Allen County Ag Outlook and Agronomy Day

By Clint Schroeder

Join OSU Extension at the Allen County Fairgrounds, in Lima, Ohio, on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, starting at 9:00 a.m. for the Allen County Ag Outlook and Agronomy Day. The morning session will focus on commodity market outlook and ag policy. In the afternoon you will find answers to your agronomy questions, obtain pesticide applicator and fertilizer recertification credits, and CCA education hours as you prepare for the next growing season. The program will wrap up at 3:30 p.m.

Please RSVP by January 31, 2022, by contacting OSU Extension Allen County at 419-879-9108 or email Clint Schroeder at schroeder.307@osu.edu. The event will be held in the Youth Activities Building on the Allen County Fairgrounds, 2750 Harding Highway, Lima, OH 45804.

Doors open at 8:30 a.m; event starts at 9 a.m. Pre-registration by 1/31/2022 is required and the $15 admission can be paid at the door. The registration fee covers coffee and rolls, lunch, information packet, and education credits.

Planning for the Future of Your Farm

Attend our popular “Planning for the Future of Your Farm” workshops this winter and let our team of farm management and legal experts help you build your farm transition plan. Join OSU’s farm management educator David Marrison and legal educators Peggy Kirk Hall and Robert Moore for three in-person workshops and an online workshop in 2022.  Dates and locations for the day-long workshops are:

  • Greene County–February 10, 2022
  • Wayne County–February 25, 2022
  • Wood County–March 4, 2022

The online Zoom webinar will be two hours each night on January 31 and February 7, 21, and 28.

Check back on the Farm Office site under “events” or at go.osu.edu/farmsuccession for registration information.

Upcoming Research: Statewide Coyote Ecology and Management

Investigating Ohio’s coyote population and its relationship with local livestock

Official Research Flyer

The Ohio State University is initiating a multi-year, statewide study of coyote ecology and management, and we need samples from harvested coyotes. If you would like to contribute to our research by providing:
o Whisker
o Tooth
o Tissue samples

Please send us an email at OHcoyote@osu.edu, with your name, contact information, and county. We will provide additional information and instructions for specimen storage and recovery by our team. Thank you for the important role you play as citizen scientists in wildlife research in Ohio.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stan Gehrt, Professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist
Questions? Email us! OHcoyote@osu.edu

The 2022 PLC and ARC Decision

By: Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, and Krista Swanson – Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics – the University of Illinois and Carl Zulauf – Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics – Ohio State University

Farmers will again have until March 15 to make commodity title program selections. Given the current high prices, commodity title payments are not expected from any program option for the 2022 marketing year. If a change in conditions resulted in payments, those would be received in October 2023, after the close of the 2022 marketing year. Farmers wishing to purchase the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) crop insurance policy must select Price Loss Coverage (PLC) as the commodity title choice. Based on current price projections, Agriculture Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) will maximize the chance of payment for soybeans, although that chance will be small. The probability of payments is roughly the same for corn and soybeans.

Decision Overview

Farmers have three program options when making their election decisions.

  • Price Loss Coverage (PLC) is a crop-specific fixed price support program that triggers payments if the marketing year average (MYA) price falls below the commodity’s effective reference price. Payments are made on 85% of historical base acres.
  • Agricultural Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) is a crop-specific county revenue program. ARC-CO triggers payments if actual revenue (MYA price times county yield) falls below 86% of the benchmark revenue (product of benchmark price and trend-adjusted historical yield for the county). Payments are made on 85% of historical base acres.
  • Agricultural Risk Coverage at the individual level (ARC-IC) is a farm-level revenue support program. Like ARC-CO, payments are triggered if actual revenue falls below 86% of the benchmark. If an FSA farm unit is enrolled in ARC-IC, information for all commodities planted in 2022 are combined together in a weighted average to determine benchmark and actual revenues. If a farmer enrolls multiple FSA farms in the same state, all farm units are combined in determining the averages for actual and benchmark revenues. Payments are made on 65% of historical base acres.

Decisions are made for each FSA farm unit. PLC and ARC-CO are commodity-specific and can be mixed and matched on the same FSA farm or across different FSA farms (i.e. PLC for one commodity, ARC-CO for another on the same FSA farm, or using different programs for the same crop on different FSA farms).

