Good evening,
This afternoon I picked up my Dairy Service Unit cheese order. If you ordered cheese and haven’t picked it up yet, they are still distributing orders at the Wagner Dairy Farm on County Road 175 east of Kenton from 9:00-12:00 noon tomorrow. Earlier today was the groundbreaking for Heritage Cooperative’s gas, diesel, E85, and compressed natural gas (CNG) station. This was a special event for Hardin County as we are being seen across the state as an early adopter to energy efficient fuels. The groundbreaking was also for the new liquid fertilizer station too, but today’s ceremony highlighted the other.
We survived the Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association’s Fall Sheep Management Tour this past weekend. Go to the Hardin County OSU Extension Facebook page and check out the photos from the tour. Thanks to everyone on the committee which consisted of Madelyn Lowery, Nancy Wilcox, Gary and Mary Wilson for planning this educational tour. Make sure you come out to support our Master Gardeners as they will be involved with the ‘Christmas Around the Square’ Saturday, November 9 in Kenton.
There seems to have been much progress made in the past week with the crops. I counted 35 corn fields and one soybean field on my way into the office yesterday that still need to be harvested. I have also noticed a good amount of fall tillage throughout the county. Yields for soybeans have been lower than normal while corn yields have been up, depending on where the fields are located and the amount of rain received. We wrapped up our county soybean research study this fall and I would like to thank cooperating farmers Craig Geberin, Ted Griffith, Jan Layman, Paul Ralston, and Mark Watkins for making this possible. They were part of a larger statewide study to find ways to improve soybean yields and quality. See the attached article for further information about this project.
I have also attached a flier about the Lamb 509 program for sheep producers. This is a 2-day short course designed to address several factors associated with producing consistent, high quality, wholesome lamb at the farm, packing-plant and retail levels. This is a hands-on program that will enhance your understanding of quality attributes that affect consumer acceptability and ultimately consumer demand of lamb products. Registration is due November 25 and limited to the first 32 people for this program which is December 17-18 at the Animal Sciences Building on the Ohio State University Columbus Campus. As usual, I have included some articles below if you are interested.
Mark
Collecting Yield and Identifying Problem Spots – Anne Dorrance
Soybean harvest is wrapping up and some fields beat all expectations and some indicate potential problem spots in the field. As you think back to those questionable spots where the seed chatter through the combine got kind of quiet or you are scanning the yield monitor results – you have the best data for those low yield pockets. This year there could be several reasons, part due to the weather and part due to biotic factors like soybean cyst nematode. Heavy rains that occurred shortly after planting affected stand in some parts of the state, while we did not have as much replanting as we have had in recent years – stands were an issue in some of the more poorly drained fields. To find out more about the soybean cyst nematode, effects of flooding, and other reasons for below average producing soybeans, go tohttp://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2013/2013-37/collecting-yield-and-identifying-problem-spots.
Don’t Guess, Forage Test – Dr. Mark A. McCann, Extension Animal Scientist, Virginia Tech
Virginia’s plentiful summer rains provided us with far more forage than we have been accustomed to. However, the rains also provided a challenge in harvesting quality forage. As a result, cattlemen are faced with a plentiful quantity of hay with a limited amount of high quality forage for the upcoming winter. More hay than normal was rained on during the drying period. This always gives rise to the question of how much the rain decreased the nutritional value. There is no standard change in quality that you can bank on other than it will be reduced. How much depends on quantity of rain, 1st or 2nd cutting, how soon after mowing the rain occurred, etc. The goal each winter should be to feed no more than what is necessary and do it as cheaply as possible. To continue reading this and other beef articles, go tohttp://beef.osu.edu/beef/beefOct3013.html.
Stalk Rot and Lodging Problems in Corn – Pierce Paul, Peter Thomison
Wind damage early in the season coupled with delayed harvest and rain late in the season have some producers concerned about stalk rot and lodging problems in corn. When stalk rot occurs late in the season as it often does, it may have little or no direct effect on yield. However, stalk lodging, which results from stalk rot, can have such a significant impact on harvest losses that it is often considered to be the one of the most significant yield limiting disease of corn. To read more about stalk rot and lodging problems in corn, go tohttp://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2013/2013-37/stalk-rot-and-lodging-problems-in-corn.
2014 Ohio Commercial Pesticide Applicator Recertification Conferences – Curtis Young
The 2014 Ohio Commercial Pesticide Applicator Recertification Conferences have been set and announced by the Ohio Pesticide Safety Education Program of OSU Extension (http://pested.osu.edu). The dates and locations of the conferences are January 30, 2014 – Dayton Convention Center; January 31, 2014 – Sandusky, Kalahari Conference Center; February 19, 2014 – Akron, John S. Knight Center; and March 6, 2014 – Columbus Convention Center. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2013/2013-37/2014-ohio-commercial-pesticide-applicator-recertification-conferences to continue reading about Commercial Pesticide Applicator Recertification.
Availability of Sulfur from Fall Applied Gypsum – Ed Lentz
Recently a producer asked if he applied gypsum this fall or any other sulfur source would it be available for next year’s corn crop? Gypsum is calcium sulfate and the sulfate will respond in the soil environment similar to nitrate. It will move with water and most likely will have moved away by the time a corn crop is planted next spring. Thus, like fall applied nitrate-N, I would not expect it to be available for a future crop. However, it may be utilized by a fall planted crop. This would be true for any sulfur fertilizer in the sulfate form. On the other hand, elemental sulfur is in a chemical form that would take time to convert to sulfate. Sulfur must be in the sulfate form to be taken up by plant roots. Fall applied elemental sulfur should convert to sulfate by corn planting time. The conversion of elemental sulfur to sulfate will release hydrogen ions, which will have an acidifying effect on the soil. Sulfate form of sulfur does not have an acidifying effect alone but when combine with ammonium, the hydrogen ions release by the conversion of ammonium to nitrate will gradually lower soil pH. Thus elemental sulfur is often used to lower soil pH but not sulfate.
Mark A. Badertscher
Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator
OSU Extension Hardin County
1021 W. Lima Street, Suite 103, Kenton, OH 43326
419-674-2297 Office