Good afternoon,
Ag Council met this past Friday and we discussed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. With the recent passage of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR), Lake Erie has now been granted the same legal rights normally reserved for a person. That means that any Toledoan who believes a business in the watershed is doing something they deem as detrimental to the lake could sue on the lake’s behalf. Ohio’s agricultural community is working together to represent the interests of the farmer and has issued the attached letter. Make sure you take a look at this letter, as the outcome of the current lawsuit filed by a Wood County farmer could have an impact on the direction this takes in the future. OSU Extension has put together a Law Bulletin describing affirmative defenses that farmers may have if they are named in a possible lawsuit regarding water quality or other issues. I have attached a copy of this bulletin to this email.
Affirmative Defenses For Ag Production Law Bulletin
The recent warm weather has the discussion turning to the upcoming growing season. Although it has been too wet for area farmers to begin spring work in most fields, several are taking a close look at their wheat fields and trying to decide if the crop is worth keeping or not. If you are one of these people, there was an article in the CORN Newsletter addressing this issue that I have included below. Also, there will be a Wheat/Barley Stand Evaluation field event tomorrow morning near Wapakoneta, starting at 10:30 am with the purpose of teaching you how to evaluate wheat or barley stands and talk about the economics of keeping the crop. See the attached flyer for more information about this event. Have you seen the county crop yield estimates recently released by USDA for this past year? Hardin County averaged 190.0 bushels per acre corn, 61.9 bushels per acre soybean, and 71.1 bushels per acre wheat. I have attached a copy of a news release I wrote about this topic.
Wheat/Barley Stand Evaluation Flyer
Since the winter meeting season is now officially compete, I have looking for cooperating farmers who might be interested in doing on-farm research in the county. This past year, three local studies were included in the eFields publication that can be found at https://digitalag.osu.edu/efields. This year, we are especially interested in conducting on-farm research with corn nitrogen rate trials, corn seeding rate trials, soybean seeding rate trials, soybean planting date + fungicide and insecticide trials, soybean fungicide trials, and stink bug insecticide trials. If you are interested in other types of trials, we can also set these up to answer your “what if” questions, but they might not appear in the eFields publication for 2019.
Other upcoming events include the Farm Bill Summit on Thursday, April 11 from 6:30-9:30 pm in Darke County (see flyer), Dairy Service Unit Cheese Sale pick-up Friday, April 12 from 12:00-7:00 pm and April 13 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm at Wagner Dairy Farm. I am now looking for rainfall reporters for both Goshen and Pleasant Townships, so let me know if you would like to help out monitoring rainfall this growing season in those townships. As usual, I have included some articles below that you may be interested in reading while you wait for the fields to get fit.
Mark
Estimating Wheat Yield With Stem Counts – Laura Lindsey
Between planting in the fall and Feekes 4 growth stage (beginning of erect growth) in the spring, winter wheat is vulnerable to environmental stress such as freezing temperatures with limited snow cover, saturated soils, and freeze-thaw cycles that cause soil heaving. All of which may lead to substantial stand reduction. However, a stand that looks thin in the spring does not always correspond to lower grain yield. Rather than relying on a visual stand assessment, farmers should estimate the yield potential of their winter wheat crop by counting stems, before deciding whether a field should be destroyed. To continue reading this article, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-07/estimating-wheat-yield-stem-counts.
New Requirements to Apply Dicamba! – Jennifer Andon
As of October of 2018, the EPA announced that the registration for dicamba will be extended for two years for over-the top use of dicamba resistant corn and soybeans. Additionally, new regulations now require that to mix, load or apply dicamba, you must be a licensed pesticide applicator. The trained serviceperson is no longer qualified under the new regulations. To receive a pesticide license to mix, load or apply dicamba, one must pass both the Core and Category 1 (Grain and Cereal Crops) exams offered by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The Ohio State University Pesticide Safety Education Program has prepared training videos to assist growers in preparing for the Core exam. These trainings are supplemental to the study manuals and will not include the annual dicamba training, which is also mandatory. For more information regarding the New Pesticide Applicator Training courses and videos, and online dicamba training, please go to: https://pested.osu.edu/PrivNewApp.
Keep an Eye Out for Water Quality Risk This Spring – Greg LaBarge
Research measuring nutrient losses from surface and subsurface drainage in Ohio indicates that not all fields contribute equally to various water quality issues. Fields with higher than average potential losses have some characteristics observed during everyday field activities or when working with agronomic records. For example, a stream bank collapsing and sloughing off is adding to downstream sedimentation issues, or a field with a soil test report showing phosphorus levels above agronomic need can result in higher soluble phosphorous losses. Having landowners and operators recognize these higher risk scenarios and react to them by contacting conservation professionals can help speed water quality improvements. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-07/keep-eye-out-water-quality-risk-spring to finish reading this article.
Assessing Winter Damage and Evaluating Alfalfa Stand Health – Rory Lewandowski, Mark Sulc
The winter of 2019 has seen a lot of variability including large temperature swings, snow cover, no snow cover, rain, sleet and ice. One constant for most areas of the state is that soils have remained wet and/or saturated throughout the fall and winter period. Add all of this together and there is the potential for some significant winter injury. Forage growers should plan to spend time assessing winter damage and evaluating the health of their forage stands, particularly alfalfa stands. Assessment and stand health evaluation can begin once plants start to green up and produce 2 to 4 inches of growth. One of the primary concerns is the possibility of heaving damage. Tap rooted crops such as alfalfa and red clover are particularly susceptible to heaving damage. To read more, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-07/assessing-winter-damage-and-evaluating-alfalfa-stand-health.
Tri-State Farm Bill Summit – Sam Custer
The 2018 Farm Bill, passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, now awaits implementation by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), agencies like the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Services, Risk Management Agency and many others. The passage of the farm bill authorizes funding for many of the federal programs producers utilize throughout the growing season. This bill is considered to be mostly evolutionary not revolutionary, but there are still changes that will be important to producers and agribusinesses. The Ohio State University, the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, the University of Kentucky and Farm Credit Mid-America are jointly sponsoring a Farm Bill Summit on Thursday, April 11, 2019 at the Versailles High School in Versailles, Ohio. Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-07/tri-state-farm-bill-summit.
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
