October 27, 2017

Good afternoon,

It feels like fall is finally here with the cool temperatures and harvest going on around the county.  Soybean harvest is about 80% completed with corn harvest progressing daily.  There have been agriculture and horticulture events happening that have involved people from Hardin County since the last Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources update was sent out.  The Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (MGV) brought back two state awards from the Ohio MGV Conference held at The Ohio State University in Columbus. ‘Invasive Species Media Series’ was recognized as state winner for the Invasive Species Outstanding MGV Project award category for medium sized groups at this annual conference.  Also, the Hardin County group was recognized as a platinum ‘Standards of Excellence’ award winner.  If you are interested in reading more about the accomplishments of this group, see the attached article.

State Master Gardener Awards News Release

The Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association toured four Washington County sheep farms as part of the annual Hardin County Sheep Management Tour held October 21-22.  A group of active and retired sheep producers traveled to sites in southeastern Ohio near Marietta.  This group included 16 producers from Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Hancock, and Hardin Counties.  The local group was joined by additional sheep producers from Noble, Pickaway, and Washington Counties.  On the trip, they learned about new and different philosophies of raising and marketing sheep and wool.  An emphasis on the trip was innovative and interesting ideas, which help in the management of day-to-day production chores as well as finding improved ways of accomplishing tasks. Some of the individuals participating in this educational trip also attended a similar trip to gain knowledge from western U.S. ranchers by visiting California sheep farms two weeks earlier.  For more information about the Hardin County Sheep Management Tour, see the attached news release.

Sheep Tour News Release

Are you interested in obtaining your Ohio Pesticide Applicators license?  Maybe you are interested in having your son or daughter take over the pesticide applicator licensing for your farm.  If so, you might be interested in the upcoming Private Pesticide Applicator Exam Preparation program being held in Darke County on November 7.  See the attached flyer for more information about how to register for this event by October 31.  The objective of this class will be to offer you exam preparation for Core and Category 1 (Grain and Cereal Crops) and to share with you how to prepare for the other category tests.  Darke County Extension is also offering a Grain Marketing School in November and December which will cover Marketing, Risk Tolerance and Risk Capacity; Marketing Matrix and Crop Insurance; Marketing Vocabulary, Hedging and Cash Sales; Futures, Options and Basis; Storage and Post-Harvest Marketing; What Not To Do When Building a Market Plan; and the AgYield Simulator Challenge.  See the attached flyer for more details about how to register by October 31.

2017 Pesticide Exam Prep Flyer

2017 Grain Marketing School Flyer

As the farm economy becomes tighter and the environmental pressure greater on farmers, understanding your soil fertility and nutrient needs becomes ever so important. The Darke Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will again be hosting the Soil Fertility & Nutrient Management Workshop Series beginning in November. This is a four-part workshop that begins with the basics and ends with a farm plan for up to 50 acres on your farm.  Register early with the attached flyer to guarantee your spot in this workshop geared toward helping farmers better understand soil needs and efficient nutrient use.  I have also included a copy of the October Ohio Fruit News put together by OSU Extension.  Articles in this issue include stink bugs, blackberry downy mildew, fall clean-up of berry crops, strawberry season recap, spotted wing drosophila, and winterizing hop yards information.  Upcoming local events include Ag Council on Friday, November 3 starting at 7:00 am at Henry’s Restaurant, and a Fairboard meeting on Saturday, November 4 starting at 7:30 pm at the fair office.  See below for agronomy articles that you may be interested in reading.

SFNM Flyer

Oct 2017 Ohio Fruit News Flyer

Mark

Ear Disorders Appearing in Corn Fields – Peter Thomison

In recent weeks, I have received several reports of abnormal ear development in corn fields which are near or at harvest maturity. Affected plants in these fields exhibit varying degrees of ear development with little or no kernel formation. Some ear shoots carry a barely visible rudimentary ear or only the short remnant of an ear. Other symptoms include “dumbbell-shaped ears” (characterized by kernel formation at the base and tip of the ear but absent from the middle of the ear), “bouquet ears” (formed by small ears trying to develop from the same shank as the main ear), and shorter than normal husks. The ear development problems are evident throughout fields with nearly all plants affected. Prior to maturity, corn plants exhibiting abnormal ears generally appeared healthy with normal plant height and color. To finish reading this article, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-34/ear-disorders-appearing-corn-fields.

