USDA Announces Details of Direct Assistance to Farmers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

Source:USDA 5/19/2020

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to deliver relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local distributors, whose workforces have been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat and deliver boxes to Americans in need. Continue reading USDA Announces Details of Direct Assistance to Farmers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program →

Scab Risk Low, but Keep Your Eyes on Leaf Diseases

By: Pierce Paul, OSU Extension. Previously published in OSU Exension’s C.O.R.N. Newsletter

According to the FHB forecasting system, the risk for head scab continues to be low across the state of Ohio, for wheat flowering (or barley heading) today, May 18. In spite of the wet weather we have had, it has been very cold over the last week to 10 days. Cold temperatures between heading and flowering usually reduce the risk for scab, as the disease develops best under warm, wet, or humid conditions. However, you must continue to be vigilant as the crop in the northern half of the state approach heading and anthesis. If it continues to rain and stays wet and humid over the next few weeks, the risk for scab and vomitoxin will increase as the temperature increases. Be prepared to treat fields with Prosaro, Caramba, or Miravis Ace. Click on this link for more details on fungicide application for head scab control: https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2020-13/managing-head-scab-fungicides-qa

Continue reading Scab Risk Low, but Keep Your Eyes on Leaf Diseases →

Ohio Corn, Soybean and Wheat Enterprise Budgets – Projected Returns for 2020

By: Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University Extension

COVID-19 has created an unusual situation that has negatively affected crop prices and lowered certain crop input costs. Many inputs for the 2020 production year were purchased or the prices/costs were locked in prior to the spread of this novel coronavirus. Some costs have been recently affected or may yet be affected. Lower fuel costs may allow for lower costs for some compared to what current budgets indicate.

Production costs for Ohio field crops are forecast to be largely unchanged from last year with lower fertilizer expenses offset by slight increases in some other costs. Variable costs for corn in Ohio for 2020 are projected to range from $359 to $452 per acre depending on land productivity. Variable costs for 2020 Ohio soybeans are projected to range from $201 to $223 per acre. Wheat variable expenses for 2020 are projected to range from $162 to $198 per acre. Continue reading Ohio Corn, Soybean and Wheat Enterprise Budgets – Projected Returns for 2020 →

Using Oats as a Late-Summer Forage Crop

By: Jason Hartschuh and Allen Gahler, OSU Extension. Originally published by the Ohio Farmer Online

Oats is traditionally planted as the first crop in early April as a grain crop or an early-season forage. One of the beauties of oats is its versatility in planting date. Oats can also be planted in the summer as an early-fall forage for harvest or grazing.

Summer oats has a wide planting window but performs much better with an application of nitrogen, and it may benefit from a fungicide application to improve quality. During the summer of 2019, we conducted a study to examine the planting of oats from July 15 through early September to examine tonnage and forage quality. Through this trial, planting date, yield, forage quality and an application of foliar fungicide to control oats crown rust was examined. Continue reading Using Oats as a Late-Summer Forage Crop →

Join OSU Extension for Rt. 6 Virtual Coffee Chat on Wednesday, May 20

Join Henry County and Williams County OSU Extension Educators Garth Ruff and Steph Karhoff for virtual coffee and conversation every other Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. We will give agronomy and livestock updates, discuss ongoing on-farm research in NW Ohio, and answer any questions you may have.

  1. Call in using your phone. The number is toll-free, so no worries about being charged for a call.
  • Dial 1-646-876-9923
  • You will be asked to enter a meeting id number.
  • Enter 951 9408 5371
  • You will then be connected to the call
  1. Join via Zoom. Zoom is a free video conference service.
  • Join directly by clicking on this link:  go.osu.edu/Rt6CoffeeChat
  • You can also download the free Zoom app to your phone, tablet, or other device from the app store.
  • Once on your device, open the Zoom app and click “Join a Meeting”.
  • Enter the meeting ID 951 9408 5371.
  • You can also enter your name and choose to turn on/off your audio and video.
  • Click “Join” and you will be added to the conference!

For more information either contact Garth Ruff at ruff.72@osu.edu or Steph Karhoff at karhoff.41@osu.edu.

 

From Across the Field 5/7/2020

Looking back at past columns that I have written since 2017, this past week has arguably been the best week in terms of row crop planting, we have experienced during my time in Henry County. Even with the temperature being on the cool side, tremendous progress has been made over the past week.

