June 7, 2016

Good evening,

As I write this, most Hardin County farmers have completed planting operations for this spring.  Now we need a good rain to help the crops along.  Earlier this week, WLIO-TV 35 out of Lima did a story on this subject along with the challenging planting season.  You can view this video temporarily on their website at http://www.hometownstations.com/category/191231/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=12487082 to see Hardin County farmer Paul Ralston and myself discuss this topic on this past Sunday’s evening news.  The video segment about Hardin County corn and soybean planting starts at about 4:00.  Because of the favorable weather, summer intern Taylor McNamara and I were able to take soil samples in one of our Nitrogen Rate plots today and get it staked for upcoming sidedress application.

Last Tuesday we were able to get our Nutrient Placement plot in thanks to the help of cooperating farmer Russ Ludwig, Brian Spencer from Crop Production Services, and Crosby McDorman from Findlay Implement Company.  This plot is testing the placement of fertilizer effect on yields with four different hybrids of corn, ranging in 102-109 day maturity.  There are four test strips including a 0 phosphorus control strip, broadcast phosphorus strip, broadcast and incorporate phosphorus strip, and a band injected phosphorus strip.  Each 60 foot test strip is replicated four times across the plot.  I plan to discuss this research at the Hardin Field Day in August and most likely it will be a topic of a Twilight Tour this summer.  This research is also funded through a grant from the Conservation Tillage Conference and The Ohio State University.  You can view a video of this plot planting at https://t.co/mOfeaAMTBE.

Have you seen the new National Academy of Sciences ‘Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects’ yet?  While recognizing the inherent difficulty of detecting subtle or long-term effects in health or the environment, the study committee found no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between currently commercialized genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops, nor did it find conclusive cause-and-effect evidence of environmental problems from the GE crops.  You can find a brief summary of this report attached to this e-newsletter.  Also find attached a couple of news releases that were sent out locally, one on Dairy Beef Feeder Queen Applications and the other on Cressleaf Groundsel that I discussed in the past  week’s Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update.

GE Crops Report 2016

Dairy Beef Feeder Queen News Release

Cressleaf Groundsel News Release

Upcoming local events this week include Hardin County Fair Lamb Tagging & Weigh-in on Saturday (6/11) from 8:00-10:00 am at the fairgrounds.  The OSU Extension Master Gardeners ‘Children’s Day at the Friendship Gardens’ will also be held this Saturday from 10:00 am-noon so if you haven’t yet registered your kids or grandkids grades K-5, make sure you call the Extension office this week and get them signed up for this excellent educational opportunity to learn about ‘What’s Buzzing in the Garden.”  Below are some articles for you to read and catch up on some agronomic news after spending so much time in the fields getting the crops planted.

 

Mark

Early postemergence plus residual in soybeans and other weed issues – Mark Loux

It’s possible to find just about everything in this year’s weed control situation – cover crops that didn’t die, marestail that didn’t die, early burndown plus residual treatments that worked but are now breaking because soybeans haven’t been planted, PRE herbicides that did not or may not receive enough rain, and of course more cressleaf groundsel than in an average year.  Read http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/early-postemergence-plus-residual-soybeans-and-other-weed-issues for comments about how to deal with these weed issues.

 

Time to Scout for Black Cutworm in Corn – Kelley Tilmon, Andy Michel

We have started to see cutworm damage in Ohio corn.  Black cutworm (BCW) is the prime offender, though other species exist.  Adult BCW (moths) are migrants from the south that start moving into Ohio in April, and lay eggs that hatch into the cutworm caterpillars.  Although there are some hotspots for egg laying, these predictions are far from exact.  Moths tend to seek out fields with a lot of weeds, especially winter annuals such as chickweed, to lay their eggs. The eggs are laid in the weeds and the tiny larvae feed on the weeds until the weeds are killed by herbicide or tillage at which time the larvae will move onto the corn planted in the fields.  To read more, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/time-scout-black-cutworm-corn.

 

Wheat Scab Update: Late-May 2016  – Pierce Paul, Jorge David Salgado

Wheat is now flowering in parts of central Ohio and will continue to flower in more northern counties later this week and into next week. According to the FHB forecasting system (http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/), the risk for scab is low in central and northern Ohio for fields flowering at this time (May 23). Although it has rained fairly consistently over the last 7-14 days, conditions were relatively cool last week, which likely reduced the risk of the scab fungus infecting the wheat spikes.  Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-13/wheat-scab-update-late-may-2016 to finish reading this article.

 

Make Hay When the Sun Shines…What Sun? – Mark Sulc

Getting our first cutting of forages this year seems to be shaping up to be another frustrating experience, although we can only hope it won’t be as bad as last year. The outlook for the end of May does not look very promising for a nice stretch of dry weather. While the recent cool weather has slowed development and growth of our forage crops, in central Ohio forage grasses are entering or already well into the heading stage and alfalfa is beginning to show buds. So it is time to start thinking about that first harvest soon, along with getting corn and soybeans planted!  Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/make-hay-when-sun-shines%E2%80%A6what-sun for more hay making tips.

 

PORTABILITY – The Big Data Confusion: Part 8 – John Fulton, Kaylee Port

Data portability is a critical principle for farmers understand in order to capitalize on when using their farm data.  Today, some Ohio farmers are sharing data with up to three trusted advisors and we see the potential to share with 8 or more in the coming years in order to receive information and recommendations.  The main point is that farmers need to have the flexibility to share data with who they want.  Therefore, data portability or simply the ability for farmers to reuse their data across interoperable applications is important to maximize options, benefit and value.  Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/portability-big-data-confusion-part-8 to read more.

 

The Ohio State University

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

 

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