Workshop held in Lowndes County to educate farmers
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss (WCBI) – From pasture to putting green, farmers and land managers got a crash course in keeping their soil and grass healthy at a demonstration day hosted by the Lowndes County.
“Today we kind of demonstrated different warm season turf grasses as far has been identification, maintenance care,” said Danny Smith, Retired Turf Professor.
The workshop covered different types of grass, like common Bermuda for cattle grazing, and hybrid varieties used on sports fields. Experts also stressed the importance of PH levels and why lime is often the secret ingredient to healthy plants.
“Our soil may be on the acidic side,” said Joseph Tilley, County Extension Agent. ‘And we need to apply lime to raise that so that those plants can be able to take in the nutrients that are within the soil.”
The demonstration did not stop with grass. Questions came up about pecan trees, and the group learned how to spot damaging diseases like pecan scab and a pesky bug.
“It’s called pecan phylloxera,” said Tilley. “It’ll inhabit the tree. And, in the previous year and the following year, it causes real, hard galls to form. And inside of those goals are the larvae and eggs from the previous year’s infestation.”
The goal is to give farmers the tools to boost production and protect their land.
“The question came up about how do we control ants,” said Smith. “You treat a whole area versus just one little mound will do a lot better control than it would be just spraying an amount of putting bait on a mound.”
