April | 2014 | Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources

April 11, 2014

April 11, 2014 at 4:07pmDecember 21, 2018 by Mark Badertscher

Good Evening,

I don’t know if you noticed the 100 Years of Extension logo at the bottom of my email signature, but this year Extension is celebrating its 100^th year. There will be a national celebration in May marking the signing of the Smith-Lever Act which provided for the Cooperative Extension Service. The Ohio State University Marching Band plans to recognize OSU Extension in October during the homecoming football game with a special band show saluting Extension work in Ohio. Extension work started locally in Hardin County in 1918 with the hiring of S.R. Heffron as the first county agent. This was carried out with the cooperation of the Farm Bureau when war emergency seed corn was provided to farmers. Two hundred producers attended threshing meetings that year and demonstrations were conducted on control of Stinking Smut Disease in wheat.

Extension has changed since then with the addition of 4-H and Youth Development, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Community Development educators in addition to Agriculture and Natural Resources. What memories do you have of Hardin County OSU Extension? Did you attend Twilight Tours, Sheep Tours, Conservation Tillage Club meetings, field days, pond clinics, or other Agriculture and Natural Resources programs? If so, how have these programs made an impact on your operation? Did you change the way you were doing something or try a new practice? We are currently looking for users of Extension to write articles for our 100^th Year of Extension insert for the Kenton Times. If you are willing to contribute an article, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can it done by April 23 for inclusion in this special edition flier. This effort will resemble the 4-H supplement and will be sponsored by ads.

Information is now available for 2014 Hardin County Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV). We have copies of the new tables and the Hardin County CAUV History Chart for different soil types in our office. Current Agricultural Use Value of cropland is calculated using a formula which includes yield information, cropping pattern, crop prices, non-land production costs, and capitalization rate. Information is also available on woodland and pastureland values. Stop by the office and pick up a copy if you are interested in seeing the new rates and want to know how they are calculated. So far, five individuals have decided to become CoCoRaHS rainfall collectors. I am still looking for five more volunteers and need people in the Roundhead, Ada, Forest, Hepburn, and Mt. Victory areas. See the attached news release for more details. Below are some articles that you might find interesting.

Rainfall Research News Release

Mark

Evaluate Alfalfa Stands For Winter Injury – Rory Lewandowski

As alfalfa stands break dormancy and begins growth, growers should make plans to take some time to evaluate the health of those stands and determine if there was winter injury. Some early bud growth was observed the last full week of March in the southern half of Ohio. This evaluation is especially important in those areas of the state where we had periods of near zero to below zero temperatures this winter combined with little to no snow cover during some of those cold temperatures. To continue reading this and other beef related articles, go to http://beef.osu.edu/beef/beefApr0914.html.

Getting Your Corn Crop Off to a Good Start in 2014 – Peter Thomison

Mistakes made during crop establishment are usually irreversible, and can put a “ceiling” on a crop’s yield potential before the plants have even emerged. The following are some proven practices that will help get a corn crop off to a good start. Perform Tillage Operations Only When Necessary and Under the Proper Soil Conditions. Avoid working wet soil and reduce secondary tillage passes. Perform secondary tillage operations only when necessary to prepare an adequate seedbed. Shallow compaction created by excessive secondary tillage can reduce crop yields. Deep tillage should only be used when a compacted zone has been identified and soil is relatively dry. Late summer and fall are the best times of year for deep tillage. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2014/corn-2014-8/getting-your-corn-crop-off-to-a-good-start-in-2014 to read more about approved corn production practices.

Weed Identification Resources – Mark Loux

We frequently receive questions about how to identify weeds and what the best resources are to help with identification. There are many resources available for plant identification, but these are some of the ones we use the most, divided into four categories – books, online PDFs, websites, and apps (internet access not necessarily required except to download initially). We still often start the identification process with several books, because this can be faster and more comprehensive than using the web. To find out more about these books, online PDFs, websites, and apps, go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2014/corn-2014-8/weed-identification-resources.

