A very common question among many of us is “What is the current value for cropland rental rates and what is a fair price?” OSU Extension works to provide accurate data for each county. Previously, there has been no data collected for Brown County, If you have any information about the current prices in Brown County, please fill out this survey to help us provide accurate data for our county. Information is collected throughout the state and included in our publication each year. The more surveys filled out, the more helpful this tool will be for you in the future. Please have the forms filled out and back to me by April 5th. Follow this link to view the survey, the survey will only take a couple of minutes to fill out. Survey: Ohio Cropland Values and Cash Rents 2019 Survey Instrument Short-1d6oim2

You may bring a hard copy back into the Extension Office or scan a copy and send it to: morris.1677@osu.edu. You may also stop by the office to fill out a survey.

By: Anne Dorrance, OSU Extension Soybean Disease Specialist

Please Contact James Morris, 937-378-6716 or morris.1677@osu.edu if you would like to test for SCN.

Lots of news about Soybean cyst nematode at Commodity Classic a couple of weeks ago. We have continued support to run assays and education sessions for farmers throughout the region to be able to answer “What’s your number?”  There are fields throughout the Midwest, where not only are SCN numbers creeping up to economic levels but also the reproduction factor, which is the ability to reproduce on the one source of resistance (PI 88788) is also creeping up.  The good news is that adaptation to the PI 88788 type of resistance towards SCN in soybean is going to be slow – but it is happening in a couple of fields in Ohio where the number of cysts are up to 27% of the susceptible check.

We received soil samples from 238 fields during 2018 – here is the breakdown.

The highest counts to date are approximately 15,000 eggs per 100 cc of soil.

So here is the challenge – we are missing samples from some regions of Ohio and definitely could use some more soil samples from all counties.  Here is the breakdown by county.

Once the samples are processed, those with >500 eggs per 100cc are then added to the pipeline to evaluate for which source of resistance is effective towards that population: PI 88788 or Peking.  This will help first, the farmer to know what type of seed to buy and second companies to make decisions on what type of SCN resistant trait to target for Ohio soils.  So help us have the best data set in the US by sampling today.

How to sample – there are lots of you tube videos on this from my extension colleagues throughout the region, and Ohio State is no exception.  One of our former Ph.D. students, who earned his degree studying soybean cyst nematode produced this piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQgg-UPQdcs&feature=youtu.be

And here are my specific suggestions of where to sample to find SCN:

1. Review the yield maps and target those areas of the field where yields were low and you can’t explain why.  No flooding or weed outbreak.
2. Target fields with heavy purple dead nettle or other winter annuals that can SCN can reproduce on, especially during a warm winter.
3. Target fields that are planted continuously to soybean or those where rotations are rare.  Don’t forget double crop situations in these fields.  For full season soybeans, we can have 3 to 4 life cycles per growing season depending on where your fields are in the state, with double crop soybean, there is time for at least 2 life cycles, thus almost negating the effect of planting a non-host, where the populations can drop by 50%.

Members of the American Soybean Association were sent sample bags last May.  And if you are like me, it is probably still on your desk, so please take a look for that.  If you are not a member, let your county educator know – we will be shipping bags to each county educator in the next few weeks.

For more information- check out our SCN information at:

• OSU soybean diseases: https://u.osu.edu/osusoybeandisease/
• https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/

SCN Coalition: https://www.thescncoalition.com/

The greenhouse is in full production and would like to invite anyone who wants to see how our students grow vegetables and fruits hydroponically in a greenhouse (Howlett Hall greenhouse). The event is free of charge but we request RSVP for planning. This event will be held at The Ohio State University Howlett Hall Greenhouse, 680 Vernon Tharp St., Columbus, OH 43210. Registration is due by April 13th. To register, visit https://agnr.osu.edu/events/hydroponics-open-house

You can also contact Chieri Kubota for more information: kubota.10@osu.edu

The Brown County Master Gardener Volunteer’s will host their next Garden Seminar on April 18th at the Southern State Community College in Mt. Orab. The seminar will be from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in room #208. April’s seminar will focus on herb production tips and practices. There will be another seminar on May 16th at the Western Brown High School from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. May’s topic will be on weed identification and management. All programs are free and open to the public,  we hope to see you there!

The 2019 Small Farm Conference and Trade Show will be held on March 29th and March 30th. The conference will be held at the OSU South Centers in Piketon, OH. To register visit: Small Farm Conf. Registration

Friday’s schedule includes the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) training from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Following the FSMA training will be a hops production workshop from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. On Saturday, you will have 9 tracks to choose from. Tracks subjects include; horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, livestock, soils, marketing, farm management, hands-on training, and a miscellaneous track for those who are just beginning to farm or interested in organic production. Below you will find more details about each track and the schedules for each day. Contact Tony Nye, nye.1@osu.edu, 937.382.0901 or Charissa Gardner, gardner.1148@osu.edu, 740.289.2071 ext. 132 if you have any questions.

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Highland County Extension will be hosting The Germinate International Film Fest from August 16th and 17th in Hillsboro, OH.

The Germinate International Film Fest seeks to aggregate films that represent rural communities and their associated industries in an accurate manner, including current technologies, practices, and programs. Contact Brooke Beam at the Highland County Extension Office if you are interested or have any questions: beam.49@osu.edu or 937-393-1918. More info can be found below.

Follow this link for more information about Germinate and how to participate: About Germinate-1ewlk1i

Registration for the 2019 STEM Camp is now open! This camp is for youth who are currently in 5th, 6th or 7th grade who are interested in learning more about STEM topics! Camp will be June 3-5th at Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp in Jackson, OH. This camp is open to ALL youth, you do not have to be in 4-H to attend.

Brown County 4-H’ers can contact the Extension Office to inquire about scholarships for this opportunity. Registration forms are on our website here: https://brown.osu.edu/4hcamp

Be sure to visit the 4-H Craft/Vendor Show & Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 9 AM – 3 PM. The event is hosted by the Brown County 4-H Committee and all proceeds will benefit Brown County 4-H. See the attached picture for a list of vendors!

We will be holding a Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training for vegetable producers on April 4th at the Brown County Fairgrounds. The class will be held in the Ag Administration Building from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Registration Deadline is March 18th. Since we provide a large number of take-home materials, we must have at least 10 registered by Mach 18th. If you would like to register please call the Bown County Extension Office (937-378-6716). More details can also be found on the attached flyer.

Note…Attending the OSU GAPs class does not equate to being ‘GAPs Certified’ or fulfill the FSMA 7-hour training requirement but it does give you the skills and knowledge to better protect your farm products from contamination. This class will help you prepare for the GAPs certification process.

A grain marketing webinar series will be held on March 12th and 19th from 11:00 A.M – 1:00 P.M. Participants will be emailed the log-in information the Friday before the webinars. Registration information can be found by clicking on the flyer below.Topics will include:
• Risk Tolerance and Risk Capacity
• Crop Insurance Role in Marketing
• Basis, Hedging, and Cash Contracts
• Futures, Options and Spreads
• Building a Grain Market Plan