August 12, 2015

Good afternoon,

I hope you are enjoying this nice cool weather.  Although the crops could use some more growing degree days, it does make it more comfortable for scouting fields.  This week I have been scouting soybeans and have seen some Japanese Beetle and grasshopper damage, along with evidence of brown spot, bacteria leaf blight, frogeye leaf spot, and some sudden death syndrome.  The insect damage and disease that I have seen in soybeans is very small and the herbicides have done their job to eliminate the volunteer corn and other weeds in the fields that I have walked so far.  Western Bean Cutworms also continue to be low as I only caught one adult WBC moth in the four traps I monitor around the county this past week.

 

Good weather might have you thinking about a barbeque.  There is much confusion when it comes to selecting meats with all the labels and grades.  Do you understand how meat is graded and labeled?  See the attached article for more information on this subject.  While you are at it, consider adding locally grown fruits and vegetables to your dinner as this is Ohio Local Foods Week.  Hardin County is known for its local foods with the many roadside stands, farmers markets, produce auction, and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) fruit and vegetable marketing agribusinesses.  Read the attached article I submitted to the media about this special week to support our local producers.

Steaks and USDA Grading

Local Foods Week News Release

If you are interested in gardening, I have attached a flyer about a workshop that new Auglaize County Extension Educator Jeff Stachler is having on August 20 about Late Summer/Fall Gardening.  In the past few weeks I have included flyers about hops production field days, but they have been far away.  Now one is being hosted in Bowling Green on August 25 at the Agricultural Incubator Foundation.  See the attached flyer for more details about the Northwest Ohio Hops Field Day.

Fall Gardening Program

NW Ohio Hops Field Day

Upcoming local events include the Cattle Producers meeting tonight (8/12) in the Steak Barn at the fairgrounds starting at 7:30 pm.  The Pork Producers are meeting Tuesday (8/18) at Ag Credit starting at 6:30 pm.  Both of these meetings will be discussing fair planning.  If you are interested in purchasing season tickets for the Hardin County Fair, we now have them at the Extension office.  If you wish to purchase a Hardin County Agricultural Society membership, you will need to go to the fair office.  See the agronomy related articles below for further reading.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Central Ohio Precision Agriculture Day: Combine and Drone Technology  –  Amanda Douridas

The Precision Agriculture Day: Combine and Drone Technology will be held Friday, August 21, 2015 at the Champaign County Fairgrounds in Urbana, OH. This event will feature presentations on decision agriculture, aerial imagery, utilizing field data, nutrient management, My John Deere and MyShed-Case IH. Some of the presenters include Dr. John Fulton, the new OSU specialist in precision ag technology, Ohio Farm Bureau, Integrated Ag Services, and a panel of farmers utilizing aerial imagery technology.  Demonstrations from Case IH, John Deere, and Lexion dealers on combine setup for harvest will take place in the afternoon. Live drone flying demonstrations will also occur during the day.  For more information about this field day, go to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-24/west-central-ohio-precision-agriculture-day-combine-and-drone-technology.

 

 

 

 

 

Late season diseases showing up in unexpected places in 2015  –  Anne Dorrance

All of the rain during May, June, & July continues to impact the soybean crop in some areas of the state during 2015 in Ohio.  Surveys of our plots and some scouting in the lower canopy have turned up some surprises and some we expected. Sclerotinia stem rot – Over the next two weeks we will begin to see above canopy symptoms.  Stem lesions are now evident in some of our historic white mold fields below the canopy.  With Sclerotinia, white fluffy mycelium is evident on the stem, while leaves turn a gray-green and stay on the plant.  To read more about late season soybean diseases such as Sudden Death Syndrome and Frogeye Leaf Spot, got to http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-24/late-season-diseases-showing-up-in-unexpected-places-in-2015.

 

 

 

 

 

Estimating Corn Yields  –  Peter Thomison

This is the time during the growing season when crop tours and seed companies start posting yield predictions for corn. Most of the corn crop in Ohio is probably at the dough stage (R4). Given the tremendous variability in crop quality across the state and between and within fields, it will be particularly interesting this year see how close yield estimates come to matching what’s harvested this fall. Moreover, although there may be little or no yield from many fields damaged by excessive rainfall and saturated soil conditions (and related problems, e.g. N deficiency, poorly developed root systems), the fate of other corn fields has yet to be determined. Other factors could cut yields further. To read more about estimating corn yields, go to

http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2015/2015-25/estimating-corn-yields.

 

 

 

 

 

Stink bugs in Soybeans  –  Andy Michel

As our soybean begins to develop flowers and pods, we need to be aware of stink bugs that will begin feeding.  Although more common in the southern US, we have been noticing more stink bugs in soybean the past few years, even some fields where economic damage was seen. There are several species, including the green, the brown, the red-shouldered and the brown marmorated stink bug.  These insects have piercing/sucking mouthparts similar to aphids, and will pierce through the pod to feed on the developing seed. Damaged seed are often flat, shriveled, wrinkled or completely aborted.  Over the next few months, we will begin to see stink bugs move into soybean, and now is a good time to begin scouting.  To sample for stink bugs, take 5 sets of 10 sweeps.  An average of 4 stink bugs per set of 10 indicates an economic population.  We are interested in gathering information on stink bug species distribution across the state and will begin our surveys this week. Please let us know of any fields that might have a high number of stink bugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farm Pesticide Collections  – Cindy Folck

The Ohio Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a collection for farmers to dispose of unwanted pesticides. The collection is only for farm-related chemicals so household or non-farm pesticides will not be accepted. The 2015 dates and locations are:

 

Mahoning County: August 13, 9:30 – 2:00 at Canfield Fairgrounds, 7265 Columbiana-Canfield Rd., Canfield, OH 44406

Ross County: August 18, 9:30 – 2:00 at Ross County Fairgrounds, 344 Fairgrounds Rd., Chillicothe, Ohio 45601

Crawford County: August 26, 9:30 – 2:00, Crawford County Fairgrounds,  610 Whestone St., Bucyrus, Ohio 44820

 

The pesticide collection and disposal service is free of charge, but only farm chemicals will be accepted. Household pesticides, paints, solvents, antifreeze or other non-farm pesticides will not be accepted. No pesticides will be accepted from commercial companies. All collections will run from 9:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. To pre-register, or for more information, contact Ohio Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Regulation Section, 614-728-6987.

 

 

 

 

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *