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Good afternoon,
The Hardin County Fair is off to a good start and several champions have been named. Yesterday the fairgrounds received a hard rain in between the Jr. Fair Dairy Show and the Jr. Fair Market Lamb Show. It brought people into the show arena and livestock barns seeking shelter. Speaking of rain, I have attached the July 2017 Rainfall Summary to this Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update. During the month of July, Extension rainfall reporters recorded an average of 8.23 inches of rain in Hardin County. Last year, the average rainfall for July was 1.68 inches. The wet spring experienced by the county up until July was continued with an even more wet July, with several rainfall events adding to already wet soils. This year’s July was exactly the opposite of last year, when the county received very little rain for the month. See the summary for more information.
Tonight there will be a Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training (FACT) in Troy from 6:00-9:00 pm if you are still looking for opportunities to get your certification before the September 30 deadline. I have attached a flyer if you are still in need of a class. There will be another FACT class in Findlay on September 14 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm at the Hancock County Extension office. Call 419-422-3851 if you need to register for this 3 hour fertilizer certification class. We certified an additional 22 people at the Hardin Precision Ag Field Day out of the 130 or so in attendance. If you would like to see a video of this field day held at Kellogg Farms, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1SHnJtewmo&feature=share. There are getting to be less and less opportunities around the state to take care of this fertilizer certification as we move closer to the deadline. After the deadline there will be opportunities to gain certification, but not near as many that have been offered initially. So far, OSU Extension has certified over 17,500 fertilizer applicators in the state over the past three years.
The Hardin County Carcass Show of Champions is coming up the Thursday (9/14) after the fair. This year the show will be again held at Mt. Victory Meats starting at 6:00 pm. You will be able to see the grand champion and reserve champion steers, barrows, gilts, lambs, and goats hanging on the rail. An OSU meat judge will evaluate the carcasses and provide rankings and reasons at this event. For more information, see the attached news release and flyer. The Hardin County Farm Bureau is once again holding its ATV Tour on September 23 starting at 7:00 am with breakfast. There will be four stops on this year’s ATV Tour of the northwest corner of the county including Harvest Pride Tortilla Chips, Powell Seeds, Daft’s Straw Blankets, and the ONU Solar Farm. See the attached flyer for registration information that is due by September 11. The tour will start and finish in at the Ada Park. It’s time to head back out to the fair, so I hope to see you there. I have included some agronomy articles below if you are interested in reading them.
Mark
Assessing the Success or Failure of Pollination in Corn – Peter Thomison, Rich Minyo
Many Ohio corn fields have been subject to excessive rainfall this year. The fields where the Ohio Corn Performance Test (OCPT) were planted are no exception. Extraordinary rainfall accumulation has occurred at nearly all OCPT sites. Rainfall accumulations from May 15 to July 18-19 (and there’s been more since then) range from 14.0 to 19.1 inches at test sites in the southwest/west central/central region. Reports of short, waist high corn tasseling, as well as uneven development and flowering within fields, are not uncommon in parts of the state where heavy rains contributed to extended periods of saturated soil conditions and ponding. Now there are questions as to whether such uneven development will impact pollination and thereby affect yield. To read more, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-23/assessing-success-or-failure-pollination-corn.
Septoria Brown Spot and Bacterial Blight – Anne Dorrance, Laura Lindsey
As folks can get in through the once muddy fields a couple of foliar diseases are beginning to be spotted. The first, Septoria brown spot, is a normal disease found throughout Ohio on the very lower canopy. On unadapted germplasm or old, old varieties this leaf spot would move up through canopy and reach the top leaves and contribute to yield loss. In today’s modern germplasm, this disease is kept in check and is kept in the lower 1/3 of the plant. We completed a study over 3 years and at two locations on four different soybean varieties. We used a special fungicide program to grow soybeans that had healthy leaves with no brown spot and could only measure a 2.9 to 4.3 bushel yield difference. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-22/septoria-brown-spot-and-bacterial-blight to learn more about Septoria Brown Spot and Bacteria Blight in soybeans.
Establishment of Perennial Forages – Rory Lewandowski, CCA, Mark Sulc
Our wet weather conditions throughout much of 2017 prevented spring establishment of perennial forages for many producers. Additionally, the wet weather has caused stand loss in alfalfa fields due to compaction and crown damage from harvest on wet soils, and from root rot in poorly drained field areas. As a result, replacement of some of those acres is necessary. August provides growers with another window of opportunity to establish a perennial forage stand. Typically, the main risk with a late summer August planting is having sufficient moisture for seed germination and plant growth but this year that risk may be low. To read more about establishment of fall forages, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-24/august-establishment-perennial-forages.
Recent Rainfall: A Historical Perspective – Aaron Wilson, Jim Noel
To say that many parts of the state have experienced a wet stretch of weather would be an understatement. Heavy rainfall has left a wide variety of negative crop conditions, from yellowing in soybean fields where ponding has been persistent to highly variable heights on corn stands, delayed wheat harvest and hay cutting. With all of this rain, streams and rivers have been running much above normal as well. But how historic is our recent rainfall? To find out historical trends in rainfall in Ohio, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-24/recent-rainfall-historical-perspective.
Stink Bugs in Soybean – Kelley Tilmon, Andy Michel
As beans start to put on pods, it’s time to start scouting for stink bugs. In 2016 a number of farmers had significant stink bug damage but didn’t realize it until harvest, when they discovered shriveled, blasted seeds. Seed damage can be prevented by scouting and treatment at appropriate threshold levels. There are several species of stink bugs that can be found in soybean, even beneficials. These include the green, the brown, the red shouldered and the brown marmorated stink bug. The spined soldier bug looks similar to the brown stink bug, but has sharper points on its shoulders, and is more brown on the underside (the brown stink bug is actually more green underneath). Both nymphs (immatures) and adults feed on the developing seed by using their piercing/sucking mouthparts to poke through the pod. Seed that is fed upon will take a flat or shriveled appearance. To find out more about stink bugs, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-24/stink-bugs-soybean.
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
