Lawrence/Wayne County Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting

The Lawrence/Wayne County Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, February 22nd, 5:30pm. at the Lawrence County High School Cafeteria. Our featured speaker will be our new UT Extension Veterinarian, Dr. Lew Strickland. Dr. Strickland will be discussing BVD-PI —Bovine Virus Diarrhea Persistent Infected Cattle and the recent discovery of Trichomoniasis positive bulls in Tennessee.  The business part of the meeting will consist of the announcement of the 2014 scholarship winner(s) and the presentation of the 2013 scholarships. The highlight of the evening will be the announcement of the 2014 Cattlemen of the Year. Reservations need to be made before Thursday, February 20th, by calling either the Lawrence County Extension Office at 762-5506 or the Wayne County Extension Office at 722-3229. You can also email me at ibryant1@utk.edu.  

Lawrenceburg Bull Test

The Lawrence/Wayne County Cattlemen’s Association, UT Extension, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Dr. Gary Hill at the Large Animal Clinic have teamed up to offer a Bull Test. This opportunity will take place on Friday, March 21st at the Large Animal Clinic located at 31 Shotwell Rd. Appointments are required. To get an appointment contact Glenda Perry at Dr. Hill’s Office at 762-1754. For a minimal fee of $30, each bull will receive a complete Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE), Vaccination and Deworming.  Bulls that are sterile and unable to settle cows are extremely costly to beef producers. UT Extension highly recommends that beef producers get all their bulls tested before breeding season and for $30 dollars----- that’s some of the cheapest insurance that you will ever find. Refer to the enclosed flyer for more details.

Master Beef Producer & TAEP Update

The UT Extension Master Beef Producer (MBP) Program started 10 years ago in 2004. Since its inception there have been 244 Lawrence County Beef and Dairy Producers who have completed the 30 hour course. The MBP Program has been extremely successful, not only in Lawrence County but all across the state. In 2006 the Tennessee Enhancement Grant Program (TAEP) was established and the state began offering incentive to cattle producers who completed the Master Beef Producer Class. Through the life of the TAEP, Lawrence County Producers have been awarded 1060 grants worth 3.74 million dollars. Lawrence County has typically ranked in the top 5 in the state grant approvals.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture, which administers the TAEP, announced in January that producers who completed the MBP from 2004-2007 would be required to complete the newly developed Advanced Master Beef Producer (AMBP) Course prior to applying for the TAEP cost share re-embursements in 2015. They would be required to do this in order to be eligible for the 50% cost-share on the Genetics, Equipment, Hay Storage and Feed Storage Grants. This would continue in 2016, requiring those who completed the class from 2008-2011 to complete Advanced MBP. The 3 year cycle would be rounded out in 2017 requiring those who completed the MBP course from 2012-2014 to complete AMBP.    

The Advanced Master Beef Producer Class will be structured similar to the MBP with more advanced, updated and concise programs. Class coordinators will have the flexibility to plan their respective courses that will have to cover at least 7 of the 10 specific programs that UT Extension Specialist have developed. Currently these UT Extension Specialist are training county agents on the new programs which include:

Nutrition, Reproduction, Genetics, Health, Forages, Management, Marketing, End Product, and Facilities.

Considering this the first Advanced Master Beef Producer Class for Lawrence/Giles/Maury Counties will be scheduled sometime at the end of this year and most likely multiple sessions will be scheduled in 2015.

For those who have never taken the MBP Course there will be one last opportunity to take this class in October. The class will take place on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-9pm.

The 2014 TAEP grant applications should be out sometime at the end of April. Producers will need to be current in their BQA Certification to apply the first week of June.  Completion of the Advanced Master Beef Producer Class will not be required to apply for this years’ program. If you have any questions give me a call----762-5506 or drop me an email at 

            ibryant1 @utk.edu

          

Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Training     

There will be a BQA Training on March 4th at 5:30pm. at the Lawrence County Extension Office Community Meeting Room. UT Extension Beef Specialist, Dr. Justin Rhinehart has just updated the BQA Program and we will be using this for our training.

Certified Private Applicator Recertification Trainings To Be Offered

All Private Applicator Cards will be expiring on October 21st 2014. To become recertified producers must attend a Certified Private Applicator Training before October 21st of this year. A schedule of these trainings is listed below. The recertification training will last @ 1.5 hour and consist of a pre & post test along with approximately 1 hour of training. The cost to become recertified will once again be $15. This certification period will be good until October 21st 2017. A Certified Private Applicator is someone who can legally purchase “Restricted Use Chemicals” for use on their own farm.

Below are some Private Applicator Trainings we have scheduled this winter.

Meeting 1         Tuesday, March 4th       Lawrence County Extension Office   8 am

                                                                        (Community Meeting Room)

Meeting 2         Tuesday, March 4th      Lawrence County Extension Office   noon

                                                                        (Community Meeting Room)

Meeting 3           Tuesday March 4th                  Lawrence County Extension Office   7 pm

                                                                        (Community Meeting Room)

Initial Certified Private Applicator Training     

For those who are not currently certified, there will be 1 training opportunity for these folks to get their certification. This training is required whether the individual has let their card expire or if they have never been certified. The Initial Certification Training will last @ 3.5 hours and the cost is $40. The first part of the Initial Training will be conducted in conjunction with the Recertification Meeting 1 mentioned above. Please help spread the word to anyone you know that might be interested in getting certified. The schedule for Initial Certification is below:

Meeting 1       Tuesday, March 4th      Lawrence County Extension Office   8-11:30 am.

                                                               (Community Meeting Room)