Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Farm
PAGE
C7
pir/t of JEFFERSON and FARMER'S ADVOCATE
Livestock
judging
take s first
at state
The results of the 2012 West Virginia
Beef Expo Stockman's Contest, held
April 13 at WVU Jackson's Mill, saw the
Jefferson County Senior Livestock Judg-
ing Team take first place among all 68
teams from across the state The Junior
Livestock Judging Team placed third
out of 28 teams Amanda Smith placed
first and Miranda Dodson placed sixth
out of 235 in the senior division Molly
Ott placed sixth and McKayla Dodson
placed eighth out of 102 participants in
the junior division
Front row, front left: Shelby Silveous,
Emily Hott, Blake Cogle, McKayla Dod-
son and Molly Ott Back row, from left:
Amanda Smith, Austin Cogle, Mark Hos-
tuttler (coach), Matt Hott and Miranda
Dodson
Warm winter doesn't necessarily mean more insects
CHARLESTON -- Al-
though it's a common be-
lief that warm winters re-
sult in larger numbers of in-
sects come spring, the reality
is that cold temperatures are
barely a factor in the num-
ber of bugs you're likely to
see in warmer months. Warm
weather may mean they might
emerge earlier in the year, and
that they may be active for a
longer portion of the year, but
it doesn't necessarily mean
there will be more insects.
"Perhaps one of the great-
est factors when considering
insect populations is our own
perceptions. Most insects
live, breed and die with little
notice from the human race.
We only pay attention to the
numbers of the ones that real-
ly "bug" us," said Agriculture
Commissioner Gus R. Doug-
lass.
"You'd think that the mild
winter would cause great-
er survival of insects. But
you've got to remember that
less than 3 percent of insects
are considered pests," said
West Virginia-Department of
Agriculture (WVDA) ento-
mologist Berry Crutchfield,
Ph.D. "Plus, if there's more
of a particular insect because
of a warm winter that proba-
bly means that there's going
to be a greater number of in-
sects that prey on them."
Booms and busts of specif-
ic species of insects are well
documented, but there are
a host of factors in the mix
when it comes to the dizzying-
ly diverse insect world. Many
insects have adaptations that
preserye populations regard-
less of cold weather. Some
overwinter as eggs, others
Federal dollars avail-
able to fix rural homes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ag-
riculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
has announced that applications
for grants are being accepted to
give aid to needy rural residents
to repair their homes.
USDA Rural Development
is offering Housing Preserva-
tion Grants to intermediaries
such as town or county govern-
ments, public agencies, feder-
ally recognized Indian Tribes,
and non-profit and faith-based
organizations.
The grants are then distrib-
uted to qualified homeown-
ers or owners of multi-family
rental properties or coopera-
tive dwellings who rent to low-
and very-low-income residents.
USDA does not provide fund-
ing directly to homeowners un-
der this program.
Grants can be used to weath-
erize and repair existing struc-
tures, install or improve plumb-
ing or provide access to people
with disabilities. Housing Pres-
rvation Grants help bring job
growth and stability to low-in-
come communities while im-
proving the living conditions of
rural Americans.
For fiscal year 2012, USDA
may award up to $4.1 million
in competitive granfs through
the Housing Preservation Grant
program. Applications are due
June 25. For more information,
go to www.gpo.gov.
Auctioneer seminar
set for Sunday
CHARLESTON -- West Vir-
ginia auctioneers are urged to
avoid the year-end rush and at-
tend the six-hour continuing
education seminar to be held
Sunday at the Gus R. Douglass
Agricultural Center in Sisson-
ville.
The seminar runs from 10
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and covers
the annual continuing educa-
tion requirements auctioneers
must complete to keep their li-
cense in good standing. Doors
open at 9:30 a.m.
"Auctioneers are responsible
for thousands of dollars that
quickly change hands during
a sale," said Commissioner of
Agriculture Gus R. Douglass.
