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Whitetop (Hoary Cress) Control In Residential Situations, Taun Beddes, Michael Caron, Jacob Hadfield, Corey Ransom Jun 2024

Whitetop (Hoary Cress) Control In Residential Situations, Taun Beddes, Michael Caron, Jacob Hadfield, Corey Ransom

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Whitetop (Lepidium draba, formerly Cardaria draba) is a persistent, perennial weed that grows in open, sunny areas. It spreads by seeds and rhizomes, enabling it to spread by several feet in a single season. It is common in wildlands, agricultural, and residential areas. It rapidly spreads into unhealthy lawns, landscape beds, and vegetable gardens. This fact sheet provides information on identification, lifecycle, landscape damage, and suppression and control options.


50 Common Questions About Field Crops, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Cody Zesiger, Jody Gale, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Mark Nelson, Matthew Palmer, Michael Pace, Cheyenne Reid, Steven Price, Earl Creech, Corey Ransom, Grant Cardon, Clara Anderson, Madelyn Kunzler Jun 2024

50 Common Questions About Field Crops, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Cody Zesiger, Jody Gale, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Mark Nelson, Matthew Palmer, Michael Pace, Cheyenne Reid, Steven Price, Earl Creech, Corey Ransom, Grant Cardon, Clara Anderson, Madelyn Kunzler

All Current Publications

Utah State University Extension strives to provide research-based information and knowledge to help agricultural producers. Producers often have questions about several aspects of field crop production. This article is not comprehensive of all questions about field crops but represents some of the common questions that USU faculty have received from the public, producers, and crop advisors.


A Beginner's Guide To Growing Mushrooms At Home, Jacob Hawkes, Paul R. Grossl, Melanie Stock Jun 2024

A Beginner's Guide To Growing Mushrooms At Home, Jacob Hawkes, Paul R. Grossl, Melanie Stock

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Welcome to the wonderful world of mushrooms! Researchers have shown that mushrooms are not only nutritious and delicious but also provide a myriad of known medicinal benefits, such as protection against cancer, protecting brain health, stimulating gut health, and supporting a healthy immune system. Lately, psychedelic mushrooms have been receiving considerable attention as a promising treatment for mental health conditions, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and end-of-life anxiety among the terminally ill. This publication provides a simple guide for beginners interested in growing basic gourmet and medicinal mushrooms at home for personal use using easily accessible, relatively inexpensive materials.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Create A Garden Anywhere, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Create A Garden Anywhere, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on creating gardens anywhere, such as in containers, towers, raised beds, and forests. It also includes ideas and resources for encouraging beneficial insects and providing food and habitat for pollinators.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Native Bee Homes, Daniel Findlay, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Native Bee Homes, Daniel Findlay, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on bee homes, including learning about bees and how to help them, how to obtain and install bee homes, fall cocoon care, fun facts, and resources.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Rain Barrels, Daniel Findlay, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Rain Barrels, Daniel Findlay, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on establishing rain barrels. When attached to a downspout, a barrel collects the rain that falls on the roof, allowing for local water use and preventing flooding or runoff pollution. The water can be used to nurture plants and animals.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Welcoming Pollinators, Kaitlin Cambell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Welcoming Pollinators, Kaitlin Cambell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It focuses on welcoming pollinators to the garden by providing a safe and effective habitat, and lists recommended plantings and resources.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Raised Bed Gardening, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Raised Bed Gardening, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on raised bed gardening, which can help gardeners maximize space and increase food or flower production, all with fewer weeds.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Vertical Gardening, Tyelar Haines, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Vertical Gardening, Tyelar Haines, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on vertical gardening, which can maximize space, increase food production, and improve plant health.


Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Rich County, Kelly Kopp, L. Neil Allen, Dallen Smith, Lauren Thomson Apr 2024

Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Rich County, Kelly Kopp, L. Neil Allen, Dallen Smith, Lauren Thomson

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This fact sheet describes how to perform a site inspection and a sprinkler test so you can irrigate your landscape more efficiently. It also provides an irrigation schedule for Rich County, Utah.


Grazing On The Arizona Strip: Catchment History And Repair, Melanie Heaton Apr 2024

Grazing On The Arizona Strip: Catchment History And Repair, Melanie Heaton

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Water, not forage, is the limiting factor for wildlife and livestock grazing the Arizona Strip, a nearly 3-million-acre piece of land located north of the Grand Canyon and south of the Utah border. Since springs and groundwater are rare or absent, harvesting of natural precipitation is the main source of water for animals. Catchment systems, which capture precipitation on a sloped rubber apron and contain it in a large tank or lined pond, are used by government agencies and grazing permittees to efficiently provide water for wildlife and livestock. As catchments reach the end of their useful lives, tank replacement …


First-Time Market Goat, Ashley Longmore, Cheyenne Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Goat, Ashley Longmore, Cheyenne Reid

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This fact sheet is 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H goat. This fact sheet is a simple outline that provides information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.


First-Time Market Steer, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Steer, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid

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The target audience for this fact sheet is 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H steer. This fact sheet is a simple outline that will give them more information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.


