Good evening,
It’s been a month since I last sent out the Hardin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Update. Since then I have been the editor for the C.O.R.N. Newsletter in November and December. Harvest in the county is mostly done with the exception of a few corn and soybean fields. How well did this year’s crops do? I have included both an OSU soybean performance trials and an OSU corn performance trials news release that compares the various varieties on test. Did you hear about Hardin County sheep producer Dave Burkhart receiving the Ohio Master Shepherd Award? He received this honor from the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association in Wooster on December 1. I have attached a copy of the news release that you can read to find out more about this special honor.
OSU Soybean Performance Trials
Ohio Master Shepherd Award News Release
With the onset of the holiday season, we will soon be in winter meetings. We’ve been working to plan this year’s Conservation Tillage Club breakfast series which will be held at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mt. Victory. The dates of the breakfast meetings are January 8 (Weed Control), January 22 (Grain Marketing Outlook), February 5 (Corn Diseases), and February 19 (Ag Technology). Breakfast will begin at 7:30 am with the program at 8:00 am. See the attached news release and flyer for more details about the presentations and speakers. The meals are provided courtesy of area agribusinesses and ag lenders. These Conservation Tillage Club meetings are a joint effort of OSU Extension, SWCD, NRCS, and the Ridgemont FFA. I hope to see you there.
Conservation Tillage Club News Release
Conservation Tillage Club Flyer
Other events coming up around the region include a Farm Management School held in Darke County starting January 3, a Farmer and Farmland Owner Income Tax Webinar held January 7, and the Precision University focusing on In-season decisions held January 9 in Madison County. See the attached flyers for details about these educational opportunities as well as registration procedures. Local events coming up in the next couple of weeks include Hardin County Jr. Fair Beef Weigh-ins December 29 from 8:00 am-10:00 am at the fairgrounds. More information about this event can be found at https://hardin.osu.edu/news/jr-fair-steer-registration-and-weigh-0. With the closing of Henry’s Restaurant in Kenton, the next Ag Council will be held Friday, January 4 at the Extension office starting at 7:30 am. I plan to have information about farm taxes and breakfast for those who attend. Until the next time, enjoy the holidays and take time to read the ag crops articles below.
Farmer and Farmland Owner Income Tax Webinar
Mark
2018 Ohio Corn Performance Test: Regional Overviews – Rich Minyo, Allen Geyer, David Lohnes, Peter Thomison
In 2018, 192 corn hybrids representing 24 commercial brands were evaluated in the Ohio Corn Performance Test (OCPT). Four tests were established in the Southwestern/West Central/Central (SW/WC/C) region and three tests were established in the Northwestern (NW) and North Central/Northeastern (NC/NE) regions (for a total of ten test sites statewide). Hybrid entries in the regional tests were planted in either an early or a full season maturity trial. These test sites provided a range of growing conditions and production environments. To finish reading this article, go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-40/2018-ohio-corn-performance-test-regional-overviews.
2018 Forage Performance Trials Available – Mark Sulc, John McCormick
The 2018 Ohio Forage Performance Trials Report is available online at https://u.osu.edu/perf/. The report summarizes forage yield data collected from forage variety trials in Ohio during 2018, including commercial varieties of alfalfa planted from 2015 to 2017 (3 trials), annual ryegrass planted in September 2017 (1 trial) and cover crops planted in September 2017 (1 trial). The trials summarize yield performance of 34 alfalfa varieties and 11 annual ryegrass varieties. The cover crop trial summarizes stand establishment and ground cover development in the fall after a mid-September seeding in 2017 and winter injury, ground cover and spring biomass production in the spring 2018 of 22 cover crop varieties including rape, turnip, annual ryegrass, radish, Balansa clover, winter pea, and hairy vetch.
Transitional No-Till – Alan Sundermeier
Transitional no-till represents the years from the beginning of no-till until the soil is truly transformed to have no-till characteristics. The number of years required to complete the transition can be shortened by practices such as cover cropping, adding manure or compost, utilizing diverse crop rotations, and maintaining crop residue on the soil surface. In research, the results during the transition are important and critical to understand the soil dynamics; however, the results should not be referred to as “no-till” until the soil has reached the biological, physical, and chemical status of true no-till. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-41/transitional-no-till to read more about transitional no-till.
Register Now! Precision U: In-Season Decisions – Elizabeth Hawkins, John Barker, Trey Colley, Amanda Douridas, Ken Ford, John Fulton, Mary Griffith, Jenna Lee
Digital agriculture, combining multiple data sources with advanced crop and environmental analyses to provide support for on-farm decision making, continues to change and advance our industry. Data and digital technologies can provide insights and opportunities to improve crop management by responding to each season’s unique conditions. Next month, The Ohio State University Extension and the Digital Ag team at OSU are hosting “Precision University: In-Season Decisions” to help you understand the opportunities and challenges of using data and tools to help make crop management decisions throughout the season. Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-40/register-now-precision-u-season-decisions to read more about Precision U,
Central Ohio Precision Ag Symposium – John Barker
The Central Ohio Precision Ag Symposium will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at All Occasions Catering, 6986 Waldo-Delaware Road, Waldo, Ohio from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s program will feature the most current technologies available in precision agriculture. These topics will be shared by some of the leading university and industry Precision Ag experts. This year’s program opens with a discussion regarding where we are in Precision Ag today – “The Adoption of Precision Ag Technologies” – Jack Zemlicka, Ag Division Content Director Lessiter Media and ends with a look into the crystal ball – “The Future of Precision Ag” – Dr. Scott Shearer, The Ohio State University. Data management is a “hot topic” in today precision agriculture. Dr. John Fulton will share his insights on “Data Considerations in Today’s Crop Production.” Go to https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2018-40/central-ohio-precision-ag-symposium to read more about this event.
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
