By Beau Neal
UK-Woodford County Extension Agent for
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Greetings this fall season!
The consistent temperatures have been nice for a change, considering we haven’t had much of that the last few years. The late October rains we received were a little too late and too few to have much benefit for pastures, especially since we have seen a few frosts already.
However, the pastures seem to have taken kindly to the moisture and perked up a little going into fall/winter. If the moderate temperatures and sunshine stick around, grasses will remain somewhat actively growing, so it’s not too late to consider making fertilizer applications if needed.
We have reached the point now where herbicide applications for weed control would not be an efficient use of your time or resources. Instead, have a preventive plan ready to go in early spring to stay ahead of your problematic pasture weeds. If you’d like some recommendations on timelines and/or products to be used, give us a shout.
Our lab on the University of Kentucky campus has been analyzing quite a bit of hay around the county; please feel free to contact us if you’d like hay analysis done on any recently baled or purchased hay for your livestock. I hope the weather continues to cooperate while getting your calves weaned and crops harvested this fall.
Attention cattle producers
We strongly urge you to read Les Anderson’s article regarding pregnancy determination being worth every penny. It can be found at: https://mailchi.mp/uky/pregnancy-determination-worth-every-penny-october-2026
If you are on the fence about whether or not to pregnancy check, or even if you typically do not, I would recommend doing so as soon as possible. This year, during the spring/summer breeding season especially, ergovaline levels in fescue were running extremely high in various locations across the state. This was due, in large part, to our dry spring followed by substantial rainfall. This has undoubtedly had an impact on conception rates and bull performance across the state.
In recent months, our beef Extension specialists at UK, and myself here locally, have encountered many situations of very low herd pregnancy rates. I don’t want this to creep up on you if there are more open cows than usual in your herd.
If you’d like more assistance, or just to discuss options and a path forward, don’t hesitate to reach out. As always, feel free to contact us at 859-873-4601 if you need any assistance.
I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends during this season. Happy Thanksgiving!