Should we add Diaporthe stem canker and Cercospora leaf blight to our list of disease ratings for Ohio in 2018? – Anne Dorrance

Improving soybean yields in 2018 begins first with the selection of the cultivars that have the best resistance package for Ohio’s notorious pathogens and pests. Any grower that’s slacked off on the Phytophthora package gets a quick reminder of the damage that this pathogen can continually cause in a vast majority of Ohio’s production regions. Same thing with soybean cyst nematode; while the symptoms may not be present, planting a susceptible variety and getting half the yield that the neighbors got leaves some farmers scratching their heads. We finally have resistance to Sclerotinia that is effective for those regions that deal with it on an annual basis. Over the past decade, we’ve added frog eye leaf spot to that list as it can overwinter and if infections get started at flowering it can cause substantial damage. Why put another $30+/Acre for a fungicide to control frogeye or Sclerotinia when the cultivar resistance can hold that disease in check? Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-31/should-we-add-diaporthe-stem-canker-and-cercospora-leaf-blight.

Late fall herbicide treatments for cover crops? – Mark Loux

A fairly common question this time of year – where I have planted cover crops, do I still need a fall herbicide treatment to help manage marestail? The underlying premise here is that where a cover crop develops enough biomass to adequately cover the ground by late fall, it can contribute substantial suppression/control of marestail. Grass covers seem to be most effective at suppressing marestail, as long as they are planted early enough in fall to develop this type of biomass. Grass covers can also be treated postemergence in the fall with several broadleaf herbicides, while this is not possible in covers that contain broadleaf crops – legumes, radish, etc. There are no hard and fast rules with regard to this situation but there are some things to think about. To see what things you need to consider when treating cover crops, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-36/late-fall-herbicide-treatments-cover-crops.

Dangers of Harvesting and Grazing Certain Forages Following a Frost – Mark Sulc

As cold weather approaches, livestock owners who feed forages need to keep in mind certain dangers of feeding forages after frost events. Several forage species can be extremely toxic soon after a frost because they contain compounds called cyanogenic glucosides that are converted quickly to prussic acid (i.e. hydrogen cyanide) in freeze-damaged plant tissues. Some legumes species have an increased risk of causing bloat when grazed after a frost. In this article I discuss each of these risks and precautions we can take to avoid them. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-34/dangers-harvesting-and-grazing-certain-forages-following-frost to find out more about the dangers of harvesting and grazing certain forages following a frost.

Fall Manure Application Tips – Glen Arnold, Kevin Elder

With warmer than normal weather forecast for the past couple of weeks, corn and soybean harvest in Ohio were expected to get back on track. 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. Read more about fall manure application tips at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-35/fall-manure-application-tips.

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

October 17, 2017

Hello,

Soybean harvest stopped this past week as the rain caused several operators to switch to corn harvest.  Rainfall coming in mid-September and early October helped with early wheat emergence and growth.  During the month of September, Extension volunteer rainfall reporters received an average of 1.77 inches of rain. The most rain for this month, 2.92 inches, fell in Goshen Township, as measured by Brien Brothers Farm. The least rain reported during the month, 0.95 inches, was reported in Hale Township by Travis Ramsey. During the same month last year, an average of 3.12 inches of rain fell. The rainfall recorded in September over the past ten years averaged 3.37 inches.  To read more about the September rainfall, see the attached news release.

