The Cook of the Week Cookbook is right around the corner! Be on the lookout in the near future for a copy for your family and friends.

As summer winds down, the production of hay for 2008 is in its final days. Now that most of you know how much home-grown feed you have, you can think about what other feeds might need to be purchased. If you have taken care of this already, that's good. If you haven't, it is time to take care of it. The central question is, will the existing feed supply meet my livestock's nutrient requirements? If not, then additional feeds need to be found to cover those needs. In addition to that, a lot of producers are planning on feeding 2007 hay this year.

An important step at this point is to sample your hay and send samples to a lab for nutrient analyses. Once the nutrient content is known, it is a lot more likely that dollars spent on supplemental feeds will be wisely spent. Core sampling of hay bales is the best way to get a representative hay sample.

If you are evaluating the needs of your cows, then the primary question is whether or not the forage meets their nutrients requirements or if they need a supplement to overcome a nutrient deficiency. Good quality hay should meet requirements of dry, pregnant cows. The scenarios that are more likely to require supplementation are when grazing dormant pasture. Again, the lab analyses will be invaluable to know this. The most likely nutrient to be deficient is protein. If so, consider what feeds are available and calculate the cost per pound of protein to determine which feed is the best buy.

Planning and budgeting for the winter feeding period will be the focus of the upcoming Cow-Calf Roundtable this Thursday. Dr. Jason Banta, Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist will be discussing energy and protein supplementation using cubes, tubs, blocks and other sources as well as matching them to your hay quality and quantity. He will also demonstrate taking hay samples and interpreting your forage test results.

The Roundtable, hosted by the Henderson County Beef Cattle Committee will be held Thursday, October 30th at Pitchford Genetics. The facility is located just north of Athens. From Loop 7 North side of Athens, go North on CR 3720 (at Red Hat Rental) 0.2 miles. Then go West on CR 3718 0.2 miles. Finally, go North on CR 3715 1.3 miles (down through bottoms and up on the hill) to entrance of Pitchford Genetics on your right. Starting at 6:30 p.m. with registration beginning at 6:00, the event will also feature topics including cool season weed control in pastures and hay meadows. Dandelions, thistle, swamp buttercup and other winter and spring weeds have become a real problem for a lot of producers and T.V. Smith, Field Service Representative with DuPont Agricultural Products will address this topic. Dr. Mac Devin, D.V.M. with Fort Dodge Animal Health will discuss Trichomoniasis and its potential effects on beef cattle production in East Texas.

Participants who attend the Roundtable will be awarded one continuing education unit towards the recertification of private, commercial and non-commercial applicators license. The cost for the program is $8.00 per person and will include a barbecue dinner. Please R.S.V.P. to the Henderson County Extension office on or before Tuesday, October 28th. There will be a lot of good information presented at the Roundtable and I hope to see you there.

POND MANAGEMENT:

No two ponds are ever exactly alike. Even ponds in the same watershed and built very close to each other can be very different in appearance, and differences in watershed and soil characteristics are particular to each pond. Differences affecting management are those associated with water quality, plankton and fish populations.

Water quality factors such as temperature, pH, alkalinity, hardness and dissolved oxygen affect fish health and production. These factors are rarely constant in a pond. Temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH will change or cycle each day and alkalinity can change over longer periods of time.

Many of the basic problems of farm pond management have already been discussed. These include how to maintain a good food supply for the fish, how to harvest to maintain a balanced population, how to check balance, how to control weeds and how to avoid fish kills from algae bloom dieoffs. These are not simple problems. Ponds are complex systems that take understanding and commitment to manage properly.

One common problem in Texas is pond "turn-over." Turn-overs occur when ponds are stratified; that is, surface water is warmer than the water below and the two layers no longer mix. This causes the cooler water near the bottom to stagnate and become depleted in oxygen. Fish avoid this layer of water. A turn-over occurs when the warm upper layer suddenly cools off and mixes with the stagnant layer. The two layers mixed together may not have enough oxygen to support fish and they die. This usually occurs after a cold, hard rain. If a turn-over occurs, quick aeration may save the fish. Similar fish kills also can be caused by oxygen depletions from a bloom die-off or rotting vegetation from herbicide treatment.

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 30th - Cow-Calf Roundtable, Pitchford Genetics, 6:00 p.m., $8.-- per person, one C.E.U.

November 8 - Henderson County 4-H Chili Bonanza, Henderson County Senior Citizens Building, Athens. Entries accepted until October 31st.

Rick Hirsch is the Henderson County Extension Agent - Agriculture for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Visit his web page at http://hendersonco. tamu.edu.