HIGHLIGHTS
Babysitting Clinic Offered
 The Price County Association for Home and Community Education (HCE) and the University of Wisconsin-Extension are co-sponsoring a babysitting clinic for all youth ages 12 to 14 who wish to be babysitters. The clinic will be held Wednesday, July 30 and Thursday, July 31, at the Normal Building in Phillips. Sessions will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. Participants should bring a bag lunch. A beverage will be provided.
Some topics to be covered at the clinic include: child development, infant care, toddler care, pre-school care, and school-age child care. Participants will learn about toys and games to use while babysitting, child safety, sitter safety, fire safety and first aid.
Class size is limited to the first 25 registrants. A $7.00 fee will be charged when registering to cover material expense. To register or for more information, contact the Price County UW-Extension Office at 339-2555. Registration deadline is Monday, July 15th.
Summer Camp Opportunity for All
It is time to think about summer camp opportunities available for Price County youth. Every year the 4-H program sponsors a residential camping experience at Trails End Camp near Bruce, WI. This year camp will be held from June 24 – 26. The general public as well as 4-H members are welcome to attend the camp which also includes youth from Sawyer County. This camp program is specially designed for boys and girls completing grade three through grade eight. Youth counselors, volunteers and Extension staff have been working on plans for an “All Star Camp” theme. Trails End Camp features bunk bed style cabin living, and programs in recreation, crafts, canoeing, swimming, nature exploration, evening campfires and more! All campers will receive a camp T-shirt that they are going to tie dye. All meals, snacks and supplies are provided. Bus transportation to and from camp is furnished with stops at the Normal Building in Phillips and at Catawba Farm Supply. Cost for camp is $70 for the general public and for 4-H families $60 for the first child, $55 for the 2nd additional child from the same family and $50 for 3 or more children from the same family. If you have been undecided about joining 4-H, you may still get on board with a club in your area and get the discount price. The cost of camp is underwritten for all youth by the Price County 4-H Adult Leaders Association’s fundraising efforts. Brochures with registration information are being distributed through area schools to all youth in grades 3-6 or can be requested at the UW-Extension Office or by calling 339-2555. The deadline for registration is Friday, June 6, 2008. Space is limited so do not delay! The University of Wisconsin provides equal opportunities in employment and programming including Title IX and ADA requirements. Here is the link to the brochure. Gain Control of Your Money
Learn the power of a spending plan, set financial goals and expand your knowledge on effective debt repayment strategies and credit.
- May 15 10:30 – 12 p.m. Park Falls Library
- May 15 2-3:30 p.m.Normal Building, Phillips
- May 28 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Park Falls Library
There is no charge for these sessions. Pre-registration is required. Call the Price County UW-Extension Office at 339-2555.
Fertilizer Prices and Sustaining Agriculture
As the weather finally warms up and dries the ground enough to think about field work, farmers are contemplating how to handle fertilizer expenses in light of record prices. Fertilizer prices have gone up between twice and three times what they were only three years ago, and I’ve heard a number of farmers saying they can’t afford to fertilize forage and grain crops at these prices. There’s no doubt that this kind of news is hard to take in light of increasing fuel costs, and the two problems are certainly related. However, there’s no sign that prices will improve, and neglecting soil fertility will lead to long term problems with production. It’s generally much cheaper to grow the crops that are suited for your farming operation instead of buying them, even when production costs are high. Sacrificing crop production is not a practice that will allow your farming operation to be sustainable--now is an excellent time to give some careful planning into how to deal with the new costs of crop production.
Even though fertilizer prices are high, we need to remember that forage and grain crop prices are also very high. If we can invest what seems like a lot of money into crop production in order to save even more money on feed expenses, that’s a good way to go. It looks right now like that is exactly the situation we’re facing. Understanding your cost of production and the returns you can get from your crops will help you make sense of what strategy you should follow. However, before you spend money on fertilizer, there are some things you should do to make sure you’re actually spending that money in the most advantageous way:
1) Soil testing: This should always be a routine part of your cropping plan, and the higher crop and fertilizer prices are, the more important it is. Without a soil test, about the best you can hope for is to replace the nutrients you remove from your fields by harvesting. You have no idea if you should be drawing down a surplus of nutrients or adding additional to make up for a deficiency, and either way could cost you a lot. UW Soil test recommendations are customized to the crops you grow and the yields you expect.
2) Nutrient crediting: If you apply livestock manure or have legume crops, make sure you understand the value of the nutrients these sources can provide. If you take advantage of these nutrients you already have, of course you won’t be spending money on adding them in the form of fertilizer. Legumes provide generous amounts of nitrogen, and manure provides lots of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium along with almost all the micronutrients crops need. It pays to find out how to figure your credits from these sources.
3) Consider the revised UW nitrogen (N) recommendations for corn: With the high cost of nitrogen fertilizer and the high price of corn, we don’t use blanket recommendations for nitrogen fertilizer rates anymore, but instead consider the ratio between the price of nitrogen (per pound) and the price of corn (per bushel), adjusted for yield potential of our soils. With this information, the optimum rate of nitrogen for most of the soils in Price County is 105 lb of nitrogen per acre, instead of 120 lb/a under the old recommendations. You can credit your field with this rate of N if you make a modest application of only 35 tons/acre of dairy manure, or if you plowed down even a poor stand of clover, trefoil, or alfalfa before you plant corn.
4) Remember lime: If the pH of your soil is too low for the crop you’re growing, you won’t make good use of nutrients and may end up not getting your money’s worth from fertilizer you apply. The only way to find out if you need lime is to soil test.
5) Prioritize your fertilizer applications: If you can’t afford to fertilize all your fields the way you’d prefer, apply fertilizer first to the fields that need it most. Again, the best way to find this out is to test all your fields to see what the fertility levels are.
The Price County UW-Extension Office can help you understand more about how to take accurate soil samples for testing and how to interpret your soil test results. We can also help you learn how to calculate nutrient credits from legumes and manure applications, along with calculating your cost of production for the crops you grow. If you’d like more information about these topics, give us a call at 339-2555.
There’s a Place for You in 4-H – Enroll Now!
Wisconsin 4-H! It’s the place to explore! It’s the place to “learn by doing!” It’s the place to build friendships that can last a lifetime!
In 4-H, youth are able to learn by doing! They participate. They get involved. They get active in hand’s on learning!
They practice leadership. They can become club officers, activity leaders and project leaders. Members develop skills that prepare them for the real world!
4-H members belong! They have a sense of pride in their 4-H club’s accomplishments and are able to share the pride with the 4-H community and the larger community around them.
In 4-H members explore the world around them! 4-Hers are able to choose from a variety of projects that include animals, arts and crafts, foods, theater and much more! As they explore these projects, 4-H members build skills that can last a lifetime.
No matter where you live, there is a place for you in 4-H! For more information on 4-H in Price County, contact the UW-Extension Office at 339-2555 or go online at www.uwex.edu/ces/4h.
A list of 4-H club contacts is listed under 4-H Clubs. Feel free to contact a club in your area for meeting time and place.
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