First-Time Market Hog, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Hog, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid

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This fact sheet is for 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H hog. This fact sheet is a simple outline that will give them more information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.


Maintaining And Improving Irrigation Application Uniformity In Sprinkler And Drip Systems, Burdette Barker, Sheridan Stewart, Mark Nelson Apr 2024

Maintaining And Improving Irrigation Application Uniformity In Sprinkler And Drip Systems, Burdette Barker, Sheridan Stewart, Mark Nelson

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The goal of most irrigation system design and management is to provide all plants in an irrigated area with equal access to water. Ideally, each plant should receive the exact amount of water it needs. If a field needs 1 inch of water for irrigation, all parts of the field should receive exactly that. The reality is not so perfect. It is practically impossible to apply the same quantity of water to all plants in an irrigated area, plot, or field. In other words, all irrigation systems have some nonuniformities in the water delivered. Instead of designing and managing irrigation …


The Backyard Garden: Garlic Pests, Nick Volesky, Bridger Carey, Amelia Olds, Marion Murray Apr 2024

The Backyard Garden: Garlic Pests, Nick Volesky, Bridger Carey, Amelia Olds, Marion Murray

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The Backyard Garden is a series from Utah Pests, Utah State University Extension. This fact sheet explores the pests and diseases that affect garlic plants, covering severity, other hosts, general information, symptoms, and management.


Bull Production: Breeding Soundness Exam And Expected Progeny Differences, Ethan Gilliam Apr 2024

Bull Production: Breeding Soundness Exam And Expected Progeny Differences, Ethan Gilliam

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This fact sheet defines a breeding soundness exam (BSE) for a breeding bull and reviews the meaning of expected progeny differences (EPDs). Acronyms used and depended on by livestock producers are reviewed. Understanding the meaning of livestock acronyms is commonly overlooked. Highlights include how a producer makes financial decisions throughout the year in relation to their livestock.


The Backyard Garden: Sweet Corn Pests, Nick Volesky, Amelia Olds, Nick Sanchez, Marion Murray Apr 2024

The Backyard Garden: Sweet Corn Pests, Nick Volesky, Amelia Olds, Nick Sanchez, Marion Murray

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The Backyard Garden is a series from Utah Pests, Utah State University Extension. This fact sheet explores the pests that affect sweet corn, covering severity, other hosts, general information, symptoms, and management.


Suggested Vegetable Planting Dates: Grand And San Juan Counties, Reagan Wytsalucy, Cory Farnsworth, Dan Drost Mar 2024

Suggested Vegetable Planting Dates: Grand And San Juan Counties, Reagan Wytsalucy, Cory Farnsworth, Dan Drost

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This fact sheet addresses vegetable planting dates in Grand and San Juan counties in Utah. “When should I plant?” and “What should I plant?” are two of the more common questions received from Utah gardeners. To answer the “When” question, you need to know something about the climate where you live. Vegetable plants vary in their response to temperature and are grouped by how they cope with cold or hot conditions. There are four (4) vegetable groups, which include the hardy, half-hardy, tender, or very tender crops. These groups are also referred to as the cool season (hardy or half-hardy) …


Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Feeder Cattle, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz Feb 2024

Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Feeder Cattle, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz

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Livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance is a partially subsidized livestock insurance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) that provides protection to producers against unexpected price declines. This fact sheet presents specific coverage information for feeder cattle and presents optimal coverage options based on historical contract performance.


Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Fed Cattle, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz Feb 2024

Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Fed Cattle, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz

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Livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance is a partially subsidized livestock insurance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) that provides protection to producers against unexpected price declines. This fact sheet presents specific coverage information for fed cattle and presents optimal coverage options based on historical contract performance.


Managing Saline And Sodic Soils And Irrigation Water, Burdette Barker, Grant Cardon, Matt Yost, Melanie Stock, Earl Creech, Jody Gale Feb 2024

Managing Saline And Sodic Soils And Irrigation Water, Burdette Barker, Grant Cardon, Matt Yost, Melanie Stock, Earl Creech, Jody Gale

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Salt is an important factor in plant and soil management. Excessive salt concentrations in soil can cause water to be less available to plants because of the osmotic forces of salt in the soil water. Excessive concentrations of different ions can also be toxic to plants. In agricultural soils and irrigation water, salts are typically described in two ways: (1) total salt concentration or salinity, and (2) sodicity, or the concentration of sodium relative to other cations (positively charged atoms or compounds). Understanding the effect of both total salinity and sodicity on plants and soils, along with management and reclamation …


Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Swine, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz Feb 2024

Livestock Risk Protection Insurance: Swine, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz

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Livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance is a partially subsidized livestock insurance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) that provides protection to producers against unexpected price declines. This fact sheet presents specific coverage information for swine and presents optimal coverage options based on historical contract performance.


