Last Day

Today was my last day as the Carroll County Extension intern. It was very bittersweet. I have had such an amazing summer, and I know that I am going to miss each and every one at the office. We had such great times and experiences, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to intern here. Not only have I learned more about what Extension is and what all it does for the community, but I have gained so much knowledge about the diversity of agriculture, particularly in Carroll County and the surrounding region.

I spent my last day with Extension taking a ServSafe course. Sandy Stoneman, the food safety Extension agent, came and taught the course. Afterwards, I attended the Carroll County Board of Supervisors meeting to give a presentation on my experience in Extension. Virginia Cooperative Extension is partly funded by local government, and the Carroll Board of Supervisors graciously provided part of the funds to pay for my internship. Though my presentation went very well, I was sad afterwards that my summer with Extension was coming to a close.

The 2015 Virginia Cooperative Extension Summer Internship was one of the greatest experiences of my educational career. I was able to further increase my knowledge of agriculture and it’s importance locally and statewide. I gained understanding in extension’s role in relaying information to growers and producers to maximize profits. Through working with community members I have built relationships and fell even more in love with this community and the agriculture that binds us together. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, and I hope to be able to bring what I have learned this summer and in my experience at Virginia Tech back to Carroll County in the future.

Carroll VCE Staff

Tri-State Beef Conference

The end of this week was very busy, as always. On Thursday Steve and I attended the Tri-State Beef Conference in Abingdon at the Washington County Fairgrounds. This event was held by the University of Tennessee Extension, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and NC State University Cooperative Extension. This event was very educational for me and everyone else who attended.

This event addressed topics to interest both cow-calf and stocker producers. Topics discussed included beef cattle outlook, extending the grazing season while improving soil health and managing weeds, hoof conformation and selecting breeding stock, receiving programs for stocker producers, and the importance of a lender relationship.

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the virtual farm tours. Videos were shown giving a tour of three cattle operations, one in each state. They discussed everything from the size of the operation, what they do, how they got started, marketing, and anything else in between. The producers were present themselves after the videos were shown to answer questions. I liked the idea of virtual tours. When it is not possible for a real tour, technology allows us to be able to take a look into someone else's operation without the 5+ hour drive.

A trade show was also open during the conference with many animal health, feed, and marketing organizations involved in the region's beef industry present. There was lots of great information provided about their available products and services.

Each day in Extension is educational in its own way. The Extension service is set up to provide land-grant university knowledge to the public through agents, programming, and other services. As an intern I have learned from these agents all summer. I have also come to notice how each event can be educational for the agent as well as the client. Learning truly never stops. Agents learn from trainings, each other, specialists, and even producers. Events like the Tri-State Beef Conference provide more education as well as networking opportunities, which are always welcome and encouraged in Extension.

Grayson County Agribusiness Tour

My internship this summer has provided me with the opportunity to see the incredibly diverse array of agriculture throughout Southwest Virginia and beyond. Not only have I gained an even further appreciation for commercial vegetable production, but for nursery, livestock, forestry, and all other agricultural topics from the backyard garden all the way to the large-scale business.

Today Kevin Spurlin, the ANR Agent from Grayson County, put on a set of tours to introduce various agribusinesses in Grayson County. Steve, Suzanne, and I all went on these tours, along with many others. Representatives were present from the NRCS, FSA, Grayson National Bank, the Carroll-Grayson Cattlemen's Association, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Grayson LandCare, and others.

The first stop on our tour was a visit to Independence Lumber Inc. This is one of the largest lumberyards in the area. The tour was fascinating. We got to tour each of the facilities, seeing how logs are processed from start to finish as boards.

Logyard 

Boards beings sorted 

Some finished boards

Following the tour of the lumberyard, we went to Grayson Farmer John Fant's farm. Mr. Fant is practicing rotational grazing and is currently in the process of fencing out the creeks with the help of NRCS. Mr. Fant provided maps of his farm and introduced its history and plans for the future. It was very nice to hear how Mr. Fant has used services such as the Virginia Cooperative Extension and NRCS to improve his farm.

Our third stop was Bottomley's Evergreens in Elk Creek. The facility was massive! I would love to see it around Christmas when the operation is in full-swing. After lunch, we went on a tour of the facilities and our tour guide gave us an introduction to Bottomley's Evergreens. We also got to watch a video of their palletizer, which is used to stack and ship trees.

The final stop on our tour was Grayson County High School's agriculture department. Jason Spurlin, one of the teachers, talked with us about all of the activities they are involved in and the classes being taught. The program seems to be doing great! This year there are over 300 students enrolled, taking courses including ag production, horticulture, and ag fabrication. Seeing the program made me excited about possible opportunities to teach agriculture myself in the future.

