Farm, Ranch & Garden

Johnson City – As early fall days grow cooler, the grassroots efforts of the Blanco County Farm Bureau are heating up. “We’re working on issues that directly affect the farmers and ranchers of Blanco County,” said Blanco County Farm Bureau S-T Adrian Schulze. “That’s the beauty of our organization. Its policy is always driven by the agricultural producer.” Schulze said Farm Bureau policies always originate at the member level and are debated and adopted at the county, state and national level.

The A.E. Woods fish hatchery in San Marcos released approximately 550 Channel Catfish today at Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site in Stonewall. The catfish were released in an ongoing effort by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division to promote fishing in public waters, especially to the youth in the community.

Master Gardeners of Blanco County will be offering a 2009 Master Gardener Course after the first of the New Year. Our organization is very active in providing horticultural information to residents of Blanco County with education being our primary goal. Master Gardeners are volunteers that work with the AgriLife Extension Service and its agent Todd Swift.

If you are needing Continuing Education Units (CEUs) in order to maintain your pesticide applicators license, here is your chance to get 15 hours between now and the end of the year. On October 14, 2008, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., a Parasite Control Clinic will be held at the Burnet County Fairgrounds meeting room.

Rain? We are one day closer to those rains that are coming our way. I did not say it was going to rain tomorrow, but that we are one day closer. If you have lived here in the Texas Hill Country very long you know that when our droughts break it is a “Frog Strangler” of a rain.

Ranchers may soon be signing a few extra forms at the sale barn when the new mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) program officially begins Sept. 30, according to Blanco County Farm Bureau S-T Adrian Schulze. COOL will require producers to provide documentation on the origin of the products they sell. Beginning this fall, they may be asked to sign an affidavit declaring the origin of livestock (and other products) whenever they are sold at auction, by private treaty or to a feedlot.

WACO – As the U.S. House of Representatives, on the second try, passed a bill designed to rescue the nation’s troubled financial system, Texas’ largest farm organization praised members of the Texas Congressional delegation that voted yes on the plan. “This was a tough vote,” said Steve Pringle, Legislative Director of the Texas Farm Bureau.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Pedernales Soil and Water Conservation District invite the public and any agencies with an interest in conservation issues to participate in a Local Work Group meeting to be held at the Methodist Church in Johnson City. This meeting will be on October 20, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. The purpose of this meeting is to receive input from a broad range of local agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals that have an interest in natural resource conditions and needs in Blanco County. Input received will allow the Local Work Group to make recommendations on resource concerns to be addressed for county-based funding.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Pedernales Soil and Water Conservation District invite the public and any agencies with an interest in conservation issues to participate in a Local Work Group meeting to be held at the Methodist Church in Johnson City. This meeting will be on October 20, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. The purpose of this meeting is to receive input from a broad range of local agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals that have an interest in natural resource conditions and needs in Blanco County. Input received will allow the Local Work Group to make recommendations on resource concerns to be addressed for county-based funding.

The NICE plant for the month of October is the Twist-Leaf Yucca (Yucca rupicola). There are twenty native varieties of yucca. The Twist-Leaf Yucca is especially well adapted to our limestone soil and extreme temperatures, as well as fluctuating moisture availability. The plant bears white flowers on two to six foot tall stalks in early summer.