Month: February 2021

Corn, Soybean and Wheat Enterprise Budgets – Projected Returns for 2021 Increasing Fertilizer Prices May Force Tough Decisions

Source: Barry Ward, John Barker, OSU Extension

The profit margin outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat is relatively positive as planting season approaches. Prices of all three of our main commodity crops have moved higher since last summer and forward prices for this fall are currently at levels high enough to project positive returns for 2021 crop production. Recent increases in fertilizer prices have negatively affected projected returns. Higher crop insurance costs as well as moderately higher energy costs relative to last year will also add to overall costs for 2021.

Production costs for Ohio field crops are forecast to be modestly higher compared to last year with higher fertilizer, fuel and crop insurance expenses. Variable costs for corn in Ohio for 2021 are projected to range from $386 to $470 per acre depending on land productivity. Variable costs for 2021 Ohio soybeans are projected to range from $216 to $242 per acre. Wheat variable expenses for 2021 are projected to range from $166 to $198 per acre.

Returns (excluding government payments) will likely be higher for many producers depending on price movement throughout the rest of the growing year. Grain prices currently used as assumptions in the 2021 crop enterprise budgets are $4.30/bushel for corn, $11.55/bushel for soybeans and $6.25/bushel for wheat. Projected returns above variable costs (contribution margin) range from $216 to $434 per acre for corn and $284 to $509 per acre for soybeans. Projected returns above variable costs for wheat range from $193 to $342 per acre. As a reminder, fixed costs (overhead) must be paid from these returns above variable costs. Fixed costs include machinery ownership costs, land costs including rent and payment for owner operator labor and management including other unpaid family labor.

Fertilizer prices continue to increase.  If you have not checked fertilizer prices lately, be prepared for some sticker shock. Producers with some fertilizer purchased and stored or pre-priced prior to recent price increases will likely see a healthier bottom line this upcoming crop year.

Those with little or no fertilizer pre-purchased and stored or pre-priced may want to consider using P and K buildup to furnish crop needs this year in anticipation of possibly lower prices in the future.  Now may be a good time review your fertilizer plans as you are considering how to best utilize your financial resources in 2021.

  • Use realistic yield goals.  Yield goals vary by field.  Each field has unique characteristics that can impact yield.
  • Utilize crop removal rates to determine crop nutrient needs.  Crop removal rates can be found in the new Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Alfalfa (Tables 15 and 16), available at your local Extension Office.
  • Start with a recent soil test.  If your soil test levels are in the maintenance range or higher, 2021 may be a good year to “borrow” from your soil nutrient bank.

As an example, a 150-bushel corn crop will remove about 55 pounds of P2O5 per acre in the harvested grain.  This would result in a reduction in the soil test level of approximately 3 ppm.

Current budget analyses indicates favorable returns for soybeans compared to corn but crop price change and harvest yields may change this outcome. These projections are based on OSU Extension Ohio Crop Enterprise Budgets. Newly updated Enterprise Budgets for 2021 have been completed and posted to the Farm Office website: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-mgt-tools/farm-budgets

 

Summary of Multi-State State Research on Soybean Row Width, Planting Date, and Plant Population

Source: Dr. Laura Lindsey, OSU Extension

With funding from the United Soybean Board, soybean agronomists across the US came together to summarize soybean row width, planting date, and seeding rate research trials. (Ohio-specific research trials were funded by Ohio Soybean Council.) Here’s what we found:

Row width: Soybean row width varies across the US. In Ohio, most farmers plant soybean in 7.5, 15, or 30-inch row widths. Across the US, narrow rows (7 to 15 inch) out-yielded wide rows (≥ 30 inches) 69% of the time. Narrow rows tend to out-yield wide rows due to earlier canopy closure which facilitates light interception and drives photosynthesis. For the full report on row spacing: https://soybeanresearchinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FINAL-2700-002-20-Row-Spacing_Science-for-Success-Dec-22_v1.pdf

Planting date: The date of planting has more effect on soybean grain yield than any other production practice. In many instances, this means planting soybean as early as field conditions allow, but generally at or after the Risk Management Agency (RMA) replant crop insurance dates begin. In Ohio, we estimate a yield reduction of 8% when planting soybean on May 31 compared to May 1. Although, this reduction can vary (or become minimal) depending on rainfall during the R3 to R5 growth stage. For the full report on planting date: https://soybeanresearchinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FINAL-2700-002-20-Planting-Date_Science-for-Success_Dec-22_v3.pdf