The following sub-section will discuss the PLC and ARC-CO decision for corn, soybeans, and wheat in 2022. This focus is taken as most individuals choose between PLC and ARC-CO. Not many farms are enrolled in ARC-IC. Even if enrolling in ARC-IC, having some understanding of the PLC and ARC-CO alternatives will be valuable in making decisions. Continue reading

New 5-Minute Ag Topic Video: Manure

Click below to view the second video in our new 5-Minute Ag Topic video series, which we hope to continue over the course of 2022. The topic for this second video is manure. Water Quality Extension Associate Rachel Cochran discusses different types of manure, rules and regulations surrounding its use, benefits to applying manure, as well as safety considerations. If you have any suggestions for future video topics, or would like to get information regarding manure research opportunities on your farm, please reach out to cochran.474@osu.edu or noggle.17@osu.edu.

What Can a Former Google Executive Teach Pig Farmers about Selling Pork?

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Ohio Pork Congress offers fresh, new vibes in 2022 at a new location. The event will take place February 8 and 9, 2022, at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center in Lima, Ohio. The Ohio Pork Council invites all producers and members of the pork industry to attend. Steve Lerch, former Google executive, will provide the keynote address and share his insight into the topics of digital issues, consumer behavior, and innovation. In addition, Ohio Pork Congress includes educational seminars, the largest pork-specific tradeshow in the Mid-East, and recognition of industry leaders as well as the opportunity to support the Friend of Pork PAC. Registration information is available here: https://ohiopork.org/events/ohioporkcongress/

“I encourage all pork producers and allied industry members to attend Ohio Pork Congress,” remarked Ryan McClure, Ohio Pork Council president and producer from Paulding County. “I am eager to see friends new and old to reconnect. So much is happening in our industry, the educational seminars and our keynote speaker will provide valuable guidance to producers who continue to navigate some choppy waters.” Continue reading

Ohio Farmland Leasing Update Webinar from OSU’s Farm Office

2022Farmland_Leasing_Update Flyer

Contact: Peggy Kirk Hall, 614.688.0466

Is it time to review your farmland leasing situation?  OSU’s Farm Office team will provide helpful leasing resources in its Ohio Farmland Leasing Update webinar on February 9, 2022, from 7 to 9 p.m.

“Winter is a good time to review farm leases, and current information is critical to that process,” said Barry Ward,  Leader of Production Business Management for OSU Extension.  “We’ll provide the latest economic and legal information relevant to farmland leasing in Ohio.” Continue reading

Shortage of Fungicides for Fruit Crop Growers

From Melanie Ivey, OARDC Plant Pathology

As with many other commodities, there is a shortage of fungicides (and herbicides), in particular Captan, for the beginning of the 2022 fruit crop season.  Since Captan is the backbone fungicide for many fruit crops growers will need to prepare a Plan B in case these two products do not arrive in time for the first early season sprays.  For apple, peach, cherry, grape, and blueberry, Captan can be replaced with Ziram.  A spreader/sticker can be added to Ziram to improve its efficacy.  I attached a copy of the Ziram 76DF Label.  The rates for Ziram are not the same as Captan so growers will need to refer to the label.  Remember the label is the law! For growers who have strawberries, they should consult the Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide to select an alternative to Captan.

Growers should also anticipate a significant increase in prices for all fungicides. 🙁

Let’s hope we don’t have to move to Plan B and the products will arrive before the buds break!

Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey 2022

Silage Harvest

Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management- OSU Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources (Source: https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/2022/01/02/ohio-farm-custom-rate-survey-2022-responsesrequested/)

The Ohio Farm Custom Rates Survey data collection has launched once again. The online survey for 2022 is available at: https://go.osu.edu/ohiofarmcustomratesurvey2022

A large number of Ohio farmers hire machinery operations and other farm-related work to be completed by others. This is often due to lack of proper equipment, lack of time, or lack of expertise for a particular operation. Continue reading

Registration is REQUIRED for January 18 Pesticide and Fertilizer Recertification

Greetings all,

Registration is required for the January 18, Fertilizer and Pesticide Recertification in Paulding County.  We now have a link to register online and we now also have a credit card payment option. You must have an email address to pay by credit card.

The link to our registration is http://go.osu.edu/2022PauldingPATFERT

You may also use the following QR code by scanning to your phone:

As a reminder: Fertilizer Recertification will begin at 8:30 AM and Pesticide Recertification will begin at 9:30 AM. We will conclude at 12:45 PM. Our location address for GPS is 503 Fairground Drive, Paulding, OH 45879.