Annual Teacher Workshop

   Make sure to sign up early! For more information please call the office at 940-627-3341          

Eating Healthy on a Budget

            Does your budget make you want to eat peanut butter and Ramen noodles? Many people report that when they are cutting their budget, their first cuts are healthy foods, which for many seems like a splurge. Fortunately, you can still buy and enjoy nutritious foods without dipping deep into your wallet.

 Consider the following ideas:

·       *  Precut fruits and vegetables cost more than whole. Cut your own carrots and onions, peel your own garlic, and slice your own apples. For the best prices, buy what produce is in season and on sale. If you want fruits and vegetables that are not in season, choose frozen or canned, just make sure there is not sodium or sugar added.

·   *      Make a big meal once and eat leftovers. It is easy to double or triple a recipe then freeze or refrigerate individual portions for later. A slow cooker can also be handy for cooking chili, stews or roast and to enjoy at dinner time.

·   *      Make your own pasta, rice or potato dishes rather than purchasing boxed mixes. You can find easy recipes on the package. For example you can take cooked macaroni with a can of tomatoes, Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese with a side of chicken for a quick family-friendly meal.

· *        Instead of eating out for lunch, make your own turkey wrap for less than $1.00 per serving. Spread mustard or hummus on a small whole wheat tortilla; add two slices of turkey, lettuce and sliced tomatoes. Add beans, corn, avocado for extra flavor and nutrition.

·   *      Cut your spending on foods that should be optional because they provide little nutritional value. These include sodas, chips and cookies. Spend grocery money on fruits and vegetables.

·  *       Identify your favorite treats and allow them in moderation.  Purchase a bag of chocolate kisses that can last a long time. One or two can be just as satisfying as a dozen if you take the time to enjoy them. 

·  *       Make your own coffee and specialty drinks. Make your own coffee and add milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extracts.

·   *      Eliminate bottled water and other bottled drinks. Use a refillable bottle to sip water all day, saving both money and calories.

·  *       Avoid paying for extra packaging for ready-to-eat snacks. Buy a large bag of pretzels or nuts then portion them out into small reusable containers for lunches and snacks.

  

If you are willing to do a little planning and preparation, you can stock your kitchen with nutrient packed foods that won’t break the bank.

           

 For more information concerning stretching your food dollar, contact the Wise County Extension office at 940/627-3341.

Indoor Hay Storage: Dry Matter Loss and Quality Changes

You never know how you will benefit from storing hay until you test it. There is no doubt if you store hay out of the weather you will dramatically decrease yield losses.  Quality; however will change, but not as much as you think. The following information was developed by Dennis R. Buckmaster, Assistant Professor of Agriculture Engineering.

                Mechanically-induced losses during forage harvest are visible and are commonly recognized as a source quantity and quality loss. Although invisible, similar losses occur during hay storage because of microbial respiration on the hay. This respiration results in dry matter loss as well as quality reduction.              

                The dry matter lost during storage consists of the most nutritious parts of the hay (nonstructural carbohydrates). As a result, hay quality is affected in a manner which decreases its potential intake and digestibility. Heat generation, also associated with the respiration, reduces protein availability.

                Moisture content also decreases during storage. Given enough time in storage (usually two months or more), most hay will reach approximately 12 percent moisture if baled at less than 25 percent moisture. If not treated with an effective preservative, hay baled above 25 percent moisture poses the threat of severe heat production and a barn fire.

                Forages are made up of dry matter (DM) and water. While the water has no nutritional value, it can have economic value because hay is often sold by weight on an “as is” basis rather than on a dry matter basis. Hay buyers and sellers should have hay sampled for dry matter content because this, in combination with the weight and quality, determines the amount of nutrients being transferred.

                Chemical preservatives change the storage process. Although the changes in treated hay would be similar to those discussed here, this fact sheet applies specifically to untreated alfalfa hay.

Dry Matter Loss in Baled Hay

                 Dry matter loss is a direct result of microbial activity. During this microbial activity the soluble carbohydrates in the hay are consumed. The amount of dry matter loss is directly related to heat generation, which in turn is related to moisture content.  For hay baled near 12 percent moisture, very little loss occurs. As baling moisture rises, the amount of storage dry matter loss increases. This dry matter loss results in less feed and lower quality feed. Trade-offs occur between storage losses and harvest losses; but, in general, hay baled at 15 to 18 percent moisture will maximize the overall nutrient yield.

