Good evening,
This week harvest got off to a start in Hardin County before the rains began. I first noticed a couple soybean fields cut in the northern part of the county and while doing the weed survey in the southern part, noticed a couple corn fields shelled. Wheat planting is now on the minds of some as the September 26 fly free date has now passed. See the attached article written by Hancock County Extension Educator Ed Lentz about wheat planting for several good tips to get the crop successfully started. I have also included a copy of the August rainfall report summary to this email. During the month of August, Extension volunteer rainfall reporters received an average of 5.22 inches of rain. The growing season average rainfall was 1.57 inches below the ten-year average for Hardin County for the same period.
The Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (MGV) brought back two state awards from the Ohio MGV Conference held September 16-17 at Cuyahoga Falls near Akron. ‘The Rose Garden in the Friendship Gardens’ was recognized as state winner for the Integrated Pest Management Outstanding MGV Project award category at this annual conference. Also, the Hardin County group was recognized as a platinum ‘Standards of Excellence’ award winner. See the attached news release about this state conference to read more details about the accomplishments of our Master Gardener Volunteers.
State Master Gardener Awards News Release
The past two days I have been in training with other Extension Educators for farm management. With the lower crop prices, some producers may find themselves in tight financial situations. Extension is gearing up to have the tools to be able to assist farmers who need help getting their financial affairs in order. Hopefully this won’t be a long lasting issue, but if it is we want to be able to provide programs and assistance in this area. The Dairy Service Unit is in the middle of their Fall Cheese Sale. I have attached a copy of the news article and order form so that you can make an order if you are interested in a good ag product that supports a good cause. Orders are due October 12 to any Dairy Service Unit director or you can mail in the order.
Upcoming local events this week include Farm Bureau on Tuesday (10/4), starting at 6:30 pm at the Plaza Inn. Ag Council will be meeting Friday (10/7), starting at 7:00 am at Henry’s Restaurant. Below are some agronomy related articles that you may be interested in reading. Have a good week and hopefully the weather will settle down soon to allow harvest to resume.
Mark
SOME TIPS FOR EVALUATING CORN HYBRID DEMONSTRATION PLOTS – Peter Thomison
This is the time of year when many farmers visit and evaluate hybrid demonstration plots planted by seed companies and county Extension personnel, among others. When we experience a year like 2016 in which drought and heat impacted corn performance in many fields, it’s likely we will see some striking differences among hybrids in demonstration plots. When evaluating these plots, it’s important to keep in mind their relative value and limitations. Demonstration plots can be useful in providing information on certain hybrid traits that are usually not reported in state corn performance summaries. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/some-tips-evaluating-corn-hybrid-demonstration-plots to finish reading this article.
SOYBEAN END OF SEASON TO-DO LIST – Anne Dorrance
Soybean variety selection is the crucial first step to a successful year and bountiful harvest. In Ohio, we face many challenges and some of them were quite apparent in different parts of the state. Frogeye leaf spot, sudden death syndrome, white mold and even more surprising, Phytophthora stem rot. To add to this soybean cyst nematode (SCN) can now be found at detectable and higher levels than 20 years ago. There is very good resistance to all of these pathogens in the soybean cultivar line up of all companies. We sometimes just get the wrong genetics in the wrong field or in the wrong region. So it is time for folks to take these things seriously and know what fields these pathogens are in and how much damage they are causing. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/soybean-end-season-do-list to read more.
IS THE NO-CUTTING FALL REST PERIOD FOR ALFALFA REALLY NECESSARY? – Mark Sulc, Rory Lewandowski The long-standing recommendation has been to take the last harvest of alfalfa by early September in northern Ohio and mid-September in southern Ohio. Every year I observe that many people do not follow this recommendation, probably for various reasons. Most people taking only three cuttings are finished with the final harvest by early to mid-September. But the fourth cutting is another story. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/no-cutting-fall-rest-period-alfalfa-really-necessary to continue reading this article about alfalfa cutting.
FALL MANURE APPLICATION TIPS – Glen Arnold, Kevin Elder Silage harvest is moving along rapidly in Ohio, with corn and soybean harvest expected to be earlier this year than normal. Livestock producers and commercial manure applicators will be applying both liquid and solid manure as fields become available. For poultry manure, handlers are reminded to stockpile poultry litter close to the fields actually receiving the manure. Stockpiles need to be 500 feet from a residence, 300 feet from a water source and 1,500 feet from a public water intake. Poultry litter cannot be stockpiled in a floodplain and cannot have offsite water running across the litter stockpile area. The site also cannot have a slope greater than six percent. To read more manure application tips, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/fall-manure-application-tips.
WESTERN BEAN CUTWORM DAMAGE AND HEAVY FEEDING ON CRY1F – Andy Michel, Eric Richer, Kelley Tilmon We have been contacted by several growers and crop advisors regarding heavy feeding on corn ears by Western bean cutworm (WBC). These observations were confirmed during a recent visit to several fields in Northwest Ohio. It was very easy to spot damaged ears, and most, if not all, of these fields showed economic damage. It is quite clear that WBC has become the primary corn ear pest in NW Ohio, and that it will need to be properly managed. Although the damage is already done, now is a good time to see the extent of WBC feeding in your field to help prepare for next year. To read more about Western Bean Cutworm damage, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/western-bean-cutworm-damage-and-heavy-feeding-cry1f.
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