Spotted Lanternfly is present in Muskingum County and expected to continue spreading through the county and state. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has recently updated a map illustrating it’s current known spread in Ohio: Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) | Ohio Department of Agriculture
Resources for managing spotted lanternfly can be found here: Spotted Lanternfly Management Resources (psu.edu)
Your woodlands can provide a wide array of benefits ranging from wildlife viewing and hunting to periodic income to supplement your farming operation. This program will focus on Invasive and Wildlife Management, and Timber Harvesting. You will learn about the programs and people who are available to help you to set and achieve realistic goals for your woodland property.
Date: August 29, 2024
Mark & Paul Mechling Forest
Address: Just west of Glenford, from 204 turn onto Township Rd 22 (Follow Yellow Day in the Woods Signs)
Time: 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Cost: Free to Attend!
Thank you to the Perry and Muskingum County Farm Bureau and SWCD for sponsoring our meal!
Please RSVP by August 23rd: https://go.osu.edu/eveninginthewoodsp29
Are you selling beef animals to be harvested for meat and need to update your Beef Quality Assurance Certification?
The goal of the Ohio Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program is to increase the competitive base for marketing Ohio cattle. Beef Quality Assurance is a program to ensure that beef and dairy cattle are maintained in a manner which will result in a safe and wholesome beef product for the consumer. The Ohio BQA program is set to meet or exceed the NCBA BQA Guidelines.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Program starts at 7:00 PM
Location: Muskingum Livestock Auction
No cost, no RSVP needed.
(This article originally posted at 2024 Ohio Farm Custom Rates Released | Ohio Ag Manager (osu.edu))
Farming is a complex business and many Ohio farmers utilize outside assistance for specific farm-related work. This option is appealing for tasks requiring specialized equipment or technical expertise. Often, having someone else with specialized tools perform tasks is more cost effective and saves time. Farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply, “custom work”. A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider.
Custom rates increased for the majority of field operations in 2024 as compared to surveyed rates in 2022 but the increases did vary by operation. Examples include an increase of 6% for Planting Corn (30 Inch Rows with Fertilizer Application), 5.6% for Harvesting Corn (Combine, Grain Cart, Haul Local to Farm), 21% for Spraying (Self-Propelled Sprayer, Crop Protection Chemicals) and 24% for Field Cultivator.
New field operations in this year’s survey and summary include drone/UAV application and cover crop seeding.
Ohio Farm Custom Rates
Click here for PDF of the 2024 Ohio Farm Custom Rates
The “Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2024” publication reports custom rates based on a statewide survey of 333 farmers, custom operators, farm managers, and landowners conducted in 2024. These rates, except where noted, include the implement and tractor if required, all variable machinery costs such as fuel, oil, lube, twine, etc., and labor for the operation.
Some custom rates published in this study vary widely, possibly influenced by:
Some custom rates reflect discounted rates as the parties involved have family or community relationships. Discounted rates may also occur when the custom work provider is attempting to strengthen a relationship to help secure the custom farmed land in a future purchase, cash rental or other rental agreement. Some providers charge differently because they are simply attempting to spread their fixed costs over more acreage to decrease fixed costs per acre and are willing to forgo complete cost recovery.
Charges may be added if the custom provider considers a job abnormal such as distance from the operator’s base location, difficulty of terrain, amount of product or labor involved with the operation, or other special requirements of the custom work customer.
The data from this survey are intended to show a representative farming industry cost for specified machines and operations in Ohio. As a custom farm work provider, the average rates reported in this publication may not cover your total costs for performing the custom service. As a customer, you may not be able to hire a custom service for the average rate published in this factsheet.
It is recommended that you calculate your own costs carefully before determining the custom rate to charge or pay. It may be helpful to compare the custom rates reported in this fact sheet with machinery costs calculated by economic engineering models available online. The following resources are available to help you calculate and consider the total costs of performing a given machinery operation.
Volatility in diesel price may sometimes cause concern for custom rate providers that seek to cover all or most of the costs associated with custom farm operations. The approximate price of diesel fuel during the survey period (January – April 2024) ranged from $3.20 – $3.50 per gallon for off-road (farm) usage. As a custom farm work provider, if you feel that your rate doesn’t capture your full costs due to fuel price increases you might consider a custom rate increase or fuel surcharge based on the increase in fuel costs.