                Consider one ton of alfalfa hay baled at 18 percent moisture (82 percent DM) is placed into storage. The amount of dry matter going into storage is 1,640 lbs. (2,000 x 82 percent DM). With a dry matter loss of 2.5 percent, only 1,600 will be available after storage. At 12 percent moisture (88 percent DM), the total weight as removed from storage would be 1,820 lbs. while the initial weight was 2,000 lbs. From a hay sellers perspective (in this example), the price needs to be at least 10 percent higher after storage than at baling because of the weight change.

Quality Effects

                The dry matter consumed during hay storage is primarily nonstructural carbohydrate which is readily used by ruminant animals. The fibrous plant components are retained and, as other dry matter is lost, their concentration increases. A slight amount of crude protein is lost during storage, but protein is lost at a slower rate than carbohydrates; thus, crude protein concentration increases slightly during storage.

                The NDF concentration will also increase, which in return will decrease quality because intake of the alfalfa by ruminant animals will now be lower. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) also increases; this indicates that digestibility of the hay after storage will be slight lower than that of the freshly baled hay. Although the increase in CP content appears to be a good consequence, the total amount of protein removed from storage is less than the amount put into storage.

                 Another quality change occurring during storage of alfalfa hay, or any hay for that matter, concerns the acid detergent insoluble protein (ADIP) (this is sometimes called ADIN or ADF-N if expressed on a nitrogen rather than a protein basis). This protein is unavailable to ruminant animals. Formation of ADIP is directly related to heat development.

                Hay producers and feeders need to be aware of changes occurring to hay during storage. In a feeding program, it would be best to take forage samples near the time of feeding rather than at the time of baling so as to more accurately reflect what the animal would be getting. Similarly, purchased hay should be sampled at the time of the purchase for a better indication of the quantity of dry matter being purchased as well as the quality of the purchase.

                For more information please contact Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Wise County at 940-627-3341.

THE ANSWER TO FIRE ANT CONTROL IN YOUR YARD

Treat your yards and neighborhood this spring for fire ant relief this summer and fall.  Fire ants love to nest in home lawns, parks and ornamental turf grass areas. At certain times of the year, freshly worked mounds are noticeable and can be unsightly. During the winter months, there’s very little ant mounding activity and it is easy to forget they are there.

However, after all of the early spring rainfall, fire ant activity has increased.  It is during these times when the ants are very active and can cause more problems especially when everyone wants to be outside after being indoors all winter long.  The last thing you want at your outdoor activity is a colony of angry fire ants ready to take over and turn your happy occasion into a miserable one.  Did you know that the fire ant is a native of Brazil, and was imported from this country through Mobile, Alabama in the 1930’s?

Don’t wait until you have serious ant problems. Keep those problems from happening by maintaining a good control program throughout the year.  Fire ants travel from yard to yard (they could care less about property lines) and are easily dispersed due to periodic mating flights.  Did you know that the fire ant queen lives for 2-5 years and can produce up to 800 eggs per day?  Also, remember a high percentage of the mounds in Texas have multiple queens, meaning there is no territorial behavior, resulting in excessive numbers of fire ant mounds per acre or in the homeowners case, per yard!  Because most of our mounds have multiple queens, and may be spread over larger areas than we actually see, just sprinkling a product over the top of the mound may not reduce the entire population.  In areas where fire ants produce more mounds than you care to treat one at a time (usually more than 4 in a normal yard), or where you spend more time and money on insecticides than you would like to, there is an approach that is less labor-intensive, less toxic and more environmentally friendly.  It is called the Two-Step Method, Do-It-Yourself Fire Ant Control method. It is advocated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. You can obtain a copy of the most recent fire ant management brochure (ENTO-034) by visiting the Texas A&M AgriLife Bookstore and download a copy. http://www.agrilifebookstore.org/Two-Step-Method-and-Other-Approaches-to-Fire-Ant-p/ento-034.htm.

The Two-Step Method goes like this:

The first step is to make a semi-annual, spring and fall, broadcast application of a fire ant bait insecticide. There are several fire ant baits available for use in urban areas such as hydramethylnon (Amdro), methoprene (Extinguish), hydramethylnon + methoprene (Extinguish Plus or Amdro Yard Treatment), pyriproxifen (Distance or Esteem), and spinosad (Ferti-Loam “Come and Get It” or Payback fire ant bait).  Other products can be found on the official Texas A&M Fire Ant web page, http://fireant.tamu.edu/controlmethods/products/.

Please consult the product label and read thoroughly for the broadcast instructions!

