Month: August 2020

USDA Announces More Eligible Commodities for CFAP

Date
Tuesday, August 11, 2020 – 1:45pm
Contact Info

Application Deadline Extended to Sept. 11, and Producers Who Have Approved Applications to Receive Final Payments

(Washington, D.C., Aug. 11, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that additional commodities are covered by the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) in response to public comments and data. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to apply for the program to September 11th, and producers with approved applications will receive their final payment. After reviewing over 1,700 responses, even more farmers and ranchers will have the opportunity for assistance to help keep operations afloat during these tough times.

“President Trump is standing with America’s farmers and ranchers to ensure they get through this pandemic and continue to produce enough food and fiber to feed America and the world. That is why he authorized this $16 billion of direct support in the CFAP program and today we are pleased to add additional commodities eligible to receive much needed assistance,” said Secretary Perdue. “CFAP is just one of the many ways USDA is helping producers weather the impacts of the pandemic. From deferring payments on loans to adding flexibilities to crop insurance and reporting deadlines, USDA has been leveraging many tools to help producers.”

 

Continue reading USDA Announces More Eligible Commodities for CFAP →

Foodpreneur School

Registration now open…

 

Foodpreneur Coaching: Crafting a Blueprint to Grow Your Food and Farm Business

 

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives is working to help businesses keep things moving forward in these difficult times. Marketing is a key aspect to maintaining or growing any business, including food and farm businesses.

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives, OSU Extension Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team, and Ohio Farm Bureau in Ross, Hocking, Fairfield, and Pickaway counties are hosting a virtual interactive experience for small and medium food entrepreneurs who are eager to grow their businesses. Foodpreneur School Coaching will give attendees an opportunity to engage with experts in marketing and promoting their local food and farm products, and more, to help them learn strategies to meet their growth goals. This educational opportunity will cover marketing locally raised meat, increasing produce sales, and promoting local food and farm retail products.

Foodpreneur School Coaching sessions will all be held online and will be offered over a span of three weeks with each session held on a Tuesday evening. The cost to attend the Foodpreneur School Coaching is $20 per session for Farm Bureau members, and $25 per session for non-Farm Bureau members. There is a separate registration for each session. We encourage early registration; each session will have a limited number of seats available. To learn more, go to https://cooperatives.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/events or see the postcard below and attached.

To register for the Foodpreneur School Coaching you can go to go.osu.edu/foodschool2020.

For additional information you may contact Charissa Gardner at gardner.1148@osu.edu.

 

What to Do with a Monster Zucchini!

August 13, 2020 by sharigallup

If you are out and about at farmers markets this summer, don’t be afraid of the monster zucchini! Finding fresh and unique food for a bargain is always exciting.  This weekend at the market I found a zucchini the size of Texas for .50 cents!  I hesitated to buy it because I was taught that they “aren’t as tender and have more seeds.” But I wanted to find out for myself if this were true, plus I was really curious how many dishes I could make from one large zucchini.

Continue reading What to Do with a Monster Zucchini! →

Flushing Small Ruminants for a Higher Ovulation Rate

Michael Metzger, Michigan State University Extension Educator (Previously published on MSU Extension, Sheep & Goat: August 6, 2018)

(Image Source: Sheep 101.info)

Increasing the level of nutrition for does and ewes 2-3 weeks prior to and 3 weeks into the breeding season can improve kid/lamb crop in some instances.

When managing a goat/sheep herd farmers are always looking for ways to improve their herd, increase production and raise profitability. One way that a farmer can accomplish this is to implement flushing into their breeding practices. Flushing is a temporary but purposeful increase in the level of nutrition around breeding time. This is done to boost ovulation, conception and embryo implantation rates. Flushing may also increase the proportion of females that exhibit estrus. Flushing can increase lambing and kidding rates by 10-20 percent. This is important because a flock’s lambing/kidding rate is one of the primary factors influencing profitability. Flushing works best in mature females, at the beginning and end of the breeding season and in out-of-season breeding programs. After the first month of gestation, the level of nutrition fed to bred ewes and does can then return to maintenance levels until late gestation, when fetal development begins to place significant demands on the dam.

Continue reading Flushing Small Ruminants for a Higher Ovulation Rate →

Asian Longhorned Tick; a new tick known to attack animals in large numbers!

– Tim McDermott DVM, OSU Extension Educator, Franklin County (originally published in Farm and Dairy)

My colleague Erika Lyon wrote a great article in the January 24th, 2019 All About Grazing column in Farm and Dairy (link) that discussed the invasive Asian longhorned Tick. I want to give an update on where that tick is now, where its new host range is located, and what potential disease problems to look out for.

Continue reading Asian Longhorned Tick; a new tick known to attack animals in large numbers! →

Iowa Farmers Face Harvest Challenge

Source: Todd Neeley, DTN

The derecho fizzled out before it reached us!  I remember the one several years ago, the damage can be amazing.  Iowa farmers were hit hard by a derecho this year.

