Over the weekend I finally got caught up one a little bit of lawn work. With these above average temperatures and ample moisture, the grass is growing rather quickly for this time of year. Remember we should be mowing at a height that is an inch to an inch and a half higher than your summer mowing level. Mowing higher will promote a stronger root system going into the winter dormant period. Continue reading From Across the Field – Summer’s End
From hot and steamy, to cool and soggy they weather sure changed rapidly over the weekend, almost as to announce that fall was here. Earlier planted crops begun to turn with last week’s heat, however from what my colleagues are reporting, we here in far NW Ohio are a couple of weeks behind in terms of crop maturity. As hurricane season ramps up in the Atlantic more rain is likely in the forecast. For those earlier planted corn fields stalk quality may become a concern. Continue reading From Across the Field – Seasons of Change.
Good Thursday morning, hopefully everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. I certainly did as I was able to venture down to the Morgan County Fair and take in some familiar sights and sounds while getting to catch up with friends and family. Continue reading From Across the Field – Fall Preparation
From 7/4/18
I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy yesterday’s holiday whether it have been around the grill or in the seat of the tractor or combine. It is harvest season 1.0 here in Henry county as wheat and some of the specialty crops, primarily green beans are being harvested off of farm fields. Continue reading From Across the Field – Wheat Harvest in Full Swing
While the heat and high humidity over the weekend and into Monday may have been uncomfortable for us, it sure made the corn across the region grow. Corn growth and development is based on growing degree days, which have accumulated rapidly the past couple of weeks. Most of the earlier planted corn in the county looks good and will be closer to shoulder high by Independence Day. There is still a fair amount of later planted corn to be side dressed, to provide nitrogen for the rest of the growing season. Conditions just haven’t been ideal to apply that fertilizer due to the wet conditions (again) this spring. Continue reading From Across the Field – Knee High by the 4th of July?
Things have really begun to green up over the past couple of weeks and are now in full bloom. With some heat units and dry weather in the forecast it doesn’t look like planting will take long after a delayed start once again.
Many of our landscape and garden plants either have or are beginning to flower. From an aesthetic point of view, I really do enjoy blossoming fruit trees and shrubs. This has always been a “catch 22” as while I appreciate a variety of plants in a landscape, this represents a challenging time for myself and many others as with flowers come pollen and with pollen comes allergy season. I guess it’s time to break out the eye drops and nasal spray. Continue reading From Across the Field – In Bloom
Tillage, spraying, top dressing, tiling, and planting were all underway in the last week here in Henry County. Last Thursday I had the chance to watch a custom manure applicator top dress wheat with swine manure. With the ability to pump nutrients a couple of miles from the barn there are many opportunities to utilize those nutrients across a large area.
The week’s crop report had the corn crop across the country at 17 percent planted and just three percent of the crop emerged. In Ohio, only one percent of the crop was planted at the beginning of the week. It is always interesting to see how fast that number increases once we have a week or two of acceptable conditions. Continue reading From Across the Field – #Plant18 is Underway
Temperatures are beginning to warm and it is beginning to feel like spring outside. I have to keep reminding myself that February still remains ahead, with the potential for cooler weather and perhaps some additional snow.
For most people spring seems to be their favorite season, as thing green up and begin to grow. Having grown up in the southern part of the spring meant mud, and for that reason alone I always hope for a “short spring,” where the transition from frozen ground to dry ground is quick and rapid.
Even though spring is still weeks away there are some things that can be done in preparation for this year’s landscape and garden. If you saved seeds from the last growing season and wonder if they will germinate when planted this spring, you can discover the average rate of germination before the planting season begins. It’s easy to check vegetable and flower seed viability, and it can save you time later when the gardening season begins. Continue reading From Across the Field – Starting to Feel a Bit Like Spring
By Garth Ruff, ANR Educator OSU Extension Henry County
Another cool, soggy start to the week is not what the doctor ordered in terms of crop quality and standability. As noted by several educators across the region, there are a number of harvested soy bean fields that have a green hue to them. Upon further investigation it appears that the seedlings coming out of the ground are soybean plants. In some instances, the beans may have been sown out of the back of the combine, especially if the beans were small. Another more likely cause of the beans reaching the soil, is that the pods were shattering upon contact with the grain head. This current pattern of wet to dry will only increase the rate of shattered pods in any remaining beans to be harvested.
In past columns I have wrote about how the wind in Henry County is something that I am not particularly used to, and at this point the standing corn is less immune to it as well. A wind such as the one that blew Tuesday evening could be damaging as the harvest season progresses.
Last week I also promised a bit on fall lawn maintenance, and one thing you may want to do in the next month is a final lawn fertilizing. I would suggest to wait until we have had a couple good killing frosts in the coming weeks. At that point grass may be done growing, but the roots are still active. A shot of lawn fertilizer will help the roots to store carbohydrates and thicken, making a denser, healthier turf next year. In addition, the grass will green up after application and first thing in the spring. Fertilizing now will help, but may make the grass grow and not store as much energy in the roots, so the best time to fertilize is usually between Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
I recommend a high nitrogen fertilizer, and apply only ½ to 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet (which is not a lot). When you purchase fertilizer, the first number in the analysis is nitrogen expressed as a percent. So, a 50 pound of a 20-0-5 fertilizer will be 29 percent nitrogen or expressed in a different way, it will have 10 pounds of nitrogen in the 50 pound bag. This bag of fertilizer would then cover 10,000 to 20,000 square feet which would be approximately ¼ to ½ acre of lawn. In most ready to use lawn fertilizers, the middle number of the analysis will be 0, indicating there is no phosphorus fertilizer in the product. The third number represents the percentage of potash (potassium fertilizer) in the package. If you have questions about fertilizing, give me a call.
I’ll end this week with a quote from businessman Peter Drucker who said, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things”. Have a great week.
With the rain last week crop harvest slowed to a standstill for a few days, but has since returned to stride. Looking forward, a dry second half of October would certainly help in moving this harvest along. As expected, yields have been wide ranging for both soybean and corn across the county. Continue reading From Across the Field 10-19-2017