• Most 2- to 5-year-olds watch TV an average of 31 hours each week, or more than 4 hours each day.
• Prime time TV has an average of 6 violent acts every hour; children's programming has an average of 26 violent acts every hour.
• The average American child witnesses 45 acts of violence on TV each day.
• Children watching TV may see 50,000 TV commercials each year.
• The average American family has the TV on for 6.2 hours every day.

TV Violence

Children may:

• develop strong emotional fears;
• become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others;
• become "immune" to the horror of violence;
• gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems;
• imitate the violence they observe on television; or
• identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers.

Parents can limit the negative effects of TV violence

• Refuse to let children see shows known to be violent.
• Refuse to buy violent videos.
• Change the channel or turn off the TV when something offensive or violent comes on.
• Verbally show disapproval of violent episodes.
• Emphasize the belief that violent behavior is not the best way to solve a problem.

Who is watching?

Use your child's age and development to guide you in choosing TV programs.

Preschoolers have longer attention spans and are able to watch short programs. However, they often are not able to understand the whole story of a program. They can remember only small pieces of what they see and often cannot tie everything together.

School-age children understand much more than preschoolers; however, they often misinterpret what they see. School-agers can distinguish between reality and fantasy portrayed by live actors versus cartoons, but may have difficulty interpreting more subtle messages.

Contact Information:

CHARITON, Iowa - Beef producers who attended a recent series of pasture management meetings in southern Iowa learned of the importance of timely and careful stockpiling of fescue pastures. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach and Iowa Beef Center (IBC) sponsored the meetings that focused on fescue management and featured ISU Extension beef program specialist Joe Sellers and Craig Roberts of the University of Missouri.

"Producers planning to stockpile fescue pastures for late fall and winter grazing should think about reducing alkaloid levels in the fescue with good management practices," Sellers said. "Most tall fescue stands have an endophyte that produces alkaloids that can hurt cattle performance."

Sellers said producers often think of higher body temperatures, less grass consumption, more time in shade and ponds, and symptoms like loss of tail switches and lameness as negative effects of fescue, but there can be more to that story. While these are a concern, the biggest effects from fescue are reduced gains, lowered milk production and poor rebreeding rates in cattle.

Roberts said the problem has a high price tag.

"It's estimated that fescue toxicosis costs the Missouri beef industry over $160 million per year," Roberts said. "Similar problems exist in Iowa, but there are several proven management steps that can reduce the problem regardless of the location."

Practices that help cattle perform better on fescue have to do with managing the levels of alkaloid consumed by cattle. These practices include reducing spring nitrogen fertilization rates, providing more diverse stands with legumes and other grasses, rotating cattle to non-fescue based summer pastures, haying or clipping fescue during the late spring and early summer to reduce stems and seed heads, and supplementing feeds like soybean or corn co-products, Roberts said. More information is available in this presentation by Roberts.

Using several of these steps can alleviate the effects of fescue, but there is no "silver bullet" that will eliminate the problem. Studies looking at other methods like mineral additives and de-worming have found mixed results.

This past winter, several producers had more intense cases of fescue foot and other fescue related problems than during previous years. In part this was due to longer than recommended rest periods, followed by grazing during very cold weather, Sellers said.

"Many years of research in Iowa and Missouri on stockpiling resulted in recommending stockpiling periods of 70 to 100 days. Much longer rest periods will increase plant volume, but also will reduce forage quality and increase the alkaloid levels in the grass," he said. "If pastures are rested longer than 100 days, producers must be careful when those plots are grazed, graze mature bred cows in mid-pregnancy and dilute the fescue with other feeds. Late summer applications of moderate nitrogen rates can result in more grass growth and extended winter grazing, with less impact on alkaloids."

For more information on stockpiled grazing and managing fescue, contact Sellers by phone at 641-203-1270 or by e-mail at sellers@iastate.edu.

IBC was established in 1996 with the goal of supporting the growth and vitality of the state's beef cattle industry. It comprises faculty and staff from ISU Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, and works to develop and deliver the latest research-based information regarding the beef cattle industry. For more information about IBC, visit www.iowabeefcenter.org.

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Iowa State University Extension specialists offer tips for taking care of your lawn, annuals and garden in hot weather. To have additional questions answered, contact the experts at hortline@iastate.edu or call 515-294-3108.

Is it necessary to water an established lawn during hot, dry weather?

Gardeners have two basic options when confronted with hot, dry weather. One option is to do nothing and allow the grass to go dormant. The alternative is to water the turfgrass during dry weather to maintain a green, actively growing lawn.

Cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, can survive long periods of dry weather. In dry weather, the shoots of the turfgrass plants stop growing and the plants go dormant. Dormancy is a natural survival mechanism for turfgrass. While the leaves have turned brown and died, the turfgrass roots and crowns remain alive. Generally, Kentucky bluegrass can remain dormant for four to six weeks without suffering significant damage.

Cool-season grasses are at risk of dying if dormant for more than six weeks. To ensure survival of dormant grass, it's best to water lawns that have been dormant for six weeks. Apply 1 to 1 ½ inches of water in a single application. Water again seven days later. The grass should begin to green up after the second application.

When is the best time to water a lawn?

