Month: March 2020

OSU Extension Announces Agriculture and Natural Resources Madness: A Tournament of Education

Did your usual conference get canceled? Looking to fill the void of the big basketball tournament? Ohio State University Extension is here to help with a new virtual education program for the agricultural community.

“Agriculture and Natural Resources Madness: A Tournament of Education” will include 64 educational events broken into daily brackets. Each day, a virtual educational session will be held at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. The educational tournament is free of charge and will likely continue until mid-May. Continue reading OSU Extension Announces Agriculture and Natural Resources Madness: A Tournament of Education →

OSU Extension Seeking Farmer Cooperators for Fallow Syndrome eFields Trial

By:  Stephanie Karhoff, OSU Extension

Wet weather conditions last spring prevented Ohio farmers from planting over 1,485,919 acres (USDA-Farm Service Agency Crop Acreage Data). When fields are left unplanted or fallow, there may be a decline in beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, which is commonly referred to as fallow syndrome.

Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi that colonize plant roots. They aid plants in scavenging for soil nutrients, by extending the root system via thread-like structures called hyphae. In return, plants provide sugars produced during photosynthesis to the mycorrhizae. Continue reading OSU Extension Seeking Farmer Cooperators for Fallow Syndrome eFields Trial →

Retail Meat Sales Surge 77% Due To Panic Buying

By: Greg Henderson. Previously published by Drovers online.

By now you’ve probably seen photos of empty grocery store meat cases caused by consumer panic buying over the COVID-19 pandemic.

210 Analytics LLC says meat department sales without deli surged by 76.9% over the week ending March 15, 2020, based on data from IRI.

Anne-Marie Roerink, principal and founder of 210 Analytics, a research and analytics firm, said, “During the week ended March 15, turkey registered the highest growth, nearly doubling dollar sales (+96.1%). Lamb increased sales by more than 50%. Beef and chicken, by far the largest categories, increased sales by $376 million and $183 million, respectively.” Fresh pork was up 89.2%.

Continue reading Retail Meat Sales Surge 77% Due To Panic Buying →

Winter Wheat Stand Evaluation

By: Laura Lindsey, OSU Extension

Between planting in the fall and Feekes 4 growth stage (beginning of erect growth) in the spring, winter wheat is vulnerable to environmental stress such as saturated soils and freeze-thaw cycles that cause soil heaving. All of which may lead to substantial stand reduction, and consequently, low grain yield. However, a stand that looks thin in the spring does not always correspond to lower grain yield. Rather than relying on a visual assessment, we suggest counting the number of wheat stems or using the mobile phone app (Canopeo) to estimate wheat grain yield. Continue reading Winter Wheat Stand Evaluation →

From Across the Field: 3-18-2020

Editor’s Note: I am posting this week’s column as it contains important information regarding our office in response to COVID-19.

Staying Flexible

The past several weeks has presented us with the real and difficult challenges related to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). The Ohio State University has been proactively implementing protocols to ensure the safety and health of our students and clientele; that is our number one priority. After consultation with the college and university leadership, OSU Extension is cancelling, or going virtual with our educational events and meetings through at least April 20 and possibly beyond. Furthermore, our office at the direction of OSU Extension administration will be closed beginning 3-19-2020, until further notice. We understand this may cause an inconvenience to many, but please know that health of individuals and the health of our community at-large is our highest priority. We will share updates as more information becomes available.  Thanks for your patience as we learn more about how this virus is affecting Ohioans. Continue reading From Across the Field: 3-18-2020 →

Wet Weather for the Rest of March

By: Jim Noel, National Weather Service. For OSU Extension CORN newsletter.

Current Conditions…Soil moisture conditions remain wet due to last years very wet conditions along with an overall damp winter. Current soil moisture conditions can be found at the NOAA/NWS website: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Soilmst_Monitoring/US/Soilmst/Soilmst.shtml#

What it shows is Ohio is ranked anywhere from the top 5-25% of wettest years on record for soil wetness depending on where you are in Ohio. This is slightly drier than at the same time last year but bottom line it is still wet. The last 30-days of rainfall is generally between 90-140% of normal across Ohio. The extreme northwest corner of Ohio has been running at about 80% of normal. About 75% of the state has been running wetter than normal the last 30 days with about 25% a little drier than normal. You can get all the latest information on precipitation at 4 km resolution at: https://water.weather.gov/precip/ This data is quality controlled by humans at the river forecast centers like OHRFC. Continue reading Wet Weather for the Rest of March →

H2Ohio Signup to be Extended

By: Glen Arnold, OSU Extension

The deadline to enter into a contract with the H2Ohio program for farmers in the 14-county, Maumee River watershed is being extended. The original deadline was March 31st but due to COVID-19, more farmers and Soil and Water Conservation District personnel are conducting information exchanges through phone calls and e-mails.

The H2Ohio deadline is expected to be extended to June 2nd,tentatively. Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District for more details.

2020 Planting Decisions in the Face of COVID-19

By: Gary Schnitkey, Krista Swanson, Jonathan Coppess, Nick Paulson, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois and Carl Zulauf, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Ohio State University. farmDoc Daily

Trade conflicts, prevented and late planting, and policy innovations have presented a difficult decision-making environment to farmers over the past several years. The decisions for this spring are now drastically complicated given the rapidly changing situation with the spread of COVID-19 and its attendant health threats and control measures. Currently, a paramount concern is continuing farming and livestock activities in the face of COVID-19 health threats and control measures. Continue reading 2020 Planting Decisions in the Face of COVID-19 →

Glenn Selk: Reducing The Risk Of A Calf Scours Outbreak

By: Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, Previously published by Drover’s online

 (Adapted from “Neonatal Calf Diarrhea Complex” by John Kirkpatrick, DVM)

The ongoing human health issue (COVID-19) serves as a reminder to cattle ranchers about the importance of sound, common sense biosecurity measures that can aid in reducing the risk of a disease outbreak in the new 2020 calf crop.

Neonatal calf diarrhea (commonly called “calf scours”) is one of the most costly disease entities in the beef cattle business.  Fall-calving herds have the help of the hot, late summer/early fall sunshine to reduce the buildup and spread of the pathogens that cause calf diarrhea. Continue reading Glenn Selk: Reducing The Risk Of A Calf Scours Outbreak →

From Across the Field: 3-6-2020

March Madness

First, I cannot believe that it is March already, it seems that February went by in a blur. March is here and that means March Madness. As a sports fan I hope to take in some postseason high school and college basketball in the coming weeks in between programs. In a typically year March is bit more toned downed from a programming standpoint, that appears not to be the case this year. I ought to have a talk with guy who makes my schedule a bit more often.

One upcoming program that I am excited to offer is our 2020 Feeding Cattle for the Consumer Series. This series tailored around the same concept as Beef 509, a two part program with both live and carcass evaluation. The first of the two-part series will be held at Southern Roots Ranch in West Unity on Thursday, March 19. Southern Roots Ranch is operated by Tyler Keckley and family. At that meeting we will talk cattle feeding nutrition, fed cattle evaluation, and estimate carcass characteristics. Continue reading From Across the Field: 3-6-2020 →