News Update
August 8, 2011
Champion of Champions Television Program to Air on RFD-TV
One of the largest single-breed cattle shows in the world, the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), will not only provide the place for dialogue and camaraderie among Angus junior exhibitors, their families and leaders in the agricultural industry, it will also create the setting for the television program, Champion of Champions, which will air Aug. 8, 2011, on RFD-TV.
The program will provide coverage of many aspects of the NJAS — from exhibitor interviews to cook-off contest results to scholarship recipient profiles. Robin Ruff, director of junior activities for the American Angus Association, says the television program will feature the NJAS in and out of the showring, as the NJAS is a family-fun activity that offers something for everyone.
“We have many exhibitors who come to NJAS to not only exhibit in the showring, but participate in the contests, serve as voting delegates, or to compete in the top showman of the year contest,” Ruff says.
Champion of Champions will be brought to viewers by the Angus Foundation, BioZyme® Inc. and the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA). Lisa Norton of Biozyme says it is natural to support the television program, as it will allow more people who cannot be at the NJAS to experience the show and all of the activities and valuable learning experiences it provides for youth.
She and her husband, Bob, along with the company and its Sure Champ™ and Vita Ferm® brands, has had a presence at the NJAS for five years, and they continue to support the show and the young exhibitors who will carry the agricultural industry forward.
“Our belief is that the kids are the future, and as a company we feel it is our responsibility to invest in our industry’s future,” Norton says. “We see our support as making a commitment to agriculture, an industry that has been so good to us.”
Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president, says this exciting endeavor was truly made possible by Bob and Lisa’s generous gift to the Foundation. “Bob and Lisa Norton’s announcement of their $250,000 leadership gift to the Vision of Value: Campaign for Angus in November 2006 at our campaign kick-off illustrated their commitment to help ‘champion’ the Angus breed’s future and our mission,” Jenkins says. “Their investment has inspired Angus youth and our American Angus Association’s adult members alike to achieve even higher levels of success and to become ‘champions’ ever since.”
Champion of Champions will air at 8 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. CDT), Aug. 8 on RFD-TV. RFD-TV is distributed by more than 625 cable operators, and can be found on DirecTV channel 345 and Dish Network channel 231. Check local listings for more information. For those who miss the program on Aug. 8th, it will also be available online at www.angus.org.
K-State to Host Field Day Aug. 25 in Garden City
The K-State Southwest Research and Extension Center will host its 2011 Field Day on Thursday, Aug. 25. The Center is located at 4500 E. Mary St. in Garden City.
The event begins at 8 a.m. with registration, coffee and doughnuts, as well as agricultural product displays. The program starts at 9 a.m. and includes morning field tours and afternoon seminars. A complimentary lunch, sponsored by exhibitors, will be provided.
Field tour and seminar topics with K-State speakers include:
- Estimating Corn Yield Reduction from Hail — John Holman, cropping systems agronomist
- Emerging Herbicide for Broadleaf Weed Control in Sorghum — Randall Currie, weed specialist
- Current Herbicide Alternatives for Weed Control in Corn — Randall Currie, weed specialist
- Planting Time Prevention of Common Bunt in Wheat Production — Kent Martin, crops and soils specialist
- Wheat Response to Nitrogen in Kansas — Kent Martin, crops and soils specialist
- Alfalfa Weevil Control — Kent Martin, crops and soils specialist
- Alfalfa, Corn, Wheat, Sorghum, Sunflower Yield Response to Irrigation — Norman Klocke, water resources engineer
- Resistance Management in Bt Corn after 15 Years: It worked! — Larry Buschman, research entomologist
- Herbicide Options for Control of Glyphosate-Resistant Kochia: A Regional Study — Randall Currie, weed specialist
Credit may be earned for category 1A commercial pesticide applicator recertification. Each of the two field tours is worth 1.0 credit hour and attendance at all three afternoon seminars is worth 1.0 credit hour.
More information about the field day is available by calling 620-276-8286. Further information about the research center is available on the web.
Using Smartphone Technologies will be a Topic At K-State Field Day near Hutchinson
Using Smartphone technology in wheat production is one of several topics to be addressed at K-State Research and Extension’s field day, Tuesday, Aug. 23, at the South Central Kansas Experiment Field near Hutchinson.
The event, which begins at 6 p.m., will be at the Kansas State University Redd Foundation Property, located at 7904 South Highpoint Rd. The site is located 2 miles west of Partridge on Trails West Road, then ½ mile south on Highpoint Rd. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided, compliments of the Hutchinson-Reno County Chamber of Commerce Ag Business Committee.
Researchers based at K-State’s campus in Manhattan, as well as at the South Central Field will give presentations on a range of topics, including:
- Weather Information and Field Conditions — Bill Heer;
- Annual Vegetable Oil Production in Kansas from Crop Combinations — Todd Ballard;
- Evaluating Center Pivot Nozzle Packages — Dan Rogers;
- Nutrient Management After Failed Corn — Dave Mengel; and
- iWheat: Using Smartphone Technologies to Manage Wheat Pests — Brian McCornak and Wendy Johnson.
More information is available by calling the center at 620-662-9021.
Drought Puts the Heat on Poorly Constructed Ponds
If you think it’s dry, try being a fish during the drought, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert.
“You know it’s dry when your fish have ticks,” joked Billy Higginbotham, AgriLife Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist.
Jokes aside, it’s a serious matter as water levels drop for the owners of the more than a million private water impoundments in Texas, Higginbotham said. Channel catfish, bluegill and largemouth bass must survive both a shrinking habitat and dropping water-oxygen levels.
Dropping oxygen levels can be a problem during a hot Texas summer even when there’s normal rainfall. But there’s nothing like a drought to highlight a poorly constructed pond and magnify the potential for fish kills, he said.
“It’s hot and dry even by Texas standards, but the ponds that show the problem first and foremost are those that have either very small watersheds or those ponds that were built on marginal soil,” he said.
A small watershed means there is not a large enough area surrounding the pond for sufficient runoff to maintain water levels, even during years with average rainfall, Higginbotham explained. To hold that runoff, the soil the pond is situated in should contain enough clay.
“These are important construction concepts for landowners to remember whether they are watering livestock or if fish are an important recreation use of that pond,” he said. “Fish remain a primary concern to many owners of small ponds, and there are more than a million private impoundments found statewide.”
Obviously, Higgibotham said, when ponds are not much more than mud wallows, there’s little that can be done about saving fish.
“Certainly, when pond levels reach this point, I hope they have done something about fish populations already, hopefully harvested them,” he said.
But even if a pond is well-constructed and its water level has only dropped a foot or two, it still behooves pond owners to pay attention to fish management and water oxygen levels, Higginbotham said.
“In any case, we want to avoid trying to carry more than a thousand pounds of fish per surface acre during the warm months,” he said.
A thousand pounds of fish per surface acre of water is a good rule of thumb for a number of reasons.
“As water temperatures increase, the ability of that water to hold oxygen decreases, so typically, the hot summer months are when oxygen depletions are most likely to occur,” Higginbotham said.
Also, as water temperature rises, the metabolic rate of fish, being cold-blooded animals, will increase, and with that increase comes a need for more oxygen. But under sunny conditions and moderate temperatures, aquatic plants — mostly single-celled algae — will produce enough oxygen to somewhat offset the low oxygen concentration levels of warm water.
Cloudy days have been rare during the 2011 drought, Higginbotham noted, but when skies are overcast, photosynthesis is decreased and oxygen levels drop further.
“If the pond is too heavily stocked, fish can run into an oxygen debt,” he said. “Hot weather can even bring about oxygen debt in moderately stocked ponds.
“Furthermore, small ponds that are intensively managed for high-standing crops of catfish at or above 1,000 pounds per surface acre are going to be among the first ponds to experience oxygen shortages as water levels drop.”
Higginbotham said he has found that many pond owners over-estimate the surface acreage of their ponds by a factor of two or three.
There are simple methods to determine the size of a pond, he said. If the pond is more or less rectangular, the simplest way to determine its size is to measure the length and width in feet, then multiply one measurement by the other to get surface area in square feet. Divide this number by 44,000 to get the approximate area in acres.
As an example, a relatively square pond measuring about 200 feet on each side will have 40,000 square feet of surface area, or about one acre.
Calculating a round pond’s size is a little more complicated. Divide the distance across the pond by two, square the result, then multiply that number by 3.14.
Once the approximate surface area is determined, the next step is to determine the pounds of fish in the pond, Higgibotham said.
“Usually, the pond owner knows how many catfish were originally stocked in the pond and has a pretty good idea how many have been removed since stocking,” he said. “By catching a few fish and weighing them, an owner can estimate the total pounds of fish in the pond.”
Pond owners who suspect low oxygen concentrations should monitor their ponds closely, even if their stocking levels are 1,000 pounds per acre or less, Higginbotham said.
“Visit the pond shortly after daybreak,” he said. “If fish are crowded up at the surface at first light, that’s a pretty good indication that you’ve got low-oxygen levels.”
If this is the case, pond owners should either immediately harvest fish to reduce the stocking level or aerate that water, Higginbotham said.
“Aerate with a pump or boat motor just to get over the hump and through the immediate emergency in order to raise the oxygen levels, so you don’t lose an entire pond of fish.”
Editor’s Note: The articles used within this site represent a mixture of copyrights. If you would like to reprint or repost an article, you must first request permission of Angus Productions Inc. (API) by contacting the editor at 816-383-5200; 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. API claims copyright to this web site as presented. We welcome educational venues and cattlemen to link to this site as a service to their audience.