November 26, 2019

Good afternoon,

With the passage of time, fall harvest has been progressing in Hardin County.  Most of the corn has been harvested and very few soybean fields remain as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.  Statewide, 83% of corn has been harvested and 93% of soybeans have been cut.  See the attached Ohio Crop Weather report for November 25 for more details.  Since the last Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update, I have submitted articles on fall harvest road safety and estimating harvest loss of corn and soybean that you may be interested in reading.  Along with those articles, Extension Rainfall Summaries have been submitted for September and the growing season which are attached to this message.

Ohio Crop Weather Report

Fall Harvest Road Safety

Estimating Harvest Loss

September Rainfall Summary

Growing Season Rainfall Summary

I spent the last half of October on a sheep and agriculture tour of Argentina organized by the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association and Ohio Farm Bureau.  While on this tour, farmers were busy planting soybeans as they are in the spring season down in South America.  Their corn was in the three leaf stage and their wheat was in head.  Their crop rotation is similar to ours with corn, soybean, wheat/double crop soybean.  They also raised hay and alfalfa in the areas that we visited.  Livestock breeds were similar to the United States, with Merino and Hampshire being common sheep breeds; and Hereford, Red and Black Angus being common beef cattle breeds.  I will have more on this trip in a future article that I plan to write.  Speaking of sheep, you may be interested in attending the 2019 Buckeye Shepherds’ Symposium being held December 13 and 14 in Wooster.  If so, I have attached a flyer to this email which contains registration information due by November 29.

Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium flyer

The Hardin County Agriculture Hall of Fame Banquet is coming up Tuesday, December 3 at St. John’s Evangelical Church in Kenton.  This year Dean and Barbara Dulin, Madelyn Lowery, Fred Rarey, and Mark Watkins are being inducted.  If you haven’t yet ordered your tickets for this annual event, make sure you call the Extension office at 419-674-2297 very soon to place your order.  Tickets are $12 each and can be picked up and paid for at the door the night of the banquet.  For more information about the banquet and this year’s honorees,  see the attached news article.  Retired Hardin County OSU Extension Agent Gene McCluer will be the guest speaker.

2019 Hardin County Ag Hall of Fame

Another upcoming event happening soon in the county is the Farm Bill Update.  This event is scheduled for Thursday, December 5 at Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative in Kenton.  Starting at 6:30 pm, the program will explain the changes to the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2019-2023, including important dates and deadlines, crop insurance – supplemental coverage option, and using decision tools to evaluate program choices to make informed decisions.  In addition to the Extension speaker Sam Custer from Darke County, Hardin County FSA Director Christie Suchora will be there to provide an overview and answer questions.  A NRCS update is being planned as well for conservation programs.  Overflow parking will be available at both the Hardin County Ag Center and Ag Credit.  See the attached news article and flyer for more information.

Farm Bill Update Training

Hardin Co Farm Bill Training flyer

Other resources I have included are a Youth Farm Stress fact sheet from Michigan State University Extension and articles below from the CORN Newsletter.  Other local upcoming events include a Dairy Service Unit meeting starting at 7:00 pm Monday (12/2) at the Extension office; Hardin County Fairboard meeting starting at 7:00 pm Wednesday (12/4) at the Fair office; and Ag Council breakfast meeting starting at 7:30 am Friday (12/6) at the Kenton McDonalds.  I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Youth Farm Stress fact sheet

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohio Corn Harvest May Continue as a High Moisture Corn Harvest – Elizabeth Hawkins, Jason Hartschuh

