2015 Ag Festival is This Weekend!!!

Estate Planning

Photo from www.moravecslaw.com

Have you ever asked yourself the “what if” questions? What if something should happen to me today? What if something should happen to my spouse or business partner? What if I have an accident that leaves me incapacitated?

No one likes to think about these questions. However, the answers are very important to your surviving family members. Taking the time to answer those questions can provide peace of mind. It also can mean that your wishes for asset distribution following death will be followed.

According to UK Extension Financial Specialist Jennifer Hunter, if you should die without some form an estate plan in place, such as a will, your property and other assets will be distributed according to Kentucky state law. Dying without a will is known as dying intestate. If you do not wish to have your assets distributed according to state law, then you will need to develop your own estate plan.

The estate planning process can be quite simple, depending on the size and complexity of your estate.  However it can become quite complicated when dealing with farming operations.  The first step is to get organized by gathering important information and documents. Start by making a list of your assets, or everything that you own.  Include all property, including your home, farm property, rental property, and other business assets.  Additionally, list other investments and assets, such as stocks, bonds, retirement plans, insurance policies, banking accounts and cash.

As you list your assets, be certain to note how each asset is titled. For example, are you the sole owner, a joint owner with your spouse, or does the asset, such as a life insurance policy, have a specific beneficiary listed?

Once you have completed a list of all assets, make a similar list of all debts owed, such as mortgages, car loans, credit cards, installments debts, etc. If you subtract your total debts from your total assets, the result will be your net worth.

Organizing the paperwork associated with your assets and liabilities will be important to your family members when your estate is settled. As you prepare the list of your assets and debts, also note the locations of important paperwork. You may consider purchasing a small fire proof safe to consolidate all important papers into one place.

Once you have an inventory of your assets, discuss with your spouse and other family members how you would like to distribute your assets to meet your estate-planning objectives.

Remember, communication is important throughout the estate planning process. Sharing your estate-planning objectives with family members will help them better understand the choices you make in asset distribution. Often, a spouse or close family member is asked to be the executor of an estate; the executor ensures that your assets are distributed according to your estate plan.

The final step is to work with an attorney to put your plans on paper. Depending on the size of your estate, you may also need to work with your accountant, financial planner or others to develop your complete estate plan. In addition to helping you put your plans on paper, an attorney will also be able to assist you in understanding and developing other estate planning tools such as power of attorney, trusts, or gifting.

There will be an estate planning workshop at the Extension Office on Tuesday, July 21st at 6pm.  This workshop is open to the public.  Remember, estate planning is too important of a topic to delay planning.  For more information, please contact the McLean County Cooperative Extension Service at (270)273-3690.  Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

Upcoming Events
July 17th & 18th     Ag Festival
July 18th                 Farmer Appreciation Breakfast, 7:30am Myer Creek Park
July 21st                 Estate Planning Workshop, 6pm
July 23rd                 Farm Succession Seminar, Riverpark Center
July 28th&30th Customer Appreciation Days at Farmers’ Market
July 30th                UK Corn, Soybean & Tobacco Field Day, Princeton
Aug 4th                County Extension Council and District Board Meeting
Aug 7th                Tri-County Grain Sorghum Field Day
Aug 13th                CPH Sale
Aug 14th               McLean Co. Beef Field Day

Yellow Soybeans Need Sun, Dr. Chad Lee

Yellow Soybeans Need Sun

Chad Lee, Extension Professor and Agronomist, University of Kentucky

Numerous fields of soybeans appear yellow or bright green right now. The symptoms mimic nitrogen deficiency, but the plants are really starving for air to the roots and sun on the leaves. Everyone is thinking about applying some nitrogen to help make the plants greener. But what these plants really need is for sunshine to help partially dry the soils.



Rains have saturated our soils and pushed air out of the root zone. That lack of oxygen can lead to slowed activity of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum which leads to reduced nitrogen fixation and uptake. Extended periods of saturated soils will kill some of the roots and some of theBradyrhizobium japonicum. Both will rebound quickly once sunshine and air return to the system.

Saturated soils in the low areas
result in yellow plants.

Nodules are present but probably
dying in the saturated soils.

Cloudy skies will slow down the field-drying
process, which slows soybean recovery.

Standing water in a low area.
No room for air in this soil.

Roots from a green plant.
Viable nodules actively fixing nitrogen.

Most of the soybeans in Kentucky are flowering, so the rainfall we get now helps to build the size of plant and structures to produce pods and seeds. These yellow plants will likely lose some flowers, but even a healthy soybean plant will lose about half of its flowers. If the sun comes out soon, these plants have plenty of time to build more flowers and pods.

