If you are looking for reliable information on any of your questions regarding Restricted Use Pesticides (RUP’s), that is well within our capabilities, but not where we stop in our efforts. We also ensure to keep up to date with any changes happening within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) that affect the realm of pesticides, as well as offer regular exam proctoring throughout the year. For more specifics, read on! But if you don’t feel like reading, call up the St. John’s County Extension office with your questions and ask for Ken.

You have questions, we have answers

Of the more common questions that we receive at the office are ones dealing with registering for exams. The first step is to figure out exactly which pesticide license you need. This is indeed a goldilocks dilemma to find the one that is just right. With a few probing questions though, we can narrow in on the right license for you. Then from there, the website is laid out in a clear manner with many helpful hints scattered throughout each page to guide you right up to the day you take your exam. Perhaps even after completing all of that, you still have a question or two? Again, don’t be bashful, because that’s what we’re here for! To provide answers to questions like,

‘Can we bring our own fumigation calculators for our PCO exam?’
‘Does my license from another state work in Florida?’
‘Can I take my scratch paper with me after I finish my test?’

Yes, no, and leave everything that you didn’t bring with you where you found them, please!

Take Your Exams Right Here at the Office

Need to schedule your exam? We’ve got you covered there! The St. Johns County Extension office offers pesticide exam proctoring on site twice a month, every 2^nd and 4^th Friday of the month for those taking their Chapter 487 license categories, and once a month every 4^th Wednesday for Chapter 482 Pest Control Operator (PCO) licenses. With so many opportunities to get a test date picked out, setting up something in advance is painless, but if you still can’t find an ideal day to test, (or you need to test ASAP), you are always able to schedule to take your exam online from home via Everblue. You can find this option when you go to schedule your test date online, though one benefit of going through us here at the extension office is that our Chapter 487 exams are always free!

If you feel you might be missing pertinent study material, we’ll also be able to verify if you indeed have the right pesticide manual to take the exam. Some of these tests may also have other recommended study materials that need to be requested from the FDACS Pesticide Certification Section.

We try our best to keep up with the latest updates to testing and licensing from the Pesticide Information Office, (and they make it all the more accessible through their own blog!). One such update that we’ll keep reminding everyone that comes in for testing is that this in-person service isn’t going to be here for much longer… On October 1^st of 2025, all in-person pesticide testing offered by extension offices throughout Florida will move either online or to licensed testing centers around the state. That won’t stop this office from being a resource for anyone seeking a pesticide license.

Written by Ken Cazarez, UF/IFAS Extension St. Johns County, Agriculture Program Assistant (k.cazarez@ufl.edu)

Nutrition

Scientists from Oklahoma State University have reported that by increasing the nutrient intake after calving in first calf heifers, the interval to first estrus can be reduced. The energy requirement for cattle increases during the last 2 months of gestation for both heifers and mature cows. Adjusting herd nutrition to meet requirements provides the best opportunity for success. For more information related to beef cattle nutrition, follow this link to the UF/IFAS Extension Publication “Basic Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cows”, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/AN/AN19000.pdf.

Body Condition Scoring

The most common body condition scoring (BCS) system used in the beef industry involves a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being thin, 9 being obese and 5 being optimum. Most beef cattle producers tend to raise cattle too thin rather than too fat. Cattle need to be in moderate (BCS 5) body condition at breeding and slightly higher (BCS of 6 to 6.5) at calving so when they go through the process of having a calf and lose condition, they still remain above BCS of 5 at breeding. Research from the University of Florida demonstrates that as cattle decrease from a BCS of 5 to 4, pregnancy is reduced by approximately 30% and from a 4 to a 3 an additional 30%. Knowing the body condition score of your herd is essential when trying to maximize reproduction. For more information on this topic follow this link to the UF/IFAS Extension Publication “How to Measure Body Condition Score in Florida Beef
Cattle”, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/AN/AN347/AN347-12236259.pdf.

Controlled Breeding

Many of you have heard this for years, but to some of you this may be new. By having a defined, controlled breeding season, you’ve identified when breeding begins and when it ends. This allows you to focus your effort and time to this important phase of your operation. Identifying an end date for your breeding program will enable you to provide proper nutrition, uniformity in the calf crop, facilitate management (castration, vaccination, etc.) and identify and remove cows and heifers with reproductive issues. For more information on how to convert your herd to a controlled breeding program follow this link to the UF/IFAS Extension Publication “Converting the Beef Cow Herd to a Controlled Breeding Season”, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/AN/AN26700.pdf.

Breeding Soundness Exams

Breeding soundness exams should be conducted by a veterinarian 30 to 60 days prior to breeding and provides a snap-shot of the bulls’ reproductive ability. If a bull fails the exam or receives classification deferred, having this time will allow you to re-test or find another bull before the breeding season begins.

Pregnancy Evaluation

Pregnancy can be evaluated using three commonly used methods: rectal palpation, transrectal ultrasound and blood tests. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these methods; however, knowing the pregnancy status of your herd will allow you to accurately eliminate unproductive cattle from your herd and give you confidence that that cow herd will have the best chance possible to return a profit.

If you would like more information related to beef cattle management, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Agent.

What do you need to do to take a soil test?

