a Specialty Block Grant administered by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, will also help establish an action threshold for the pest and investigate other sustainable management tactics.

Matt Bertucci, assistant professor of horticulture, is testing more than a dozen varieties of seedless watermelons from five seed companies to determine growth quality in Arkansas. The study, also supported by a Specialty Block Grant, includes varieties like Exceed, Onza, El Capitan, Crackerjack and Blackjack. Bertucci included several varieties of seeded cantaloupe in the study to help determine the number of days to ripen in Arkansas.

Bertucci said he hopes his study can provide Arkansas growers with growth and management information more specific to Arkansas. He added that most major seed companies evaluate their varieties in states with larger horticultural industries, like Florida. “But what if some of these varieties that do well in Florida come up short in Arkansas?”

Bertucci's melon study seeks information like fruit count, fruit size, sweetness level and ripening date.

To help manage annual grass and small-seeded broadleaf weeds in watermelon fields, Bertucci said Dual Magnum, a trade name for S-metolachlor, now has a five-year, 24(c) pre-emergent herbicide registration with the Arkansas State Plant Board for use in watermelon fields. He also remarked on the new registration of Optogen (bicyclopyrone) as a “clean-up” material in the row middles. Bertucci said that Optogen was federally registered for use in watermelons late last year.

Bertucci recommended specialty crop growers inspect the Division of Agriculture’s MP44 publication for more information on herbicides registered in Arkansas.

Theresa Mitzler, a Miller County Master Gardener, said she has attended the Horticulture Field Day since 2017 to learn from researchers and extension specialists.

Roderick Greene of Camden also attended to support his operations at Titan Farm, where he grows sweet potatoes and cut flowers.

“It was worth the heat,” Greene said. Temperatures swelled into the high 90s with high humidity by noon.

Other Division of Agriculture faculty who presented sessions at the field day included:

Anthony Bowden, assistant professor of horticulture and ornamental extension specialist, gave a presentation on grafting Japanese maples and Eastern Redbuds.

Wendell Hutchens, assistant professor of turfgrass science, provided guidance for dealing with Large Patch, Spring Dead Spot and Gray Leaf Spot.

Amanda McWhirt, horticulture extension specialist, described how to use a rotating cross-arm trellis system to grow blackberries.

Hannah Wright-Smith, extension weed specialist, provided steps to take when reestablishing an abandoned peach orchard, and updates on turfgrass herbicide trials.

Daniel Rivera, director of the Southwest Research and Extension Center, thanked the guests for their attendance and commended his staff for their diligence in preparing the grounds for the researchers’ studies.

Cattle buying, steak sampling coming to the 2024 Beef and Forage Field Day in Hope

Pests, weeds, variety trials focus of Horticulture Field Day in Hope