Travis Mitchell
Livestock and Forages Agent for Newberry & Saluda Counties
Director for The South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association

Summer has been a very busy season in Saluda County.  The Saluda County Clemson Extension Livestock & Forages program has assisted many producers with questions concerning hay production, pasture weed control, and fall armyworm control in pastures and hayfields.  Producers were also assisted in commingling tractor-trailer load lots for marketing their calf crop.  These load lots enabled producers to receive value-added premiums for the calves they sold.

The Clemson Extension Livestock & Forages team, in conjunction with the South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association, hosted the South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association regional meetings from August 29^th through the 31^st.  Over 250 producers from across the state were in attendance during this three-day event.  Dr. Mark Alley with Zoetis gave an outstanding presentation on the importance of vaccines and how they add value to your calf crop.  Dr. Alley then joined Dr. Che Trejo with Merck Animal Health and Mr. Randy Fordham with Boehringer-Ingelheim for a panel discussion about the importance of vaccines.  These three gentlemen answered the producer’s questions and provided further insight on overall herd health.

The Saluda County 4-H Livestock shows were held September 20^th and 21^st at the Central Milk Producers Show & Sale Arena.  Many 4-H youths from across the state exhibited their prize animals.  Seeing so many young people enthusiastically involved in agriculture is always a great time.

The South Carolina Dairy Heifer Project began in 1974 and is one of the oldest 4-H projects of its kind in the Nation. This project was designed to provide youth in South Carolina an opportunity to raise a dairy heifer and experience the dairy industry, and then sell their heifer at the South Carolina Dairy Heifer Project Bred Heifer Sale. Throughout the years, thousands of South Carolina youth have taken part in 4-H dairy work. These 4-H and Dairy Heifer Project alumni can be found in all “walks of life.” Many are outstanding farmers and leaders of the dairy industry, while others are doctors, veterinarians, and teachers. In nearly every case, these people look back on this 4-H dairy experience as an outstanding part of their youth.

As the dairy industry has changed and evolved over the years, so has the South Carolina Dairy Heifer Project. Due to COVID restrictions, the 2020 Bred Heifer Sale was held online for the first time with great success. Due to that success, the sale has been permanently moved to an online format and the event dates have been adjusted to better suit the needs of the dairy industry. Through all the changes, the South Carolina Dairy Heifer Project has continued to thrive and reach youth across the state. Thirty-seven heifers are currently in project and under the care of 4-H youth and eighteen of those youth are from York County.

The 4-H and FFA dairy project members exhibit their dairy project animals at fairs, shows, and events in nearly every region of the state. Millions of people have seen or learned about 4-H and FFA through these youth dairy exhibits at the many fairs and events in South Carolina. This offers a tremendous opportunity for 4-H, FFA, Clemson Cooperative Extension, and the dairy industry to educate and inform the public about the dairy industry and youth dairy programs. Many thanks go out to the industry for the support of the program. Heifers for the project come from project alumni and producers across the Southeast who have seen the impact the project has had and is continuing to have on our youth.

Lauren Venegas Black

4H Agent for Saluda County

🗣Have you heard?! Registration for the Regional Video Presentation Contests have been extended to March 6th!

The purpose of the 4-H Presentations Contest is to allow participants to practice and perfect their presentation skills and receive valuable feedback on those skills. All junior and senior members (ages 9-19) are to participate.  🍀

Contact your 4-H agent for more information! #PresentLikeAPro #SC4H

The price of eggs is up and it is the perfect time to expand your flock. Registration is now open for the 2023 4-H Poultry Projects. Youth ages 5-18 from across the state are welcome to participate. Read all about this years opportunities and learn how to register here: https://sites.google.com/g.clemson.edu/sc4hpoultry2023/home

Congratulations Mya! She was Crowned S.C. Miss 4-H Queen !

Travis Mitchell
Livestock and Forages Agent for Newberry & Saluda Counties
Director for The South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association

The spring season is in full swing across the Carolina’s. It is a joy and relief to see pastures greening up and cattle grazing. Spring always brings optimism which was evident in the “beef cattle market outlook” presentation Dr. Andrew Griffith gave at the South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting. Cattle producers from across the state met at the T. Ed Garrison Cattle Complex on February 3rd for this event. Dr. Griffith, an Extension Livestock Economist with the University of Tennessee, presented to the group a favorable market outlook report indicating higher cattle prices for the next two years. Producers also enjoyed a presentation from State veterinarian Dr. Michael Neault. Dr. Neault presented on the Asia Longhorn Tick, educating producers regarding control measures and identification strategies. The meeting concluded with a joint awards banquet with the Clemson Bull Test.

