Good evening,
Winter time is a good time to sit back and look at how you are managing the farm. One of the best tools to do this with are budgets. This week I have attached the latest 2018 OSU Extension corn, soybean, and wheat budgets for you to use. It’s time to sharpen the pencil so to speak, or if you are up to it, use the attached Excel spreadsheets to work with your numbers to see where you are at with production costs and income. These budgets provide a column to do just that and I hope they are helpful to you. Another good thing to do in the winter is attend educational meetings and conferences to brush up on topics. I have attached a copy of the mid-January Ohio No-till News to this email. It highlights the Ohio No-Till Conference, which was held at Der Dutchman in Plain City with Hardin County farmer Jan Layman serving as president. It also includes some information about the upcoming Conservation Tillage Conference being held in Ada on March 6-7.
- 2018 OSU Extension Corn Budget
- 2018 OSU Extension Soybean Budget
- 2018 OSU Extension Wheat Budget
- Mid-January Ohio No-Till Newsletter
Once again Hardin County is teaming up with Allen County to offer a new Master Gardener Volunteer training course. This course will begin on March 6 and will meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings at OSU Lima campus from 6:00-9:00 pm. If you know of someone interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer, share the attached news release and flyer with them. Registration deadline for the course is February 27. Don’t forget that Ag Credit is sponsoring a Farm Succession evening program with dinner on February 27 in the Masters Building at the Wyandot County Fairgrounds. I have attached a flyer to this email along with another flyer promoting a Farm Succession and Transition program with lunch being offered in Greenville on the same date, but during the day. Handing down the farm operation to the younger generation takes careful planning, so take advantage of these opportunities and register today to get a plan in place if this is your situation.
- Master Gardener Volunteer Training Course Flyer
- Master Gardener Volunteer Course News Release
- Farm Succession Evening Dinner Program Flyer
- Farm Transition and Succession Lunch Program Flyer
Organic production is an option for some considering alternative agriculture. There will be a panel discussion in Urbana discussing this topic over dinner on February 21. See the attached flyer for more information if you are interested. This panel will be discussing organic row crops, hay, pasture, and beef cattle. Do you know a young woman interested in an agricultural career? If so, see the attached flyer about FarmHer. This program is scheduled to take place on February 23 at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus. That’s about all for now, with the exception of upcoming local meetings here in Hardin County. The Pork Producers met last night at Ag Credit to plan their upcoming banquet, Farm Bureau is having their Comedy Night at the Kenton Elks Lodge tomorrow (2/10) evening starting at 6:30 pm and the Hardin County Men’s Garden Club is getting started back up again for the season Monday (2/12) at the home of Steve Phillips. For additional reading material, see the attached agronomy articles.
Mark
2017 Northwest Ohio Corn Silage Test – Rich Minyo, Allen Geyer, Peter Thomison, Bill Widdicombe
In 2017, 50 corn silage hybrids representing 15 commercial brands were evaluated in a joint trial with Michigan State University (MSU). One Ohio location is combined with Michigan’s two southern (Zone 1) silage locations. The trials were divided into two maturity groups designated early and late on the basis of the relative maturity (RM) submitted by the companies with results listed in separate tables. The Ohio test site was located in our Northwest Region at Hoytville (Wood County). To read more about the 2017 Northwest Ohio Corn Silage Test, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-01/2017-northwest-ohio-corn-silage-test.
The Effects of Soil Conservation Practices on Selected Soil Health Indicators – Alan Sundermeier
Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Soil health indicators are measurements of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. As more tools become available to measure soil health factors, it is critical that we evaluate the efficacy of these tools. This 2-year project in Northwest Ohio measured the impact that soil conservation practices have on selected soil health indicators and the subsequent corn yield in cover cropped hay, wheat and corn cropping systems. To read more, go tohttps://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-01/effects-soil-conservation-practices-selected-soil-health.
Fertilizer Recertification Begins in 2018 – Mark Badertscher, Ed Lentz
Ohio is now seeing full implementation of Ohio’s Agricultural Fertilizer Applicator Certification regulation. The regulation was result of Senate Bill 150, which can be found at http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/905.322 and http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/905.321. The 2014 regulation required farmers to complete a fertilizer certification program if they applied fertilizer to more than 50 acres of land in agricultural production primarily for sale. Exemptions included fertilizer applied through a planter, individuals whose crops remained on the farm for their livestock and not sold, or fertilizer applied by a commercial applicator. Click onhttps://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-01/fertilizer-recertification-begins-2018 to read more about fertilizer recertification.
Customizing your Weed Management Program – Jason Hartschuh
Two similar advanced weed management program are planned for February 13th in Marion and 14th in Willard. They will both feature Mark Loux and Bruce Ackley with hands on weed identification. They will also be covering weed biology and making a cost effective weed control program that fits your farm. These will be hands on programs working with green house grown weeds, for weed identification at various growth stages. The Willard Program will have an hour after lunch focusing on sprayer clean out and effects of spray nozzles. The Willard program will also offer pesticide recertification credits and CCA credits. Please call the respective program sponsors on the fliers below for more information and to register. Go tohttps://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-032018-02-2018-01/customizing-your-weed-management-program to read more about these programs being offered in Marion and Willard.
Input Wanted- Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey – 2018 – Barry Ward
We need your assistance in securing up-to-date information about farm custom work rates and machinery rental rates in Ohio. This information is updated every-other year and published by OSU Extension. It is widely used across the state, so we need the best information available. Enclosed is a copy of the Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey for 2018. Please provide rates that are current including the latest price increases or planned increases. An online option for this survey is available athttps://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cJa90YBYdWOa6DX. We would ask you to please respond even if you know only have a few operations with data. We want information on actual rates, either what you paid to hire work or what you charged to perform custom work. To read more about this survey, go tohttps://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-01/input-wanted-ohio-farm-custom-rate-survey-%E2%80%93-2018.
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
