Bucolic Briefs

Montgomery Community College in Troy will offer a beekeeping class through March 17 from 7-9 p.m. The course is designed for the beginner to experienced beekeeper and will cover the equipment needed for beekeeping, disease treatments, pesticide regulations and more. Cost is $25. Contact Gary Saunders, (910) 576-6222. for more.

***

The N.C. Meat Goat Association will hold its annual Youth “Wether” Sale Feb. 2 at the Johnston County Livestock Arena in Smithfield. For more information, go to www.ncmeatgoat.com or call Eric Honeycutt at (919) 894-7691.

***

Planning for Your Farm’s Future, a statewide conference focused on estate planning and more, will be held Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cooperative Extension Office in Louisburg. The conference is free and lunch is provided. For more, contact Martha Mobley at (919) 496-3344 or at martha_mobley@ncsu.edu, or go to http://franklin.ces.ncsu.edu.

***

The Wrangler Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association Championship Finals will be held Feb. 8 & 9 at the Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh. This event features 40 of the top bull riders competing for $40,000 in prize money. In addition, 20 horsewomen will compete in cowgirl barrel racing. For more, contact Jeff Mullen at (919) 796-8375.

***

The Johnston County Horse Show Series features monthly horse shows starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Johnston County Livestock Arena in Smithfield. A negative Coggins test is required for all horses. Cost is $7.50 per class. Following are upcoming show dates: Feb. 16, March 15, April 12 and May 17. Raindates for all shows are the following day. For more, contact Michele McLaughlin, (919) 934-1344 or e-mail sileeno@ipass.net.

***

Educational horse classes will be held Feb. 21 and 28, March 6 and 13 beginning at 6 p.m. with dinner followed by program. Topics include saddle fitting, pasture management, hay information and more. Cost is $6 per person. Contact Martha Mobley at (919) 496-3344 or at martha_mobley @ncsu.edu for more.

***

A Successful Small Farms Opportunities Conference will be held Feb. 23 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Vance-Granville Community College campus in Louisburg. Topics will focus on pastured pork, leasing land for wildlife, beginner’s tips for community supported agriculture ventures, direct marketing, beekeeping, organic production and more. Call (919) 496-3344 or go to http://franklin.ces.ncsu.edu for more.

***

The annual meeting and workshops of the N.C. Meat Goat Association will be held Feb. 23 at the Johnston County Livestock Arena in Smithfield. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and features guest speaker Terry Burks of Bowling Green, Ky. For more info, go to www.ncmeatgoat.com or call Todd McLeod at (336) 241-2245.

***

The Northern Piedmont Specialty Crops School will be held Feb. 29 at the Person County Cooperative Extension Center in Roxboro. The program will feature presentations on marketing ideas, pawpaw fruit, seedless table grapes, muscadine grapes, asparagus trials and more. Cost is $25 per person and $15 for each additional person in a family or business. Pre-registration is required. To register or for more information, contact extension agent Carl Cantaluppi at (919) 603-1350 or e-mail at carl_cantaluppi@ncsu.edu.

***

The N.C. Beekeepers Association will hold its Spring Conference March 7 & 8 at the Ramada Inn Convention Center in Burlington. Planned workshops will focus on watering your bees, preparing honey for sale, small hive beetle research and non-honey bee stinging insects. Vendors will also be present with a variety of beekeeping equipment and books. For more, contact Charles Heatherly at (919) 859-6995 or e-mail at heath7@bellsouth.net or go to www.ncbeekeepers.org/meetings.

***

The Southern States 36th Annual Regional Morgan Horse Show will be held May 21-24 at the Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh. The event features a $5,000 Classic Pleasure Saddle Championship jackpot and a $2,000 Hunter Pleasure Amateur Championship jackpot.

***

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will host the first Got to Be NC Festival June 5-8 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. The event will be a celebration of North Carolina agriculture and heritage and will feature North Carolina food products, a display of antique farm equipment, tractor and mule pulls, music, a state barbecue competition and much more. Admission is free. There is a $5 fee for Grandstand concerts and pulls. Mark your calendars now for this inaugural event. Look for more information at www.ncagfest.com.

***

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services encourages livestock producers to register their farms with the NCFarmID program. NCFarmID is a voluntary program to register farms for a national identification number as a way to protect livestock in the event of a disease outbreak. For more, contact NCDA&CS at (919) 715-2951 or go to www.NCFarmID.com.

***