 

OMAHA (DTN) — One thing has become clear as crop experts tour the damage left behind by the derecho that ripped through Iowa this week: Farmers will face a multitude of challenges come harvest.

Trevor Birchmier, a farmer and owner of Central Iowa Shortline of Maxwell, a farm store and equipment business, told DTN that about 2,400 acres of corn went down on his farm in addition to three 42-foot bins holding 40,000 bushels each.

In all, he lost a total of between 150,000 to 175,000 bushels storage.

Prior to the storm, his crop was doing well.

“We were looking incredible,” Birchmier said. “Barely got rain, but when it came, it was at the right time. Such a good spring and early part of the growing season. It got a great start. Our corn looked tremendous. We were looking forward to a heck of a bumper crop, probably one of our best.”

So far, Birchmier has bagged between 100,000 and 150,000 bushels, with hopes his bins can be repaired before harvest.

“We called our contractor,” he said. “He assured us we will have bins by harvest on concrete pads that are there. It seems far-fetched, but I hope it happens.”

For his customers, Birchmier said he ordered an extra 750,000 bushels of storage bags to help area producers.

Preliminary estimates place total damaged acres at around 10 million, with a wide variety of damage from field to field across central and eastern parts of Iowa.

That’s on top of millions of bushels of commercial and on-farm storage lost in winds topping 100 miles per hour in some areas of the state.

YIELD LOSS POTENTIAL

Continue reading Iowa Farmers Face Harvest Challenge →

Corn Growth & Development – R3 Milk

Today managing your corn crop requires knowledge of the different growth stages of the corn plant.  Growth stage identification is critical for scouting and proper timing of fertilizer and pesticide applications.

R3 – Milk

The R3 (Milk) stage occurs about 18 – 22 days after silking.  At this stage the outside of the kernel is colored yellow while the inside is white.  The kernel contains a “milky” white fluid that will explode when pressure is applied.  Kernel moisture content is approximately 80% and starch is beginning to accumulate in the kernel.

Management/Scouting: Scout for drought symptoms.  Stress can still cause kernel abortions from the ear tip downward.  Insects: Corn Earworm, Corn Rootworm adults and Japanese Beetles Diseases: Eyespot, Gray Leaf Spot, Norther Leaf Blight, Southern Leaf Blight and Tar Spot

Photo Source: Corn Growth & Development, Iowa State University

Updated Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations Available

The Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Alfalfa was first published in 1995 and has served as a cornerstone in nutrient management in field crops for Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. As crop production practices in this region changed over the past 25 years, many questioned if these nutrient management guidelines were still relevant today.

In 2014, work began to revise and update the nutrient management recommendations in corn, soybeans and wheat. Over 300 on-farm trials were conducted across 34 Ohio counties, including trials evaluating crop response to N, P, K, and S. It was a tremendous collective effort with the ultimate goal of providing objective information to farmers to manage nutrients as judiciously and profitably as possible.

The recommendations have been comprehensively revised and updated. A summarized version can be found online: go.osu.edu/fert-recs

There is menu at the bottom of this webpage that will allow users to view the topics of interest, including an executive summary that provides the highlights. The full version of the recommendations is being finalized at OSU Extension Publishing and a downloadable pdf and printed bulletin will be available soon.

Corn Growth & Development – R2 Blister

Today managing your corn crop requires knowledge of the different growth stages of the corn plant.  Growth stage identification is critical for scouting and proper timing of fertilizer and pesticide applications.

R2 – Blister

The R2 (blister) stage occurs about 10 – 12 days after silking.  At this stage the kernel is visible and resembles a blister.  The kernel is filled with clear fluid, the embryo is barely visible and it is at about 85% moisture.

Kernels are in a rapid period of grain-fill.  Rapid and steady grain-fill will continue through R6.  If severe stress occurs now or during R3, kernel abortion will occur from the tip of the ear downward.  Kernel abortion will continue until the plant has has enough carbohydrates for the remaining kernels.

Silks outside the husk leaves are drying and changing in color from tan to light brown.  The silks will naturally detach from their kernels following fertilization.

Kernel Set Scuttlebutt

Source: Dr. Bob Nielsen, Purdue

The post-pollination scuttlebutt overheard in coffee shops throughout Indiana during late summer often revolves around the potential for severe stress that might reduce kernel set or kernel size in neighborhood cornfields. Growers’ interest in this topic obviously lies with the fact that the number of kernels per ear is a rather important component of total grain yield per acre for corn.

Poor kernel set, meaning an unacceptably low kernel number per ear, is not surprising in fields that are obviously severely stressed by drought, but can also occur in fields that otherwise appear to be in good shape. Good or poor kernel set is determined from pollination through the early stages of kernel development; typically 2 to 3 weeks after pollination is complete.

Problems with kernel set stem from ineffective pollination, ineffective fertilization of the ovaries, kernel abortion, or all three. Distinguishing the symptoms is easy. Determining the exact cause of the problem is sometimes difficult.

Potential Yield Loss

Continue reading Kernel Set Scuttlebutt →