Good Evening,
It doesn’t take long for Mother Nature to change the landscape. As I prepare this week’s Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update, I’m keeping a watchful eye on the weather. Tomorrow I will be in Mercer County helping with their pesticide and fertilizer training. Later this week I will be in Champaign County, working together with the other Extension Educators in our region to provide training. This is the time of year for winter meetings and along with that, the winter weather.
One of my goals has been to provide programming for livestock producers. The Hardin County Extension office will serve as a host site for this winter’s Ohio Beef School series. The dates for the school are Tuesday, January 27 and continue on February 10 and February 24, and will start each evening at 7:00 pm. The school begins this Tuesday by addressing a pair of topics in the thoughts of many beef producers today. John Grimes, OSU Extension Beef Coordinator, will present the topic “Capitalizing on the Historic Beef Economy.” This presentation will discuss specific management decisions that a producer can make to take full advantage of the beef economic outlook in the present and for years to come.
Troy A. Brick DVM, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine will discuss a frequently debated topic in the popular press today, “The Future of Antibiotic Use in Beef Cattle.” If you would like to attend any of these Ohio Beef Cattle School presentations, please call the Extension office at 419-674-2297 or email me at badertscher.4@osu.edu to RSVP so that preparations can be made to accommodate the number of people interested in attending. These webinar programs are sponsored locally by Farm Credit Mid-America. Refreshments will be provided to those who attend. See the attached news release for more information.
The annual Hardin County Dairy Banquet will be held on Saturday, February 21 at 12:00 noon at the Walnut Grove United Methodist Church north of Kenton. Tickets this year are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 12 and under. Junior Fair Dairy Exhibitors from the 2014 Hardin County Fair are eligible for a complimentary ticket by contacting the Extension office. Tickets can be purchased until February 16 from the following county Dairy Service Unit Directors: Philip Bauer, Peg Cahill, Nate Cromer, Keith and Jean Dirkson, Mary Gurney, Chad Hazelton, Bret Rager, Larry and Janice Rall, Vaughn Rall, Clair and Sue Sanders, Dan and Molly Wagner, or from the Extension Office at 1021 W. Lima Street, Suite 103, Kenton. The guest speaker for the banquet will be Dr. Don Sanders D.V.M. See the attached news release for more information.
Were you still thinking about whether or not to enroll in the upcoming OSU Extension Grain Marketing online course with Dr. Matt Roberts? If so, registration is due January 28 for this course which begins February 3. See the attached flyer for more information along with the class dates and details about how to register. There are several other educational programs going on around Northwest Ohio that are too numerous to mention in this newsletter. Several of you may have already received the Northwest Ohio Agriculture and Natural Resources Newsletter in regular mail, but if not, I have attached a copy to this email so you can read about other programs that are happening in this part of the state.
The 45th annual Power Show Ohio will be held indoors at the Ohio Expo Center at the State Fairgrounds in Columbus on January 29-31, from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm daily. Please note that this year’s show is Thursday-Saturday. Discount ticket prices can be obtained from the Extension office. This show includes agricultural equipment, construction equipment, outdoor power equipment, educational seminars, kiddie tractor pull, cooking demonstrations, and much more. Locally, there is a Hardin County Fair Sale Committee meeting Wednesday, January 28, starting at 7:00 pm in the fair office. I have included some articles below for your reading if interested.
Mark
Weather Outlook: Close to Normal – Jim Noel
The rest of winter looks to see big fluctuations in temperatures averaging close to normal. Precipitation will also fluctuate above and below normal ending close to normal. This winter will not be like the last is the sense it will be a warmer winter. This is what we were saying in the fall and it still holds true. Winter so far is warmer than normal with near normal precipitation. As for spring growing season, early indications are normal or slightly warmer than normal with normal to slightly drier conditions yielding better early planting conditions in 2015 over 2014. We will update you in early February as confidence grows.
Introductory & Advanced Field Crop Management Workshops March 5 and 6 – Pierce Paul
The 2015 agronomy workshops are scheduled for March 5 and 6, 2015 on the OARDC Wooster campus of The Ohio State University. This continuing program, offered every other year, is designed to give Extension Educators, ag retailers and Certified Crop Advisers up-to-date and hands-on training on disease, insect, fertility, and general crop management issues facing the corn, wheat, and soybean industries in the state and across the country. For more information about these workshops, go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-1/oardc-agronomy-in-service-march-5-and-6-2015.
Applications For Pork Industry Scholarships Now Being Accepted – Pork Checkoff
All juniors and seniors in college who plan to pursue a career in swine production management or a related field, or will be seeking to attend graduate school and major in a discipline with an emphasis on swine, are invited to submit an application for one of 19 available scholarships sponsored by the Pork Checkoff. Go to http://www.pork.org/pork-checkoff-research/college-scholarships/ for more information about how to apply.
Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference – Randall Reeder
The CTC is an annual 2-day educational program with ~60 speakers in concurrent sessions. Session titles typically are: Corn University, Soybean School, Cover Crops, Nutrient Management, Soil & Water Quality, Precision Agriculture, Planters, Advanced Scouting Techniques, and No-till Systems. Attendance each of the last 4 years has been over 900, including about 400 crop consultants. This year’s CTC will be held March 3-4 at Ohio Northern University in Ada. For more information, go to http://fabe.osu.edu/CTCon.
Mineral Supplementation for Beef Cows – Mark Landefeld
Measuring the consequences of mineral deficiencies in cow-calf operations can be difficult. Weight gains, which are off a few pounds usually go unnoticed, reduced milk production can’t really be measured in beef cows, and the cow that is limping must have stepped on something causing her sore foot. Reproduction losses may not readily be noticed either because most all the cows had a calf, even though some were a month and a half or two months later than expected. Any of these sound familiar? Lack of sufficient mineral(s) may be the problem. Go to http://u.osu.edu/beef/2015/01/21/mineral-supplementation-for-beef-cows/#more-391 to continue reading this and other beef cattle articles.
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