Population Density: Soybean plants respond to their environment through branching and can produce maximum yields at relatively low plant densities (plants per acre). For normal planting dates in the Midwest, generally 100,000 to 125,00 plants per acre is required to achieve maximum yield. (A higher population density is needed as soybeans are planted into June and July.) For the full report on population density: https://soybeanresearchinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FINAL.2700-002-20-Seeding-Rate_Science-for-Success_Dec-23_v1-1.pdf

Interested in more? Soybean agronomists, Dr. Shawn Conley (University of Wisconsin- Madison), Dr. Seth Naeve, (University of Minnesota), and Dr. Rachel Vann (North Carolina State University) will be discussing these topics during a Planting Considerations webinar on Friday, February 19 at 12:45-1:45 PM. Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/science-for-success-soybean-planting-considerations-tickets-140292814585?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing

Health and Safety Recommendations for On-Farm Grain Bin Facilities

Source:  Wayne Dellinger, Dee Jepsen, OSU Extension

In the ten-year period from 2009 to 2018 Ohio had 9 fatalities in grain handling and grain storage facilities. Five of these fatalities were from suffocation and 2 were from falls from the structure, while the others involved auger entanglements. Purdue University reported 38 grain entrapments across the U.S. in 2019. Twenty-three of these entrapments resulted in a fatality.

February 21st begins Nationwide Insurance Grain Bin Safety Week. Being the season when dry grains are being hauled to market and bins are being emptied, it is appropriate to provide winter safety reminders for the primary concerns at your on-farm storage facilities.

For respiratory protection, an N95 mask as a minimum is recommended. These items do what they are designed to do – keep 95% of the respirable grain dust from entering your nose and mouth. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it tough for some farms to find a supply of N-95’s, but as essential workers, farmers need to access and wear this protection while at working at their bins. The N-95 will also help prevent inhalation of any vomitoxins present within the corn. Another respirator that may be easier to find is the P-100. These respirators have a longer life-span than the N-95’s and are more readily available. To protect against vomitoxins and other molds, use a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) cartridge with your P-100.

Continue reading Health and Safety Recommendations for On-Farm Grain Bin Facilities →

Considerations of a Flexible Lease Arrangement

Source: Chris Zoller, Barry Ward, Mike Estadt, OSU Extension

Thousands of Ohio crop acres are rented from landowners by farmers.  While the most common is likely a cash agreement, the flexible lease may be worthy of consideration for some farmers.  This article will provide a broad overview of the flexible lease option, including advantages, disadvantages, and strucutre.

The information provided here is only a summary from the Fixed and Flexible Cash Rental Arrangements for Your Farm published by the North Central Extension Farm Management Committee.  Anyone interested in learning more about flexible leasing arrangements is encouraged to read more about this topic at this site: https://aglease101.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/NCFMEC-01.pdf.

What is a Flexible Lease?

Because of uncertainties with prices, yields, and input costs, some farmers and landowners are apprehensive about entering into a fixed long-term cash rental arrangement.  From the perspective of the farmer, the concerns include poor yields, commodity price declines, or sharp increases to input prices might impact cash flow if there is a long-term fixed arrangement.  In times like we are experiencing now, landowners want to capitalize on high commodity prices or high yields.

Therefore, the operator and landowner may turn to the use of a flexible cash rent of one kind or another. The idea of a flexible cash rent usually pertains only to the rent charged for cropland.

Advantage of Flexible Leases

  • Flexible cash rent enables the landowner to share in the additional income that results from unexpected increases in the prices of crops considered in the rent-adjustment clause. If the cash rent also is flexed for changes in yields, the landowner will benefit from above-normal yields regardless of the cause.
  • For the operator, risk is reduced. Cash-rent expense is lower if crop prices or yields are less than normal.
  • Calculating flexible cash rent requires more communication from both parties.

Disadvantages of Flexible Leases

Continue reading Considerations of a Flexible Lease Arrangement →

Corn and Soybean School: Q and A on Corn Disease Management with Fungicides

On Feb 11, 2021, I gave a talk entitled “Management of Gibberella ear rot and Vomitoxin in Corn with Fungicides: Lessons Learned from Head Scab” as part of the 2021 Virtual Corn and Soybean School. I summarized years of fungicide efficacy research on head scab, a disease of wheat caused by the same fungus (Fusarium graminearum [Gibberella zeae]) that causes Gibberella ear rot (GER) in corn. Head scab and vomitoxin in wheat have been more widely studied than GER and vomitoxin in corn, as a result, a lot more is known about fungicide efficacy against scab/vomitoxin than against GER/vomitoxin. I therefore used lessons learned from head scab research, coupled with data from a limited number of GER fungicide efficacy studies to provide guideline on GER and vomitoxin management in corn. More than 220 people attended the 40-min-long program, asking questions covering various aspects of corn pathology. Below are more complete responses to several of these questions:

Q: How do you explain high vomitoxin levels in grain with no apparent ear rot observed?  Can drought stress alone be a culprit?

