During the month of June, we celebrate the farmers who produce the safe and nutritious products produced from milk.
Adair County is home to 19 dairy farmers who milk a total of 3,600 cows.
Adair County ranks second in Kentucky for milk production with $22.5 million in sales produced, according to the 2022 Ag Census. The average dairy herd in Adair County consists of 189 cows.
A June Dairy Day event will be held on June 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service.
The Adair County FFA and City of Columbia are sponsoring the event and serving ice cream. The event is open to everyone. The Dairy Alliance will be sponsoring giveaways and Prairie Farms will be providing ice cream.
Keep an Eye Out for Poison Hemlock
Native to Europe, poison hemlock is an invasive weed that was introduced as an ornamental in the United States during the 1800s. It is potentially poisonous if ingested by livestock or humans in both its vegetative growth stages and when dry.
The weed is often found along fencerows, roadways and other areas not used for cropland across most of Kentucky and the United States. However, in the past several years, its presence has increased and can be found in some hay and pasture fields.
If consumed, poisoning symptoms appear rather quickly in livestock and include nervousness, trembling, muscle weakness, loss of coordination, pupil dilation, coma and eventually death from respiratory failure.
Livestock usually do not eat poison hemlock when in its natural growing state because of its unpalatable taste. However, they will eat it if no other forage is available or when they inadvertently consume it through hay.
Ideally, you should control poison hemlock with herbicide products applied during the plant's early vegetative growth stage during the late winter or early spring or with an herbicide treatment in the fall. If you find it while cutting hay, either mow around the weed or mow it separate from your stored hay.
The easiest way to identify poison hemlock is by its smooth, purple-spotted stem.
Poison hemlock is often confused with the nontoxic weed Queen Anne’s Lace (also called Wild Carrot) because both produce clusters of small, white flowers but Queen Anne’s Lace will have hairs along its stem and leaf bases. Poison hemlock usually reaches its peak bloom in late May or early June, while Queen Anne’s Lace blooms a little later in late June and July.
