DEAR CATTLEMEN:

Hope everyone had great holidays and is ready to get in the swing of the new year. I just wanted to do some follow up and reminders from the last issue of the Bullpen.

First I want to remind everyone that the Florida Cattlemens Institute & Allied Trade Show is coming up on the 22nd of this month. Remember that it opens with the Trade Show at 8:00 a.m. with the program to begin at 8:45. If you plan to attend please call in your reservation to the Extension Office so that we can insure we have plenty of lunches for everyone.

Next is an update on cattle prices and how the corn market affects prices. Although calf prices have taken a dip the last few weeks, this is a seasonal dip and prices are expected to generally go up for the new few months and stay strong for the next couple of years. In regards to how corn prices affect cattle prices, some new information has come to light that should continue to show positive price results for cattle. Southeast Asia is now not going to be buying near the amount of corn originally anticipated. Futures corn prices have already dropped, and corn prices are expected to drop by 30¢ a bushel before summer. And if you refer back to the corn/calf prices comparison table from last months Bullpen, you will realize that this as does any corn price drop, will have a positive affect on calf prices.

The last thing is I wanted to give you another update on tropical soda apple. In the last Bullpen issue I discussed how TSA is getting out of control in some areas again. I wanted to give you some results of some of the latest research/demonstration work that has been done in our area. Two methods were used to apply chemicals used in control plots in fields with heavy infestation. One was broadcast spraying, and the other was using the Burch Wet Blade application. The Burch Wet Blade is a bushhog mower that has a chemical tank on top of it that supplies chemicals to wipers attached to the cutting blades. As the blade cuts the TSA the wiper, wipes chemicals on the remaining stuble. Although several chemicals were used in these trials, I am only going to report results of those that are readily available and can be used in pastures, and that show promising results. You can take from this that if I am not reporting a chemicals results that it either is not registered for use in pastures at this time and/or does not show promising enough results to ever be considered over one of the ones I am reporting.

In the first table you will see the results of broadcast spraying Weedmaster, Remedy. Banvel and Velpar. You will see the rate per acre used, the percent control 60 day after treatment, the percent control 150 days after treatment, the percent control 150 days after treatment, and the cost per acre for the application.

Table 1
Spray Treatment	Rate per Acre	% Control 60 DAT	% Control 150 DAT	Chemical Cost $/acre
Weedmaster	2 qt./30 gal.	100	100	13.00
Remedy	1 qt./40 gal.	100	100	20.00
Banvel	2 qt./30 gal.	100	100	39.00
Velpar	1 qt./30 gal.	100	100	17.00

From these results you can see that these four chemicals all gave the same control, but there was a significant difference in application cost.

The next table shows the results from the same four chemicals plus Roundup applied with the Burch Wet Blade mower. One benefit you really need to remember about this application method is that not only are you getting chemical application, but you are also getting immediate removal of the above ground, TSA tissue.

Table 2
Wet Blade Treatment	Rate per Acre	% Control 60 DAT	% Control 150 DAT	Chemical Cost $/acre
Weedmaster	2 qt./30 gal.	95	95	13.00
Remedy	1 qt./40 gal.	52	50	20.00
Banvel	2 qt./30 gal.	94	94	39.00
Velpar	1 qt./30 gal.	88	95	17.00
Roundup	10%	49	45	--

You can see from these results that Weedmaster, Banvel and Velpar show a lot more promising results than the old stand bys, Remedy and Round up when used in the Burch Wet Blade. One side note on Velpar is that in both studies, it produced a significant burn of the grass and other plants in the treated areas. From these results so far, there seems to be an indication that Weedmaster may be our chemical of choice, bearing in mind, that this is only one years worth of data.

Hope this year is a prosperous one for you. Don't forget to call in your reservations for the Cattlemen's Institute, and I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Hogue

County Extension Director/Livestock

For questions or comments regarding this publication contact Patrick J. Hogue

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