Hello,
I hope you had a good holiday and are looking forward to the new year. Tuesday, January 5 will be the start of the Conservation Tillage Club breakfast meetings at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. The program will feature Dave Spangler, 2014 Captain of the Year of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association. Spangler has attended various agricultural field days, including the Hardin Field Day this year. He has been impressed with the work that is being done to help improve water quality in Lake Erie, and has taken that message back to his association. His knowledge of water quality problems on the lake and the economic impact on the region give Dave a unique perspective on the role farmers and others have on the Lake Erie region.
Spangler will be joined by Matt Lane from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, explaining the role Senate Bill 1 and 150 have had regarding current regulations and improved nutrient management practices for Ohio agriculture based on research being conducted with edge of field studies. Included in this discussion will be answers about the Ohio Ag Nutrients Law and Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training, along with licensing requirements and regulations for both Ohio crop and livestock farmers as well as commercial applicators. See the attached flyer for more details about upcoming breakfast meetings. While I am on the subject of nutrient management, did you know that OSU Extension and the Soil and Water Conservation District have staff that can work with you to develop a nutrient management plan for your farm? See the attached news article for more information.
Nutrient Management Plans News Release
A valuable nutrient source for livestock producers is manure. The Ohio State University Extension is hosting a program on topdressing wheat and sidedressing corn with liquid livestock manure on Wednesday evening January 6 at the Putnam County Extension Office starting at 7:00 pm. Using videos from this past growing season, Glen Arnold will cover the use of a drag hose and a manure tanker to apply manure on wheat and corn using swine manure. The manure can replace the urea used to topdress wheat and the 28% UAN used to sidedress corn. Dairy manure can also be used in this fashion of additional nitrogen is added to the dairy manure. There is no cost to attend and registration is not required. Two Certified Livestock Manger credits will be awarded. See the attached flyer for additional details about this program.
In Season Manure App to Corn and Wheat
One of the ways you can help keep nutrients in the field is to grow cover crops. Maybe you have thought about planting cover crops, but have questions that need to be answered. Contact the Hardin County Extension Office at 419-674-2297 to register for an all day Cover Crop and Soil Health workshop at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory on Thursday, January 14. The workshop will begin at 8:00 am and end at 4:00 pm. Instructors for the program will be Jim Hoorman, OSU Extension – Putnam County, Mark Badertscher, OSU Extension – Hardin County, and Wayne Dellinger, OSU Extension – Union County. The cost of the all day workshop will be $35 and will include lunch, Cover Crops Field Guide, and other reference materials. Participants need to be pre-registered by January 7. See the article about the Benefits of Cover Crops and the flyer for the workshop. Both are attached to this newsletter.
2016 Cover Crop Flyer Hardin County
Benefits of Cover Crops News Release
The Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Winter 2016 schedule of events for the Top of Ohio Extension Education Research Area (EERA) is attached to this email. Each individual county is unable to offer everything in one winter season but by working together, we are able to include a comprehensive list of programs to meet the needs of our EERA. Please note that in Hardin County there is a 3 hour Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training scheduled for March 1 in Ada. There is also a 2 hour Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training scheduled for March 10 in Mt. Victory. The 2 hour training is only available for those who have an Ohio Pesticide license and is scheduled for the same day as the Hardin County pesticide recertification class which will offer Core and categories 1,2 & 6. Other categories can be arranged by appointment for make-up/specialty pesticide recertification before March 31. Farmers and commercial applicators who apply fertilizer on 50 or more acres have until September 30, 2017 to become certified according to the new Ohio Ag Nutrients Law.
Did you hear that the Ohio Department of Agriculture lifted the poultry exhibition ban? Currently, poultry exhibitors will now be allowed to show poultry at the Hardin County and Ohio State Fair. However, this could change if there is a risk of an outbreak of the Avian Influenza again. Fortunately for the Ohio poultry industry, there were no confirmed cases of this disease in Ohio this past year. See the ODA news release that is attached for more information. Have you had an opportunity to make a contribution to the United Way of Hardin County yet? I have attached a copy of the agriculture flyer to this email in case you are interested in making a difference locally. Upcoming local events this week include a Farm Bureau meeting on Tuesday (1/5) starting at 7:30 pm at Ag Credit. Below are some agronomy articles from the C.O.R.N. Newsletter that you may be interested in reading.
