Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
June 7, 2009
Who would have thought that June would be so cold and dry? The rain that we received the last few days has been a blessing for many landowners. Now if we could only do something about these cool temperatures!
Actually, my husband and I have welcomed the rain and cool temperatures that we have had lately. The reason? All of those hedges that I have mentioned before sustained winter dieback an d in order to save them we …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
May 28, 2009
Is anyone else in disbelief that it is June already? If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering what happened to the month of May. I know May was here but man it sure went by fast! May is always a busy month for my family as we have hedges, hedges, and more hedges to trim, a garden to plant, and flower beds to work with. And I can’t forget about a 3 ½ year old little …
News Release
From Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Office
May 22, 2009
Does Your Sprayer Need A Tune-Up?
The SD Cooperative Extension Service will host a Sprayer Calibration Clinic, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2nd at the Southeast Research Farm, Beresford, S.D. Proper calibration of sprayer equipment is essential to ensure both adequate coverage of offending weeds and to avoid over-application, which wastes money and may harm the environment.
The clinic is free, and offers hands-on experience calibrating a sprayer and an opportunity to interact with technical specialists. For …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator/Agronomy
May 21, 2009
As farmers are busy with spring planting, tillage, fertilizing, and weed control; extension educators, specialists, and researchers are making preparations for their upcoming field research. I will be continuing my work with evaluating the soybean aphid resistance gene in soybeans. Instead of being on-farm, this study has been moved to the Southeast Research Farm in Beresford, S.D. so this study can be incorporated into field schools and crop tours.
An opportunity that is available to soybean growers in the …
Living Well by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 5-20-09
I called it “Bugs and Slugs”. Mike Catangui, SDSU Entomologist, taught the Master Gardener class on Insects. You might be familiar with Mike, as he is a regular on Garden Line. Garden Line is a great television show that covers all kinds of horticulture issues and is shown on PBS every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. If you have never watched that show before, I would recommend it. Since it is a weekly show, it covers topics that are timely for …
LIVING WELL by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 4-16-09
This is the time of the year when I have to show a lot of restraint. I make my daily trip outside to poke around my perennials to see what is greening up. With warm temperatures and spring optimism, I want to pull off the old leaves and mulch that have been protecting them from the elements. However, I know better and try to muster up enough restraint to just leave them be a little longer. I have to satisfy …
LIVING WELL by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 4-23-09
I want to report back to you about my first session of the Master Gardener class. The group met last Friday at the Minnehaha County Extension Office. I was pleasantly surprised to find about 30 people had signed up for the class. The class was originally supposed to be at the Southeast Research Farm in the Centerville/Beresford area, but was cancelled there because not enough people signed up. The class was relocated to Sioux Falls and drew participants from a …
LIVING WELL by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 4-29-09
As I listen to the rain this morning, I can only think of the May flowers that this April shower will bring. The weather is warm enough to be optimistic of an upcoming growing season, but still cool enough that the furnace runs. That sounds like a South Dakota spring to me.
I enjoyed Week 2 of Master Gardener training. Most of the crew from Week 1 returned so I guess they didn’t get scared away, and we even …
LIVING WELL by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 5-14-09
It was another good day at the Master Gardener class. Again, the subject material for the day was information that I was familiar with. It always helps to speak the same language with the instructors. Chris Zdorovtsov, Horticulture Educator from Minnehaha County, started the morning with vegetable production. I have always had a small vegetable garden, but I continue to look for ways to improve my efforts. The main idea that I took back from the morning session was the …
LIVING WELL by Lavonne Meyer, Turner County Extension Educator 5-7-09
I want to report that week 3 of Master Gardeners went much better. The topic for the morning was perennials and I can hold my own when it comes to day lilies, peonies, and sedums. It was a relief to speak the same language as the rest of the group. Rhoda Burrow, SDSU Horticulture Specialist, was the teacher that day. She has done so much research in the area that it is just fun to listen to her. I can …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
May 15, 2009
It’s been nice to see all the activity going on out in the fields. Despite the cold temperatures we have been having the corn is coming up throughout the county. What a nice sight to see. I don’t think anyone would argue with me when I say, “we would have given anything last year to see this sight in May.”
As you make plans to control weeds, insects, and diseases, don’t forget about wearing protective clothing when applying …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
May 8, 2009
With the constant moisture and cooler temperatures that we have had the last week, we need to be watching for disease development in our wheat crop. The disease we need to be watching for is tan spot.
Initial infections of tan spot come from diseased crop debris in the soil, or from diseased grass hosts. Tan spot overwinters on crop residue so all it needs to spread is a raindrop splash and ideal temperature conditions. Usually the …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
May 1, 2009
Make Weed Control Plans
It’s that time a year again when we need to start thinking about weed control. Nearly 4.5 million acres are infested with noxious weeds in South Dakota. Statewide losses from noxious weeds exceed $80 million annually. The acreage and cost will continue to increase unless action is taken to control and eradicate noxious weeds. This week I will discuss locally noxious weeds and share a few interesting facts about some of the weeds found here …
Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy
April 22, 2009
It’s nice to see the sun shine, the grass green, the first burst of flowers; the trees filled with buds, and hear the birds chirp. With April coming to a close, spring is definitely here. I love being outside whether it is going for a walk, working in my garden, taking the kids to the park, or just playing and being outside.
I enjoy seeing the buzz of farm equipment in the field, whether; it is applying …