Saturday was a great day to work outside and I even sunburned by arms a little bit as I mowed the yard and fired up the weed eater for a bit. Later in the afternoon as I made a lap across most of the county, I saw more tractors and planters out at one time than I have during the past two springs.

At this point, I do want to give everyone an update on the status of our office operations. Ohio State University Extension will continue its teleworking plan for all employees and keep OSU Extension offices closed. While some businesses and organizations throughout the state are starting to reopen, the physical Extension office in each county will remain closed through July 6, unless a decision is made by Ohio State to return sooner. Continue reading From Across the Field 5/7/2020 →

Cold Weather Impact on Corn and Soybean

By: Alexander Lindsey, Laura Lindsey. OSU Extension. Originally published in OSU Extension C.O.R.N. Newsletter

In Ohio, between May 9 and 10, temperatures were as low as 26°F with some areas even receiving snow. The effect on corn and soybean depends on both temperature, duration of low temperature, and growth stage of the plant. The soil can provide some temperature buffering capacity, especially if soil is wet. Water is approximately 4x more resistant to temperature changes than air or dry soil, and thus will buffer the soil from experiencing large temperature changes as air temperatures drop. Deeper planted seeds may also be more resistant to large temperature swings. Continue reading Cold Weather Impact on Corn and Soybean →

How Cold is Too Cold for Wheat at Feekes 8 and Feekes 10.5.1 Growth Stages?

By: Laura Lindsey, Alexander Lindsey, Aaron Wilson. OSU Extension. Originally published in OSU Extension C.O.R.N. Newsletter.

Every year presents a different set of challenges for agricultural production across Ohio. Last year, northwest and west central Ohio could not escape the rain. This year, Ohio cannot seem to shake the chill. An unusual weather pattern set up across the Midwest and Northeast U.S. late last week and into the weekend that led to some snow in spots and record or near-record lows across the state (Figure 1). Overnight lows for a few locations in Ohio on Saturday May 9, 2020 include 26°F outside of Toledo, 27° in Lancaster and Youngstown, and 28°F in Dayton, Cincinnati, and New Philadelphia. Many areas spent more than eight hours below 32°F with about 4 hours spent below 30°F. Naturally, this would raise questions concerning potential wheat damage.

Map

Figure 1. Daily overnight lows based on station observations for May 9-10, 2020. Figures generated at Midwest Regional Climate Center. Continue reading How Cold is Too Cold for Wheat at Feekes 8 and Feekes 10.5.1 Growth Stages? →

Burndown and Residual Herbicide Issues

By: Mark Loux, OSU Extension

Depending upon where you are in the state, it’s possible right now to be experiencing delays in getting anything done, progress in planting but delays in herbicide application, weather too dry to activate residual herbicides, and/or reduced burndown herbicide effectiveness on big weeds due to cold weather.  What’s become a typical Ohio spring.  Some information relative to questions that OSU Extension educators have passed on to us:

1.  Residual herbicides and rainfall.  Residual herbicides do vary in the relative amounts of rain needed for “activation”, or adequate movement into the soil to reach germinating seeds.  Most growers are applying mixtures or premixes of several products, so we’re not sure these differences are as important as the overriding principle here.  Residual herbicide treatments need to receive a half to one inch of rain within a week or so after tillage or an effective burndown treatment, to control weeds that can will start to emerge at that time.  This varies with timing of application and weather. Continue reading Burndown and Residual Herbicide Issues →

Farm Office Live Session Slated for Thursday, May 14 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

OSU Extension is pleased to be offering the a “Farm Office Live” session on Thursday morning , May 14 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.  Farmers, educators, and ag industry professionals are invited to log-on for the latest updates on the issues impact our farm economy.

The session will begin with the Farm Office Team answering questions asked over the ten days.  Topics to be highlighted include:

  • Updates on the CARES Act, Payroll Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), and Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) Update
  • Corn and soybean budgets
  • Supply and demand balance sheets
  • Other legal and economic issues

Plenty of time has been allotted for questions and answers from attendees. Each office session is limited to 500 people and if you miss the on-line office hours, the session recording can be accessed at farmoffice.osu.edu the following day.  Participants can pre-register or join in on Thursday morning at  https://go.osu.edu/farmofficelive