June and July are always busy months for the local 4-H beef and horse clubs who are planning their achievements and interclub competitions. The 4-H achievements give members an opportunity to showcase the skills they have learned throughout the year. The first livestock achievement in the Portage area will be for the Portage 4-H Canter Club on June 9th at the Portage Fairgrounds starting at 10 a.m.

Next, on June 16 the Oakville Beef Club will hold their achievement at 2 p.m. at the Curling Rink in Oakville.

A Father's Day tradition, the Gainsborough Combined 4-H club's achievement starts at 1 p.m. at the Gainsborough Hall on June 17 and MacGregor Mix'n Match Beef Club' achievement is scheduled for the MacGregor Fair Grounds at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 30.

Horse members in the Austin Blazing Saddles club will achieve on June 23 at 9 a.m. at Austin

Museum Grounds.

The Portage Beef Club achievement will take place on Saturday, July 7 at 10 a.m. at the Exhibition Grounds at Island Park during the Portagex.

Locations may be adjusted depending on weather conditions. If you would like more detail on any of these events, call the Portage MAFRI Office at 239-3352.

Evergreen Browning is caused by Insects, Disease and Environment & sometimes pets

Evergreens lose moisture through their needles in the winter and may desiccate and turn brown by spring.

This can happen if roots are dry in the fall, an early snowfall reflects and increases the sun's intensity on the tree, or if evergreens have a southern exposure.

Some needle shed is normal and if new buds are forming in the spring, then the trees will recover.

Two of the most common insect problems in evergreens are spider mites and spruce budworm. The spider mite is difficult to see with the naked eye but a tell tale sign is needle browning and cob webbing in the branches.

The mites overwinter as eggs hatching in mid-May and new adults are found by early June. New generations are produced every 2 - 3 weeks and favour dry weather.

Spider mites can be controlled by a weekly hosing down with a forceful spray of water (or heavy rains) or insecticide.

Two applications of Lorsban, Diazinon, Malathion, one in early June and the second in late June will provide good control.

The spruce budworm is larger than the spider mite, greenish in colour, and eats the needles of new buds.

They emerge in early May and feed until late June.

If severe enough, they can consume all of the new foliage.

Use the insecticide Sevin, Malathion, or Cygon as necessary to control the spruce budworm.

Needle cast is caused by a fungus and will eventually turn needles brown to reddish brown before falling off.

The disease overwinters on dead needles so raking up and destroying infected needles is one method of prevention.

Copper oxychloride or Bravo applied in June when spores are being released is another method of control.

Crops in the United States and Canada are Ahead of Normal

Seeding in Manitoba is now mostly finished with a few acres of greenfeed and special crops being seeded this week. Crops got off to a head start as a result of an early, dry spring which allowed seeding to begin in April. This is a drastic turnaround from 2011 that saw a late, wet spring make seeding a struggle and forced many to use unorthodox methods such as aerial broadcasting. Recent rains and the early seeding should bode well for the crops as early seeding usually results in higher yields.

On May 29 Saskatchewan had seeded 74% of the crop, up from the 5 year average of 70%. In the United States as of June 3, 97% of the corn crop was emerged compared to the 5 year average of 83%. The 19 point lead on soybean plantings, sitting at 94% has meant emergence is 29 points ahead of the 5 year average as well. Following similar trends is sunflower seeding, 19 points up on the 2007-2011 average. The US winter wheat crop is 88% headed and already 20% harvested, up from 80% and 3% respectively.

For more information contact the Portage MAFRI office at 239-3353.