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Combine and Field Fire Prevention and Preparation
In Ohio, August 2025 was one of the driest on record since the 1800’s. As of September 16th, the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated all of Ohio in a moderate drought with some areas experiencing severe to extreme drought. Although parts of the state did receive some measurable rain recently in mid to late September, conditions remain dry.
Heavy rain for some, status quo for others
Just as quickly as the rain moved in, the pattern has turned dry and warm once again. Temperatures were 6-9°F above average last week, with daytime highs soaring into the mid to upper 80s over the weekend. We are starting off this week in the mid to upper 80s as well, but a slight cool down is in the forecast. Highs will drop by a couple of degrees each day, with overnight lows in the 40s and 50s this week.
October 1 brings open burning restrictions
The warm, dry, windy months of October and November are upon us, and they bring increased fire risk across Ohio. That’s why Ohio law prohibits all open burning from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during October and November. The risk of fire spreading is high during those times and volunteer firefighters with daytime jobs aren’t readily available to respond to the higher fire risk.
Muskingum Ag Network Breakfast Oct 7
The next Muskingum Ag Network Breakfast will be Tuesday, Oct 7, 8:00 AM at Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center. Wade Sauerbrey, Commodities Manager at Three Rivers Energy, will be our guest speaker. Breakfast is $10.
Betting on herd expansion
At some point this cow herd will expand as it has over the various cattle cycles over the past century. Whether it happens sooner or later, that remains to be seen.
Managing Perennial Weeds in Pastures and Hayfields this Fall
Fall is an important time of year for managing perennial weeds in forage crops, especially pastures. Some weed issues were exacerbated in 2025 due to last year’s drought, and we’ve seen many pastures and hayfields with high levels of hemp dogbane, milkweed, Canada thistle, and others. Perennial species can be particularly hard to control since their root systems and other underground structures allow them to regrow quickly after their above ground structures are killed. Fall is an important window for perennial species control, since actions taken now can reduce the amount of energy they store underground for next year.
Frequent mowing is a type of mechanical weed control that helps deplete the amount of carbohydrates that plants have stored in their root systems. Over time, plants that are mowed frequently will be less able to grow back quickly. Using a systemic herbicide in conjunction with mechanical weed control can further reduce a perennial weed’s ability to bounce back in spring. Systemic herbicides are able to move from where they are sprayed on the plant surface to the underground portion of plants. Fall is one of the most effective times of year for systemic herbicide use on perennial plants as the plants will actively move the herbicide throughout the root system as they fill their carbohydrate storages, but they must be used when plants are still actively growing. Optimal timing will be a few weeks after the last cutting, but before hard frosts begin—in most years, that’s sometime in September for Ohio. Control is more effective if perennial weeds are allowed to regrow to around 6-12 inches tall before applying herbicides….continue reading
Forage Analysis has likely never been so important
With what became known as perhaps the worst drought in Ohio history in 2024 followed by an extremely wet spring of 2025, perhaps never more than now has the adage “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” been more valid or meaningful to those trying to feed a beef cow. While cattlemen are concerned about the quality of Ohio’s late made forages this spring and early summer, it’s important for those who are balancing the needs of cows in various stages of production to know the nutritional value of the various feedstuffs they may be utilizing.
In this excerpt from one of the OSU Extension Beef Team’s 2021 Beef School sessions, Perry County Educator Ted Wiseman goes over the interpretation of a forage analysis and how the wide range in forage quality we’re seeing may need to be supplemented.
New Publication: Using Long-Term Leases in Farm Transition Planning
Planning how to pass on the farm to the next generation can be one of the most challenging tasks for a farm family. Parents often want to recognize the hard work and commitment of a farming heir while still treating non-farming heirs fairly. The difficulty is that most of a family’s wealth is usually tied up in farmland and operating assets. If all the farmland is left to the farming heir, non-farming heirs may feel shortchanged. But if farmland is split among heirs, the farming operation can lose access to land needed to sustain the business. Non-farming heirs may wish to inherit land for sentimental or financial reasons, yet their ownership could lead to conflicts over leases, sales, or use of the property that disrupt the farm’s future.
These decisions can become emotional as well as financial. A farming heir often contributes years of labor with the understanding they will one day operate the farm. Non-farming heirs may feel entitled to an equitable share of the family wealth, even if it means dividing farm assets. Options like requiring a buyout by the farming heir can create additional financial stress and may not be realistic given high land prices. Many families struggle to balance fairness to all heirs with the need to preserve the land base for a viable farming operation.
