Ag Winter 2025
January 2025 Edition
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DAVIESS COUNTY FARM NEWS
WINTER 2025
COMMENTS FROM CLINT
I began my career in extension in 2002. I recall LDP payments for soybeans and corn that year, so prices were not great, but costs were manageable. People were making a living and growing the business. Tobacco and poultry were booming in the 2000’s, and I recall beef cattle farmers doing pretty well. We went along for a few years in that price cycle: okay grain prices, manageable costs, and enterprise diversification paying huge dividends.
2008 arrived with a massive demand increase for corn due to ethanol legislation. Profits in all farming sectors were great, but the cost of feeding livestock was tough. Add the 2012 drought, which pushed prices to their highest level adjusted for inflation since the ‘70s, and you had a grain price cycle that did not decline until 2018 - ten great years. Remember that interest rates were at all-time lows following the housing crisis which caused a recession in all sectors of the economy except agriculture. For justifiable reasons, many farms eliminated tobacco and cattle from their business to expand grain during that cycle.
I share all of those memories to make a point. I heard it said many times during the 2010’s that the younger farmers had never experienced low grain prices, high production cost, and high interest rates. The young farmers then are mid-career now and they are getting their experience with difficult farm prices, expensive production costs, and the highest interest rates they’ve borrowed on in their career. So what can be done in the next month or two while there is still time to plan before money starts going on the ground?
Investigate every financial opportunity. Do you farm fields adjacent to tree-lined stream and creek banks which do nothing but scratch equipment and reduce profit 30 feet into the field? Go talk to soil conservation about opportunities for you or your landowner to be paid to take those field areas out of production. NRCS may have other incentive programs to consider. Have you investigated carbon credits or other environmental incentives? Go on your grain buying company website and search these incentives. Less tillage, cover crops, incentives for soybeans from land not recently in forest, are some options to add money to your grain check. Take time to develop budgets for specific farms or large fields. If you are going to rotate corn to a farm with low production capability, don’t spend money to make 230. If it’s planted on time to a good disease package hybrid and you don’t expect it to be better than 180 because it’s never done better than that, fungicide application or other “extras” probably won’t provide a return on investment.
Implement sound production practices. Water management is key. One of the blessings of the 2008 to 2018 cycle was the amount of land tiled and irrigated with all of that grain profit and tobacco buyout money. We’re far from finished. Improving this poorly drained land is important in the profit cycles and struggle cycles. Less tillage, less tillage, less tillage. Some farms may have a money tree to pick from when it’s time to pay the fuel bill, but I know those that don’t will reduce their fuel expense with no-till and not reduce yield. Of course, slugs and voles are a no-till curse, but they are more cosmetic than costly. The appearance of crops emerging in tilled soil looks different. I’ll admit, sometimes better than no-till. But all these fields look the same from canopy to combine. Save time, machinery, and money with no-till. Remember 10 pounds per acre of Deadline with some potash in front of the planter will take care of fields with a history of slug problems. Don’t forget proven return on investment practices. Fertilize to soil test recommendations only. Make fungicide and insecticide application decisions based on crop scouting and disease variety ratings, not because you’re spraying some fields, so why not all of them. The economists predict there will be another year or two before this struggle cycle ends and a profit cycle returns to grain farming. In the interim, manage each farm separately from the next to make decisions that return the best outcome of all options available.
51ST ANNUAL AG EXPO AND HALL OF FAME RECEPTION
Plans for Ag Expo are well underway, and the planning committee is excited to host the 51st annual meeting on Wednesday, January 29 at the Owensboro Convention Center. Doors open to the trade show at 7:30a.m. with the program beginning at 8:30.
Also make plans to attend a reception for the 2025 Agricultural Hall of Fame inductees and their families. This endeavor was initiated in 2023 with great success and the committee is pleased to recognize Lee Roy Walker – Owensboro Tobacco Board of Trade and Bob Baker – Kentuckiana Livestock who have made significant contributions to local agriculture this year. The reception will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Agricultural Hall of Fame gallery, third floor at the Owensboro Museum of Science and History.
KENTUCKY CATTLEMEN’S CONVENTION
We are very excited the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association Convention is returning to the Owensboro Convention Center January 16 and 17. The two days are packed with beef cattle and forage production educational seminars, association business activities and an industry trade show. If you have beef cattle or cattle interests, don’t miss the opportunity to attend an event like this so close to home. Program agenda and registration can be found online at https://www.kycattle.org/convention.html
THE 35% WOMEN IN AG CONFERENCE
The 35% Women in Ag Conference will be held on March 14, 2025 from 8 a.m.-1p.m. at the Union County Expo Center in Sturgis, Ky. Cost to attend is $30, and includes materials, lunch, and t-shirt. Deadline to sign up is February 14, 2025. This conference is hosted by Crittenden, Henderson, Webster, and Union County Extension Offices. Participants will get to attend three sessions that will focus on grain, livestock, and horticulture. There will be a lot of hands-on during these sessions that will include first aid, seeding rates, and setting up planters, chute side and cattle handling, small sprayer calibration, and marketing a business.
Registration information can be found at https://union.ca.uky.edu/union-co-ag-updates-women-in-ag-2025 or by calling Katie Hughes, Union County Extension Agent for Agriculture at 270-389-1400.
