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.
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.
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.