Summer Work Opportunity – Ohio Department of Agriculture

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) in cooperation with the USDA/Forest Service is looking for help in the field this summer placing pheromone traps for our biological survey of the gypsy moth. This program is an eleven state, federally sponsored project to collect data on the movement and population densities of the Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar (L). The trappers will be responsible for constructing traps, placing traps in pre-designated locations, conducting mid-season inspections/data collection, and performing final trap pull/data collection. Data collection on trap placement and positive catches will be recorded on handheld GPS units, as well as on a paper backup form. Data will be downloaded weekly with crew leaders and submitted to Forest Service Data Base. A crew leader and ODA personnel will be available for support. To read more about this job trapping Gypsy Moths in this area, see the two attached pdf files.

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT Notice 2014

Open_BidUnits

Bt Options for Corn Insect Control and “Know Before you Grow” – Andy Michel, Peter Thomison

Since the mid 1990’s and the first Bt corn product to control European corn borer was released, there are now numerous options available for corn insect management. At times, this information can be confusing, and thankfully our colleagues Dr. Eileen Cullen at the University of Wisconsin and Dr. Chris DiFonzo at Michigan State university have developed a handy Bt-Trait table, which lists all currently available options (a copy can be found at our webpage: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/ag/images/Handy_Bt_Trait_Table_a.pdf). To read the complete article ‘Bt Options for Corn Insect Control,’ go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2014/corn-2014-8/bt-options-for-corn-insect-control-and-201cknow-before-you-grow201d.

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

hardin.osu.edu

April 4, 2014

April 4, 2014 at 3:53pmDecember 21, 2018 by Mark Badertscher

Hello,

Is it raining out your way? We’ve sure received our share of precipitation in the past couple of days. Soon our 15 Hardin County Township Rainfall Reporters will be back at taking care of the important task of recording rainfall. After checking past records, it looks like this type of data has been collected for the past 21 years. Traditionally, rainfall has been collected during the growing season from April 15-October 15. Monthly reports are sent in to the Extension office and the data is summarized. A monthly article is then submitted to the area media to let people know how much rainfall has been collected around the county and how this information compares with the past month and sometimes a ten year average. This is useful information for crop producers, but the disadvantage is that immediate rainfall information is not available. The advantage is that we have a wealth of information from collecting data this way for several years, and this research needs to be continued.

So what about a person who is interested in knowing the rainfall amount the same day, or maybe the for the week? Many farmers now have cropland around the county and in some cases in multiple counties. Different farms receive different amounts of rainfall. There is a rainfall collection and reporting system that meets these needs as well. The Community Collaborative Rain, Snow, and Hail network or CoCoRaHS for short is the nation’s largest rainfall collection network started by Colorado State University in 1998. Once a CoCoRaHS volunteer collects rainfall in their special gauge, it is entered online that day. This rainfall information becomes immediately available to anyone with charts and maps on the internet. Historical records are compiled automatically and can be viewed at http://www.cocorahs.org/.

I have decided to start this method of rainfall reporting in Hardin County in addition to the traditional rainfall collection method that we will be starting our 22^nd year of on April 15. Ten new CoCoRaHS gauges have been purchased to begin this new rainfall collection process. The idea is to find volunteers to around the county who are willing to participate in this effort. The Extension office will provide these individuals with gauges and training in return for the data that will be collected and will be available for anyone to view online. A person is expected to check their rain gauge each morning and enter the amount, if any, online. If they are going to be away and cannot check the gauge, a multi-day entry can be made. Check out the website and attached flier if you are interested, and then let me now if you would like to participate in this program.

Once the rain falls, it needs a place to drain. Researchers from The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences have sent out copies of the Ohio Drainage Management Survey to randomly selected landowners in Hardin County. Names and addresses were gathered by the researchers from county public records. You may have received one of these surveys and may wonder why you are being asked to complete it. This survey is a part of a larger project to educate landowners about conservation management decisions, as well as gain their perspective and views about possible policy being discussed at state and local levels. If you received one of these surveys or want to find out more about it, see the attached news release. It is important to have the views of Hardin County landowners as a part of this process.

Drainage Survey News Release

Land Application

Meetings and events for this coming week include the Sheep Improvement Association April 8, starting at 7:30 pm at Ag Credit. The Abundant Life Assembly of God church will host Tree City USA on April 9 from 8:30-3:00 pm. This event is hosted by both the City of Kenton and Village of Mt. Victory Tree Commissions. The Dairy Service Unit will have pick-up for their spring cheese sale at Dan & Molly Wagner’s Dairy Farm from 12:00-7:00 pm on Friday, April 11 and from 9:00-12:00 noon on Saturday, April 12. Below are some articles and related information that you may be interested in reading.