When the calendar flipped from October to November the weather changed in a big way. Over the next 10 days, temperature predictions are highs in the 40’s and lows in the 20’s. These conditions make it much more difficult to field dry corn creating a need to send high moisture corn to the dryer. Currently only 37% of the corn crop has been harvested compared to a 5 year average of 56% Using a dry down calculator from Iowa State (https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/facts/corn-drydown-calculator), we can estimate how quickly corn will dry in the field. Based on the forecast, if your corn is at 30% moisture now, in 10 days it will be about 25% moisture and by the end of the month it may reach 21%. If our current moisture is 25%, in 10 days it will be about 22% moisture and by the end of the month it may reach 20%. When looking at these numbers, it seems like corn is field drying well. However, if we look at the forecast for corn at 20% now, the calculator predicts a moisture loss of less than half a point over the next 10 days and less than a point by the end of the month. Keep in mind, these are median predictions and if the weather model changes, we could see more-or-less field dry down.  Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-38/ohio-corn-harvest-may-continue-high-moisture-corn-harvest for more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where’s the Bean? Missing Seed in Soybean Pods – Andy Michel, Kelley Tilmon

As soybean harvest progresses, a few growers are noticing poor yields in otherwise nice-looking plants and pods. While a visual inspection might lead to high estimations of seed quality, the inside may contain shrunken, shriveled or, even worse, missing seed.  Stink bugs can often cause this type of injury to soybean seed. They have piercing sucking mouthparts that poke through the pod wall, and then feed directly on the seed. Because their mouthparts are small, damage to the pod is often undetected. However, opening a few pods may reveal poor seed quality evident of stink bug feeding.  We have seen increasing issues with stink bugs in Ohio. This past season was no exception and we will likely continue to see issues in the future. For more information on stink bug identification, scouting and resources, see our agronomic crops insects webpage: https://aginsects.osu.edu/home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help OSU Extension Document the Yield Impacts of the 2019 Planting Delays – Elizabeth Hawkins, John Fulton, Aaron Wilson, Ben Brown, Anne Dorrance

Normal planting dates for Ohio range from mid-April to the end of May. This season was quite different when planting for both crops was delayed until late May and stretched into June and even July across many parts of Ohio. We found ourselves grasping for any information we could find including 1) how much of an effect late planting dates would have on yield, and 2) what, if anything, we should change in management of these late planted crops. The historical planting date information we did have was somewhat helpful, but we did not have any data on what could happen when planting is delayed into the second half of June nor July.  Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-39/help-osu-extension-document-yield-impacts-2019-planting-delays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Reliable will this Year’s Test Plot Data Be? – Laura Lindsey, Peter Thomison

Ohio’s corn and soybean crops experienced exceptional growing conditions in 2019, including record rainfall in May and June followed by drier than normal August and September conditions in many areas. As a result of the early season saturated soils, corn and soybean planting was delayed across most of the state. For soybean, planting date is the most important cultural practice that influences grain yield. Planting date is also a major factor affecting crop performance and profitability in corn. The persistent rains and saturated soils caused localized ponding and flooding. These conditions resulted in root damage and N loss that led to uneven crop growth and development between and within fields. Agronomists often question the value of test plot data when adverse growing conditions severely limit yield potential. Finish reading this article at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2019-39/how-reliable-will-years-test-plot-data-be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessing the 2019 Production Year Survey – Second Call – Greg LaBarge, Dee Jepsen, Ben Brown, Anne Dorrance

The 2019 production year has presented many challenges. Regardless of where you are in the state, we hope you respond to a brief survey to identify both short- and long-term outreach and research needs based on the 2019 year. The survey is located at  https://go.osu.edu/ag2019 If you have already responded, thank you for taking the time to share . The survey will close at midnight on November 27, 2019. The survey is for Ohio crop and livestock/forage producers. Questions relate to crop production, prevented plant, livestock forage needs, emergency forage success, economic and human stress concerns. Since challenges and concerns varied across the state, this survey is designed to assess needs on a county, regional and statewide basis. Results will be used to determine Extension programming and future research needs.

 

 

 

Mark A. Badertscher

Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator

OSU Extension Hardin County

1021 W. Lima Street, Suite 103, Kenton, OH 43326

419-767-6037

hardin.osu.edu