A: Infection of the ear, development of visual symptoms (ear rot), and contamination of grain with vomitoxin all depend on weather conditions during the weeks after silk emergence. Once the fungus enters the ear via the silks (infection) and begins to colonize the developing grain, it produces vomitoxin, even if subsequent weather conditions are not favorable for mold and ear rot to develop on the outside of the ear. This is particularly true if infections occur late and conditions become relatively dry and unfavorable for visual symptoms to develop.

Q: It looks like the triazoles are doing the work on VOM, more than strobies, is this correct?

A: Pulling from my years of experience with head scab and a limited number of fungicide efficacy studies on Gibberella ear rot and vomitoxin in corn, I would be more inclined to recommend a triazole than a strobilurin fungicide for Gibberella ear rot and vomitoxin control in corn. Miravis Neo (a combination fungicide of a triazole, an SDHI, and a strobilurin) also looks promising.

Q: Is there any relationship between using a strobilurin for vomitoxins in corn compared to what is found in wheat?

Continue reading Corn and Soybean School: Q and A on Corn Disease Management with Fungicides →

What to do about trespassing snowmobilers on the farm?

Source:  Peggy Hall, OSU Extension

Ohio landowners have seen it before:  when the snow flies, so do the snowmobilers.   Landowners are forced to watch snowmobilers crossing their fields and driveways and cutting through woods and homesteads, without permission and apparently without concern for property damage.   Two common questions from landowners arise at this time:  what can I do about them, and will I be liable if there’s an accident?   While the answers aren’t always satisfactory to landowners, several Ohio laws try to address these two questions.

What can you do about snowmobilers on your land?

One possibility for dealing with unwanted snowmobilers is to call local law enforcement.  That might not get the results you’d like, given the difficulty of identifying and catching snowmobilers and limited law enforcement resources in rural areas.  Trail cameras, pictures, or other ways of verifying the sleds and riders might be helpful.  Look for the registration decal on the front of the sled, which allows tracking it to its owner.   Despite these challenges, there are two sections of Ohio law that provide for criminal actions against trespassing snowmobilers if you can apprehend them:

  • Ohio criminal trespass laws make it a fourth degree misdemeanor to knowingly or recklessly be on another’s land without permission or to fail to leave after seeing “no trespass” or similar signs of restricted access or being notified by an owner.  Committing this type of trespass while on a snowmobile doubles the fine to up to $500, and up to 30 days in jail is also possible.  The court could also award damages for harm to the landowner victim of the criminal trespass.   A second offense can result in impoundment of the title to the snowmobile.
  • Ohio motor vehicle laws also address snowmobilers specifically.  The law prohibits a snowmobiler from operating on any private property or in a nursery or planting area without the permission of the landowner or tenant of the property.  The penalty for doing so is a fine of $50 to $500 and potential jail time of three to 30 days. Note that snowmobilers are also not allowed to operate on state highways, railroad tracks and railroad rights of way, and anywhere after sunset without required lighting.  The law does allow snowmobilers to drive on berms and shoulders of roads, across highways if done safely, and on county and township roads if permitted to do so by the county or township.

Another potential legal strategy is to bring a civil action against trespassing snowmobilers.  Again, that requires knowing who they are and proving that they were on your property.  A few laws that could apply are:

  • Ohio’s law on civil trespass is a court made law, and it requires showing that a person intentionally entered another’s land without permission and caused harm to the land.  If a snowmobiler harmed the property while trespassing, this type of claim allows a landowner to seek compensation for that harm.  Examples of harm that might arise include damaged fences, culverts, drives, and crops.
  • If the snowmobiler behaved recklessly and caused damage, another law comes into play.  Ohio law prohibits a person from recklessly destroying or injuring vegetation on another’s land, which includes crops, trees, saplings, vines, and bushes.  “Recklessly” means with heedless indifference to the consequences of an act.    To punish the reckless behavior, the law awards compensation to the landowner for three times the value of the destroyed vegetation.  This law can be particularly helpful when the ground is not frozen and snowmobiling damages the crop beneath the snow.

