Blister beetles in hay are a danger for livestock

harvesting, it is best to quit harvesting and allow blister beetles to move out of the way or go around them.”

If blister beetles are suspected in harvested hay, do not feed it to horses. If alfalfa is fed to horses and symptoms such as blood-tinged urine, depression or placing their muzzle in water without drinking appear, call a veterinarian immediately. Hay contaminated with blister beetles can be used by cattle, but be cautious. Offer other hay sources that are clean of blister beetles or blend hays. Grinding hay containing blister beetles and then mixing with other feeds will dilute the cantharidin but won’t get rid of it. If feed refusal is noted with cattle offered alfalfa hay, then remove it and replace with another hay source. Keep track of bales that are suspected to have blister beetle contamination so you can manage accordingly and avoid accidental feeding to horses.

It can be difficult to detect blister beetles

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HERE IS A LIST OF NON OPERATIONAL COMPONENT TRUCKS (Selling As-Is)

2000 International 4700 trucks. Each. $750

1997 Kenworth T800 good M11 Cummins. $2000

1995 International 9200 16-ft. aluminum dump box. $3500

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1994 Ford L9000 tandem, good L10 Cummins (electric fire). $2000

International 4700 bad engine. $750

(2) 1992 GMC Top Kick Pepsi trucks. Each. $750

GMC Top Kick tandem diesel chassis (bad injector). $1750

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2006 Sterling SA tractor, green.

1982 International SA dump, yellow.

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2017 Wilson cattle pot, quad axle, 53-ft., nose 10-ft., rear 19-ft., belly 24-ft., width is 102”, 13-ft. 7” (9” more clearance), stainless steel front and lift deck in nose. 2023 Hyundai cube/van, 53x102.

2014 Wilson 41x96x78, air ride with Ag hoppers. Quanity of 10.

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View our website for more photos and information on all of our trailers. www.johnsentrailer.com in harvested hay because beetles may be crushed from the haying process. Blister beetles may not be present in every bale due to the insects’ tendency to swarm, which means that it is possible that only bales from certain areas of the field may be infested. Chemical control is generally not recommended at harvest because dead beetles could be still be incorporated into cured hay instead of falling onto the ground. If blister beetle toxicity is suspected, a diagnostic test is available through the NDSU veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Plasma or urine samples are used for the test. For more information about the test, visit ndsu.ag/VDL-sample. Additional information on blister beetle identification and management is available at ndsu.ag/ blister-beetle. NDSU Extension agents are also available to aid in identification and determine best management practices for dealing with blister beetles.

Drought stunted alfalfa – cut or leave

By Ben Beckman, UNL

While some parts of Nebraska have caught precipitation recently, some areas are still dealing with significant drought. When drought stress causes dryland alfalfa stands stop growing What should you do?

Many producers who still need a rain have dryland alfalfa fields with plants six to twelve inches tall and getting more and more purple by the day. When faced with short alfalfa stands, what should we do - hay it, shred it, graze it, or just leave it?

First the good news: while it stays dry you can do whatever you feel like doing and you aren’t likely to hurt your alfalfa. The bad news is that if it stays dry you can’t do anything good for it either.

As your alfalfa continues to just sit there dormant, it will slowly lose feed value and tonnage due to continued maturation as well as leaf loss from insect feeding, diseases, and simple old age. If you choose to harvest as is, you probably need a yield of at least one-half ton per acre to justify the fuel, labor, and other expenses involved with harvesting hay.

Grazing might be relatively cheap in terms of out-ofpocket costs if you already have portable electric fence and don’t need to spend much money to transport cattle or water. Plus, dry, bloomed out alfalfa has a pretty low risk for bloat - not foolproof, but common-sense animal husbandry should enable you to graze safely.

If you can’t graze and can’t justify cutting hay, it’s probably best to just leave it alone. Shredding or haying will give you a cleaner, higher quality hay once your alfalfa does receive enough rain for regrowth. Removing the dormant plant will result in a bit faster regrowth, but plants also will regrow following sufficient rain without cutting. In most cases, it’s not worth the cost and time involved to shred, clip, or harvest low-yielding hay.

Pick the option best for you and pray for rain.

Bay, chervil and chives

Bay is a large herb plant the grows into a small tree or tall evergreen bush. Its aromatic leaves are used to garnish pate, in fish dishes, or in a bouquet garni to flavor soups and casseroles.

Chervil is a white flowered hardy annual raised from seed. Its foliage is similar to parsley and it likes a shady area. It has a delicate, slightly spicy fragrance and can be used in soups, sauces, savory butter, and potato salad.

Chives are small perennial, onion-like plants that grow in a clumping fashion. In early spring the leaves are topped with purple flowers. Plants can be purchased or grown from seed. Established clumps can be divided and transplanted. Garlic chives are similar in appearance to regular chives but have a slightly garlicky flavor. Use chives fresh, cut off from the plant as required, to give a mild onion flavor.