Mark

New Developments in the World of Soybean Pathology – Anne Dorrance

At the regional soybean disease workers meeting in Florida earlier this month, colleagues from Kentucky and Indiana both reported the presence of the fungus, Cercospora sojina, that are resistant to the strobilurin fungicides. This fungus causes frogeye leaf spot on soybean. There are lots of Cercospora species that cause disease on a number of different hosts (gray leaf spot on corn; Cercospora on beets etc.) To date we have not identified any Cercospore sojina isolates that are insensitive to these fungicides. More monitoring will take place in 2014. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2014/2014-7/new-developments-in-the-world-of-soybean-pathology to continue reading this article.

ODA Certifies Ohio Beef Marketing Program Referendum Results – Erica Hawkins, Communications Director (Ohio Department of Agriculture)

The Ohio Department of Agriculture today certified the results of the Ohio Beef Marketing Program Referendum. The referendum, seeking to increase the state checkoff on cattle from $1 to $2, received enough favorable votes to pass. A total of 2118 votes were certified; 1527 votes, or 72 percent of the total, were cast in favor of the referendum and 591 votes, about 28 percent, were opposed to the increase. Producers were able to vote by absentee ballot, and also in person at the Ohio Department of Agriculture and at OSU Extension offices. The provisions of the Ohio Beef Marketing Program are defined in section 924 of the Ohio Revised Code. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has the authority through section 924 to oversee state commodity checkoff programs, including administration of the referendum process, budgetary oversight, and authority to assist in establishing new commodity programs.

Sharpen Label Changes – It’s Something Anyway – Mark Loux

A recent change to the Sharpen label results in more utility for this product in spring burndown programs for soybeans. Sharpen can now be applied in a mixture with other PPO-containing herbicides, as long as the following conditions are met: applied at least 14 days before soybean planting; soils are medium to fine-textured; or soils are coarse-textured soils but have 2% or higher organic matter. This pertains to any product containing flumioxazin (Valor, Valor XLT, Envive, etc), sulfentrazone (Authority products, Sonic), and fomesafen (Prefix, Vise). The Sharpen label previously allowed these mixtures only when applied at least 30 days before planting. Labels for most of the PPO-containing residual herbicides appear to also be changing to recommend mixtures with Sharpen at least 14 days before planting. These labels refer the user to the Sharpen label for specifics on timing, rate, soil type, etc. The rest of this article can be found at http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2014/2014-7/sharpen-label-changes-2013-it2019s-something-anyway.

Fact Sheets: PED biosecurity and manure – Mike Monnin (USDA-NRCS)

A series of fact sheets have been developed on manure pumping protocols to reduce the risk of spreading the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv). These three fact sheets layout biosecurity guidelines for pork producers, land owners, and commercial haulers that work with swine manure. PEDv is of the Coronavirus Family of viruses. These two strands of viruses were first discovered in the United States in April and May of 2013. There has been rapid spread in hog states with significant piglet losses. Symptoms are severe diarrhea, dehydration, lack of nutrient uptake which has a devastating loss of piglets ten days old or less. See the attached files for information to help prevent an outbreak on your farm or someone else’s farm.

PED-Biosecurity and Manure Pork Producers

Free-stall Stocking Density Affects Productivity – Rory Lewandowski

I was recently asked about the effect of stocking density in a freestall barn on dairy cow productivity. The incentive to utilize a stocking density above 100% (more than 1 cow per freestall space) is driven by economics; the fixed cost of the building and production facilities is allocated over a greater number of cows. However, this must be balanced by the impact upon cow comfort and cow behavior. Cow comfort and cow behavior have an economic correlation with milk production. Peter Krawczel from the University of Tennessee and Rick Grant of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in New York co-authored a very good article on this topic and I’ll summarize some of their work to answer this stocking density question. To read this article from the Buckeye Dairy News, go to http://dairy.osu.edu/bdnews/Volume%2016%20issue%202%20files/Volume%2016%20Issue%202.html#Free.