Hello,
There’s been a lot of changes going on and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with them each day. Today would have been our scheduled Make-up/Specialty Pesticide and Fertilizer Recertification class. If you did not complete pesticide or fertilizer recertification before the events were shutdown, the deadline is now 90 days after the state of emergency Executive Order ends or December 1, 2020, whichever comes first. OSU Extension will be rescheduling recertification events that were cancelled. If you have not received your new applicator card, know that ODA is working diligently with a reduced staff on site to get cards out. Your pink copy of the recertification form is your temporary certification until you get your card. Remember that category 15 is fertilizer. All exams for new licenses have been postponed until further notice. The current situation has also now affected the tax filing deadline as well as the tax payment deadline. See the attached document for further information.
COVID Tax Implications For Farmers Update
OSU Extension has made the switch to providing many events online. An example of this programming in Agriculture and Natural Resources is the Ag Madness program. Educational events have been provided daily at 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 3:00 pm since March 25. You can visit go.osu.edu/agmadness to get a listing and find the links for 64 different events online. There is a different subject each day so take a look at the attached news release and flyer for more details. If you missed a program that interests you, they are being recorded for later viewing. If you missed the Backyard Poultry Production workshop we had in Kenton last year, you can join in tonight virtually with Dr. Tim McDermott. See the attached flyer if you are interested in this workshop being offered by Morrow County Extension.
Backyard Poultry Production Virtual Flyer
It’s no secret that agriculture is big business in Hardin County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service 2017 Census of Agriculture ranked Hardin County 5th in total market value of agricultural products sold in the state of Ohio. The results of this most recent ag census determined that Hardin County has 726 farms averaging 361 acres in size with total land in farms at 261,744 acres. The livestock inventory in Hardin County as of December 31, 2017 included 68,974 hogs and pigs, 18,156 cattle and calves, 702 broilers and other meat-type chickens, 170 pullets, and the number of layers were undisclosed. There were 643 sheep and lambs, 542 horses and ponies, 249 goats, and 64 turkeys in the county reported to the USDA. There are 1165 total producers in Hardin County, with 826 being male and 339 being female. 683 producers are between the age of 35-64, 394 are 65 and older, while 88 are under the age of 35. Want more information? See the attached article I wrote about this topic.
Keep up to date by visiting our Hardin County OSU Extension Facebook page and clicking on “Like”. As you can imagine, there aren’t any county ag events scheduled because of the public health concern. However, I am hosting a Hardin County Ag Issues Virtual Coffee Hour this Friday, April 3 at 8:00 am. If you would like to join in this Zoom Meeting, you can click on https://osu.zoom.us/j/212259941 at that time. You can also join us on the phone by calling 1 646 876 9923 and using the meeting ID: 212 259 941 when it asks you for it. We will be discussing local agriculture and some of the resources that OSU Extension is making available during this time. This week’s attached farm management fact sheet from Michigan State University explains Net Worth. In closing, I have provided some news articles from today’s CORN Newsletter below.
Mark
H2Ohio Signup Deadline Returned to Tuesday, March 31st – Glen Arnold
Due to the COVID-19 and expected resulting budget issues, the Ohio Department of Agriculture has reinstated the original Tuesday, March 31st deadline for H2Ohio sign-up. The original deadline had been tentatively extended to June 2nd because of the COVID-19 but this extension no longer exists. Farmers and livestock producers in the 14 county Maumee River Watershed should immediately contact their local Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The SWCD districts will need your farm name, acres, and what practices you are interested in. They will likely be overwhelmed so have a good idea of what you want to sign-up for when you call. They can then work with you in the weeks that follow to get a contract signed. For a complete list of the funded practices and for a listing of SWCD offices, go to http://h2.ohio.gov/agriculture/
Nitrogen Rate Recommendations for Wheat 2020 – Ed Lentz, Laura Lindsey, Steve Culman
Wheat has already reached green-up across the state so spring N may be applied anytime fields are fit. Keep in mind that research has shown N can be applied up to Feekes GS 6 (one visible node) without a reduction in yield. However, wheat is growing slowly because of the cool temperatures, particularly in northern Ohio. Nitrogen applied early has the potential to be lost since wheat will use little N prior to jointing (Feekes GS 6). Urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) or 28% has the greatest potential for loss and ammonium sulfate the least. Urea will have little potential for loss as long as it does not volatize. No stabilizer will protect the nitrate component of UAN, which is roughly 25% of the total N in UAN at application time. Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2020-07/nitrogen-rate-recommendations-wheat-2020.
Poison Hemlock Control – Mark Loux, Curtis Young
Poison hemlock remains one of the more persistent and prevalent poisonous weeds that we deal with in Ohio. It’s most typically a biennial plant (sometimes perennial), emerging from seed in year one and developing into a low-growing rosette by late fall. The rosette overwinters and then resumes growth in the spring of year two. Stem elongation initiates sooner in spring than many other biennials, and this is followed by continued growth and development into the often very tall plant with substantial overall size. Flowering and seed production occur in summer. Read more about controlling poison hemlock at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2020-07/poison-hemlock-control.
Black Cutworm and Its Allies – Curtis Young
Cutworms are the larval stage of several moths in the insect Order Lepidoptera: Family Noctuidae (the Owlet Moths) which includes cutworms and armyworms. Several species of cutworm occur in Ohio. Typically they have 1-2 generations per year depending on the species and adult flights occur at different times through the growing season. All have 4 stages in their life cycles: eggs, larvae (caterpillars = cutworms), pupae and adults. Again, depending on the species, some overwinter as partially grown caterpillars, others as prepupae in the soil, and others do not overwinter in Ohio and must migrate into the state every year. Recognizing these caterpillars for who they are will again be important this year because of the amount of early weed growth on many agricultural fields which is very attractive to adults for egg laying or good cover for overwintered larvae. Finish reading about black cutworm at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2020-07/black-cutworm-and-its-allies.
Broadcasting Red Clover into Wheat – Rory Lewandowski, Jason Hartschuh, Mark Sulc
Looking at both the calendar and weather forecasts, frost-seeding is no longer a viable option to add red clover into a wheat stand. We can’t count on good freeze/thaw cycles to create those honeycomb conditions in the soil that create good seed to soil contact. The option left is to broadcast clover seed over the wheat stand. Successful establishment still depends upon getting good seed/soil contact. Growers need to evaluate soil, weather and stand conditions to determine if a straight broadcast operation is worth their time, effort and expense. Continue reading this article at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2020-07/broadcasting-red-clover-wheat.
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
