Agronomy

Why Should You Calibrate Your Sprayer, and How?

By: Erdal Ozkan, OSU Extension

This is the time to check the accuracy of your sprayer. While applying too little pesticide may result in ineffective pest control, too much pesticide wastes money, may damage the crop and increases the potential risk of contaminating ground water and environment. The primary goal with calibration is to determine the actual rate of application in gallons per acre, then to make adjustments if the difference between the actual rate and the intended rate is greater or less than 5% of the intended rate. This is a recommended guideline by US EPA and USDA.

I get this question all the time: “Why should I calibrate my sprayer? I have a rate controller on the sprayer. I just enter the application rate I want, the controller does the rest”. Continue reading Why Should You Calibrate Your Sprayer, and How? →

CFAES Ag Weather System Near-Surface Air and Soil Temperatures/Moisture

By: Aaron Wilson, Greg LaBarge, CPAg/CCA, Elizabeth Hawkins, Sam Custer, OSU Extension

We are once again providing a soil temperature overview in the C.O.R.N. Newsletter through April-May 2020. The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Agricultural Research Stations located throughout the state have two- and four-inch soil temperatures monitored on an hourly basis.

Figure 1: Average daily air temperature (red), two-inch (green) and four-inch (blue) soil temperatures for spring 2020. Soil type and placement are provided for each location. Map of locations provided in the bottom right. Soil temperatures are minimum temperatures for Versailles and Xenia and daily average for other sites. Continue reading CFAES Ag Weather System Near-Surface Air and Soil Temperatures/Moisture →

Managing Stored Grain Into Summer

By: Jason Hartschuh and Elizabeth Hawkins, OSU Extension

If you are storing more grain on farm this spring than usual, you are not alone. Over the last few weeks, we have heard from more producers who are considering holding grain longer into summer months than they normal would. We have also heard a few reports of spoiled grain as producers fill April contracts. Carrying graining into summer has been done for many years successfully but requires much more intensive management than winter grain storage.

Key advice for long term grain storage   

  1. If bins were not cored in early winter core bins now
  2. Verify the moisture content of stored grain is at or below recommended levels
  3. Monitor grain temperature every 3 or 4 weeks throughout storage paying special attention to insect activity and mold
  4. Monitor the roof area for signs of condensation
  5. Cover fans to keep the chimney effect from warming the grain
  6. Provide roof ventilation at two levels above the surface of the grain, one vent should be close to the peak of the bin
  7. Aerate bins on cool mornings every couple weeks as grain at the top of the bin becomes warm

Continue reading Managing Stored Grain Into Summer →

Wheat Growth Stages and Associated Management- Feekes 6.0 through 9.0

By: Laura Lindsey, Ed Lentz, CCA, Pierce Paul, OSU Extension

It’s important to correctly identify winter wheat growth stages to enhance management decisions, avoiding damage to the crop and unwarranted or ineffective applications. Remember, exact growth stage cannot be determined by just looking at the height of the crop or based on calendar dates.

Feekes 6.0- Nodes are all formed but sandwiched together so that they are not readily distinguishable. At Feekes 6.0, the first node is swollen and appears above the soil surface. This stage is commonly referred to as “jointing.” Above this node is the head or spike, which is being pushed upwards eventually from the boot. The spike at this stage is fully differentiated, containing future spikelets and florets.
Growers should remove and carefully examine plants for the first node. It can usually be seen and felt by removing the lower leaves and leaf sheaths from large wheat stems. A sharp knife or razor blade is useful to split stems to determine the location of the developing head. Feekes 6.0 growth stage video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iukwznx4DPk Continue reading Wheat Growth Stages and Associated Management- Feekes 6.0 through 9.0 →

Get Ready to Plant

By: Mark Sulc, Jason Hartschuh, CCA, Rory Lewandowski, CCA, OSU Extension

The weather outlook for our spring planting season is not encouraging, as it is expected to be wetter than normal again, although hopefully not as bad as 2019. The purpose of this article is to stimulate our planning and preparation now so we will be ready to take full advantage of what are expected to be very short and few windows of opportunity to be in the fields this spring. In this article, we focus on planting forage crops, but the process and many of the ideas will pertain to other spring field work activities.

Begin your planning by mentally walking through what you will do the day you plant. It might even help jog your thoughts to physically “walk through” those activities. Continue reading Get Ready to Plant →

Challenging Conditions Remain into April

By: Jim Noel, National Weather Service for OSU Extension C.O.R.N Newsletter

Temperatures and Rainfall: Temperatures will start the first 7 days of April 1-3 degrees F above normal. Rainfall will start April below normal about half of normal. That is some good news  as the end of March (as forecast) was very wet. However, most indications are for the remainder of April after the first week, temperatures will be near normal and rainfall slightly above normal. This will put pressure on early spring planting in April. Evaporation and evapotransporation will be held in check by closer to normal temperatures as we go through April. The May outlook calls for warmer than normal and a little wetter than normal but not as wet as last year. Continue reading Challenging Conditions Remain into April →

Late Planted Corn Silage Yields Value

By: Garth Ruff, OSU Extension Henry County; Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Crawford County; Allen Gahler, OSU Extension Sandusky County (originally published in Ohio Farmer on-line)

Teff, Italian ryegrass, oats and corn were included with 5 other ‘covers’ in this study

The combination of poor quality hay made in 2018, historic alfalfa winter kill, and excessive rainfall across most of Ohio in the spring of 2019 created a large need for high quality alternative forage sources this past year. Record amounts of prevented plant acreage across the state created an opportunity to grow forages on traditionally row cropped acres. As crop and livestock producers planted a variety of forage and cover crop species to supplement feed stocks, it was recognized that there was also a need to gather forage analysis results from these fields in order for growers to properly value and feed the forage grown. The following data are from cover crop forage samples that were submitted by farmers and from OARDC research stations where annual forages were grown as part of the 2019 Ohio State eFields program available at your local extension office or digitalag.osu.edu/efields. Continue reading Late Planted Corn Silage Yields Value →

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 →

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 →

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 →