Hello,
This past week continued to be hot and dry for the most part in Hardin County. While some areas are reporting rain this weekend, the county could still use more to help with pollination of corn and flowering of soybeans. Hardin County was considered ‘Abnormally Dry’ as of July 26. See http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OH for more information. Friday evening I was able to begin taking ear leaf samples in our Nitrogen Rate plots after a short shower Friday afternoon. The corn is tall and has good color, unlike some other areas where stalks are starting to dry out from the ground up.
If you are a livestock producer or commercial manure applicator, a big event in Ohio this week will be the North American Manure Expo on Wednesday and Thursday, August 3-4. This event is being hosted at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London (Farm Science Review site). With the exception of the tours on Wednesday, the event is free to attend. See the article that I have attached to this e-newsletter for more information about this upcoming event.
I have also attached a copy of the Hardin County Fruit and Vegetable Crop Walk flyer to this email. This local event is coming up on August 9, which is planned for commercial fruit and vegetable producers, but open to anyone, including gardeners with an emphasis on pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, melons and the diseases and insects that affect these crops. Soil fertility and water quality will also be discussed. Featured speakers will be OSU Extension Horticulturist Jim Jasinski and Dr. Sally Miller, OSU plant pathologist from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.
Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association members will be helping out at the Ohio State Fair Monday, August 1 at the ’Taste of Ohio Lamb Cafe.’ Farm Bureau is meeting Tuesday, August 2 at Ag Credit, starting at 7:30 pm. Ag Council will meet for breakfast at Henry’s Restaurant Friday, August 5 starting at 7:00 am. The Fairboard will meet Saturday, August 6, starting at 7:30 pm at the fair office. I have included some agronomy articles below that you may be interested in reading.
Mark
WESTERN BEAN CUTWORM FLIGHT IS BEGINNING AND CONCERNS FOR LATE PLANTED CORN – Andy Michel, Dr. Kelly Tilmon
Western bean cutworms (WBC) emerge as adults from late June until August, with peak flight usually occurring the 3rd week of July. After mating, they lay eggs in corn, and the developing larvae may eventually enter the ear to cause significant ear damage. While our trap catches have increased slightly over the past few years, we have been noticing an increase in damage, some of which may be economic. WBC prefers to lay eggs in pre-tassel corn—so any corn that does not develop tassels over the next 2 weeks is at high risk for western bean cutworm infestation. We have a lot of late planted corn, so good scouting is important! To read more about Western Bean Cutworm, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/western-bean-cutworm-flight-beginning-and-concerns-late-planted-corn.
CORN POLLINATION – Peter Thomison
On a typical midsummer day, peak pollen shed occurs in the morning between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. followed by a second round of pollen shed late in the afternoon. Pollen grains are borne in anthers, each of which contains a large number of pollen grains. The anthers open and the pollen grains pour out in early to mid morning after dew has dried off the tassels. Pollen is light and is often carried considerable distances by the wind. However, most of it settles within 20 to 50 feet. Pollen shed is not a continuous process. It stops when the tassel is too wet or too dry and begins again when temperature conditions are favorable. Pollen stands little chance of being washed off the silks during a rainstorm as little to none is shed when the tassel is wet. Silks are covered with fine, sticky hairs, which serve to catch and anchor pollen grains.
CONTROLLING MARESTAIL IN WHEAT STUBBLE – Mark Loux
The month after wheat harvest provides an opportunity to control marestail and prevent further increase in the soil seedbank, but coming up with the right strategy has not necessarily been easy. Keep in mind that the primary goal of marestail control here is preventing seed production, which doesn’t mean that any treatment applied has to provide 100% control of the plants themselves. We have conducted several studies targeting tough marestail situations, representing plants that have been previously treated with herbicide or mowed, or survived tillage, and also one study in a wheat stubble situation. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/controlling-marestail-wheat-stubble for further recommendations to control marestail in wheat stubble.
SEEKING A TWOSPOTTED SPIDER MITE TRIAL LOCATION – Kelley Tilmon, Andy Michel
As we mentioned in a previous newsletter article, there is a product newly labeled for spider mite control in soybean and sweet corn (Agri-Mek SC). We would like to test this product in Ohio soybeans, and are looking for a producer field for this trial. The soybean field must have an at-threshold spider mite population to treat, and the producer must be willing to leave some untreated check strips. The product will be free. If you would like to participate in this trial please contact Kelley Tilmon at tilmon.1@osu.edu or 330-202-3529.
LATE SUMMER SEEDING OF PERENNIAL FORAGES – Rory Lewandowski, Mark Sulc
Although it may be a dim memory at this point, we started the 2016 growing season on the wet side. Some planned spring forage seedings did not happen due to wet conditions and a compressed spring planting season. Add to this the fact that some alfalfa stands are not holding up as planned because of harvest injury during the wet and rainy conditions of 2015 and now the dry summer conditions of 2016 and there are potentially a lot of acres of alfalfa or another perennial forage that need to be planted as we look ahead to 2017. August gives us another window of opportunity to establish a perennial forage stand and it fits nicely into rotations after wheat grain harvest. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/late-summer-seeding-perennial-forages to finish reading this article.
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
