Hello,
This past Thursday I saw the first evidence of spring field work going on as I drove through Marion County. There was a farmer incorporating anhydrous ammonia in a field near the Hardin County line. By Friday evening there were a couple fields worked in southern Hancock County, and by Saturday morning I saw both urea and 28-N being top dressed on wheat in Hardin County. Field work has begun in the county, but after talking with a farmer today on the phone, I was told that about a half inch of rain fell on Sunday. Even though I am on vacation in Florida, I was able to look up the rainfall reports on cocorahs.org to find out the exact amounts that were reported.
Rain also changed plans again for the April 22 Cover Crops Field Day in Auglaize County. Tomorrow’s event will be moved to the St. Marys Township house 1/8 mile north of the field (located at 10752 SR 364) because of wet conditions. See the attached flyer for more information. As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. If you are a person who takes the time to notice the flowers, you may be interested in reading Hancock County Extension Educator Ed Lentz’s article about daffodils that I have attached to this email.
If you are interested in gardening, the Master Gardener Volunteers have planned their spring library programs. The first program will be held April 29, starting at 6:30 pm in the Forest-Jackson Public Library in Forest. It will be about ‘Planting for Pollinators’ and will be presented by Hardin County Master Gardener Volunteer Barb Snyder. There will also be programs the following two Wednesdays at the Mary Lou Johnson District Library in Kenton. See the attached news article for more information about these three upcoming programs. If you are an avid gardener, you will be pleased to know that the Buckeye Yard and Garden onLine (BYGL) has now begun its weekly schedule and is available at bygl.osu.edu. Look for the interactive version.
MG Library Programs News Release
Other upcoming programs next week include a Master Gardener Volunteers meeting on Monday, April 27 at Harco Industries starting at 7:00 pm. Ag Council will be meeting Friday, May 1 at Henry’s Restaurant in Kenton starting at 7:00 am. The Fair Board will have its monthly meeting Saturday, May 2 in the fairgrounds office starting at 7:30 pm. Have you been able to get any field work done? I have included some articles below from the Crop Observation and Recommendation Network Newsletter (corn.osu.edu) if you are interested in some agronomic reading as you wait for fields to get fit for work.
Mark
Burndown of Cover Crops – Mark Loux
It can be difficult to find a comprehensive source of recommendations for the control of all of the possible cover crops prior to planting. Some resources we have used recently: “Successful termination of cover crops”, Purdue Extension, Pub #WS-50-W, available free online. “A weed scientist’s perspective on cover crops”, a Powerpoint pdf by Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri Weed Science, available free online. Contains a summary of his research on cover crop termination and effect of residual herbicides on cover crop establishment. For more information on what we have gleaned on cover crop burndown based on these and various other resources, go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-08/burndown-of-cover-crops.
Wheat Management by Growth Stage – Laura Lindsey, Pierce Paul, Ed Lentz, Mark Loux
The winter wheat crop is greening up and as such growers will need to pay attention to crop growth stage in order to make adequate management decisions. Wheat growth stage identification is critical for effective timing of fungicide, insecticide, herbicide, and fertilizer applications. Hence, crop growth staging is extremely important, since failure to correctly identify these stages may lead to inadequate timing of applications, which may result in violation of pesticide label restrictions (products being applied off label), inferior efficacy or product performance, and injury to the crop. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-08/wheat-management-by-growth-stage to continue reading this article.
Getting Your Corn Crop Off to a Good Start in 2015 – 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. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-08/getting-your-corn-crop-off-to-a-good-start-in-2015 to finish reading this article.
Managing Marestail This Spring – The Perfect Storm? – Mark Loux
This spring is shaping up to be one where marestail control problems abound, based on the following: Not many fields were treated with herbicide last fall due to wet weather and the late harvest. Fall treatment results in a field free of overwintered marestail in spring, which takes the pressure off spring burndown treatments – they just have to control the newly emerging small marestail. One strategy to compensate for lack of fall treatment is to apply herbicide early in spring when overwintered marestail plants are still small, but…. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-08/managing-marestail-this-spring-2013-the-perfect-storm to continue reading about how to manage Marestail this spring.
Those Last-Minute Items on the ‘To-Do’ List Before the Planting Rush – Anne Dorrance, Andy Michel
We all have those “I wish I had done list” – we won’t discuss how long ours are after one of these rush seasons. Double check your varieties and their traits. Herbicide resistance is one of the most common, we don’t see it as often, but there is a growth in the non-glyphosate arena so to avoid a mis-application double check the bags labels. SCN resistance – for your fields with a history of SCN or those with SCN plus sudden death syndrome, make sure your varieties with the SCN resistance package gets planted there. The same goes for Phytophthora resistance. To read more, go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-08/those-last-minute-items-on-the-2018to-do2019-list-before-the-planting-rush.
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