FALL TIME!

August and September make up a special, golden time of year: ditches are lined with native black-eyed Susans, swamp sunflower, and goldenrod and rich, clay fields are lined with yellowing tobacco leaves waiting for harvest. Farms begin to prepare for autumn harvests, youth head back to school, and here in Extension, we get ready for our upcoming fall programming aimed at Granville County farms, families, and consumers.  

Be sure to check out our latest events and learn more about upcoming programs. If you’ve paid attention to the news lately, you will see everyone is abuzz talking about food and the food system. Now is a perfect time to connect with our agricultural agents to learn more about our producers and find new ways of supporting them. Now is also a great time to think about youth education and how we can engage the next generation in food production and safe consumption.  

As always, we are just a phone call, email, or visit away! 

- Selena McKoy, NC Cooperative Extension Director - Granville

Local Foods Coordinator - Granville County

Wendy Tatum

The Granville County Cooperative Extension host the 2026 Leadership Granville AG Day on August 27th with visits to Little Grassy Creek Farm owned by Sandy and Laura Gabel, Preddy Farm, Plantd, and Bailey Farm. Livestock Agent, Kim Woods, Horticulture Agent, Johnny Coley, CED & FCS agent, Selena McKoy, and Local Foods Agent, Wendy Tatum, guided the group through the county. Special thanks to George’s restaurant for the lunch they provided.

Livestock & Forages

Kim Woods, Area Agent, Agriculture - Animal Science

State Fair Forage Contest

The North Carolina State Fair is just around the corner, so consider entering hay in the Forage contest. Benefits include having a forage analysis for ration balancing and marketing, having the hay displayed in a high visibility area for the duration of the State Fair, possibility of winning the $50 first prize and bragging rights for the next year. The entry process is easy.  A forage sample is taken and sent to the NCDA lab before September 15. The cost is $10, which is the only entry fee. State fair entry has to be completed online by September 15.  A 6" block of hay also has to be submitted to the fairgrounds for display before 10 am Wednesday October 14. Call the Extension office for more details or assistance with submitting an entry.

4-H Feather Classic

The 4-H Feather Classic Poultry Show project provides registered youth with 3-day old chicks.  The youth raise and care for these birds until show day.  The 2026 4-H Feather Classic show will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at Hyco Warehouse.  The show is scheduled to start at 10 am that morning.  The project is for youth ages 5-18, from Caswell, Durham, Orange and Person counties.  This is a great livestock introductory project as you don’t need a lot of space for birds. It also teaches husbandry and patience. Come out on September 24 to support these youth and their poultry projects. 

Annual Forage and Livestock Webinar Series

There are still 3 sessions left in the 2026 Annual Forage & Livestock Webinar Series. The registration is free and the webinars run from 3-4 pm EST.

The goal of this series is to provide information and practical tools to support and strengthen the pasture-based livestock industry in North Carolina and across the region. Each session features insights shared directly by experts in the field.

REMAINING TOPICS AND REGISTRATION LINKS

Strategies for weed management in tall fescue pastures. Speaker: Dr. Navdeep Godara, Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State University. (September 17, 2026; 3-4 pm EST) 👉 Webinar registration.

Considerations for establishing an optimal breeding and calving season in North Carolina. Speaker: Dr. Felipe Silva, Animal Sciences, NC State University (October 1, 2026; 3-4 pm EST) 👉 Webinar registration.

Forage Field Day

Join us for a regional Forage Field Day on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.  The event will be held from 9 am to 12 noon at the Durham County Farm Campus located at 308 Orange Factory Rd, Durham NC.  Topics to be covered include: 

Pasture evaluation and renovation (including point and step method)

Nitrates and Prussic Acid

Strategies for future drought periods

Registration will be required.  Look for that information soon.

September Forage Tips

• Fertilize and lime cool-season grasses.

• Plant cool-season legumes such as ladino, sod clover, and alfalfa into tall fescue sods. Use insecticide.

• Keep the grazing pressure on the summer grasses and completely use them before grazing cool-season forages.

• Watch for fall insects (armyworms, grasshoppers, crickets) on established and seedling stands of forages.

• Plant winter annuals on prepared seedbed for earliest fall grazing. No-till planting can be successful, but will not usually be ready to graze as soon after planting as on prepared seedbed.

• Overseed or no-till winter annual legumes or grasses onto summer perennial grass after they have been closely grazed. Planting early may require that herbicides be used to suppress the existing grass growth.

• Make a winter feed supply inventory so deficiencies can be avoided now (by purchasing hay or planting more winter pasture).

October Cattlemen's Meeting

The October Cattlemen’s meetings will be combined for both Person and Granville Counties.  We will have a very special speaker that evening. The meeting will be held on October 22, 2026 starting at 6:30 pm at the Person County Office Building Auditorium.  Details will be sent out later but wanted to provide the date so you could mark your calendars and plan to attend.

Small Grains Meeting

NC Cooperative Extension-Franklin County Center will host the 2026 Pre-Plant Small Grains Meeting Tuesday, Sept. 22nd beginning at 6:00pm, at Franklin County Cooperative Extension Office Annex - 103 S. Bickett Blvd., Louisburg. Topics will include pre-plant fertilizer, nitrogen management, weed control, disease management and more! 2 hours of N, O, D, and X NCDA&CS pesticide recertification credit will be offered. Supper will be provided. Register online at the following link. go.ncsu.edu/preplant2026.

