Farm Management

Proper tractor tire pressure saves fuel and time

Updated from an original article written by Michael Staton and Tim Harrigan of Michigan State University Extension

With diesel fuel prices hovering above $5 per gallon and weather-related planting delays, producers are looking for ways to improve tractor performance and fuel efficiency. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to inflate radial tires to the lowest recommended pressure for the load they carry before performing field work.

Tire inflation demonstration at MSU’s Ag Expo. Photo by Tim Harrigan, MSU Extension

A survey conducted in Oklahoma found that only 45% of the tractor tires were within the recommended tire inflation ranges. The benefits of proper tire inflation are clearly depicted in Photo 1. This photograph was taken during a field demonstration at Michigan State University’s Ag Expo where identical tractors were hitched with a cable and pulley system to a third tractor pulling a high-draft tillage tool. The front tractor with properly inflated tires consistently performed better than the trailing tractor with slightly over inflated tires. The tractor with the properly inflated tires will consume less fuel and perform field operations in less time. Continue reading Proper tractor tire pressure saves fuel and time →

Last Chance: Pesticide and Fertilizer Recertification Meeting March 24th

If you have an Ohio Pesticide or Fertilizer Applicators License it will expire on March 31, 2022. We will be holding the final opportunity for recertification in Northwest Ohio on March 24th at 5:ooPM. The event will be held in the Youth Activities Building on the Allen County Fairgrounds. The fertilizer session (Category 15) will run from 5-6pm followed by the pesticide portion (Categories 1,2,6 and Core) Please register today by calling us at (419) 879-9108 or by email at schroeder.307@osu.edu  Registration cost is $10 for fertilizer recertification and $35 for pesticide recertification and includes educational materials and refreshments. The registration fee can be paid at the door with cash or check made out to OSU Extension – Allen County. This fee is separate from the Ohio Department of Agriculture license renewal fee of $30.

ARC-County: What’s my county’s 2022 Guarantee Revenue

By: Wm. Bruce Clevenger – OSU Extension

The Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs were authorized by the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. Both programs are risk management tools. The ARC-CO (county) program provides income support tied to historical base acres, not current production, of covered commodities. ARC-CO payments are issued when the actual county crop revenue of a covered commodity is less than the ARC-CO guarantee for the covered commodity.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) publishes county level data online that provides the details used in the ARC-CO calculations. The 2022 Program Year specific data contains the ARC-CO Benchmark Yields and Revenues using county level yields and Market Year Average prices from 2016-2020. The data is organized by state and county name from Autauga County, Alabama to Weston County, Wyoming. Continue reading ARC-County: What’s my county’s 2022 Guarantee Revenue →

Filter The Kool-Aid Before You Drink It!

By: Bob Nielsen, Purdue University

Frankly, today’s agricultural world is teeming with misinformation, half-truths, pseudo-data, bogus ideas, and sincere but incompetent researchers. Distinguishing fact from fiction can be difficult when evaluating claims for crop inputs. This YouTube presentation discusses concepts related to becoming a critical thinker and a healthy skeptic when it comes to making important agronomic decisions. It will help you learn how to distinguish between factual agronomic information and crap-tual agronomic information.

 

Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey 2022 Responses Requested

By:  Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management
OSU Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources

The Ohio Farm Custom Rates Survey data collection has launched once again. The online survey for 2022 is available at: https://go.osu.edu/ohiofarmcustomratesurvey2022

A large number of Ohio farmers hire machinery operations and other farm related work to be completed by others. This is often due to lack of proper equipment, lack of time or lack of expertise for a particular operation.  Many farm business owners do not own equipment for every possible job that they may encounter in the course of operating a farm and may, instead of purchasing the equipment needed, seek out someone with the proper tools necessary to complete the job. This farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply “custom work”. A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider. Continue reading Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey 2022 Responses Requested →

Allen County Ag Outlook and Agronomy Day

By Clint Schroeder

Join OSU Extension at the Allen County Fairgrounds, in Lima, Ohio, on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, starting at 9:00 a.m. for the Allen County Ag Outlook and Agronomy Day. The morning session will focus on commodity market outlook and ag policy. In the afternoon you will find answers to your agronomy questions, obtain pesticide applicator and fertilizer recertification credits, and CCA education hours as you prepare for the next growing season. The program will wrap up at 3:30 p.m.