The complete “Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2024” publication is available online at the Farm Office website: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farm-management/custom-rates-and-machinery-cost
Author information:
Barry Ward (Leader, Production Business Management, Ohio State University Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources), Eric Richer (Field Specialist, Farm Management, Ohio State University Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources), John Barker (Extension Educator, Agriculture/Amos Program, Ohio State University Extension Knox County) and Amanda Bennett (Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension Miami County)
OSU Extension Muskingum County will host an introduction to artificial insemination of beef cattle on July 30 and August 1, 2024 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Extension Office in Zanesville. This two-night workshop is a classroom event starting on night one and concluding with hands-on-practice on night two. Topics that will be covered during this workshop include: Advanced Reproductive Tract Anatomy and Physiology, Estrous Synchronization, Pasture Considerations, Expected Progeny Differences (EPD’s), and, Tools, Equipment, & Techniques. Our program cost is $20 per person and RSVP’s are due July 25. Our classroom location is the meeting room at the Rural Services Building, 225 Underwood St, Zanesville, OH.
Please RSVP and register using our online webform and payment portal found at go.osu.edu/muskingumbeef.
Direct questions to Clifton Martin, Extension Educator, Muskingum County, 740-454-0144, martin.2422@osu.edu or to Dean Kreager, Extension Educator, Licking County, 740-670-5315, kreager.5@osu.edu
Learn about internal parasite issues and how to use FAMACHA as a selective deworming tool. You will also learn to do your own fecal egg counts at home. The workshop will include hands on evaluation of sheep using the FAMACHA system at Dale McCombs farm near Johnstown and then go to the Licking County Extension office for training to do fecal egg counts on your own. The cost will be $40 and include a McMaster slide for fecal egg counts, handouts and lunch. We are limiting attendance to 20 to assure good hands on participation time.
Contact Dean Kreager with questions and to register 740-670-5315 (please inform us of any dietary restrictions)
Click here for the flyer with additional details: Small Ruminant Parasite Flyer1
The next Muskingum Ag Network Breakfast will be 8:00 AM, Tuesday, June 4 at Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center, 5880 Friendly Hills Road, Zanesville. Dan Lima, OSU Extension, Belmont County will present on the current status of the PawPaw industry and agricultural commercialization in Ohio. Dan recently helped organize the 2024 Ohio Pawpaw Conference and Trade Show in May.
Producers shipping certain types of cattle and bison across state lines might have to use electronic identification (EID or RFID) tags if a final rule developed by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) becomes effective.
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The new final rule, originally proposed in 2022, will expand the requirements for ear tags used as official identification. For animals tagged after the rule’s effective date, the ear tags “must be readable both visually and electronically (EID).”
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Effective date of the rule. The EID requirement is not yet effective. The final rule will take effect 180-days after the rule was published in the Federal Register. USDA published the final rule on May 9, 2024, making the effective date November 5, 2024.
Review the complete article here: New rule and legislation on electronic ear tags for cattle: a continuing battle
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is making its share of headlines in agricultural news. Recent attention focuses on beef and dairy supply chains. Fortunately, fundamental practices like pasteurization and proper cooking temperature eliminate the pathogenic risk to milk and meat and we benefit from a strong and healthy supply chain. However, there is plenty of concern to monitor HPAI and prevent adverse impacts to the industry. For further reading and updates, here is a list of recent news and links:
Start your scouting and preparation for tick and fly season now | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter
Hay barn fires a real hazard when the rain keeps coming | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter
Cattle on Feed Inventory Below 2023 for the First Time This Year | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter
Preg Checking has never been more affordable! | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter
Integrated Parasite Management Strategies For Sheep Producers | OSU Sheep Team
Goat or Sheep Hoof Trimming for Beginners | OSU Sheep Team
Ohio Farmland Trends and Preservation | Ohio Ag Manager
Statewide Slug Monitoring Project – Update #2 | Agronomic Crops Network
Lep Monitoring Network – Black Cutworm and True Armyworm Update # 6 | Agronomic Crops Network
Upcoming Webinar: Weather Trends and Pest and Disease Impacts on Soybeans | Agronomic Crops Network
It’s high season for Ohio’s noxious weeds laws | Farm Office
Another Lake Erie lawsuit: how does it affect Ohio agriculture? | Farm Office