4-H Youth Development

Lina Howe, Extension Agent

Falls Lake Academy Senior Capstone

We are so excited for this partnership with one of our very own Seniors at Falls Lake Academy, Enaan Khan! Sign up today! https://forms.gle/tBL1vm5iGeQYuRde8

4-H Livestock Show

Sign ups for our annual livestock show are officially open! Register by September 15th! https://forms.gle/xYWs69TNUCiv4mEXA

Granville Clover Explorers 4-H Club

On August 23rd, Our members learned Shelters and Tents: 

• What shelters are used for 

• What makes a good shelter 

• Where you should—and shouldn’t—build a shelter 

• Different types of tents and how to identify them 

• The different parts of a tent, including the **ground stakes, tent poles, tent body, and rainfly** 

• How to find, follow, and read tent directions

Then came the really fun part! We split into **three teams** and challenged our members to work together to build their tents. Teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and a little bit of determination were definitely required!

Our **Cloverbuds** finished their tent first and had some extra time to enjoy a little outdoor fun by playing **Shadowlands** using the shadows from the trees.

Once all three groups had successfully built their tents, everyone worked together to **take them back down, fold them up, and pack them away**. Teamwork all the way to the finish!

It was a **successful, busy, and FUN meeting**, and we are so proud of how well our members worked together!

**Learning by doing is what 4-H is all about!**

New membership is currently paused until we get more adult volunteers to help us out. What a cool problem to have, we're full! Max capacity. If you're interested in helping out the Clover Explorers, please let us know via text or message so that we can continue being the coolest club around and open back up to new members.

4-H Popshots Club

On Saturday, August 15th the Granville County 4-H Popshots Club took 34 youth to the Central Region 4-H Shooting Sports Tournament. The tournament this year was the biggest in NC 4-H History. Granville County was quite successful and brought home many medals and have a large group advancing to states. We are so proud of the hard work of the youth, volunteers and supporters of our club and members! Congratulations everyone! 

Junior Placings: Shotgun- 2nd place Team: Jaxon Currin Forest Michaelsen JD Wilson Austin Mangum 

4th Place Individual: Colton Smiley 

State Qualifier: Aiken Hawken 

Muzzleloading- 2nd place individual and overall: Easton Hymiller 

3rd place individual and overall: Holly Paulk 

State Qualifier: Addison Prothero 

State Qualifier: JD Wilson 

Rifle: Open Sight- 5th place individual: JD Wilson 

State Qualifier: Lawson Hymiller 

State Qualifier: Holly Paulk 

Rifle: Telescopic- 3rd place individual: JD Wilson

Compound Archery- 2nd place individual: Easton Hymiller 

3rd place individual: Wyatt Cuda 

4th place individual: Holly Paulk 

Recurve Archery- 1st place individual and overall: Lily Shaeffer 

2nd place individual and overall: Easton Hymiller 

Air Rifle- 4th place individual: Addison Prothero

Senior Placings: Shotgun- 1st place team: Cullen Hight, Mason Wilkins, Ronan Weary 1st place overall: Cullen Hight 

3rd place overall: Ronan Weary 

State Qualifier : Aubree Marsalone 

Muzzleloading- 2nd place team: Kaylee Overby, Kipton Hymiller Connor Landon 

Rifle: Open Sight- State Qualifier: Amanda Wilson 

Compound Archery H/S: State Qualifier: Mason Wilkins 

Small Bore Pisol: State Qualifier: Kipton Hymiller 

State Qualifier: Connor Landon

Many of our volunteers also donated their time to help make the day happen at the various ranges, thank you so much for your continued dedication!

4-H Horse Championship

Congratulations to Susie Stock and her horse, Honey. They were finalists in the Stake Race at the Southern Regional 4-H Horse Championships!

Consumer/Commercial Horticulture

Johnny Coley, Area Agent - Agriculture

Private pesticide certification

There will be an opportunity for NCDA private pesticide applicators to receive 2 hours of ‘V’ certification on September 8^th at the Person County Office Building. The class will begin at 6:00 pm. No registration is required.

Landscape Workshop

Landscapers - Hold the Date 

A landscape workshop is being planned for November 5th at the Granville Expo Center. This event will be from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm and provide several hours of pesticide license credits. The topics will include - Turf Disease Issues from the NC State Extension Turf Pathologist, Dr. Jim Kerns ; Turf Insect issues from the NC State Extension Entomologist, Dr. Terri Billeisen;  Woody Ornamental Updates from NC State Extension Landscape/Arboriculture Specialist, Dr. Barb Fair; and Landscape Weed Updates from NC State Extension Weed Specialist, Dr. Joe Neal. Plan to join us for this All Star cast event! 

There will be a $10 registration fee and lunch will be served. 

Registration information and more details to come.

Wreath Workshop

Stay connected, stay curious, and take advantage of the many programs, resources, and opportunities available through our office. Whether you’re growing a garden, supporting youth development, improving your health, or strengthening your farm or community, we are here to help. Thank you for being part of our Extension family, and we look forward to serving you throughout the season ahead!

For more information and event updates, visit our website at https://granville.ces.ncsu.edu/

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

N.C. Cooperative Extension - Granville County, 125 Oxford Loop Rd, Oxford, NC 27565, United States
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