KADF UPDATE
Green River Area Beef Improvement Group administers the County Agricultural Investment Program in Daviess, Mclean, Henderson, and Webster Counties. The 2024 CAIP applications submitted on or before November 30, 2024 in all counties are currently under review, payment should be expected in March or sooner. Sign up for the 2025 CAIP program will be announced later this year. Some projects and activities you are doing or plan to do in 2025 may qualify as a reimbursement eligible item. Take time to go online and review what is eligible for reimbursement. Funding categories and items eligible for reimbursement can are online https://www.kyagr.com/agpolicy/2025-Program-Guidelines-and-Applications.html
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
January 16 Kentucky Commodity Conference - Sloan Convention Center, Bowling Green
January 16-17 Kentucky Cattleman’s Association Convention -Owensboro Convention Center
January 22 Roundtable discussion concerning barriers to implementing NRCS grass filter strips Farmers 12 noon, Landowners 6:00p.m. - Daviess County Extension Office
January 28 Daviess County Agricultural Hall of Fame Reception, 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Owensboro Museum of Science and History, third floor
January 29 51st Annual Ag Expo, 7:30 a.m. - Owensboro Convention Center
January 30 Private Pesticide Applicator Training, 6:00 p.m. - Daviess County Extension Office
January 31 Private Pesticide Applicator Training, 6:00 p.m. - McLean County Extension Office
February 4 Winter Wheat Meeting - Bruce Convention Center, Hopkinsville
February 6 Tobacco Production and GAP meeting, 6:00 p.m. - Mclean County Extension Office
February 6 Kentucky Crop Health Conference 9:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. - National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green
February 8 Union County Bull Sale - Union County Expo Center, Sturgis
February 10 Private Pesticide Applicator Training, 8:30 a.m. - Daviess County Extension Office
February 10 Beef Quality and Care Assurance Training 4:30 p.m. - Daviess County Extension Office
February 10 Winter Beef Cattle Meeting, 6:00 p.m. - Daviess County Extension Office
February 12-15 National Farm Machinery Show - Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, Louisville
February 17 Private Pesticide Applicator Training, 6:00 p.m. - Mclean County Extension Office
February 22 45th Annual Farm City Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. - Daviess County High School
March 14 35% Women in Ag Conference - Union County Fairgrounds, Sturgis
March 27 Italian Ryegrass Control Field Tour, 9:00 a.m. 11:30a.m. - Caldwell Co Extension Office
NOTE OF APPRECIATION
Our appreciation goes to Monica Connelly and Dan Styke who completed their term on the Daviess County Extension District Board December 31.
The board members for 2025 are Judge Charlie Castlen, Ryan Trunnell, George Bittel, Merrit Bates-Thomas, Jennifer Poole, Susan Zoglmann and Katie Cecil.
FARM LAND RENT SURVEY
The University of Kentucky is conducting a landowner and farmer survey on Farm Land Rent. The results will only be used to develop regional averages. This survey is anonymous. Individual responses are not identified. Please go to the link below or scan the QR code in the pdf link to take the 5 question survey.
The deadline is January 24.
https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qXarCYmpeMrjDg
CONGRATULATIONS EXTENSION YIELD CONTEST WINNERS
Tanner Stroup, Jerry O’Bryan, Joe and Scott Goetz, Charley and Travis Hayden, Cole Hamilton, and John Kuegel all had yields that were recognized in various categories of the soybean production contest. Scott Zoglmann (highest yield in state), Tanner Stroup, Brad and Dennis McKay, Bobby and Austin Glenn, Scott and Bryan Kuegel, and Cole Hamilton all had yields that were recognized in various categories of the corn production contest. Tanner Stroup had the highest wheat yield in the state wheat contest.
These winners will be recognized at the Kentucky Commodity Conference in Bowling Green on January 16. Printed plot books containing all yield demonstration location results and yield contest entries are available at the Extension Office or online at https://daviess.ca.uky.edu/daviess-grain-plots
PASTURE WEED SPRAYING PROGRAM
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture will offer farmers the Pasture Weed Spraying Program in March. Signups will again only be taken during the month of February and must be made using the application on the KDA web page: https://www.kyagr.com/consumer/nuisance-weed-spraying-program-application.aspx.
The department will deliver a sprayer and enough chemical for the treatment of 10 acres of hay or pastureland for broadleaf weed suppression to the farm. The farmer must provide water, tractor and driver.
GRASS FILTER STRIPS FOCUS GROUPS
UK Extension specialists are partnering with The Nature Conservancy to better understand why more people have not adopted the practice of grass filter strips. We are hosting a focus group session January 22 at the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Office from 11a.m.-1p.m. for farmers, and 5-7p.m. for landowners who rent land to farmers. Your participation and input will help us understand how to improve programs that provide financial and technical support for the adoption of vegetative buffers. The questions for discussion are: What are the barriers to using vegetative buffers along field edges? Do you think they are cost-prohibitive? Are there conservation programs you have considered enrolling in? What would incentivize you to adopt/utilize vegetative buffers along field edges?
Participants will receive a gift and meal for attending.
Space is limited. Register here: bit.ly/KYTNbuffers
PLEASE SEE PDF ON WEBSITE FOR AG EXPO PROGRAM
