Kyle’s News & Reviews In Agriculture

Saturday morning my wife and two boys loaded up for a flying trip down to Louisiana for a family wedding.  It is always good to go down and visit with her family that lives in the little town of Grosse Tete.  The one downside to a quick trip like that with two boys under the age of eight, it is hard on them.  

Being cooped in a car for 12 hours of drive time in a 36-hour period is not good, especially when before you ever leave home on Saturday morning they are already fighting.  On another note we are not the only place in the world that is getting excessive rainfall.  

I saw over the weekend that Grenada Lake went over the top of the emergency spillway, the first time in 28 years.  I am old enough to remember the last time it was over in 1991 and Highway 7, south of Coffeeville was flooded.  I don’t believe we are in danger of Highway 7 flooding, but I wouldn’t advise running off the highway south of Coffeeville or you might find yourself swimming.  

A friend sent a video of some people sliding down the emergency spillway ramp in an inner tube sometime this weekend.  It was funny and looked like fun, but for some reason I don’t think the park rangers thought it was too funny.  

It appears we are going to have at least a week of sunny weather coming up, which couldn’t be more welcome.  Last week I was out in Water Valley and the question was asked about what could be done to protect or help tomato plants in a garden with all this rain.  

My immediate response was to pray for them.  There are also some fungicides that can help protect against some of the diseases caused by all this wetness.   Some examples of fungicide active ingredients that could be used include copper, chlorothalonil, mancozeb and azoxystrobin.  

Wildlife need room to grow each spring

Spring is a great time of year to enjoy new beginnings, and flowers and leaves are not the only signs of new life. Plenty of food and warmer weather make this the ideal time for wildlife to mate and raise their offspring.

The young, formative years are perfect for learning and developing, and baby animals are no different from baby humans in this regard. Important life skills need to be mastered while individuals are young if they are going to be able to survive in a harsh world. Even innate or natural skills often must be mastered.

For example, consider flight in birds. Flying is a very complicated process, even though it is natural to birds. Flight is not only the ability to move through the air using feathered wings. The bird also needs to change directions without falling out of the sky and to land without crashing or missing the landing site.

Many kinds of wildlife even seem to suffer through a “teenage” period. Like human teenagers, they are ready to strike out on their own, but they still need a little more training and oversight. News stories about “misbehaving” wild animals often feature adolescents that made a bad choice to raid a garbage can or enter a dwelling. They may wander off to explore, which can result in well-meaning people stepping in to help the “lost” or “orphaned” animal.

These springtime lessons and adventures often put young animals in the paths of people. As a result, many baby birds, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, fawns and other wild animals end up “rescued” and in veterinary hospitals or rehabilitation centers. This fate is unfortunate for two reasons. 

First, state and federal laws do not allow wild animals to be removed from the environment without the appropriate permits. Second, in most cases, it is best to let the animal be raised as nature intended — by its parents in the natural world. This is the best way to ensure wild populations of animals remain strong and healthy.