"When you hire an auctioneer
in X0est Virginia, you are hir-
ing a professional, who is eval-
uated and licensed by the West
Virginia Department of Agri-
culture."
The event is sponsored by
the West Virginia Auctioneers
Association. Pre-registration
is required; lunch will be pro-
vided on-site. For more infor-
mation, call Bob Stewart at
304-884-7595. Directions to
the Gus R. Douglass Ag Cen-
ter can be found at www.wvag-
riculture.org.
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actually produce compounds
similar to antifreeze before
they enter dormant phases in
winter. Honeybees warm their
hives by beating their wings
to generate body heat.
A larger factor can be sud-
den early freezes that knock
down populations before win-
ter actually arrives. Or late
freezes following unseason-
ably warm weather that kill
prematurely emerged insects.
"They're ready for sum-
mer. If you get a cold snap,
it could wipe most of them
out," Crutchfield said. "All
the insects that came out early
could end up dying. You real-
ly can't predict what's going
to happen."
Insect life-cycles also play
a major role. Some go through
multiple generations in a year,
and food supply and predator
populations can have major
effects at different times of
the year. Some may have only
one life-cycle a year where
food and predators are only a
factor at one time.
Other limiting factors,
can be heavy rains that can
drown soil-dwelling insects,
or promote the growth of
fungal diseases that affect in-
sects. Overall moisture lev-
els can also affect plants that
serve as food sources, and
pools that serve as breeding
grounds for insects such as
mosquitoes.
The permutations are prac-
tically endless. But, just like
the weather, insects are a ma-
jor topic of discussion in the
agriculture community.
"I just hope that whatever
factors are involved that we
don't get a greater number of
brown marmorated stinkbugs
in the Eastern Panhandle,"
said Commissioner Douglass.
"This is a pest of major
concern to our fruit growers,
some of whom have already
been hit by late freezes and
other farmers who also have
suffered terrible stinkbug
losses in recent years."
Farm Bureau holds May meeting
CHARLES TOWN - The
Jefferson County Farm Bureau
met May l, and the meeting
was called to order by Presi-
dent Doug Stolipher at T.33
p.m.
Guest speaker Ruth Mc-
Quade opened the meeting,
followed by speakers Ralph
Lorenzetti and Jeff Gibson.
McQuade spoke on her elec-
tion bid for prosecuting attor-
ney and her belief in account-
ability and follow through.
Lorenzetti spoke briefly on his
belief in good behavior. Gib-
son spoke about Blue Cross
Blue Shield's status with the
Farm Bureau.
Several items of business
Thdse
Doug Stolipher, Heather Ish-
man, Mike Blue, Lyle Tabb,
Russ Quinn, Andrea Corum,
Tim Smith, Gordon Hockman,
Laura Bowman and Ward Zi-
gler.
Besides McQuade, Loren-
zetti and Gibson, other guests
included Mike Harman and
John Maxey.
attending included' were discussed including the
status of the Farmer's Market
Grant, a candidate for the Her-
itage Award, a possible schol-
arship candidate and a recep-
tion for the Tabbs, who recent-
ly won the Small Business De-
velopment Council Award.
There are several committees
in the JCFB including Young
Farmers, Farm and Ranch Safe-
ty, Public Affairs, Membership,
Policy Development, Invest-
ment, County Evaluation, Po-
litical Education and Jefferson
County Fair. Anyone interest-
ed in helping with any of these
committees should contact the
JCFB.
The next Jefferson County
Board of Directors meeting
comes June 5" at 7:30 p.m.
at the Jefferson County Pub-
lic Services Building. JCFB
members and members of
the public are welcome to at-
tend.
Any questions can be direct-
ed to Heather Ishman at 304-
876-0611 or hnishy@gmail.
com.
June 18-22
June 25-29
9 AM to Noon, Ages 13-18
wwwjeffersonsecurit bank com Member FDIC
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