The Ohio ARC-County 2016 per base acre commodity program benefits have been released.  For Hardin County, corn was set at $60, soybean $0, wheat $32, and oats $17.  See the attached form for more information or contact the FSA office (trevor.kerr@oh.usda.gov or 419-673-0456) with questions.  Hardin County Auditor Mike Bacon spoke at a Farm Bureau Council meeting this past week about the CAUV adjustments that are taking place.  One of big adjustments made statewide was for conservation lands.  Hardin County has over 900 landowners with conservation land which amounts to 8300 acres.  If you are one of these landowners that has land in conservation programs, you need to contact the county auditor’s office to make sure they have the proper documentation in order to adjust your property taxes to reflect the new changes in the CAUV formula.  See the attached letter from the Ohio Department of Taxation for more details.  I have also attached both an initial application and renewal application for land enrolled in Current Agricultural Use Valuation.  Copies of your conservation contract with dates, parcel numbers with acres in conservation, and maps showing the locations of the conservation lands will be required by the deadline on the form.  Contact the county auditor’s office (hcaudit@co.hardin.oh.us or 419-674-2205) for any questions you may have about this process.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced Friday, November 17, 2017, as the deadline to submit applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in Ohio.  EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that helps agricultural producers protect the environment while promoting agricultural production. With EQIP, NRCS conservation experts provide technical assistance to implement environmentally beneficial conservation practices on working agricultural land.  See the attached news release provided by Megan Burgess (Megan.Burgess@oh.usda.gov or 419-673-0456) from the Hardin County NRCS. 

Upcoming local events include a Soil and Water Conservation District meeting Thursday, October 19 starting at 7:30 am at the SWCD office; Forestry Field Day, Sunday October 22 from 1:00-4:00 pm at the McBride Woods (3963 County Road 135, Dola).  There will be horse-drawn wagon rides, a coloring contest with prizes for the children, ham & bean soup cooked over an open fire, corn bread, hot dogs and s’mores.  As usual, I have included some agronomy articles below that you may be interested in reading.

Mark

Good harvest weather this week with worsening harvest weather next week – Jim Noel

The warmer than normal weather pattern will continue. However, it appears we will get a burst of colder weather next week. Confidence in the temperature forecast is high. We will be slowly transitioning from the drier first half of fall to a wetter pattern over the next 1-2 months that will persist into next spring. Lake effect precipitation will be increasing starting next week in northern and northeastern Ohio. Confidence in the rainfall forecast is moderate. As forecast months ago…we expect a later than normal freeze this autumn, likely 1-2 weeks late. There has been some patchy frost to this point but nothing real significant. Typically we see our first freeze about now. It appears the first freeze may come sometime next week at least to some of the area which again will be3 1-2 weeks late. Confidence in the first hard freeze being late is high.  To find out more about the weather, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-35/good-harvest-weather-week-worsening-harvest-weather-next-week.

 

Field drying and harvest losses in corn – Peter Thomison

According to the USDA/NASS (https://www.nass.usda.gov/) as of Sunday, Oct. 15, 21 percent of Ohio’s corn was harvested for grain, compared to 34 percent for last year and 32 percent for the five-year average. Wet weather delayed corn harvest across the state and is not helping with field drying. Some growers are delaying harvest until grain moisture drops further. However, these delays increase the likelihood that stalk rots present in many fields will lead to stalk lodging problems. Some serious stalk rot and lodging problems have already been reported, as shown in the image submitted by Curtis Young in Van Wert County. Leaving corn to dry in the field exposes a crop to unfavorable weather conditions, as well as wildlife damage. A crop with weak plant integrity is more vulnerable to yield losses from stalk lodging and ear drop when weathering conditions occur. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-35/field-drying-and-harvest-losses-corn to finish reading this article.

 
Marestail Control in Wheat and Some Other Weed Stuff – Mark Loux
There are several methods for management of marestail in wheat, and following any of these will take care of most winter annual weeds as well. Keep in mind that where wheat will be planted following soybeans, the large marestail that may be present in soybeans are not a concern since they are finshing their life cycle anyway. The plants of concern are the seedlings that emerge in late summer into fall, which can overwinter. A few options to consider follow. This is not an all-inclusive list of herbicide options, but some that make the most sense to us. It’s possible that some of the newer broadleaf products for wheat also have a fit, although none have residual activity.  To read more about marestail control in wheat as well as controlling poison hemlock and burcucumber, click on https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-33/marestail-control-wheat-and-some-other-weed-stuff.
Harvest Safety Tips while Travelling Ohio Roadways – Dee Jepsen
As urban development expands into the rural countryside, so too does the need to practice safety on public roadways. During harvest season there is an increased traffic flow on rural roads with agricultural implements and grain trucks. Protecting property and saving lives – of both the farm family and the general public – are the underlying goals for roadway safety. Understanding rules of the road is a shared responsibility between the farm machinery operators and the motoring public. Oftentimes blame falls on either party, when in fact it may be a mutual misunderstanding for the Ohio Revised Code. For harvest safety tips including lighting and marking, weight limits, restricted parking on highways, dimension limits, as well as tips for the motoring public, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-33/harvest-safety-tips-while-travelling-ohio-roadways.

