Good afternoon,
I hope this issue of the Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update finds you in good health. OSU Extension Water Quality Associate Boden Fisher and I have been busy doing some crop yield estimates around the county and have found some very good corn and soybean fields. The two corn fields we checked both came out to about 205 bushels per acre and the two soybean fields had some variation but we look for them to produce about 60 bushel per acre based on our current field checks. You can find videos that we made on the Hardin County OSU Extension Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/hardincountyosuextension) for these fields on both the western and eastern sides of the county. Of course our estimates of yield potential in these fields depend on rainfall and how the crops finish the growing season. Hardin County is still behind on growing season rainfall and you can find both the June and July Extension rainfall summaries attached to this email. Statewide, according to the Ohio Crop Weather Report from August 16 that also is attached, 81% of the corn is in the good to excellent category, while only 73% of the soybeans are in the good to excellent category.
The big concern is that we have found tar spot in corn in the northern part of Hardin County. This is a new disease first spotted in Ohio in 2018 that can decrease yields by 30 bushels per acre. Often infections come later in the growing season during mid to late grain fill (R3-R6) with temperatures of 60-75 degrees and relative humidity greater than 75%. From what we have been able to find from scouting, is that certain hybrids are susceptible to this disease and can still be infected even after treatment with fungicides at R1 growth stage. You can read more about this disease in with a fact sheet at https://crop-protection-network.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/tar-spot-filename-2019-03-25-120313.pdf; an article from Purdue University at https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/newsletters/pestandcrop/article/tar-spot-and-southern-corn-rust-update-in-indiana/; and a fungicide efficacy chart at https://crop-protection-network.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/fungicide-efficacy-for-control-of-corn-diseases-filename-2021-07-14-205804.pdf. So if you haven’t scouted your fields lately, you might want to go out and look at them to see if you have this disease in your corn.
I have included articles that I have submitted to the media since my last e-newsletter that you may want to read if you missed them earlier. These include news releases about the fruit and vegetable Crop Walk, Corn Fungicides, Soybean Foliar Products, and the Totally Tomatoes Master Gardener program. I have also included flyers for an upcoming Drainage Tools Workshop, the Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulus Program for the Shallow Run watershed in the Blanchard River watershed, and a save the date flyer for a future Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Soybean Foliar Products News Release
2021 Drainage Tools Workshop Flyer
Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulus Program Flyer
CSA Conference Save the Date Flyer
Locally, if you haven’t already registered for the Hardin County “Seeding the Harvest” event sponsored by the Hardin County Farm Bureau in partnership with the Hardin County Chamber & Business Alliance, make sure you do that by August 23. The event will feature a three course dinner, door prizes including a quarter of beef, and an educational program on planting, growing, and harvesting crops with equipment displays at DuLynn Farms LLC (9970 Township Road 120, Kenton) on Saturday, August 28 starting at 4:00 pm. Online registration is available at https://ofb.ag/seedingharvestreg with a cost of $20 per adult and $10 per child 12 an under. The Farm Science Review is coming up September 21-23 and we now have tickets to this annual farm show at the Extension office for $7 each. Avoid the rush and get yours at a reduced rate compared to buying them at the gate. I’ve also included some ag crops articles below for your reading.
Mark
It’s Time To Clean Your Grain Bins (And Everywhere Else Around Your Grain Bins) – Curtis Young
Late spring, summer and early fall are the times of the year that insects are most active, flying and walking around to disperse to new locations near and far, reproducing, building in populations and infesting new food resources. The stored grain infesting insects take advantage of these times of the year as well. With only a few exceptions, most of the store grain infesting insects can fly in the adult stage to move from location to location. If they find a food resource when they arrive at a new location, they can infest that food resource and begin building in population through the rest of the growing season. Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2021-27/it%E2%80%99s-time-clean-your-grain-bins-and-everywhere-else-around-your.
Remember soybean aphids? They might be in your fields – Andy Michel, Kelley Tilmon
Soybean aphids have always been around Ohio, but it has been a while since we have had many fields with high populations. Based on recent scouting, we have noticed increasing populations of soybean aphids. As we go into the critical growth stage of soybean, this is also the most important time to check your fields for soybean aphids and see if you have exceeded the threshold of an increasing population of 250 aphids per plant. Continue reading about soybean aphids at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2021-27/remember-soybean-aphids-they-might-be-your-fields.
Don’t get burned by hopperburn—check alfalfa for potato leafhoppers – Andy Michel, Mark Sulc, Curtis Young, Kelley Tilmon
Potato leafhopper (PLH) adults arrived in Ohio during the last week of June and first week of July. Since then, the eggs have hatched and we are now seeing late stage nymphs and adults infesting alfalfa fields. A few fields are showing the typical “hopperburn”, which is a triangular yellowing from the center of the leaf to the leaf margin. The more mature the crop of alfalfa is since the last cutting, the more the hopperburn symptoms will be showing. Hopperburn will also become more pronounced in areas of the state that are short on rain or are predicted to become drier because the alfalfa will not be able to outgrow the feeding activity of PLH. Finish reading this article at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2021-25/don%E2%80%99t-get-burned-hopperburn%E2%80%94check-alfalfa-potato-leafhoppers.
Get your Waterhemp Populations Screened for Herbicide Resistance – Mark Loux
We have been screening a random sample of waterhemp populations for herbicide resistance over the past two years. Herbicides used in the screen include mesotrione, atrazine, 2,4-D, fomesafen, and metolachlor. Results of our research show that it’s possible for Ohio waterhemp populations to have some level of resistance to one, several, or all of these herbicides. Glyphosate is not included because we assume almost all populations are already resistant to this. We are also part of a regional project that has been screening for dicamba and glufosinate resistance with populations that we supply, although none has been identified to date. Find out more information regarding screening waterhemp at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/24-2021/get-your-waterhemp-populations-screened-herbicide-resistance.
Does Pipeline Installation have a Lasting Effect on Crop Yields? – Steve Culman, Theresa Brehm
Numerous underground oil and gas pipelines have been installed through Ohio farmland over the past several years. This has left many growers wondering if this installation will have lasting impacts on their soils and crops. Last fall, we collected soil and yield samples from 24 different farms impacted by pipeline installation in seven counties throughout Northern Ohio. The Rover, Utopia, and Nexus pipelines were targeted because of their recent installation, with each pipeline installed within the last 3-4 years. Grain crops like corn and soybeans were the primary focus. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/24-2021/does-pipeline-installation-have-lasting-effect-crop-yields to learn about the results of this study.
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