Periodic broadcast applications of fire ant baits provide roughly 90 percent suppression of fire ants when properly applied.  Baits can be broadcast over small to large areas using suitable hand-held, vehicle-mounted or aerial applicators. Apply a fresh bait product, when ants are foraging, to dry ground when no rain is expected for 24 to 48 hours after treatment.  Temperature should be between 65 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  Speed and duration of ant suppression differs with the product selected.  For instance, broadcast applications of the hydramethylnon + methoprene fire ant bait provides maximum control two to four after application while methoprene fire ant bait (an insect growth regulator product) provides maximum suppression four to nine months after treatment, depending on environmental conditions.  Rarely are all colonies eliminated following treatment. Bi-annual applications of the bait product keeps pressure on the fire ant population so each subsequent baiting event is much more effective since less ants are present.

          

About one week to 10 days after bait application, apply individual mound treatments to “nuisance” ant colonies, such as those in sensitive or high traffic areas. Otherwise, be patient and wait for the bait treatments to work. Even though some bait products are relatively fast-acting, colonies remaining active after six weeks or so have “escaped” the effects of the bait treatment and should be treated with an individual mound treatment. Ant mound treatment products are available as liquid drenches, injectable aerosols, dusts, or granules that are watered in to the mound. Ants are killed only if the insecticide contacts them, so proper application is essential.  Colonies migrating into treated areas should be treated as needed.  Hundreds of effective individual mound treatment products are available to choose from, and a number of them are considered to be “organic.” 

For a two-step program that uses only natural products, broadcast a spinosad bait and then treat mounds with d-limonene or products containing unsynergized pyrethrins or drench with a spinosad liquid product solution.  On small properties where a high degree of control is needed, consider using the “Ant Elimination” method (described in ENTO-034) utilizing a granular fipronil product such as Top Choice®, or Taurus G®.  These are restricted pesticide products and can only be applied by a licensed pesticide applicator. Only one application is allowed per year preferably early spring.

None of the methods of fire ant control available today eliminate fire ants forever.  The bait application may be repeated, if environmental conditions are favorable, whenever sufficient re-invasion occurs.  Between these baiting treatments, nuisance mounds should be treated individually. These areas can be re-infested by colonies migrating in from surrounding areas or by newly-mated queens seeking to start new colonies. The rate of re-infestation depends on many factors such as weather, soil type and moisture, but ant populations can be expected to fully recover within 18 months of the last treatment.

Controlling the fire ant situation will be successful only if communities get involved. Your neighborhood association can coordinate a “Community-Wide Fire Ant Management Program” resulting in the treatment of your entire neighborhood each year, usually once in the fall (Late September through October) and once in the spring (Late April through early June), or contracting with a local commercial applicator to perform the treatment(s). Treatment of the entire area is important as re-infestation from nearby untreated areas generally occur.

Ways to Reduce Cancer Risks

The word cancer strikes fear in our lives.  Fear because we all know of friends or family members who have dealt with the disease, and we are afraid that we, too, could be a victim.  The American Institute for Cancer Research states that cancer cases could be reduced by about one-third if everyone ate a healthy diet, was physically active every day, and maintained a healthy weight.  For the vast majority of Americans, taking control of one’s life to achieve these behaviors may mean lifestyle changes.  It may sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be as hard as you think.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas indicates that a good starting point is to make dietary changes by choosing a varied meal plan and reducing the serving sizes of food.  When selecting meat and meat-alternate foods, select more often either plant-based foods and/or lean meat choices from the leg or loin cuts – about the size of a deck of cards. Select poultry with the skin removed. Fresh fish is another good choice. Select whole grain breads, cereals, pasta, and rice, all of which are good sources of fiber.  Make an effort to eat a variety of dark green leafy and orange vegetables, and brightly colored fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, citrus fruits, melons, etc. A diet high in fruits and vegetables has been linked to a reduced risk of cancers of the colon, esophagus, lung, and stomach.

Set a goal to be physically active every day in any way for 30 minutes or more.  It can be as simple as walking, gardening, and doing household chores that require you to move and be active.  Research shows that activity can keep our hormone levels healthy, which is important because having high levels of some hormones can increase our cancer risk.

For the past several weeks, over 300 participants have been making great efforts to raise their hormone levels by taking part in Walk Across Texas which is an eight week walking program made up of teams of eight persons.  The current program is drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue, with several other teams, to use Walk Across Texas as a motivation tool to increase your physical activity. Simply, log on to http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu/; enter yourself or team, begin walking or other physical activity and report mileage on the web site weekly.   The program is recognized as a Best Practice Physical Activity Program by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

For more information on reducing your cancer risk, contact the Extension office at 940/627-3341.