Application of Manure to Newly Planted Wheat Fields – Glen Arnold, Sam Custer

Several livestock producers have inquired about applying liquid dairy or swine manure to newly planted wheat fields using a drag hose. The thought process is that the fields are firm (dry), there is very little rain in the nearby forecast, and the moisture in the manure could help with wheat germination and emergence. The manure nutrients could easily replace the commercial fertilizer normally applied in advance of planting wheat. The application of fall-applied livestock manure to newly planted or growing crop can reduce nutrient losses compared to fall-applied manure without a growing crop. To read more about application of manure to newly planted wheat fields, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-33/application-manure-newly-planted-wheat-fields.

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

October 6, 2017

Hello,

Soybean harvest started last week in Hardin County with dust flying.  Early yields were coming in between 30-50 bushels per acre with moisture between 8.5%-10%.  Most of the yields that I heard were in the 40s.  If you are willing to share your yields and moisture, I would be interested in hearing about your soybean harvest.  Since the beans have been so dry and corn will most likely be as well, field fires are something to be concerned about.  See the attached news article written by Hancock County OSU Extension Educator Ed Lentz about Harvest Safety that is attached to this email.  The reason for the dry crops was the months of August and September lack of rainfall.  During the month of August, Extension volunteer rainfall reporters received an average of 1.39 inches of rain.  The most rain for this month, 3.40 inches, fell in Jackson Township as measured by Rick Weber.  The least rain reported during the month, 0.65 inches was reported in Marion Township by Mark Lowery.  During the same month last year, an average of 5.22 inches of rain fell.  The rainfall recorded in August over the past ten years averaged 4.03 inches.  For more details, see the attached August 2017 Summary.

Harvest Safety News Release

August 2017 Rainfall News Release

Last week I completed the County Weed Survey.  A total of 105 fields were surveyed in Hardin County this fall.  Marestail was found to be a problem in 45 of these fields, followed by Giant Ragweed (36), Volunteer Corn (14), Giant Foxtail/grasses (9), Waterhemp (4), Common Lambsquarter (3), and Redroot Pigweed (2). The
highest degree of infestation in individual fields was Giant Foxtail/grasses, Common Lambsquarter, and Waterhemp.  Thirty (28.6%) of the 105 soybean fields were found to be weed-free.  See the attached news release for more information about the fields that were included in the survey.  I have also included a news release about the recent Hardin County Carcass Show of Champions results if you are interested in finding out how the county fair grand and reserve champion market livestock did on the rail.

County Weed Survey News Release

Carcass Show Results News Release

This week I am in California on an Ohio Sheep Improvement Association Sheep Production Study Tour.  This trip is paid for by scholarship/grant funds and my own personal means to learn more about the industry.  I am currently working with others to put together the final details on the Hardin County Sheep Management Tour which will be Saturday, October 21 and Sunday October 22 in the Marietta (Washington County) area.  I have attached a copy of the invitation letter that was sent out to local sheep producers but may have missed some.  If you have an interest in participating in this educational experience, read the attached letter and let me know of your interest.  We have to reserve the hotel rooms by October 11.  We are always looking for new people to participate in our local Hardin County Sheep Tour which also includes sheep producers from other counties.

