The Status of Spring in Three Charts

Three quick charts to help quantify the status of spring near Zanesville, OH:

Here I show growing degree days as measured by the Ohio State University Extension Growing Degrees Calculator.  Growing Degree Days are a measure of activity of plants and insects during a growing season.  Typically growing degree days are limited in February and March.  Growing degree day calculators only count temperatures above a base threshold (usually 50F) and often below a maximum threshold (often 86F).  In brief, the growing degrees accumulated so far in 2024 are above average, but we can see that last year was even higher.

The National Phenology Network measures the development of indicator plants (lilac clones) across the United States.  Current reports show these plants are leafing out up 10-20 days early in regions south of Ohio and just creeping into the southern Ohio region.

Soil temperatures at the Eastern Ohio Agricultural Research Station remain below 50F. It is typically to see soil temperatures fluctuate higher and lower through March and often well into April, depending on overall warming and cooling trends.  While air temperature can be quite warm, soil temperature determines crop and plant progress like seed germination and early crop development.  We often want steady temperatures above 50F, and or even 60F, for optimal conditions.

Corn, Soybean, Soil Health, Grain Storage Economics meeting in Licking County March 6

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 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”

PROGRAM FLYER

PROGRAM REGISTRATION

Muskingum and Coshocton Agronomy Dinner January 22

OSU Extension Muskingum and Coshocton County will host an Agronomy Dinner on Monday, January 22, 2024.  Join us for a fine meal at Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center for agronomic updates for the 2024 cropping year.  Guest Stephanie Karhoff, Agronomic Systems Fields Specialist, will discuss field crop agronomic challenges for the upcoming field season and Bruce Clevenger, Farm Management Specialist, will provide a budgeting and marketing outlook for 2024.  Pre-registration is required and can be made online at go.osu.edu/2024dinner or by RSVP to the OSU Extension Muskingum County Extension Office, 225 Underwood St, Zanesville, OH.  Event cost is $20 per person.  Doors open at 5:30 PM with opening remarks at 5:50pm and dinner will be served at 6:00PM. The host facility for this event is Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center, 5880 Friendly Hills Road, Zanesville, OH.  Contact Clifton Martin, OSU Extension Muskingum County, at 740-454-0144 or Chris Allen, OSU Extension Coshocton County, 740-622-2265. Certified Crop Advisor CEU’s will be available.

REGISTER ONLINE AT THIS LINK

PRINTABLE PROGRAM FLIER

Monday, January 22, 2024
5:30 PM

Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center
5880 Friendly Hills Road, Zanesville, OH

$20 per person

RSVP by January 17, 2024

Guest Speakers:
Stephanie Karhoff
Stephanie is an Agronomic Field Systems Specialist with Ohio State Extension and will speak on Field Crop Agronomy Challenges in 2024.

Bruce Clevenger
Bruce is Farm Management Specialist with OSU Extension and will speak about Field Crop Budgeting and Marketing Outlooks for 2024.

Agenda:
5:30 PM Registration
5:50 PM Welcome and Announcements
6:00 PM Dinner (buffet)
6:30 PM Guest Speakers
8:15 PM Wrap up & Adjourn

Menu:
Chicken, pork, potatoes, green beans, salad

Contact information:
Clifton Martin, Extension Educator, Muskingum County
martin.2422@osu.edu
740-454-0144

Chris Allen, Extension Educator, Coshocton County
allen.236@osu.edu
740-622-2265

Weather Update: Fall Weather Settles In But No Freeze Yet

The weather pattern over the last couple of weeks has certainly brought cooler temperatures to the region. However, temperatures are still above average across the state through the first 16 days of October. In fact, most locations across the northern half of Ohio typically experience their first 32°F (freeze) in the first two weeks of the month. As Figure 1 shows, this is not the case in 2023, with only a couple of stations having reported freeze conditions so far.

Read More

Corn Dry Down

Cooler than normal temperatures and wetter than normal precipitation can impact corn drydown (figure 2). Once corn reaches physiological maturity (when kernels have obtained maximum dry weight and black layer is formed), it will dry approximately 0.75 to 1% per day during favorable drying weather (sunny and breezy) during the earlier part of the harvest season (from mid‑September to late September). By early to mid‑October, dry-down rates usually drop to 0.5 to 0.75% per day. Between late October to early November, field dry‑down rates drop to 0.25 to 0.5% per day. Finally, by mid November, drydown rate is stimated at about 0 to 0.25% per day. The later it gets, drying rates go lower and at times drying can be negligible.

An excerpt from: Ohio Crop Progress: Precipitation, Cool Weather, and Corn Dry Down

 

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Lunch and Learn, Feb 24: Ohio eFields Program and On-farm Research

Join us from 12:00 to 2:00 pm on February 24 for lunch and a learning opportunity to find out more about on-farm research in Ohio.  Meeting location is the Rural Services Building, 225 Underwood St, Zanesville.

Elizabeth Hawkins, Field Specialist, Agronomic Systems with Ohio State University Extension will be joining us by ZOOM. Elizabeth will be sharing about the E-Fields program and On-Farm Research.

Registration and more information at this link.

Lunch and Learn: Pizza, Pop and Profit

Back again in 2023 OSU Extension and SWCD will host a noon-time lunch opportunity with guest speakers on topics in agricultural management.  January 20, Jenni Fridgen, Graduate Research Assistant with Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Kentucky will be joining us by ZOOM. Jenni will be sharing about nutrition on low P testing fields. The University of Kentucky has an ongoing 6 year study managing Phosphorus on low testing fields. She will also be able to address questions on grid soil sampling.

Registration and more information at this link.