Sheep

Kill Poison Hemlock Now!

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

Poison hemlock has already emerged in a vegetative state around Noble County and beyond. Soon it will be bolting and blooming on stalks 6-10 feet tall. All parts of the plant are toxic to all classes of livestock if consumed and is prevalent along roadsides, ditches, and crop field borders. It is a biennial weed that does not flower in the first year of growth but flowers in the second year. The earlier you can address poison hemlock with mowing and/or herbicide application, the better your control methods will be.

Poison hemlock is a concern in public right of ways, on the farm, and in the landscape!

Poison hemlock is related to Queen Anne’s lace, but is much larger and taller, emerges earlier, and has purple spots on the stems. Another relative that is poisonous is wild parsnip, which looks similar to poison hemlock, but has yellow flowers. Giant hogweed is another relative of poison hemlock that is also toxic. All of these plants have umbel shaped clusters of flowers.

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Livestock and Grain Producers: Dealing with Vomitoxin and Zearalenone

Vomitoxin in the 2020 corn crop continues to plague both livestock and grain producers. Livestock producers are trying to decide how best to manage corn and corn by-products with high levels of vomitoxin, and those who grow corn are trying to decide how best to avoid vomitoxin contamination in 2021.

In the 15 minute video below, OSU Extension Educations John Barker, Rob Leeds, and Jacci Smith discuss where and why this year’s vomitoxin issues originated, considerations for avoiding problems in coming years, how it impacts livestock, and what’s involved in testing grain for vomitoxin.

Fertilizing Hay Fields

By Stan Smith, OSU Extension

As first cutting hay harvest rapidly progresses and even winds down in parts of the State, perhaps it’s a good time to consider replacing the soil nutrients that are removed with harvest. Recognizing that fertilizer is a significant investment in hay production, it’s also important to note that since we agree you can’t starve a profit into a cow, likewise, you can’t starve production or profit into a forage field either.

Each ton of hay that’s harvested and removed from a field in the harvest process takes with it 13 pounds of P2O5 (phosphorus) and 50 pounds of K2O (potash) regardless the calendar date or quality of the material that’s harvested. To maintain productivity and plant health, fertility that’s removed needs to be replaced. Since nearly all the phosphorus sources we presently have available include some nitrogen, those replacing fertility immediately after the first cutting will enjoy some benefit for grass based hay fields from the nitrogen that comes along with the P. Continue reading →

Recap: 2019 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

As promised, the 2019 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium and 70th anniversary of the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association (OSIA) was full of enthusiasm, entertainment, education, friendship, and much more! Among the many highlights, this years event hosted 110 shepherds on Friday afternoon and well over 200 shepherds for the Saturday program. The unique program drew an audience from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, and New Mexico. We warned you earlier that you if you didn’t register for this years event, you were going to miss out and we hate to say it but we right. So, for those that weren’t able to attend, we hope that we will be able to share a few highlights that occurred on the two day event. This years event focused on ‘Improving Profitability of the Sheep Operation’ and included two special guests that are heavily involved in the North American sheep industry.

To kick off the Fridays event, Sandi Brock, Ontario sheep producer of Shepherd Creek Farms and Youtube sensation ‘Sheepishly Me’, took the stage. Sandi began by introducing herself as a mom, wife, and farmer. The daughter of a dairyman, she knew right away that her career would lie within the agricultural world. In 2012, she decided that she would get into the sheep industry. Not having any type of sheep knowledge or background, she knew right were to get her information for the start. She Googled it. Right or wrong, Sandi pointed out that this is how a lot of people in today’s world get their information. Some of the information was great, while some was misleading. After experiencing this first hand, she decided to share her story on what she had learned by doing with the rest of the world and thus Sheepishly Me was born.

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