Early morning (5 to 9 a.m.) is the best time to water a lawn. A morning application allows the water to soak deeply into the soil with little water lost to evaporation. When watering is completed, the turfgrass foliage dries quickly. Watering at mid-day is less efficient because of rapid evaporation; in addition, strong winds may cause uneven water distribution. Strong, mid-day winds also may carry water onto driveways, sidewalks or streets, wasting considerable amounts of water. Watering lawns in late afternoon or evening may increase disease problems.

How frequently should I water my lawn? How much water should be applied per week?

Most cool-season lawns in Iowa require approximately 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week. When watering the lawn, apply this amount in a single application or possibly two applications three or four days apart. Avoid frequent, light applications of water, which promote shallow rooting and lush growth. Lush, shallow-rooted turfgrass is less drought tolerant. It also is more susceptible to pest problems. To determine the amount of water applied by a sprinkler, place two or three rain gauges within the spray pattern.

How frequently should I water annuals in containers?

The frequency of watering may vary considerably from container to container. Watering frequency depends on the size and type of container, composition of the potting mix, plant species and weather conditions. Some plants, such as impatiens, like an evenly moist soil. Others, such as vinca, possess good drought tolerance.

Annuals growing in containers should be checked daily (especially in summer) to determine whether they need to be watered. A few plants, such as New Guinea impatiens and fuchsia, should be checked twice a day (morning and late afternoon or evening), as they dry out quickly on hot, windy days.

When watering annuals in containers, continue to apply water until water begins to flow out the drainage holes in the bottom of the container.

How often should I water my garden?

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AMES, Iowa - In past years, sudden death syndrome (SDS) has appeared during the last week of July or the first week of August in Iowa. Therefore, researchers at Iowa State University (ISU) anticipate symptoms of SDS will begin appearing in the state with the next couple of weeks. Although researchers do not expect SDS to be as widespread or as severe as the 2010 growing season, there have been some counties within the state that have received higher-than-normal precipitation. Scientists expect the risk of SDS in these counties to be higher since disease development is favored by wet conditions.

Begin scouting for SDS soon
The first symptoms of the disease are usually found on more compacted and low areas of the field. First symptoms are seen on the leaves of infected plants as scattered, yellow spots between leaf veins. Large sections of leaf tissue between veins turn yellow as spots grow together. These yellow blotches soon turn brown, but the veins remain green. Eventually, the leaves die and drop, but the petioles remain on the stem. Infected plants are also easily pulled from the soil because the roots are rotted. When split lengthwise with a knife, the internal tissue of the main or tap root will be gray to reddish brown, not healthy white.
ISU researchers emphasize that, while there are no in-season management options for SDS, scouting is still important for several reasons. 

• First, this is a good time to evaluate soybean varieties for resistance to SDS. Growing resistant varieties, or avoiding very susceptible varieties, is the most effective way to reduce losses to SDS.
• Also, identifying fields or parts of fields with SDS can help with future management practices. These management tactics include reducing soil compaction since the disease has been associated with compacted soil; planting fields with a history of SDS towards the end of a planting schedule when soils may be warmer and drier; and testing for the presence of soybean cyst nematodes.
• Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is usually, but not always, associated with SDS and may increase its severity, especially in varieties that are SCN-susceptible. Therefore, management practices to reduce SCN populations, including SCN-resistant variety selection and preventing the spread of soil from field to field, may delay onset and spread of SDS.

"Several Iowa State University pathologists and agronomists continue research to improve our understanding the biology of the fungus that causes SDS and develop improved management options for the disease," said Alison Robertson, ISU Extension plant pathologist. "The ISU soybean breeding program continues to develop and release germplasm with improved resistance to SDS that is available to all private soybean breeding companies. ISU scientists collaborate with scientists at other universities."

Most of the SDS research at ISU is funded by soybean checkoff dollars from state, regional and national organizations, namely the Iowa Soybean Association, the North Central Soybean Research Program and the United Soybean Board.

ISU Research

Key advances from the last five years of research on SDS at Iowa State include :

• Development and release of soybean breeding lines with improved resistance to SDS that can be used by seed companies to develop resistant varieties adapted to Iowa;
• Discovery, identification and molecular characterization of a toxin produced by the SDS fungus that causes the disease and that the toxin needs to be exposed to light to cause the disease on the leaves;
• Discovery that the fungus needs to colonize the central part (or vascular system) of the roots so the toxin can be moved up from the roots to the leaves in the cells that carry water up the plant;
• Discovery that soybean seedlings are most vulnerable to root infection in the first few days after planting, and in cold soils the seedlings are vulnerable to infection for a longer period of time than when planting occurs in warmer soil;
• Discovery that the SDS fungus can survive in corn residue, including corn kernels dropped in field, and this may be a way the fungus overwinters from season to season.

Several other ongoing projects include :

• Sequencing of the entire genetic composition (genome) of the SDS pathogen, which will allow scientists to identify the genes involved in the ability of the fungus to cause disease on soybeans;
• Identifying the mechanisms behind the interaction between the SCN and the SDS pathogen;
• Identifying soybean genes involved in resistance to SDS using molecular approaches;
• Continuing to screen soybean breeding populations adapted to Iowa for improved resistance to SDS;
• Evaluating the impact of crop rotation, planting date and seed treatment for SDS management in Iowa.

Partially funded by the soybean checkoff.