Sheep Tour Invitation Letter

Upcoming local events include a Fairboard meeting on Saturday, October 7 in the fair office starting at 7:30 pm.  Ag Council will be meeting a week later on Friday, October 13 at Henry’s Restaurant starting at 7:00 am.  Feel free to join us for breakfast to see photos from the California Sheep Production Tour as well as an update on Hardin County agriculture.  That’s all for now as we are loading up the bus at 7:15 in the morning to tour our next sheep ranch.  Believe it or not, California is ranked 2nd in the United States for sheep production.  I have also included some agronomy articles that you may be interested in reading below.

Mark

IS LATE MATURING CORN AT RISK OF FROST INJURY? – Peter Thomison
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (http://www.nass.usda.gov/) as of Sept. 10, 69 percent of Ohio’s corn acreage was in the dent stage (R5) compared to 76 percent for the five-year average; 16 percent of the corn acreage was mature, slightly less than the five-year average, 18 percent. In some areas of the state, corn is considerably behind the five-year average because of late planting (the result of persistent rains and excessively wet soils that delayed planting in some localized areas) and cooler than normal temperatures in September. This later than normal maturation of the corn crop had led to questions concerning the potential for frost damage. To read more, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-30/late-maturing-corn-risk-frost-injury.

SOYBEAN POD SHATTERING AND HARVEST MOISTURE – Laura Lindsey
Pre-harvest and harvest loss of grain can result in significant yield reductions. Pre-harvest pod shatter (breaking of pods resulting in soybeans on the ground) can occur when dry pods are re-wetted. This year, in our trials, we’ve seen very little pre-harvest loss. At grain moisture content less than 13%, shatter loss at harvest can also occur. As soybean moisture decreases, shatter and harvest loss increase. In some of our trials, we’ve seen approximately 8% loss when harvesting at 9% moisture content. At 13% moisture content, we still see some loss, but at a much lower level (1-2%). Four soybean seeds per square foot equals one bushel per acre in loss (see picture). The seeds are often covered by soybean residue and chaff which need to be brushed away to look for seed losses.

LATE-SEASON SCOUTING FOR PALMER AMARANTH – Mark Loux
Palmer amaranth has shown up in a few more places in Ohio this summer at a range of infestation levels, and waterhemp has also become more prevalent. Newly discovered Palmer infestations in some fields were too high to be remediated by walking fields and removing plants, although before seed maturity there is still some potential to mow down weeds and soybeans to prevent seed production and even bigger problems next year. Infestation level in a few other fields was low enough to allow removal of Palmer amaranth plants by a crew of concerned people. Credit is especially given to the entire staff of one dealership in western Ohio who took the time to walk an 80-acre infested field for one of their customers. To read more about late-season scouting for Palmer amaranth, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-27/late-season-scouting-palmer-amaranth.

WESTERN BEAN CUTWORM 2017 TRAPPING AND MONITORING SUMMARY – Amy Raudenbush, Kelley Tilmon, Andy Michel
We had a successful year trapping and monitoring the western bean cutworm (WBC) in Ohio. We want to thank the extension educators for their time monitoring the traps, as well as the land owners for allowing us to place traps on their property. Overall, 24 counties in Ohio were monitored in 2017; an increase from 15 counties in 2016 (Figure 1). A total of 84 traps were monitored weekly from June 23 through August 25, 2017. A total of 15,117 WBC were trapped over the duration of the monitoring period, with a grand average of 21 moths/trap (up from 16 moths/trap in 2016). The peak week for WBC was July 8th through 14th (Figure 2) with a state average of 69 WBC/trap.  To find out more about Western Bean Cutworm trapping in 2017, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-29/western-bean-cutworm-2017-trapping-and-monitoring-summary.

OVER CROP SEEDING INTO STANDING SOYBEANS – Alan Sundermeier

As soybeans are maturing around Ohio, an opportunity to establish an early cover crop is available.   If a farmer waits until after soybean harvest, then many days of growth are being wasted.  Soybeans should have dropped 10% of their leaves before seeding a cover crop.  Planting too early and the cover crop may have too much growth and interfere with combine operation and green material separation.  Waiting too late will place the seed on top of fallen leaves and not contact the soil properly.  The idea is to place the seed on the soil, then have soybean leaves cover and mulch the cover crop seed to enhance germination. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-30/cover-crop-seeding-standing-soybeans 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