Mark
HOW DO CORN HYBRIDS WITH AND WITHOUT VARIOUS TRANSGENIC TRAITS PERFORM? – Peter Thomison, Rich Minyo, Allen Geyer
According to the USDA-Economic Research Service in 2015, 85% of the state’s corn acreage was planted to transgenic corn hybrids with 68% of total acreage planted to stacked trait hybrids (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/biotechcrops/ ). However, many corn growers in Ohio are interested in growing non-transgenic (non-GMO) corns. Some want to grow non-GMO corn to reduce seed costs associated with traited corn and/or take advantage of the premiums offered for non-GMO corn. Growers who have not experienced serious problems with rootworm and corn borer and who have controlled weeds effectively with traditional herbicide programs question the need for transgenic hybrids. There are also corn growers interested in cutting costs by selecting hybrids with fewer transgenic traits for similar reasons. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/how-do-corn-hybrids-and-without-various-transgenic-traits-perform to continue reading this article.
CORN HYBRID SELECTION – 2015 – Peter Thomison
Hybrid selection is one of the most important management decisions a corn grower makes each year. It’s a decision that warrants a careful comparison of performance data. It should not be made in haste or based on limited data. Planting a marginal hybrid, or one not suitable for a particular production environment, imposes a ceiling on the yield potential of a field before it has been planted. In the Ohio Corn Performance Test (OCPT) (http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/corntrials/) it is not unusual for hybrid entries of similar maturity to differ in yield by 80 bu/A, or more, depending on test site. Another consideration in hybrid selection that has received more attention recently as commodity prices have dropped is seed cost. Of all non-land costs for corn, seed costs on a per acre basis increased the most between 2006 and 2014, increasing by 164% percent (http://www.farms.com/expertscommentary/corn-seed-costs-from-1995-to-2014…). Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/corn-hybrid-selection-–-2015 for help making decisions about corn hybrids.
THERE’S AN APP FOR NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT RECORD KEEPING – John Barker
Ohio Nutrient Management Record Keeper (ONMRK) is a computerized recordkeeping system that syncs with your smartphone or tablet to create a simple, easy, and quick way to record all of your fertilizer and manure applications from the field. The free app works on tablets, iPads, and smartphones. It can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android devices and App Store for Apple devices. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/there’s-app-nutrient-management-record-keeping to learn more about this new app for your smartphone or tablet computer.
HOW MUCH FALL-APPLIED MANURE NITROGEN WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE 2016 CROP? – Glen Arnold
Most parts of Ohio have had an excellent fall and early winter time period for manure application. The long fall window to apply manure should reduce the amount to be applied during the winter months. A few farmers have asked how much of the nitrogen in the fall-applied manure will be available for the 2016 crop. Currently, most of the nitrogen in the fall applied manure should be where it was applied. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/how-much-fall-applied-manure-nitrogen-will-be-available-2016-crop to finish reading this article.
CONSERVATION TILLAGE CLUB BREAKFAST SERIES PLANNED – Mark Badertscher
The 2016 Conservation Tillage Club breakfast program series will begin on Tuesday, January 5 at the Plaza Inn in Mt. Victory. Each session will begin at 7:30 am with complimentary buffet breakfast followed by the program at 8:00 am. On January 5, the program will feature Dave Spangler, 2014 Captain of the Year of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association. Spangler has attended various agricultural field days, including the Hardin Field Day this year. He has been impressed with the work that is being done to help improve water quality in Lake Erie, and has taken that message back to his association. His knowledge of water quality problems on the lake and the economic impact on the region give Dave a unique perspective on the role farmers and others have on the Lake Erie region. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/conservation-tillage-club-breakfast-series-planned to find out more about upcoming Conservation Tillage Club breakfast meetings.
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