By: Doug Bush
I recently attended the Appalachian Grazing Conference in Morgantown. The topic of this year’s conference was “Create a winning combination of managing soil, water, plant, and animal health”. Kent Leonhardt, WV Commissioner of Agriculture, spoke on agriculture in West Virginia. Sarah Flack and Dr. Allen Williams spoke on improving forage for livestock. Both speakers stressed the importance of how good forage improved the quality of their product. It surprised me to hear cattle are being finished on grass and the flavor is detectable in the meat through the fat. Not only does fat give meat its flavor but it contains many of the meat’s vitamins and nutrients.
Dr. Kevin Shaffer, WVU Extension Specialist, went through basic health concerns and diseases of cattle. Kevin is a Philip Barbour High School graduate where he was a standout athlete for the Colts. John and Nancy Shaffer, his parents, have many reasons to be proud. He is one of them. The points of emphasis that Dr. Shaffer made was to have a good working relationship with your veterinarian and keep up to date with livestock immunization and preventive treatments.
At our District Board meeting, March 25, Breanna Morgan, a junior at Buckhannon-Upshur High School gave a presentation on “Agri-Tourism”. Breanna has the energy, intelligence, and creativity to be a young leader in agriculture. Her father, Dale, and Charlie Radabaugh accompanied her. The Morgan’s farm is in scenic Palace Valley in southern Upshur County. Charlie’s historic farm is near Middle Fork.
The Envirothon will be taking place at Canaan Valley on April 17th & 18th. It is open to High School student’s grades 9-12. Teams will compete and learn on topics of Aquatics, Soils, Forestry and Wildlife. Teams from all over the state will be participating in the earth science adventure.
The District will be taking bids until April 26th on a 1994 New Holland70HP model 4835. The tractor has some transmission issues and the district has decided to purchase a new tractor rather than to repair the old. District office number is 304-457-3026.
Dates to remember:
Thru May 10- Poultry Litter Sign-Ups
April 4 Upshur County Commission O&M Meeting 9:00am
April 4 Randolph County Commission O&M Meeting 1:30pm
April 5 City of Philippi O&M meeting 9:00 am
April 15- May 17 AgEP Sign ups
April 17-18 Envirothon @ Canaan Valley Resort
April 22-23 Quarterly meeting at Pipestem
April 29 Board Meeting
May 9 Roger Nestor Memorial Soil Judging Contest
May 10 Upshur County Ag in the classroom
Picture courtesy of Holsey’s Family Farm, Hall, Barbour County, WV