Livestock Risk Protection Insurance Faq, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz Feb 2024

Livestock Risk Protection Insurance Faq, Logan B. Haviland, Ryan Feuz

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Livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance is a partially subsidized livestock insurance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) that provides protection to producers against unexpected price declines. This fact sheet presents commonly asked questions and answers surrounding livestock risk protection insurance. It outlines the purpose of the program and explains how producers can use LRP insurance to mitigate price risk.


Commercially Available Products In Increase Soil Water-Holding Capacity, Shital Poudyal, Jake Powell, Rowe Zwahlen, Grant Cardon Feb 2024

Commercially Available Products In Increase Soil Water-Holding Capacity, Shital Poudyal, Jake Powell, Rowe Zwahlen, Grant Cardon

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Although adding organic matter is traditionally the most effective way to enhance soil water-holding capacity, several commercial products in the market also have the potential to increase soil water-holding capacity. In this fact sheet, we discuss the properties and characteristics of those commercially available products and recommended application rates. We also explore some limitations of using these products.


Seed Viability Testing Guide For Common Wetland Plant Species, Rae Robinson, Sandra E. Johnston, Elana Feldman, Maddie Houde, Samantha R. Kurkowski, Amanda Mast, Jes V. Braun, Karin M. Kettenring Feb 2024

Seed Viability Testing Guide For Common Wetland Plant Species, Rae Robinson, Sandra E. Johnston, Elana Feldman, Maddie Houde, Samantha R. Kurkowski, Amanda Mast, Jes V. Braun, Karin M. Kettenring

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Seeds are used in many aspects of plant research as well as in applications such as ecosystem restoration. However, not all seeds are living (i.e., viable). To successfully work with seeds, it is essential to know how many seeds are viable. Seed viability can be assessed through a few different avenues, such as a basic cut test (i.e., is the embryo fully developed), germination assays, x-ray imaging, or the most common—a tetrazolium (TZ) test. This document focuses on best practices for TZ testing for a wide array of common wetland species that have been the focus of research and restoration …


Safety And Health Management Planning For Veterinarians, Jessie Salter, Michael Pate, Kerry A. Rood Jan 2024

Safety And Health Management Planning For Veterinarians, Jessie Salter, Michael Pate, Kerry A. Rood

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Veterinary staff health and safety are of primary importance to the profession. Although this is inherently understood, oftentimes, staff safety is not given the time and resources needed to promote a safe work environment free from unnecessary risks or exposures. This handbook educates clinic leaders on valuing and creating a safety culture in practice as well as implementing appropriate safety policies and procedures. Veterinary personnel are more likely to experience a work-related injury than policemen, firefighters, and construction workers. These statistics illustrate the need for a stronger safety culture in veterinary medicine. This handbook provides an outline on how to …


Deficit Irrigation Of Pastures, Matt Yost, Clara Anderson, Niel Allen, Burdette Barker, Melanie Heaton, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Earl Creech Jan 2024

Deficit Irrigation Of Pastures, Matt Yost, Clara Anderson, Niel Allen, Burdette Barker, Melanie Heaton, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Earl Creech

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Deficit irrigation is any irrigation level that does not meet the crop’s full evapotranspiration (ET) demand, meaning evaporation from plant and soil surface and transpiration through plant growth. This strategy is often a last resort for optimizing water use as opposed to those that will not limit production. However, deficit irrigation is often necessary in parts of Utah due to drought or inadequate water supplies. This was especially true in 2021–2022 due to record droughts. Deficit irrigation strategies for pastures have been developed, but they have yet to be compared and evaluated in Utah. This fact sheet summarizes 6 years …


Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus Nenuphar), Kate V. Richardson, Marion Murray Jan 2024

Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus Nenuphar), Kate V. Richardson, Marion Murray

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Plum curculio is a brown weevil (beetle with a snout) native to eastern North America, where it is a major pest of pome and stone fruits. It was detected in Box Elder County, Utah, in the early 1980s, and this population remains the only known infestation in western North America, where it is occasionally found in residential and wild fruit trees. Plum curculio is a quarantine pest in western North America (U.S. and Canada), and fruit grown in infested counties is restricted from being exported. Thus, it is a threat to Utah’s fruit industry and requires ongoing monitoring and management …


You Can Lead A Horse To Water: Mapping Seasonal Water Resources To Predict Wild Horse Movements On Utah Rangelands, David C. Stoner, Eric Thacker, Linden Greenhalgh, Mark Nelson Dec 2023

You Can Lead A Horse To Water: Mapping Seasonal Water Resources To Predict Wild Horse Movements On Utah Rangelands, David C. Stoner, Eric Thacker, Linden Greenhalgh, Mark Nelson

All Current Publications

All wild horse herd management areas in Utah overlap BLM grazing allotments. Although horses and cattle have similar dietary habits, both species rely heavily on predictable water sources during dry periods. The concentration of wildlife and livestock in mesic areas during droughts can become problems for farmers and livestock producers. We aimed to map the annual distribution of temporary surface water across Utah that cattle, horses, and wildlife could use. Herein we analyzed an 18-year record of satellite imagery to create a statewide map of seasonal surface-water availability for agricultural and wildlife management purposes.