Rainfall and water stress during soybean seed fill is our most critical period for yield determination. The current saturated conditions likely will have very little impact on final yields. (All of these comments are based on the premise that the plants survive. Soybeans completely flooded and choking out is a completely different

Farther back in the field are
"green lines" from old tile.
Agriculture is a constant battle between
too much and too little water.

scenario.) While we need some sunshine now to help the plants recover, we need to continue getting timely rains to help this crop yield well.

Once the fields dry out enough to allow spray equipment across without causing compaction, the soybeans are probably a couple days away from becoming green again. A dose of foliar nitrogen may get one extra day of green plants, but probably will not contribute much to the overall yield of the plants.

These weather conditions are setting up quite well for disease infestations later. This is a season where good field scouting is absolutely necessary to make good decisions on disease management. Every farmer already knows that agriculture is a constant struggle between too much water and too little water. This May, June and early July are a vivid reminder.

The World Needs All Kinds of Minds, Dr. Temple Grandin

Photo from Netflix

If you have Netflix, take about 20 minutes to watch this episode of TEDTalks, where Dr. Temple Grandin discusses how the world needs all kinds of minds and how she has used her autism to her advantage in the cattle industry.  Dr. Grandin is a world-renowned livestock handling expert.  She is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University and designs livestock handling facilities.  She was also diagnosed with autism as a child.  HBO made a biographical film of her life staring Claire Danes (see the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkN0JdXRpM) and Time magazine names her to list of the "100 People Who Most Affect Our World".  You can also see more of her work on her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TempleGrandin. 



Netflix users- click on the link below to watch her episode of TEDTalks:
http://www.netflix.com/watch/70232881?trackId=2&tctx=0%252C0%252Cf2f5063f-2470-4c8c-9699-05ec6f07e0fb-18740321

Time to Consider Fungicides on Soybeans

Photo from http://www.kygrains.info/

Soybeans are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial pathogens. These pathogens cause leaf spots and blights and are generally common in Kentucky; however, few fields in any given year are seriously damaged by foliar diseases. Crop rotation and weather that is unfavorable to disease development typically keeps foliar diseases at low levels, but this growing season has been anything but typical.

I never thought I’d complain about rain in July, but again, this growing season has not been typical.  The unusual, wet conditions that we have been dealing with are very favorable for the development and spread of fungal and bacterial pathogens.  This year may be the year to take a serious look at your spray schedule and fungicide use in soybeans.

The best chance that a fungicide treatment will result in a net economic gain for soybeans occurs when disease conditions exist which justify making an application, such as when your bean fields become an environment highly favorable to disease development.  Common soybean diseases found in Kentucky that warrant fungicide applications include Brown Spot, Frogeye Leaf Spot, Cercospora Leaf Blight, Anthracnose and Soybean Rust.  All of which thrive in wet conditions and all can cause significant yield loss.

Achieving good results with fungicides requires excellent spray coverage, regardless of the crop. Both aerial and ground applications have produced good results in corn and soybean.  Timing is also critical. Fungi have certain life stages that are vulnerable to fungicides. Similarly, plants have vulnerable stages which might require protection when the risk of target diseases is high. Either case, if a fungicide is applied too early or too late, it will not produce the desired results.  The most effective applications are usually made at the early pod (R3) growth stage.  Later applications may be needed should soybean rust ever need to be controlled.

There are a great number of other disease organisms and diseases that manifest symptoms on soybean foliage that are not mentioned above. For example, many root and stem diseases ultimately cause foliar symptoms to be expressed, but the pathogens that cause those diseases do not infect foliage directly. Rather, symptoms are usually the result of imbalances in nutrients and water in foliage. Soybean cyst nematode and stem canker are examples. In the case of soybean sudden death syndrome, foliar symptoms are the result of one or more foliar toxins that are produced by the causal fungus as it grows in diseased root tissue.

Virus diseases, such as soybean mosaic and bean pod mottle, reproduce systemically and, thus, can readily be found throughout infected foliage with the aid of an electron microscope. The principal symptoms of virus diseases are expressed in crop foliage.

For more information on Integrated Pest Management in soybeans and other crops or for a copy of the University of Kentucky’s Soybean Fungicide Efficiency Table, contact the McLean County Cooperative Extension Office at (270)273-3690. Educational programs of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.


Upcoming Events
July 17th&18th Ag Festival
July 21st         Estate Planning Workshop, 6pm
July 23rd         Farm Succession Seminar, Riverpark Center
July 28th&30th       Customer Appreciation Days at Farmers’ Market
July 30th         UK Corn, Soybean & Tobacco Field Day, Princeton
Aug 4th County Extension Council and District Board Meeting
Aug 7th Tri-County Grain Sorghum Field Day
Aug 13th         CPH Sale
Aug 14th McLean Co. Beef Field Day

2015 McLean County Ag Festival