The following are a few simple steps you can take to collect a uniformed sample from your pasture and have it sent in for analysis.

1. Obtain sampling bags from the Extension Office.
2. Determine the area to take a representative sample.
3. Do not collect samples from wet spots, fence rows, feeding areas etc. The sample you collect should be the average of the field.
4. Use a soil test probe or shovel to take the sample.
5. Take a core of soil 6 inches deep from at least 15 spots in each field.
6. Mix together the cores from one field and let them dry for 2 to 4 hours.
7. Once the sample has dried, remove any plant debris and place about 1 pint of the sample in the sampling bag.
8. Identify the sample so you will know which field it was taken.
9. Fill out the paperwork and include it and payment in the box with the sample. Routine soil test costs $10.00 per sample and takes about two weeks to process. (Bermudagrass pastures use: Producer Soil Test Form – https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf%5CSS%5CSS18600.pdf ; Bahia grass pastures use: Nutrient Testing for Bahia Pastures Form – https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf%5CSS%5CSS59700.pdf)
10. Promptly send samples to the lab for analysis.

If you don’t have your soil tested, chances are you are spending more money than you should, not making as much as you could and are probably not maximizing your potential. Contact the St. Johns County Extension Office at (904) 209-0430 if you would like assistance interpreting test results or fertilization recommendations or visit the UF/IFAS Extension Soil Testing Lab.

(Source Adapted: Kidder and Rhue, UF/IFAS Extension)

If you own a pond and plan to collect a water sample to have it tested for dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, toxic ammonia or alkalinity by your County Extension Agent, you will want to watch the video below to learn how to collect your sample. Samples that have not been collected appropriately could yield results that are inaccurate which, in turn, could change management recommendations related to improving fish production.

As we approach the late summer and early fall, it is time to consider our strategies for winter feeding program. Incorporating cool-season forages might be a feasible and productive alternative. These forages can be used to bridge the nutritional deficiencies in livestock during the winter as well as present a great opportunity for improved animal performance given the high nutritional value. Cool-season forages can be used for grazing, greenchop or silage crop, or as winter cover to provide erosion and improve nutrient cycling on cultivated acreage.

To implement cool-season forage pastures, several management steps should be considered.

First, choose which cultivar you want to plant. Many improved varieties have been developed by the UF/IFAS Forage Breeding team for use in Florida. Consider which best matches your conditions: make your choice based on region and soil conditions, use, and management practices. Search a variety of locations to see where you can buy your seed and purchase it early when possible (if you have adequate storage). Check out the UF/IFAS EDIS publication SS-AGR-84 – Cool-season forage variety recommendations for Florida (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AA266) for more information.

Prior to planting, take soil samples and adjust nutrients as needed. Consult your local extension office for assistance on soil sample submission and interpretation of soil analysis results. If you need to add lime, do so as soon as possible since it generally takes several months to raise soil pH. If possible, incorporate in the soil (on prepared seedbed). Cool-season forages, especially legumes, will require a fined adjustment of soil pH and nutrient levels compared to our traditional bahiagrass. If you are overseeding an existing permanent pasture or an area that you plant forages each year, you may not need to make many adjustments. However, if you choose an old pasture or an undeveloped area that has just had trees and stumps cleared it is likely nutrient adjustments will be necessary. Native vegetation with pine trees typically has a lower pH that will need to be increased to provide the best chance for success with cool-season forages. Failure to adjust soil nutrients as needed can result in reduced or failed planting efforts.

Successful forage managers have a planting strategy that includes seedbed preparation. Options might included mowing, light disking, moldboard plow, heavy-disk harrow, rototiller, or many other cultivating tools to prepare the seedbed. Smaller operations may use a disk harrow making several passes in different directions, to achieve similar results. If possible, break clumps up and level the area before planting. Adding a drag, stump or rail behind the disk harrow may help reduce clumps. Overseeding (i.e. planting over the existing pasture) is an option, but requires specialized equipment such as a no-till drill, or will limit options for planting. Generally, broadcasting over sod will only work well for ryegrass and clovers. When planting over sod, it is important to wait for the first frost, or use a suppression herbicide for reducing the competition from the existing pasture.

Calibrate your equipment based on the cultivar you’ve selected. Even if you calibrated and used your planter last year, check again. You may need to purchase replacement parts or replace implements. Plant based on soil moisture conditions and weather forecast. If soil is too dry and there is no forecast of rain, seeds will not germinate. If there is just sufficient moisture for germinations, but still no rain forecast, chances are the seedlings will not survive.

Fertilizer application should be based on soil sample recommendations (phosphorus and potassium) and target production levels (nitrogen). Application of a starter fertilizer can be applied at planting (P and K plus 30 lbs of nitrogen per acre), preferentially, right after germination. A follow up application of nitrogen 45 to 60 days after planting will be beneficial for the grasses. Details on the type, amount and timing of fertilizer application can be found on the UF/IFAS EDIS publication SL129 UF/IFAS Standardized Fertilization Recommendations for Agronomic Crops (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss163).

If you have questions related to winter feeding strategies, cool season forages, or any other beef management practice, contact your local UF/IFAS Extension Agent.

For more information contact UF/IFAS Extension, Marion County at (352) 671-8400.