Be on the lookout in next month’s issue of the Carolina Cattle Connection for photos and awards of excellence winners. I want to thank each of our Prime, Choice, and Select members for putting on an outstanding trade show and for their financial support in making the 2023 Annual Meeting a huge success.

Bryan Smith
Area Extension Agent-Agricultural Engineer

We have had quite a number of contacts in recent months asking how to sell local produce and edible goods from home.  These questions range from selling eggs to milk to any number of products.  Selling fresh produce to friends and family generally does not require a license, but packaged or perishable goods (like milk) do require registration.

The SC Cottage Food Law covers the registration and labeling requirements for these goods.  Clemson Extension provides a factsheet to help growers navigate through the registration and licensing needs:

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/south-carolinas-home-based-food-production-law-cottage-food-law/

This factsheet helps growers start out on the right foot when marketing and selling their products.

Saluda County Upcoming Events

Happy New Year!  We hope this finds you and yours doing well after the holiday season.  We all have been looking forward to 2021 and in many ways, putting 2020 behind us.  As you all know, our offices have been closed to the public for the final nine and half months of 2020.  They continue to be closed to the public but that does not mean your Extension staff is not doing their job.  The creative and unique ways that many agents and staff have found to help the people and communities in South Carolina never end.  Just to give you a little insight into what we’ve been doing, let’s go and visit with each one …

As the Administrative Assistant in the McCormick Extension office, a majority of my job responsibilities are done via my computer and/or phone.  That being said, when our office responded to the Covid issues and closed to the public, there was not the impact on me that other agents and staff faced.  I simply started working remote … the ability to access all the files and information provided me with what was needed to process required reporting.  The ability to program the office phone to immediately transfer calls to my cell phone was a seamless transition.   All calls, so far over 175, were answered and clients were assisted as needed with the information and/or help requested.  Our agents and staff were available to help return any calls with additional information.

At beginning of this Covid situation, we also partnered with Joann Fabric stores to help with the mask shortage in the local hospitals.  Joann provided the supplies necessary and we put the word out in Savannah Lakes Village where several sewers stepped up to help us make over 150 masks for the effort.  Our office also made an additional 50+ masks for McCormick County Council members, extension agents and staff and district 4H agents.

As stated earlier, with technology as it is today, my responsibilities barely noticed the hiccup that going remote may have caused.  As always, we are here to help the community of McCormick County. #Staywell

The McCormick County Extension Office has been hard at work during the COVID- 19 pandemic. In addition to working with landowners, we have worked closely with our community partners to ensure that McCormick County’s needs were met. We have worked with the school district to assist them with drone footage for their graduation ceremony. We also provided the school district with lesson assistance and ensured that all students and staff were safe by donating reusable cloth masks and hand sanitizer.

The McCormick Extension Office also created an augmented reality sandbox to serve as the partner exhibit for the Smithsonian Water/Ways traveling exhibit hosted at Hickory Knob State Park. This interactive sandbox allowed visitors to get a hands-on learning experience of how landforms and topography impact water. There were over 2,700 visitors to the exhibit that ran from June – August.

  Clemson’s exhibit at the Smithsonian Water/Ways traveling exhibit

The Extension Office partnered with Cornerstone to assist with their drive-through health fair. We created 100 bags that were full of health-related information and school supplies to hand out. We also obtained over 100 boxes of fresh produce to give to the participants. We partnered with Cornerstone again for their drive-through trick or treat, where we assisted them with their virtual costume contest and pumpkin carving contest and provided candy and Clemson footballs to the kids.

Another group that the McCormick County Office has worked collaboratively with is the Chamber of Commerce. We assisted the chamber with the live streaming of their candidate forums for the school board, sheriff’s office, and county council races. We provided live streaming via Facebook live and created a broadcast of the forums for the WCTEL local channel. We also assisted the chamber with the live streaming of the Holiday on Main Parade on the chamber Facebook site. Both the candidate forums and the Holiday on Main parade had over 1400 views

The McCormick County Extension Office has been working hard to do whatever we can do to help ensure McCormick County residents are safe and their needs are met.