Agriculture & Natural Resources

On-going & Upcoming Agriculture Activities

The WVU Extension Service has planned two Pasture Walks in cooperation with the Little Kanawha Conservation District, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Calhoun and Roane County Farm Bureau. The first Pasture Walk will take place in on Tuesday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Calhoun County at the Leo and Nancy Craddock Angus Farm. State Agronomist Ed Rayburn from WVU Extension will be lead the walk in talking about some best management practices for hay and pasture fields that will ultimately lead to cost saving and increased gains in your livestock. The second one is set for Thursday, September 17, at 6:30 p.m. in Roane County at the Saunders Farm on Spring Creek Road. This Pasture Walk will be conducted by the University’s Weed Specialist Rakesh Chandran and will involve weed control and nutrient management in your pastures. These meetings are open to all farmers in Calhoun and Roane Counties, as well as anyone in the Little Kanawha Conservation District, which includes Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood Counties. We are taking pre-registration now at the Extension Office, please call us at 304-354-6332 to let us know you plan to attend. Refreshments at both meetings will be provided.

Master Gardeners: The West Virginia University Extension Master Gardener Program is a volunteer educational program designed to meet the horticultural needs of citizens of West Virginia. Its purpose is to train volunteers and utilize their expertise to teach people more about plants, their culture, their importance to the environment and to our quality of life. Master Gardener volunteers provide technical assistance to their County Extension Office in order that consumer horticultural activities and programs can be more effectively and efficiently carried out.

We currently have a West Central Master Gardeners Association that includes members from Calhoun, Roane and Jackson Counties. The Association meets monthly, usually the second Thursday of every month.

To form a Master Gardeners Class, at least ten people need to sign up. The next classes are being planned for February 15-April 30, 2010. For more information on this program call the WVU-Calhoun County Extension Office at 304-354-6332 or email brandy.brabham@mail.wvu.edu.

West Central Beekeepers Association: In May 2008, the West Virginia University Extension Service worked with local beekeepers to establish a local beekeepers club, known today as the West Central Beekeepers Association. This group meets monthly to conduct business, share ideas and learned from a scheduled educational program. The association has approximately 50 members from Calhoun, Clay, Wirt, Roane and Jackson Counties and remains in close partnership with the WVU Calhoun County Extension Office. This group is affiliated with the West Virginia Beekeepers Association and is involved in state educational outreach for bee keeping and honey production as well. Typically the group meets on the 4th Saturday of every month. For more information about this association, contact us at 304-354-6332.

Grantsville Community Garden: In April 2009, the WVU Extension Service began planning meetings to develop a community garden in Grantsville. The Knotts Memorial Methodist Church owns the property on which the Grantsville Community Garden was established. In partnership with the church, and the Calhoun County Family Resource Network, WVU Extension Service in Calhoun County solicited interested gardeners, volunteers, and business to make the garden possible. To date, the Grantsville Community Garden has two plots. Volunteers from the Calhoun County High School Vocational Agriculture Classes, the Master Gardeners Program, community members, and church members have worked hard to ensure that the garden had a success start. Plans are to continue to offer garden plots to the community for the next several years. If you are interested in a garden plot or volunteering with the garden plot, please contact us at 304-354-6332.

Agriculture Newsletter & Mailing Lists: The Agriculture Newsletter, “For the Farmer” is a new publication that began as a quarterly/seasonal distribution in the February 2009 to disseminate timely agriculture and natural resources news to landowners and farmers in Calhoun and Roane Counties to promote education, profitability and sustainability through research and experience-based information. As part of this new initiative, the WVU Extension offices in Calhoun and Roane County has been developing producer lists for agriculture products and services to help promote local community development and profitability. If you have hay, specific livestock, greenhouse products, fruits, vegetables, honey, eggs or other agriculture products for sale, we want to hear from you! Also, if you are willing to do garden plowing, hay hauling, tree trimming, lawn work, or other farm services, we will keep a list of service providers as well. We get calls for many of these products or services from the youth involved in our livestock programs to the seniors who are looking for some help plowing a small garden. This information will be available to the general public with no specific endorsements from WVU Extension Service. The information provided in this newsletter is to help better serve you. If you have any suggestions or ideas for topics, please let us know in Calhoun County at 304-354-6332!

Soil Testing Kits Available: WVU has a Soil Test Laboratory on Campus in Morgantown, WV. Therefore, WVU Extension Service provides free “do-it-yourself soil test kit.” Once you have collected your soil, you must pay postage and mail your soil to the lab in Morgantown. Two copies of the test results will be sent back to the WVU-Calhoun County Extension Office and we send one copy to you and keep one copy on file. For more information about this service, you may stop by the office located on the fourth floor of the Calhoun County Courthouse or call us at 304-354-6332

Progressive Farmer Dinner Meetings: West Virginia University Extension Service offers a series of progressive farmer meetings in Calhoun and Roane Counties during the winter months. These educational meetings cover a variety of hot topics in agriculture. For example, in 2009 the topics included beef cattle production, genetics, and profitability, equine nutrition, forage management, and the 2008 Farm Bill impact on small farmers. Meetings begin in January and are normally concluded by the end of March and alternative monthly between locations in Calhoun and Roane Counties. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity for local producers to learn how to become more profitable or sustain their operation, during these difficult economic times of high input costs. In the past the Little Kanawha Conservation District and the Roane County Farm Bureau has provided funds to for meals and refreshments at these evening meetings. To provide suggestions for future topics or to get on our mailing list for these meetings, please call us at 304-354-6332.

Youth Agriculture Programming The West Virginia University Extension Service in Calhoun County continual encourages youth to become involved in agriculture. We develop agriculture-based 4-H classes, offer 4-H project books in a variety of agriculture and natural resource areas, and use Master Gardener volunteers to teach kids involved in our Energy Express Program about the importance of composting. We have held special agriculture-related assemblies at Calhoun County 4-H Camp. We conduct an annual Youth Agriculture Activities Day during the West Virginia Molasses Festival in Arnoldsburg every September. We have established a new special interest 4-H Community Horse Club. We assign our volunteer Master Gardeners to the kids activity station at the annual Farmers Market FRESHtival event. We have had livestock skill-a-thons and we are currently planning agriculture-based after-school classes for both Pleasant Hill Elementary and Arnoldsburg Elementary Schools. To provide suggestions for these programs or to volunteer, please call us at 304-354-6332.