Other than legal action, a few management practices might be helpful in deterring snowmobilers.  We’ve removed many of the old fences that used to fence in our farms, but fencing is an obvious although costly solution.   If you put up a fence, it should be noticeable and not just a thin wire or two.  Consider flagging the fence with neon markers.  Beyond fences, other actions can help mark property boundaries clearly.  No trespassing signs serve this purpose, but make sure they are easy to see when there’s snow, are visible from a distance, and are placed where snowmobilers might enter the property.  You may have other ways to restrict access to the area where snowmobilers enter, but be aware that you could be liable if you set up a “trap” or dangerous situation that harms a snowmobiler, discussed in the next section.

Will you be liable if there’s a snowmobile accident on your land?

Continue reading What to do about trespassing snowmobilers on the farm? →

Herbicide Resistance in Ohio Waterhemp Populations

Source:  Mark Loux, OSU Extension

Waterhemp populations across the Midwest continue to develop more complex variations of herbicide resistance.  Multiple resistance to an increasing number of herbicide sites of action is the norm in many populations in states west of Ohio.  Waterhemp has on the whole developed resistance to seven sites of action, including the following:

Group 2 – ALS inhibitors – chlorimuron, imazethapyr, etc

Group 4 – Synthetic auxins – 2,4-D, dicamba, etc

Group 5 – Photosystem II inhibitors – atrazine, metribuzin, etc

Group 9 – EPSP synthase inhibitor – glyphosate

Group 14 – PPO inhibitors – fomesafen, flumioxazin, sulfentrazone, etc

Group 15 – long chain fatty acid inhibitors – metolachlor, pyroxasulfone, etc

Group 27 – HPPD inhibitors – mesotrione, isoxaflutole, topramezone, etc

Individual populations with resistance to three or more sites of action are common.  Mutations are occurring that confer resistance to several of these sites of action simultaneously, through a resistance mechanism that enhances the metabolism and inactivation of the herbicides by the plant.  For example, there appears to be a linkage in the resistance to mesotrione and atrazine, where resistance to one means it’s likely that resistance to the other occurs also.  Weed scientists have concluded that this weed is capable of developing resistance to any herbicide site of action used against it.  We aren’t actually sure what the correct recommendation is for stewardship of herbicides once a single mutation can confer resistance to multiple sites of action.  Which is the reason we stress the need to take steps in mid to late season to prevent seed from plants that survive management strategies.

Continue reading Herbicide Resistance in Ohio Waterhemp Populations →

Corn College and Soybean School

The Agronomic Crops Team will host a virtual Corn College and Soybean School on February 11, 2021. Corn College is in the morning, from 9:00 – 12:00pm, with Soybean School in the afternoon from 1:00-4:00pm. Each program will feature updates from OSU Specialists. CCA CEUs are available. The schedule for the day is as follows:

 

Corn College, 9:00am-12:00pm

  • Corn Management for 2021, Peter Thomison, 1.0 CM CCA CEUs
  • Meeting Nutrient Needs in Corn, Steve Culman, 1.0 NM CCA CEUs
  • Disease Management, Pierce Paul, 1.0 PM CCA CEUs
  • Insect Management, Andy Michel, 1.0 PM CCA CEUs

Soybean School, 1:00-4:00pm

  • Soybean Management for 2021, Laura Lindsey, 1.0 CM CCA CEUs
  • Weed Management, Mark Loux, 1.0 PM CCA CEUs
  • Disease Management, Anne Dorrance, 1.0 PM CCA CEUs
  • Insect Management, Kelley Tilmon, 1.0 PM CCA CEUs

This program is free to attend. Register at www.go.osu.edu/agronomyschools.

Farm Office Live Returns on February 10 & 12

Source: Peggy Hall, OSU Extension

Wondering what’s happening with CFAP, the Paycheck Protection Program, and Executive Orders?  So is the Farm Office team, and we’re ready to provide you with updates.  Join us this month for Farm Office Live on Wednesday, February 10 from 7–8:30 p.m. and again on Friday, February 12 from 10–11:30 a.m., when we’ll cover economic and legal issues affecting Ohio agriculture, including:

Status of the Coranivirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

Update on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Tax credits information

Executive Orders that may impact agriculture

Legal update on small refinery exemptions

Farm Business Analysis program results

Legislative update

Your questions

To register for the free event, visit this link:  go.osu.edu/farmofficelive