Jason Spurlin tells about the school garden in the GCHS Ag Department. 

I always love getting to visit farms and businesses. We are so blessed to get to be a part of the industry that feeds and clothes the world; what an important job! One of my favorite quotes is by George Washington, "Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man." I could not agree more with this statement.

Boxwood Blight

Boxwoods are a very common landscape plant. You often see them around the front of houses or porches. Unfortunately for boxwood lovers, they are pretty susceptible to some major problems.

Boxwood blight, or box blight, is a fungal disease new to the Eastern U.S. The pathogen infects leaves and branches of the boxwoods, causing light or dark brown leaf spots with a darker border, defoliation, and dieback. In warm conditions the fungus will produce white spores on the undersides of leaves and stems. Repeated defoliation and dieback can cause plants to be more susceptible to other diseases, such as Volutella blight (Dart, Hansen, Bush, & Hong, 2011).

Browning and defoliation 

Leaf spot

Black stem streaking

All known species of boxwoods are susceptible to box blight. The pathogen can spread by wind, rain, or splashing water. Spores can also be spread by birds and insects. The scary part about box blight is that the pathogen has been found to survive for up to five years (Dart et al., 2011).

Today Suzanne, Holden, and I went to Lamsburg with Brian Kreowski from VDACS to assess boxwood blight affecting some nurseries. I was instructed to wear bad clothes and shoes that I wouldn't be wearing spreading the pathogen around. This is because the pathogen can survive for a long time even on clothing and shoes. Brian told us that many of the boxwoods that were in these nurseries the year before had already been removed. The affected nurseries were under order by VDACS to stop selling boxwoods and also to remove affected plants and destroy them. We went to see if there was any more spread of the disease and assess the situation.

We only saw symptoms of blight on just a few boxwoods in one area of the nursery, which is good! Box blight can be absolutely detrimental to a nursery, sometimes even killing plants that have been around for over 50 years.

Before we left at the end of the day, we sprayed off our boots and the bottoms of our pants to try to kill any pathogens that may have gotten on them. I was also given a card from the Virginia Cooperative Extension that is used to help recognize the symptoms of boxwood blight: leaf spot, browning and defoliation, and black stem streaking. I also learned that Extension also has a Virginia Boxwood Blight Task Force. This service provides information on avoiding, managing, and sampling for boxwood blight.

Dart, N., Hansen, M., Bush, E., & Hong, C. (2011). Boxwood Blight: A New Disease of Boxwood
          Found in the Eastern U.S. InVirginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from           https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/PPWS/PPWS-4/Boxwood_Blight_pdf.pdf

Problems with Pythium

Growers often call Extension when they are experiencing a problem with their plants that they need help addressing. Sometimes they know what the issue is, whether it be a disease or pest problem. Other times they don't know what is causing the damage, so Extension must also help with identifying the problem first, then working with the grower to help address it.

In this instance, we visited a grower who happens to live in North Carolina. This grower is growing broccoli transplants and having several problems, one being worms eating the leaves. When we arrived at his greenhouse, one of the first things we noticed was the holes all over many of his transplants. We also noticed another problem- Pythium.

Holden, the volunteer entomologist from NC State, identified some parasitic wasps present in the greenhouse and on and around the broccoli transplants. These wasps are actually beneficial, since they eat the worms that are causing the damage.

Damping off is a disease where pathogens kill or weaken seedlings before or after germination. Damp conditions and over-watering make this worse. The soil organism Pythium is the main culprit when it comes to damping off. All Pythium species favor wet conditions and high soluble salts in the potting medium. Poor sanitation of tools and containers can also infect sterilized soil mixes, so spread can occur easily. Pythium can remain anywhere, including plant material and potting media.

Pythium Root Rot on a broccoli plant

Once we saw how big a problem the grower was having with damping off, we had to provide him with some control measures.  There are numerous fungicides labeled for Pythium control. Care must be taken to prevent resistance. There are also certain pesticide restrictions if a grower does not have his or her private pesticide applicator license.

To try to prevent Pythium problems in the future, there are actions that can be taken. Sanitize everything- bench surfaces, tools, trays, containers, and equipment that will come into contact with the potting mix. Take into consideration media used and its components. High water holding capacity can be good, but too much water with poor drainage can lead to disease problems. Overwatering is bad and makes your plants more susceptible.

Simply being proactive is the key. Root rot is very difficult to control once it has begun, so prevention is the best method of control. Contact your local Extension office for more information.

Beckerman, J. (2010, November 24). Pythium Root Rot of Herbaceous Plants. In Disease
          Management Strategies. Retrieved August 3, 2015, from
          https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-181-w.pdf