Crops

Reminder: Pesticide License Recertification Feb 18

| Clifton Martin

If you are a licensed private pesticide applicator and have yet to sign up for recertification classes please do so soon. Letters have been sent out with information to those due in 2025 and 2026. If for some reason these letters have not reached you please feel free to give us a call at 740-454-0144.

Please remember that pre-registration is expected. There is a $35.00 fee for the recertification class. Register and pay online or by check with the enclosed registration form 3 days prior to the session you will be attending. This fee is in addition to the $30.00 license fee that is paid separately to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Give us a call with any questions.

Tuesday, February 18

Extension Office – Rural Services Building

225 Underwood St, Zanesville OH 43701

6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

(light meal provided)

Agricultural Fertilizer FIRST-TIME Certification Webinar

| Clifton Martin

This 3-hour training is for individuals who are obtaining their Ohio Agricultural Fertilizer Applicator Certification for the first time (not recertification). Agricultural Fertilizer Certification is required for applications to more than 50 acres of crops grown for sale in Ohio. It is not required for lawn and landscape fertilizer applications. This training will be held online as a webinar.

More information and a link to register can be found here.

Small Farm Conference and Trade Show

| Clifton Martin

Ohio State Extension announced plans to host a Small Farm Conference in Wooster, OH on March 8th. The theme for this year’s Small Farm Conference is “Sowing Seeds for Success.”

Conference session topics are geared to beginning and small farm owners as well as to farms looking to diversify their operation. There will be five different conference tracks including: Horticulture and Crop Production, Business Management, Livestock, Natural Resources and Diversifying Your Enterprise.

Some conference topic highlights include: Growing in a Hoophouse, Integrated Disease Management Strategies for Apple and Peaches, High Tunnel Tour, Using Cover Crops for Soil Regeneration, Creating Habitat for Beneficial Insects on the Farm, Growing Microgreens, Money to Grow: Grants 101, Growing Your Farm With Agritourism, Navigating Licenses/Certificates for your Small Farm Market, How Can Value – Added Help Your Farm, Vaccination Programs for a Small Farm, Grassfed Beef Tour.

Anyone interested in developing, growing or diversifying their small farm is invited to attend including market gardeners, farmers market vendors, and anyone interested in small farm living.

Attendees will have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovative ideas and services for their farming operation. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.

The Conference will take place on March 8th from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Ohio State University Wooster Campus Shisler Conference Center, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, Ohio 44691.

For conference and registration information call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070, or OSU Extension Knox County 740-397-0401. Please follow this link to register for the conference: https://Go.osu.edu/2025smallfarmconference

Friday, January 17: Carbon market and agriculture industry trends

| Clifton Martin

Friday, January 17 at Noon we will have our first “Pizza, Pop and Profit” lunch and learn program featuring Mike Estadt who will speak on carbon market trends and impacts to Ohio agriculture.  This is a hybrid program available in person or online through Zoom.  Our onsite location will be 225 Underwood Street, Zanesville.

This program is jointly sponsored by the Muskingum County OSU Extension Office and the Soil and Water Conservation District Office.  Find registration and more information here: https://www.muskingumswcd.org/Events/Pizza-Pop-Profits/

 

Additional programs in this series:

Friday February 21, 2025

Manbir Rakkar, Assistant Professor of Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management at The Ohio State University will be speaking on Drought and its impact to fertility.

 

Friday March 21,2025

Dr. Osler Ortez, Assistant Professor in Corn and Emerging Crop Production Systems at The Ohio State University will be discussing corn research highlights from 2024.

Pesticide Applicator Exam Training Session for New Applicators, Tuesday, January 21, 2025

| Clifton Martin

A pesticide applicator exam training session will be offered on January 21, 2025, 6:00 PM, at the Rural Services Building, 225 Underwood St, Zanesville. In order to obtain a Private Pesticide Applicator License, individuals must pass the exam which is administered by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.  Those who wish to use Restricted Use Products must acquire an applicators license to purchase and apply product. This training is intended to provide an overview of the concepts presented in the exam as preparation.  To register for this training session please email martin.2422@osu.edu or call 740-454-0144.

OSU Extension provides information on Private Pesticide Licensing here: https://pested.osu.edu/home/privateapplicator/licensing

Following this training session, the Ohio Department of Agriculture will be present at the Rural Services Building to administer the exam on:

February 26, 2025, 10:00 AM

(Exam registration at the ODA Website)

Reminder: Pesticide License Recertification and Classes Feb 6 (Day) and Feb 18 (Eve)

| Clifton Martin

If you are a licensed private pesticide applicator and have yet to sign up for recertification classes please do so soon. Letters have been sent out with information to those due in 2025 and 2026. If for some reason these letters have not reached you please feel free to give us a call at 740-454-0144.

Please remember that pre-registration is expected. There is a $35.00 fee for the recertification class. Register and pay online or by check with the enclosed registration form 3 days prior to the session you will be attending. This fee is in addition to the $30.00 license fee that is paid separately to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Give us a call with any questions.

Thursday, February 6

Zanesville Muskingum Conference and Welcome Center

205 N. Fifth St, Zanesville, OH 43701

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

(box lunch provided)

or

Tuesday, February 18

Extension Office – Rural Services Building

225 Underwood St, Zanesville OH 43701

6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

(light meal provided)

Ohio State Organic Grains Conference January 9-10, 2025

| Clifton Martin

Registration is open for the 3rd annual Ohio State Organic Grains Conference, January 9-10, 2025, at the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Sandusky, Ohio. The conference offers programming for experienced organic growers, growers transitioning to or considering organic, and consultants or educators who support these growers.

Link to Registration Page

Featured speakers for 2025 include Erin Silva, University of Wisconsin-Madison State Extension Specialist in Organic and Sustainable Cropping Systems; Damon DeSutter of DeSutter Farms in Attica, Ind., Osler Ortez, Ohio State Corn and Emerging Crops Specialist; Sophie Rivest-Auger, organic field crop advisor for Centre for Expertise and Transfer in Organic and Local Agriculture, Quebec; and David Marrison, Ohio State Farm Management Field Specialist. Additional farmer, researchers, and educators from Ohio and beyond will round out the two full days of agronomic and farm management sessions. Topics for this year include interseeding cover crops in organic corn, flame cultivation, the use of biological products in organic production, setting up weed control equipment for success, nitrogen credits from cover crops and manure, farm succession planning and a market end-users panel.

Take advantage of Early Bird pricing and register now. The cost of $140 per person includes two days of programming, meals throughout the event, and opportunities to network with organic farmers in the region as well as speakers and trade show vendors.

This event is planned by Ohio State University Extension and Ohio State’s Organic Food & Farming Education and Research (OFFER) program. Continuing education credits will be available for Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs). For more information, visit go.osu.edu/OrganicGrains.

The Status of Spring in Three Charts

| Clifton Martin

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.