Good evening,
If you are reading this, you have made it through to the new year. We are gearing up for what plans to be a very busy winter with several programs coming up soon. You won’t want to miss the Conservation Tillage Club Breakfast series starting Tuesday, January 10 at 7:30 am at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. The first program will feature Dr. John Fulton speaking on Precision Ag & the 4Rs. Fulton is from The Ohio State University, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He has been a national leader in Precision Agriculture, doing research in this area. His presentation at the Conservation Tillage Club breakfast will focus on using precision ag to determine fertilizer needs and then using equipment technology available to farmers to get the right source of fertilizer applied at the right time, using the correct rate, and the proper placement. See the attached flyer and article below for more details.
The Hardin County Extension office will once again serve as a host site for this winter’s Ohio Beef Cattle School series. The 2017 Ohio Beef School webinar series will begin on January 17 with a close look at what the cow/calf sector can do in the foreseeable future that will enhance profitability. As in the past, each evening’s webinar will be broadcast live beginning at 7:00 pm from host locations throughout Ohio as well as one in West Virginia. If you would like to attend any of these Ohio Beef Cattle School presentations, please call the Hardin County Extension office at 419-674-2297 or email Mark Badertscher at badertscher.4@osu.edu to RSVP so that preparations can be made to accommodate the number of people interested in attending. See the attached news article for more information about these upcoming Ohio Beef Cattle School programs.
There are also programs taking place in other area counties that you may be interested in attending. The West Ohio Agronomy Day is coming up January 9 in Ft. Loramie along with an evening program on January 17 in Sidney. See the attached flyer for more information on this pesticide recertification and fertilizer certification opportunity. If you are interested in Weed Management, there is a program coming up January 11 in Mercer County. This Weed Management 101 program includes both an afternoon and evening sessions with meals included for no cost. Although the attached news release says pre-registration is due January 4, you can still contact Mercer County OSU Extension Office at 419-586-2179 or email Denny Riethman at riethman.24@osu.edu to reserve your spot for this program.
Other upcoming local events include Sheep Improvement Association meeting Tuesday, January 10 at 7:30 pm at the Extension office, and Ag Council on Friday, January 13 at 7:00 am at Henry’s Restaurant. Feel free to join us for Ag Council as I plan to share information from this year’s Soybean Population plot which had both 15 and 30 inch rows with several different seeding rates. As usual, I have included some articles below for you to read if interested.
Mark
Hybrid performance with and without various transgenic traits – Ohio trends – Peter Thomison, Rich Minyo, Allen Geyer
According to the USDA-Economic Research Service in 2016, 86% of Ohio’s corn acreage was planted to transgenic corn hybrids with 66% of total acreage planted to stacked trait hybrids. Some corn growers want to grow non-GMO corn or transgenic hybrids with fewer traits to reduce seed costs. Others want to 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. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/hybrid-performance-and-without-various-transgenic-traits-%E2%80%93-ohio to read more.
OSU Agronomy Webinars Planned – Amanda Bennett
Ohio State University Extension announces a series of four webinars available to producers, Certified Crop Advisers and industry offered throughout January and February 2017. The Corn, Soybean and Wheat Connection series is scheduled to begin on January 24, 2017 and will focus on issues and updates in grain crop production. Each webinar will begin at 7:00 p.m. and can be view at several host sites across the state or from your home computer. Certified Crop Adviser credits will be available each evening at physical locations only. To read more about these upcoming webinars, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/osu-agronomy-webinars-planned.
Conservation Tillage Club Breakfast Series – Mark Badertscher
The 2017 Conservation Tillage Club breakfast program series will begin on Tuesday, January 10 at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. Each session will start at 7:30 am with complimentary buffet breakfast followed by the program at 8:00 am. Other sessions will be held on January 24, February 7 and 21. On January 10, the program will feature Dr. John Fulton, Precision Ag & the 4Rs. Fulton is from The Ohio State University, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Fulton has been a national leader in Precision Agriculture, doing research in this area. His work has him studying drones and aerial imagery to help make management decisions with crop production. He has also been using variable rate technology and multi-hybrid seeding in plots around Ohio. He is working on compaction studies and its effect on yields. Go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/conservation-tillage-club-breakfast-series to finish reading this article.
Northwest Ohio Corn & Soybean Day – Eric Richer
The annual Northwest Ohio Corn & Soybean Day is scheduled for Friday, January 20th in Founders Hall at Sauder Village in Archbold from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The program has a variety of speakers, a farmer to farmer panel made up of local producers and nearly 30 exhibitors sharing information on management practices for the 2017 crop production season. This year’s Corn/Soybean Day offers the 3 hour Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training, (FACT), pesticide applicator credits for private and commercial applicators and CCA credits. For more information about the Northwest Ohio Corn & Soybean Day, go to http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-40/northwest-ohio-corn-soybean-day.
Managing Stockpiled Forages – Chris Penrose
If you have stockpiled forages like orchardgrass and fescue, sometimes the question of when and how should we feed it to our cattle comes up? There are many variables, but let’s start with a few basic principles. The earlier you initiated stockpiling, the more yield you will have, but the lower the quality will be. Conversely, the later in the year you start to stockpile, the lower the yield will be and the higher the quality. Go to http://u.osu.edu/beef/2017/01/04/managing-stockpiled-forages/#more-2624 to read more about managing stockpiled forages.
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