Cover Crop Management Seminar

Hardin County – Cody Beacom and Jim Hoorman are the headline speakers for a Cover Crop Management three-hour morning program presented by the Ohio No-Till Council, Hardin County OSU Extension, and The Nature Conservancy. The event will be held at the Plaza Inn Restaurant, 491 S Main Street, Mt. Victory, starting at 9:00 am on Friday, February 10. Coffee and cake will be provided by Wingfield Crop Insurance Service starting at 8:30 am.

Cody Beacom, Bird Agronomics, will explain the basics of cover crops, from the selection of the best mix for summer or fall seeding to managing in the spring, whether using a burndown herbicide, “planting green”, or using a roller crimper.

A cover crops expert panel consisting of Jan Layman, Hardin County farmer and president of the Ohio No-till Council; Cody Beacom, Bird Agronomics; and Matt Burkholder, Farmer Advocate for Conservation; will answer questions and concerns from the audience.

Jim Hoorman, Hoorman Soil Health Services, will present details regarding the nutrient and soil health benefits of cover crops.

Lunch will be provided at noon by The Nature Conservancy and the Farmer Advocate for Conservation program.

The program is free and limited to 50 participants. Pre-registration is required at http://go.osu.edu/covercrop2023 or by calling OSU Extension, Hardin County at 419-674-2297 by February 3.

Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training in Kenton

Hardin County – A three-hour fertilizer certification program will be held in Kenton for any private or commercial applicator who needs to obtain fertilizer certification for the first time. This training will be held at the Hardin County OSU Extension office, 1021 W Lima Street, Kenton, Ohio on Friday, February 10. The class will begin at 1:00 pm and end at 4:00 pm. There is a $30 class fee payable to OSU Extension for this training.

Please arrive early so that materials can be distributed, and the program can start on time. This training will meet the fertilizer certification requirements for those with or without a pesticide license. Pre-registration is required by calling the Hardin County OSU Extension office at 419-674-2297 or register online at https://go.osu.edu/HardinPAT-FACT no later than a week before the training.

Agricultural fertilizer applicator certification is required in Ohio for farmers who apply fertilizer to more than 50 acres of agricultural production grown primarily for sale. This requirement was signed into law in June 2014, and also requires certification for commercial agricultural fertilizer applicators. Farmers who have their fertilizer applied by co-ops or custom applicators are not required to be certified if they do not side-dress their own corn.

Applicators who are a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) or Certified Livestock Manager (CLM) are not required to attend the training. Fertilizer is defined for the regulation as any substance containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, or other plant nutrient in a dry or liquid formulation. All application types such as broadcast, side dress, sub-surface, knifing and other are included in the certification requirement. Lime and limestone are not included as fertilizer for the certification and farmers who only use starter fertilizer in their planter boxes are exempted.

The agriculture fertilizer certification is not required for manure applications as these are currently regulated, unless farmers are applying livestock or poultry manure from a Concentrated Animal Feeding Facility (CAFF). In this case, they would need to have either the CLM or Ohio Fertilizer Certification.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture is the agency issuing the certification for agriculture fertilizer applications. Once an applicator completes the fertilizer training, the ODA will bill them $30 for their fertilizer certificate unless the applicator currently holds a pesticide applicator license.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture website has information regarding the regulation at https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/plant-health/fertilizers. For more information about other training sessions or general materials for the agriculture fertilizer certification, visit https://nutrienteducation.osu.edu or contact Mark Badertscher, Hardin County OSU Extension at badertscher.4@osu.edu.

January 10, 2023

Hello,

I hope you had a good holiday season and are looking forward to the upcoming winter meeting season. Our annual Conservation Tillage Club breakfast series begins this Thursday, January 12 at 7:30 am at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. This years line up of topics includes Using Precision Ag Data, Grain Marketing Outlook/Soybean Crush Plant, Corn Diseases, and Farm Bill Programs. See the attached news release and flyer for more details. We hope to see you there starting this Thursday and then every other week in January and February for a total of four events. This year’s Western Ohio Dairy Luncheon series is off to a good start with the next meeting January 18 featuring “Milking a Dairy Farm Analysis for All It’s Worth” in New Bremen. See the attached flyer for more information.

Conservation Tillage Club Breakfast News Release

Conservation Tillage Club Flyer

Western Ohio Dairy Luncheon Flyer

Once again this year were are having a New Pesticide Applicator class in Kenton on January 19. This class is for those farmers or farm employees who want to get their private pesticide applicator license for the first time. We will be following up the class with Ohio Department of Agriculture testing sessions at the Extension office in January, February, and March. If you or someone you know is interested in signing up for the class, contact me to register. I have included both a copy of the news release and flyer with this email. The West Ohio Agronomy Day is being held in Fort Loramie on January 23. This year we have a good line-up of speakers so see the attached flyer for more details about this special day of field crop agronomic speakers.

New Pesticide Applicator Class News Release

New Pesticide Applicator Flyer

West Ohio Agronomy Day Flyer

We plan to train a new group of Master Gardener Volunteers for Hardin County this winter. If you are interested or know of someone who has an interest in gardening and is willing to share their knowledge doing horticulture programing with county residents as part of the OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, have them check out the new release about our upcoming Master Gardener Volunteer Training and the attached flyer. Deadline for registration for this combined self-paced online and in-person training is January 30. The orientation will be held on February 13 with other classes to follow. If your family is interested in farm succession planning, there is an online “Planning for the Future of Your Farm Webinar Series” starting on January 23. See the attached flyer for more information about how to register your family for this series.

