Stiles Farm

Stiles Farm

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Wildlife Intern AnMarie Ulery

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To start off this week, I began preparations to disk our two PUB fields that will eventually be replanted in native grasses. By disking up these fields and disturbing the soil, we are encouraging seed germination of the invasive grasses and weeds that have been growing in these areas. Once the new growth sprouts, we will kill it with herbicides and then repeat the process in an effort to wear out these invasive plants in the seed bank. Once this process is complete, we will replant native grasses in these areas with the hope that they will have a better chance to take hold. Before we could get out to the fields this week, we had to service a disk that had not been used in several years.  To get the disk up and running, we had to replace a few tires and their bearings as well as grease the bearings and several other points on the implement. After several hours spent servicing the disk, I was able to take it out and successfully disk the fields.    Wildlife Intern AnMarie Ulery

 

Winter grain mite at Stiles Farm – John Few IPM Extension Program Specialist

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Winter grain mite (Penthaleus major) was recently found on one of our wheat fields. This pest is active when the days are cool and wet (below 75°F). Scouting while the environment is like this will greatly increase your success of finding this pest. Pay attention to the lower and mid part of the plant where they rest during the day, also pay close attention the soil around the base of the plant. Winter grain mite have black to dark brown bodies with four pairs of red-orange legs and a yellow spot on the lower part of their back. Winter grain mite is present from August to April in Texas. Feed injury causes the leaf tips to turn brown and stunt plants, ultimately giving them a silvery-gray appearance. Control for this pest is usually not needed but pesticide recommendations can be found online.

John Few IPM Extension Program Specialist

Chicken Tractor Built by Farm Interns – Megan Finley

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The chicken tractor (i.e., portable chicken pen) is done! An old metal hoop house worked well as a frame after some repair and replacing of bent bars. The wheels are removable – they can be put on to make the pen more maneuverable and taken off so the pen will sit all the way down on the ground (don’t want any gaps for chickens to get out or predators to get in). The broilers are now in their new home. Being in the chicken tractor allows them to eat grass and bugs, and they are moved every few days as they eat the grass and need more.

Megan Finley – Farm Intern

 

First Week- Built a Chicken Tractor Jacob Seggern Farm Intern

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This was my first week at Stiles Farm and boy has it been a good one. We started the week of getting trained on the tractor and leading how to disc and chisel the ground. Then we learned how to properly clean out the sprayer along with attend a worker protection/ Dicamba and 24D training and finished the week up with building a chicken tractor!

Jacob Seggern- Spring Farm Intern

 

Wildlife Intern AnMarie Ulery

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This week I started conducting point count bird surveys in several different locations around the farm. A point count survey is a tally of all birds detected by sight and sound for a specified period of time. February is an ideal time of year to start conducting bird surveys because you can observe birds that are still wintering in this part of the state as well as birds that are starting to migrate here to breed. Below is a picture of a red-bellied woodpecker that I observed at one of my survey points this week.

This week I was also able to accompany Dr. Tomecek to a ranch in the Hill Country to help with equipping livestock guard dogs with GPS collars. Due to heavy predation on their sheep and goat herds by coyotes, the landowners that we visited are trying out guard dogs as a form of predator management. They are hoping to use GPS collars to track the dog’s movements to assure that they are staying with the livestock as well as to be able to easily find them on a large parcel of land whenever they need. Below is a picture of Dr. Tomecek equipping one of the guard dogs with a GPS collar.

Welcome John Few IPM Extension Program Specialist to Stiles Farm Foundation Office

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Help us welcome John Few, IPM Extension Program Specialist to our office. John did his Undergrad at Virginia State University (Agriculture- Plant and Soil Science) Received his Masters at Virginia Tech (Entomology). John L. Few IV is a Louisiana native who has experience in row crops, vegetable and fruit production, horticulture, ornamentals, extension, genetics, and entomology.

Megan Finley Farm Intern

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Lots to be done on the farm this week! Even though there was some cold weather and precipitation that delayed field work for a day or two, more was able to done these last few days. I ran the disk through the field for a couple passes, to try my hand at it.

For the last two Tuesdays, Ryan and I attended a Continuing Education  Introduction to Welding course. Using a cutting torch and welder for my first time was a lot of fun! Each of the participants made their own T-post driver to take home at the end of the course.

Using the grinder to cut a metal rod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every once in a while, a calf needs a ride in the truck 🙂

Partnership Opportunities

Stiles Farm can run multiple projects at once thanks to the demonstration and research plot model. If you or your company would like to partner with Stiles Farm, we are looking for partnerships in long term conservation tillage and cover crop research, precision agriculture technologies, innovations in beef cattle production, the economics of small acreage horticulture production in the blacklands, and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) in agriculture production. For partnership ideas, contact Ryan Collett at (512) 898-2214 or rmcollett@ag.tamu.edu.