Berry’s Picks

Orchard Irrigation Program and Sandbur Preemergent Herbicides for Lawns

This year we will be hosting the Comanche County Pecan and Orchard Irrigation Program on Friday March 4, 2022.

We have worked with agriculture producers and extension agriculture and irrigation specialist to put together an excellent agenda with top specialist presenting. This program will be held on at the DeLeon City Auditorium, 125 S. Texas St., DeLeon, TX.

Registration for the program will begin at 8:30 and the program will run until approximately 3 p.m.

This will be an in-depth orchard irrigation program. We have Texas A&M Irrigation Specialist Guy Fipps and Charles Swanson and State Pecan Specialist Monte Nesbitt presenting.

Topics covered will include: Irrigation water quality and quantity concerns, ground water quality and surface water quality. Drip irrigation options, products and methods. Design considerations for orchard irrigation systems. Drip maintenance, chemigation and filtration. Finally, chemigation with drip, rates, timing, effectiveness and feasibility.

If you irrigate or ever plan to irrigate an orchard you will want to get this program on your calendar. There is no charge the meal and fees will be covered by our excellent sponsors. 1 CEU general credit will be offered. For more information or RSVP for the program, please call the office at 325-356-2539.

Sandbur Preemergent

If you have a sandbur issue in your lawn there is a new lawn product that will do an excellent job of controlling them, but you need to get it applied very soon. The active ingredient Indaziflam has proven to be an excellent sand bur control herbicide. We have conducted several sets of research trials using this active ingredient on sandburs in hay meadows and it has proven to very effective. I am not a salesman for Bayer, but they apparently still have the patent on Indaziflam, so they are the only company I can find that is offering a lawn care product using the herbicide. The product is called Bayer BioAdvanced 3 in 1 Weed and Feed for Southern Lawns. This product also includes nitrogen as a fertilizer source and Dicamba as a broadleaf herbicide. It is a little early for the fertilizer and the dicamba (unless you have winter broadleaf weeds), but you will get some residual benefits from both.

The product is not inexpensive around $50 for 1 bag that will cover 5000 square feet. 5000 sq. ft. will cover most lawns. It comes in a relatively easy to spread granule. It is safe for both San Augustine and Bermuda, but please be sure and follow the label directions.

Walk Across Texas Program

After what seemed like a long winter or at the least a cold February, it is starting to feel like spring. With the pleasant weather everyone will want to be enjoying outside activities. Many folks will be increasing their exercise programs for health reasons, all you really need is 30 minutes of exercise a day to realize the benefits of a healthier life. If you would like to participate in a program that helps you track your miles and the health benefits associated with your daily exercise you should consider Walk Across Texas!

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Comanche County will host a Walk Across Texas program from March 14 through May 9th. The Walk Across Texas program encourages people to develop a habit of regular physical activity. Teams and individuals walk or run, dance, garden, swim or do any other form of exercise for an eight‐week period. Each 20 minutes of exercise counts as one mile. At the end of that time each team’s or person’s total mileage is added up. The goal for each team is to virtually walk the 832 miles it would take to cross Texas during the eight-week period. You can do this by logging in several types of activities that can be converted into miles. To help keep you motivated you can log in and track your individual and team progress throughout the program. While 832 miles is the goal, there is no limit as to how many miles participants can log!

You can walk together, individually, outside, at a mall, at a grocery store or at a gym whatever fits your schedule and lifestyle. Keep track of your team’s miles to see if together you can go the equivalent of the 832 miles it would take to walk across Texas in eight weeks. Anyone can participate. Bring your family, friends, neighbors, pets, coworkers, and classmates. Teams consist of 8 people and will need a Team Captain to set up their team. To register for the eight‐week program, team captains will need to call the office for the team codes and then visit: www. howdyhealth.org. Once the team captain has their team set-up individuals can go in and register under their respective teams.

We will be having a Kickoff Event at the Comanche City Park Pavilion on March 14th at 6:00 PM. The program also offers an opportunity for a little friendly competition between teams and individuals. We will be sure to recognize and give bragging rights to the “Comanche County World Champion Team” whomever that might be. If you would like more information call or come by the office 325-356- 2539.

Walk Across Texas is a FREE, eight‐week program designed to help Texans establish the habit of regular physical activity. Since 1996, thousands of Texans have participated in Walk Across Texas!