New Master Gardener Volunteer Course News Release

Master Gardener Volunteer Course Flyer

Planning For The Future Of Your Farm Flyer

Other links that you may be interested in include AGNR News Articles at https://hardin.osu.edu/program-areas/agriculture-and-natural-resources/agnr-news-articles, Farm Management Budgets at https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management/enterprise-budgets, and Western Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents at https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management-tools/farm-management-publications/cash-rents. I have included some articles about upcoming webinars and other programs below that you may be interested in reading.

 

Mark

 

Don’t Miss Out on 2023 Soil Health Webinar Series – Stephanie Karhoff, Tony Nye, Taylor Dill, Jamie Hampton

Join the OSU Extension Agronomic Crops Team 2023 Soil Health Webinar series for a Thursday morning series about soil health. You won’t want to miss out on this year’s line-up of farmers and academic experts covering a wide range of soil health topics as they dig below the surface to investigate new developments in soil health and soil management. Read more at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2023-01/dont-miss-out-2023-soil-health-webinar-series.

Join Us for the 2023 Precision U Webinars – Elizabeth Hawkins, John Fulton, Amanda Douridas, Ken Ford, Amanda Bennett

A different approach to farming is on the horizon as automated technologies are becoming available. The 2023 Precision U event will focus on “Automating Agriculture: The Future of Farming.” The event will be online with three Zoom webinars. Topics include regulation of autonomous equipment in Ohio, adoption on the farm, and the Ohio Rural Broadband Initiative. CEUs for Certified Crop Advisors will be offered. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/PrecisionU. Please plan to join us for one or all of these events! More information can be found at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2023-01/join-us-2023-precision-u-webinars.

2023 “Climate &…” Webinar Series – Aaron Wilson

As we know, weather and climate impact agriculture in significant ways. Please join us for our first in a series of three webinars on January 19, 2023 from 8-9 a.m. as we explore the impacts of extreme weather and climate on diseases with Drs. Pierce Paul and Aaron Wilson. This includes a short presentation on tools available from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center to help with in-season decision making and/or post-seasonal analysis. Additional webinars are available in February and March. Finish reading this article at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2023-01/2023-climate-webinar-series.

2023 Water Quality Wednesdays – Amber Emmons, Courtney Krieger, Rachel Cochran, Paige Garrabrant, Matthew Romanko

Join OSU’s Water Quality Extension Associates for their annual winter webinar series focusing on the interaction between agriculture and water quality. These webinars will take place monthly from January to March 2023 on the last Wednesday of each month. Each webinar will have knowledgeable speakers and will offer continuing education credits (CEUs) for Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs). Topics in 2023 will be cover crops and wetlands. There is no cost to attend these webinars, but registration is required to receive the connection link. All webinars will be recorded and posted to the OSU Agronomy Team YouTube channel for later viewing. CEUs will not be available from the recordings. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2022-42/2023-water-quality-wednesdays for more details.

Conservation Tillage Club Breakfast Series – Mark Badertscher

The 2023 Conservation Tillage Club breakfast program series will begin on Thursday, January 12 at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. Each session will start at 7:30 am with a complimentary buffet breakfast followed by the program at 8:00 am. Other sessions will be held on January 26, February 9 and 23. The Conservation Tillage Club breakfast program series is jointly sponsored by OSU Extension and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Hardin, Logan, and Union Counties, and in cooperation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Find out more about the Conservation Tillage Club breakfast series at https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2023-01/conservation-tillage-club-breakfast-series.

 

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

Master Gardener Volunteer Training Offered

Hardin County – The Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers will host a Master Gardener Volunteer training course for new Master Gardener Volunteers this winter. The Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program provides intensive training in horticulture to interested Ohio residents who then volunteer their time assisting with educational programs and activities for Ohio residents through their local Ohio State University Extension county office. Volunteers are not required to have gardening skills or knowledge; but a passion for learning about gardening and sharing this knowledge with others is a must!

Training will be a combination of a self-paced online course combined with in-person classes held at the Hardin County Extension office beginning with orientation on Monday, February 13 from 9 am – 12 pm. Other scheduled in-person classes will be held according to availability of those who enroll. Additionally, new interns will gain hands-on training working alongside current Master Gardeners at the Friendship Gardens in Kenton. Spring garden seminars will be an option for meeting training requirements. The training course is open to interested volunteers from any county with the volunteer commitment to be completed in the volunteer’s home county program.

Specialists from the Ohio State University Extension and experienced Master Gardener Volunteers will be teaching sessions along with some local experts. Some topics include botany, soils, entomology, plant pathology, plant propagation, herbaceous and woody ornamentals, lawns, vegetables, herbs, fruit, pollinators, integrated pest management, pesticide safety, backyard wildlife, houseplants, and therapeutic horticulture.

The cost of the training is $150.00 and includes the training manual and materials for the class. There is also a requirement for a background check at the volunteer’s expense. The program requires 50 hours of classroom training and a commitment of 50 hours volunteer time to become a certified Master Gardener Volunteer. Registration deadline is January 30.  More information is available at https://mgvolunteers.osu.edu or by calling Mark Badertscher at 419-767-6037 at Hardin County OSU Extension. For more information about the Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, visit their Facebook page.