A new bulletin, Using Long-Term Leases in Farm Transition Planning, explores one way to resolve this challenge. A long-term lease allows parents to leave farmland ownership to a non-farming heir while granting the farming heir a secure, extended right to farm that land. This strategy protects the farmland base for the farming heir, provides rental income to the non-farming heir, and helps the farming heir avoid the high cost of purchasing additional farmland. The publication explains how long term leases work, the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, and considerations for setting lease terms that work for both parties. It includes practical examples of how families can use this strategy in their transition plans, as well as the importance of adjusting rent over time and consulting legal counsel before finalizing an agreement.
The bulletin is part of the Planning for the Future of Your Farm series and is now available on the Farm Office website.
State Operating Budget makes changes to apiary laws
Welcome to our third installment in our continuing series on provisions affecting agriculture in the recently passed State Operating Budget, or House Bill 96. Our previous blog posts in this series focused on changes to ag permits and licensing and to pesticide application laws, which you can find here and here. This week, our focus will be on the effects of H.B. 96 on apiaries throughout the state of Ohio.
Adjustments and additions to definitions
Under current Ohio law, an “apiary” is defined as “any place where one or more colonies or nuclei of bees are kept,” and “queen rearing apiaries” are defined as “any apiary in which queen bees are reared for sale or gift.” H.B. 96 changes the definition of “queen rearing apiaries” to “any apiary in which queens are raised or purchased for sale, trade, or gift; or otherwise distributed or used to create, for sale, trade or gift, nucs, packages or colonies.” Thus, the budget bill expands the definition of “queen rearing apiaries” to not only include apiaries where queens are raised for distribution, but also apiaries where queens are purchased for distribution in order to create bee colonies.
H.B. 96 also adds a definition to the law governing apiaries. In the budget bill, “nuc” is defined as a small colony of bees in a hive box to which all of the following applies:
- The hive box contains three to five frames.
- The hive box contains a laying queen bee and the queen’s progeny in egg, larval, pupa, and adult stages.
- The small colony has honey and a viable population sufficient enough to develop into a full-sized economy.
These changes to definitions under the apiary law appear to have been made to increase the number of apiaries ODA has the authority to regulate, as you will see in the next section. The ultimate goal of these changes seems to be for ODA to have more oversight over the health and safety of apiaries in Ohio.
Compliance, registrations, certification
Ohio apiarists should also be aware that H.B. 96 makes changes to compliance requirements under the apiary law. New language in H.B. 96 requires any person engaged in the rearing of queen bees to have a written compliance agreement with ODA. Under the agreement, the person must agree to comply with the requirements stipulated by ODA.
Furthermore, new language states that each person intending to sell, trade, gift, or otherwise distribute queen bees, packaged bees, nucs, or colonies will now be required to request that ODA certify all of a person’s queen rearing apiaries. A certification fee of fifty dollars or another amount specified by ODA in rulemaking is also created. According to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, the introduction of this $50 fee will bring in approximately $41,000 annually to benefit the Plant Pest Program Fund.
H.B. 96 authorizes ODA to require all queen rearing apiaries to be inspected as specified in rules at least annually, whereas the previous language required inspections once each year with no authority to alter inspection frequency. This change would seemingly give ODA the ability to inspect apiaries more frequently, and as a result, they could keep a better eye on any problems with individual apiaries. Previously, if such an inspection found that there was a serious bee disease or that Africanized honey bees were present, bee owners were subject to certain rules. The new language also includes the finding of bee “pests” to trigger these rules, which appears to give ODA another tool to keep bee populations throughout the state safe. Once disease or pest problem is resolved, ODA can issue an official certificate attesting to this. Producers must include a copy of this certificate with each queen, nuc, or colony they distribute. Such a certificate will expire on May 31st of the following year and may be renewed annually. H.B. 96 also outlaws the distribution of bees, honeycombs, or used beekeeping equipment that contains a serious bee disease or pest.
Ohio law requires any person owning or possessing bees to register with ODA, and H.B. 96 makes some tweaks to this registration process. Under the new language, a person must apply for registration on or before the first day of June each year, or thereafter within thirty days after owning or possessing the bees or moving bees into Ohio from another state. Previously, an owner had ten days to apply for registration, so the new language gives people a bit more time. New language also requires owners to register each of their apiaries, regardless of whether the apiary is located at their place of residence or elsewhere. H.B. 96 also eliminates the five dollar registration fee.
H.B. 96 also gives the director of ODA the power to suspend any apiary registration, certificate, permit, or compliance agreement for cause.
When will these changes become effective?
The budget bill becomes effective on September 30, 2025. The Ohio State Beekeepers Association (OSBA) has been working with ODA throughout the month of July to get more clarity about what the language changes mean for beekeepers, and how regulations will be carried out under the new law. OSBA’s page dedicated to information about H.B. 96 is available here. ODA’s website on apiaries is located here.
As always, H.B. 96 is available in its entirety here. Stay tuned to the Ag Law Blog for more updates on the State Budget and its effect on agriculture.
(This article originally appeared at: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/blog)