Please RSVP by January 31, 2022 by contacting OSU Extension Allen County at 419-879-9108 or email Clint Schroeder at schroeder.307@osu.edu. The event will be held in the Youth Activities Building on the Allen County Fairgrounds, 2750 Harding Highway, Lima, OH 45804.

Doors open at 8:30 a.m; event starts at 9 a.m. Pre-registration by 1/31/2022 is required and the $15 admission can be paid at the door. Registration fee covers coffee and rolls, lunch, information packet, and education credits.

The 2022 PLC and ARC Decision

By: Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, and Krista Swanson – Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics – University of Illinois and Carl Zulauf – Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics – Ohio State University

Farmers will again have until March 15 to make commodity title program selections. Given the current high prices, commodity title payments are not expected from any program option for the 2022 marketing year. If a change in conditions resulted in payments, those would be received in October 2023, after the close of the 2022 marketing year. Farmers wishing to purchase the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) crop insurance policy must select Price Loss Coverage (PLC) as the commodity title choice. Based on current price projections, Agriculture Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) will maximize the chance of payment for soybeans, although that chance will be small. The probability of payments is roughly the same for corn and soybeans.

Decision Overview

Farmers have three program options when making their election decisions.

  • Price Loss Coverage (PLC) is a crop-specific fixed price support program that triggers payments if the marketing year average (MYA) price falls below the commodity’s effective reference price. Payments are made on 85% of historical base acres.
  • Agricultural Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) is a crop-specific county revenue program. ARC-CO triggers payments if actual revenue (MYA price times county yield) falls below 86% of the benchmark revenue (product of benchmark price and trend-adjusted historical yield for the county). Payments are made on 85% of historical base acres.
  • Agricultural Risk Coverage at the individual level (ARC-IC) is a farm-level revenue support program. Like ARC-CO, payments are triggered if actual revenue falls below 86% of the benchmark. If an FSA farm unit is enrolled in ARC-IC, information for all commodities planted in 2022 are combined together in a weighted average to determine benchmark and actual revenues. If a farmer enrolls multiple FSA farms in the same state, all farm units are combined in determining the averages for actual and benchmark revenues. Payments are made on 65% of historical base acres.

Continue reading The 2022 PLC and ARC Decision →

Planning for the Future of Your Farm

Attend our popular “Planning for the Future of Your Farm” workshops this winter and let our team of farm management and legal experts help you build your farm transition plan. Join OSU’s farm management educator David Marrison and legal educators Peggy Kirk Hall and Robert Moore for three in-person workshops and an online workshop in 2022.  Dates and locations for the day-long workshops are:

  • Greene County–February 10, 2022
  • Wayne County–February 25, 2022
  • Wood County–March 4, 2022

The online Zoom webinar will be two hours each night on January 31 and February 7, 21 and 28.

Check back on the Farm Office site under “events” or at go.osu.edu/farmsuccession for registration information.

Farmer and Farmland Owner Income Tax Webinar

By Clint Schroeder

This Thursday, December 9th, OSU Extension will be hosting a Farmer and Farmland Owner Income Tax Webinar from 6:30-8:30PM. The cost for this program is $35 and registration can be completed at go.osu.edu/farmertaxwebinar  The featured presenters will be Michael Langemeier from Purdue University as well as David Marrison and Barry Ward from OSU Extension.

The Allen County Extension Office will also have copies of the 2021 Farmer’s Tax Guide available for pick up after December 15th.

Management decisions relative to high nitrogen fertilizer prices

By Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, and Krista Swanson, University of Illinois, and Carl Zulauf, The Ohio State University

Nitrogen fertilizer prices continue to rise. The average anhydrous ammonia price now is over $1,100 per ton. Overall, these large price increases indicate that 2022 nitrogen application rates should be lowered, particularly for farmers who have been applying nitrogen above university recommended levels. Current corn and soybeans prices are at levels that result in the same relative profitability for both crops in northern and central Illinois.

Nitrogen fertilizer prices

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released their latest estimates of fertilizer prices in Illinois on October 21. The average price of anhydrous ammonia was $1,135 per ton, up by $278 per ton from the price reported two weeks previously. AMS began reporting fertilizer prices on a bi-weekly basis starting in September 2008. The $278 increase is the largest ever. The next largest absolute change was a $178 decline occurring in December 2008. Continue reading Management decisions relative to high nitrogen fertilizer prices →