Good afternoon,
The weather has cooperated for the most part in the county as most of the corn has been planted by May 10, which is the optimum date for northern Ohio. Based on earlier reports this week, approximately 1/3 of the soybeans in Ohio have also been planted. Rainfall continues to be lower than last year’s totals. For the time period of April 15-30, Extension rainfall reporters recorded an average of 1.06 inches of rain in Hardin County. Last year, the average rainfall for the same time period was 2.21 inches. Rainfall for the April 15-30 time period is 1.2 inches less than the ten year average rainfall during the same dates. Read the attached April 15-30 Summary for more information about Hardin County rainfall.
Have you heard that our Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, Kathy Oliver is going to retire in June? We will lose a great resource and person for our county when she moves on from this position. She has been and continues to be of great assistance to me since I began working as the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator. If you know of anyone qualified and interested in applying for this job opening, please refer them to http://hardin.osu.edu/news/position-open for more information. Also, make sure you save the date for June 29, from 2:00-5:00 pm for her retirement open house at the Extension office.
Some landowners are considering clearing woods to gain more acreage or as an answer to the higher Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) rates. The Ohio Farm Bureau has been working with the Ohio Department of Taxation to recommend changes to how this formula is calculated. Read about the proposed recommendations at http://ofbf.org/media-and-publications/news-room/763/. This is the second set of recommendations that the Farm Bureau has made to ease the tax burden on landowners. If you are considering converting woodland to farmland, read that attached article that was in the spring Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District newsletter. Clearing woods could have an effect on USDA programs that you may have the farm enrolled. I have attached this article to this email.
The warmer temperatures are causing more insects to hatch. Some of these insects are beneficial and some as you well know, are pests to agricultural crops and livestock. I have attached an article written by Ed Lentz called Insect Trivia, which discusses interesting facts about slugs, bean leaf beetles, aphids, stink bugs, corn rootworms, and others. If you have horses and are looking for equine pasture management advice, see the attached flyer about a program being offered in southern Ohio May 19 & 21. I just received the flyer this week, so if you call ahead you might still be able to register to attend.
Last week I mentioned that we need to be on the lookout for Avian Influenza. This week, a case of this poultry disease was discovered as close as Fort Wayne, Indiana (east of Fort Wayne). This is now in our ‘backyard’ and dangerously close to spreading into Ohio. If you have any poultry or have contact with poultry, whether it be a small flock, 4-H/FFA project, or commercial operation, you need to take note of the recently released poultry bio-security practices which are attached to this email. Again, we hope that this disease never steps foot in Hardin County or Ohio, so following these guidelines are recommended to slow the spread of this devastating disease.
Upcoming events this next week include a Master Gardener Volunteer meeting, Monday (5/18), starting at 7:00 pm at Harco Industries. The Soil and Water Conservation District Board is meeting Thursday (5/21), starting at 7:30 am at the SWCD office. The same day there will be an Extension Advisory Committee meeting, starting at 7:00 pm at the Extension office. See the agronomy related articles below if you are interested.
Mark
Weather Update – Jim Noel
As we talked about a few weeks ago, we expected the pattern to turn warmer than normal again in early May and it has done so. Overall, May will be warmer and drier than normal across Ohio. The best chances for normal rainfall appear to be across northern Ohio. Planting will likely be well ahead of recent years with this weather setup. The summer looks to see significant swings in above and below normal temperature bursts with swings of wet and dry periods. It may only average slightly warmer than normal and normal or slightly drier than normal but with significant swings in weather, expect stresses on crops at times. The early autumn outlook runs the risk for wetter than normal weather again which has become a common theme in recent years during harvest season.
Identifying Feekes Growth Stages 7 and 8 – Pierce Paul, Karasi Mills, Laura Lindsey
The following steps are also explained in the following video: https://youtu.be/PZ7Lvsux1y8. 1-Dig up several clusters of tillers with root and soil from multiple locations in the field; 2-Identify and select three to four primary tillers from each cluster – usually the largest tillers with the thickest stem; 3-Strip away and remove all the leaves that are below the lowest visible node, exposing the lower half of the stem. Go to
http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-11/feekes-growth-states-7-and-8 to continue reading about how to identify Feekes Growth Stages 7 and 8 in wheat.
Pollinators and Planting – Reed Johnson, Andy Michel
Beekeepers in Ohio again suffered substantial losses of colonies over the exceptionally long and cold winter of 2014-2015. Here in Wooster we lost more than half of our colonies, and beekeepers around the state are reporting levels of winter kill as high as 80%. While the frigid temperatures played a substantial contributing role, losses were undoubtedly made worse by all of the problems facing bees today: parasites, diseases, pesticides, breeding problems, and a general lack of summer and fall forage. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-11/pollinators-and-planting to read more about pollinators and planting.
Don’t Forget About Alfalfa and Weevils While Planting – Andy Michel
While most are worried about getting corn and soybean in during the next few weeks, the same heat is also making alfalfa weevil larvae develop quite quickly. We would expect enough heat units to have been reached in much of the state to see alfalfa weevil munching away. Scouting is essential to maintain a healthy alfalfa stand. Keep in mind too that while your alfalfa may be resistant to potato leaf hopper, it is NOT resistant to alfalfa weevil. Go to
http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-11/don2019t-forget-about-alfalfa-and-weevils-while-planting to continue reading this article.
10 Tips to Get the Most out of Your Sprayer – Erdal Ozkan
Spraying season is just around the corner. Just take a moment to review some common sense ideas I will mention here to get the most out of those expensive pesticides you will be spraying. The following “Top Ten” list will help you improve the performance of your sprayer and keep it from failing you: 1)Applying chemicals with a sprayer that is not calibrated and operated accurately could cause insufficient weed, insect or disease control which can lead to reduced yields. Check the gallon per acre application rate of the sprayer. This can only be determined by a thorough calibration of the sprayer. Go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-11/10-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-sprayer for more information about how to get the most out of your sprayer.
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