This event will be hosted at Claylick Run Farm.  Lunch will be provided by the Licking County Cattlemen.  Join us for some great education and fellowship with other cattle producers.

Reproduction and genetics are important factors for a cow-calf operation. The long-term investment of genetics plays a critical role in the development and management to ensure longevity within a herd. Join OSU Extension in Licking County to discuss and demonstrate the practices that you might apply on your farm to improve your operation with regards to optimizing reproduction and genetics.

Friday, March 8, 2024, 9:00 am – 2:30 pm,

Claylick Run Farm 11970 Cross Rd., Newark, OH, 43056

Cost: $10 per person. RSVP to OSU Extension Licking County at 740-670-5315 by March 4, 2024. Limited to first 50 attendees

Lunch and Materials included. Dress for hands-on demonstrations.

Presentation Topics:
Breeding Season Management
Cow Longevity and Culling Decisions
EPD’s in Action
Synchronization Strategies
Bull Evaluation and Facilities Tour

Click here for flyer and registration form: Licking Cow Calf Workshop Flyer 3 8 2024

Battle for the Belt Winter Meeting. 

What crop has the smallest yield penalty for delayed planting? Can you adjust your management practices to mitigate losses due to late planting? How are diseases affected by planting date?

Have you been following the “Battle for the Belt” through this last crop season. We are bringing this discussion to Licking County on March 6th.  The morning sessions are a statewide program offered in 3 locations and we have added lunch and afternoon sessions that address a concerns in our part of the state.

This will take place at OSU Newark / COTC.

Cost is $10 and includes a meal.

Call the office 740-670-5315 to register.

Speakers include:

Laura Lindsey  – OSU Professor Soybean and Small Grain Production

Osler Ortez – OSU Assistant Professor – Corn & Emerging Crops

Horacio Lopez-Nicora – OSU Assistant Professor Soybean Pathology and Nematology

Eric Richer – Assistant Professor Field Specialist, Farm Management, OSU Extension “Good Questions to Ask when Investing in On-Farm Storage”

Jim Ippolito – The Rattan Lal Endowed Professor of Soil Health and Soil Fertility, Ohio State  speaking on “Soil Health Perspectives from the New Guy”

Thank you to the Ohio Soybean Council, Ohio Corn and Wheat, and North Central Extension Risk Management for their support of this program.

Does a new year inspire a re-evaluation of how the farm keeps financial records? If so, OSU Extension is pleased to be offering five Farm Accounting Workshops with Quicken  across Ohio this winter.  These workshops will be held at:

Knox County, February 26 & 27, 2024 – 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Madison County, March 5, 2024 – 9:30 am to 3:30 pm

Clinton County, March 6 & 7, 2024 – 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Putnam County, March 13 & 14, 2024 – 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Jackson County, March 20 & 21, 2024 – 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Quicken® is a simple cash accounting system. This single-entry system allows users to record all income and expenses of both the farm and family. It is popular with farmers due to the ease of data entry and its annual subscription price of $60 to $120.  Maybe Quicken® has been thought about but you think it won’t work for a home and a farm business or you would like to see how it works before making the commitment of purchasing. Maybe Quicken® has been thought about but you think it won’t work for a home and a farm business or you would like to see how it works before making the commitment of purchasing.

Workshop participants will use example farm data to learn how to set up accounts, categorize income and expenses, run tax reports, explore recording farm production data, track income/expenses across tax years, and cash flows by enterprise. Hands-on workshop uses an OSU Computer Lab with Quicken® Classic Deluxe software installed. Participants receive workshop manual/home reference with each registration. Participants must be familiar with keyboarding and using a computer mouse. This medium-paced workshop will use a variety of farming examples to maximize the learning experience.

Registration is $60.00 per farm business (2 people per computer). Space is limited to 10 farm businesses at each location. Registration deadline is one week prior to each workshop.  Register and pay at the hosting OSU Extension Office or register online at: https://go.osu.edu/quicken and pay by credit card or pay at the hosting OSU Extension Office.

Join us in 2024 on the 1^st Wednesday of the month for our Women in Ag Wednesday Webinars. Register one time for all access. Carrie Brown, Extension Educator, Fairfield County, will kick off the season with a session on controlling non-native plants.

Click here to register

We are having a beef quality assurance meeting at Muskingum Livestock on January 30, 2024

Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

No registration needed and no fee for the meeting.

This is good for new certification as well as renewing an existing certification.

Click here for the flyer

If you and your family are grappling with the critical issue of how to transition the farm operation and farm assets to the next generation, OSU Extension is here to help.  Attend one of our “Planning for the Future of Your Farm” workshops this winter to learn about the communication and legal strategies that provide solutions for dealing with farm transition needs and decision making.  A webinar version and several in-person options for the workshop are being offered. Continue reading Join OSU Extension for the “Planning for the Future of Your Farm” Workshop →

Authors: Amanda Bennett, Eric Richer, Clint Schroeder

Click here for PDF Version of this Article

In December 2023, OSU Extension launched a quarterly survey of fertilizer retailers in the state of Ohio to better understand local fertilizer prices. The survey was completed by 23 retailers across the state of Ohio from 18 different counties. Respondents were asked to quote spot prices as of the first day of the quarter (January 1^st) with payment made by January 15^th. Sale types included pickup (ie. freight on board or FOB) at the plant (any quantity), direct-to-farm delivery (truckloads), or delivered and applied (poultry litter only). No blending or application charges were to be included in the spot price.

In general survey participants reported the average price of all fertilizers was lower in Ohio compared to the national prices (Quinn, 2024). In our survey, the fertilizer with the most movement in price was anhydrous ammonia with an average price ranging from $700-$900 per ton with an average of $786 per ton. This is slightly lower than some news outlets were reporting in December 2023 at $792 per ton.

Other fertilizers also saw a downward trend including MAP ($797 per ton); potash ($490 per ton); urea ($502 per ton); and UAN-28% ($327 per ton).

The chart below (Table 1.) is the summary of the survey responses. The responses (n) are the number of survey responses for each product. The minimum and maximum values reflect the minimum and maximum values reported. The last column is the simple average of all survey responses for each product. We recognize that many factors influence a company’s spot price for fertilizer including but not limited to availability, geography, volume, cost of freight, competition, regulation, etc.

Table 1. First Quarter 2024 Ohio Fertilizer Prices 

Another part of the survey focused on organic nutrients. Retailers were asked to report on organic nutrients they sold including poultry litter, sodium nitrate/Chilean nitrate, pelletized feather meal and sulfate of potash. Just four sites reported having organic nutrients for sale. Those data were not analyzed due to low response rate.  If you are a retailer, farmer or crop consultant interested in participating in this study, please contact Eric Richer at richer.5@osu.edu.

Reference:

Quinn, R. 2024. DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends. Accessed online January 10, 2024 at https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2024/01/03/retail-fertilizer-prices-end-2023.