Author: Sarah Noggle

Looking for soybean fields with late season waterhemp

Common waterhemp true leaves without singular hair in the leaf tip notch

OSU weed scientists and ag engineers are looking for soybean fields that have populations of waterhemp or Palmer amaranth surviving into July and August (after all control with herbicides has been attempted).  We have a project involving the use of a drone to identify these weeds in mid to late season when they are evident above the soybean canopy.  We need fields with more than just a few surviving plants.  Populations consisting of a few good patches up though a disaster are fine.  Contact Mark Loux – loux.1@osu.edu, 614-395-2440.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Water Quality Extension Associate Services in NW Ohio

Water quality extension associates at Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, March 4, 2020.Our Goal

Our goal is to engage farmers and their trusted advisors in new production strategies, technologies, and best management practices to improve fertilizer use efficiency and farm profitability while promoting soil health and reducing nutrient and sediment losses within the western Lake Erie basin.

Through education, outreach, and demonstrations highlighting the benefits of practices we hope to encourage widespread practice adoption and sustained practice implementation. Continue reading →

Application of Manure to Double Crop Soybeans

By Glen Arnold, OSU Extension

Wheatfields have been or will be harvested in Ohio soon and some farmers will plant double-crop soybeans. In recent years there has been more interest from livestock producers in applying manure to newly planted soybeans to provide moisture to help get the crop to emerge.

Both swine and dairy manure can be used to add moisture to newly planted soybeans. It’s important that the soybeans were properly covered with soil when planted to keep a barrier between the salt and nitrogen in the manure and the germinating soybean seed. It’s also important that livestock producers know their soil phosphorus levels, and the phosphorus in the manure being applied, so soil phosphorus levels are kept an acceptable range. Continue reading →

National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) Updates

Sometimes this information is helpful in your farm management decisions. The National Ag Statics Service (NASS) sends different updates throughout the year.  This week was a big week of updates for the Great Lakes Region.  I am including those PDF updates links below.

Ohio Weekly Crop Progress & Condition Report

Ohio Acreage Summary

Ohio June 1 Grain Stocks

Ohio May Agricultural Prices

Ohio Biotechnology Varieties

Tri-State Precision Ag Webinar Recording Now Available

If you could not attend the Tri-State Precision Ag Webinar on June 23, 2020, you can now view the entire webinar online at go.osu.edu/TriStatePrecisionAg.

Topics and speakers included:

Hype from Reality
Dr. John Fulton, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University

Get the Most out of Ag Tech with On-Farm Research
Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, Field Specialist, The Ohio State University

Yield Monitor Calibration
Ricardo Costa, Extension Educator, Michigan State University

Aerial Imagery Options
Crystal Van Pelt, Extension Educator, Purdue University

Contact Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Educator Stephanie Karhoff at 419-636-5608 or karhoff.41@osu.edu with any questions.

Ohio Department of Agriculture Partners With OSU Extension to Provide Online Pesticide Re-certification Opportunities

Press Release from Ohio Department of Agriculture

The temporary online training during the COVID-19 Pandemic allows applicators and fertilizer certificate holders to meet their continuing education requirements.

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (June 29, 2020) – During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), is partnering with the Ohio State University Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) to temporarily provide online recertification for pesticide applicators and fertilizer certificate holders whose licenses expired in spring of 2020. The online recertification will be available Monday, July 6. For commercial applicators, it will be available on August 10. For more information or to register for the online recertification, visit pested.osu.edu/onlinerecert. Continue reading →

The Paycheck Protection Program: Keeping up with the Changes

Written by Peggy Kirk Hall and Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management, June 24, 2020

Many farmers have utilized the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to obtain federal funds to help with payroll and certain non-payroll expenses in the wake of COVID-19.  As we’ve discussed on our Farm Office Live webinars here, Congress revised the PPP with the passage of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act earlier this month.  As a result of the new legislation, the Small Business Administration released a series of Interim Final Rules (IFRs) and a new forgiveness application.  The IFRs, available here, clarify certain points contained in the bill and provide revisions to previous IFRs.  All of these changes affect how farmers can use the funds and how much of the funds can be forgiven from loan repayment requirements. Continue reading →

Grain Market Summer Update June 30 – 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

State Climatology Field Specialist, Aaron Wilson, and Ben Brown, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Agricultural Risk Management, both with The Ohio State University will give summer weather and grain market update after the release of the 2020 Acreage and Grain Stocks Reports from the United States Department of Agriculture. Due to the Coronavirus, economic conditions for corn changed rapidly after the Prospective Plantings Report with likely changes in acreage for the Eastern Corn-Belt. Weather, as always, during July and August will play a major factor in final yields and production in 2020.

June 30, 2020, from 2:00 PM until 3:30 PM

Registration link at https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C-NDZU3IRya0SYMkMKlC0A

Recordings of Farm Office Live

One of the questions I have received this week is I can’t join the OSU Farm Office Live, where do I get these recordings.  Great News — You can view these recordings and also download the presenter slides at farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive.

I have also included the webinars from April 6 to June 11 below.  Go to the link above to review today’s session. Continue reading →

CAUV Calculation- Where do I go to find more information? – Tax Value of Farmland Expected to Drop

Today on the OSU Farm Office Live, there was a great discussion about CAUV. This information is very helpful for any landowner in Paulding County.  You can listen to the recorded session at farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive

Check out this website for more information: https://www.robertdinterman.com/CAUV/

Additionally, I am adding the most recent article from Robert Dinterman.

Tax Value of Farmland Expected to Drop

There’s a bit of good news for Ohio farmers to counter the bad news caused by COVID-19, as well as by last year’s historic rain. In counties scheduled for property value updates in 2020—about half of Ohio’s 88 counties—the average value of farmland enrolled in the Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) program should be about 40% lower than 2017–2019, or about $665 per acre. Continue reading →

Cover Crop Considerations After Wheat

By:  Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension AgNR Educator, Crawford County (originally published in The Ohio Farmer)

Wheat provides many additional opportunities for your operation. These options include drainage improvements, weed-control timing, double-crop soybeans, double-crop forages, compaction mitigation, and soil building through cover crops. From the time wheat is harvested, there are about nine months for weeds to grow and soil to erode. If double-crop soybeans are not planted, the use of cover crops will protect the soil and assist with weed control. High populations of cover crops provide competition and soil cover to control weeds. Continue reading →

Use 2020 Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations

The Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations provide the foundation for agronomic nutrient management recommendations from the land-grant universities in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. The original publication, which came out in 1995, has been comprehensively updated with the release of the 2020 Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybean, Wheat, and Alfalfa.

The publication relies on Ohio-generated data from 198 farmer-coordinated, on-farm trials in 39 Ohio counties and long-term plots at OARDC Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Agronomic Research Stations conducted from 2006-18. This data validates the recommendations against modern hybrids and varieties and agronomic management practices under current weather conditions. Key recommendations from the guide are included here. Continue reading →

The Nature Conservancy Seeks Cover Crop Farmers in the Maumee River Watershed

By:  Stephanie Singer, TNC Western Lake Erie Basin Outreach Education Specialist, Stephanie.Singer@tnc.org,

DEFIANCE, Ohio (June 9th, 2020) – The Nature Conservancy is looking for farmers who are currently utilizing cover crops on their farms in the Maumee River Watershed of the Western Lake Erie Basin.  We are looking for a diverse group of farmers; large acreage, small acreage, corn and soy, small grains, livestock, new and experienced, willing to reach out and share their knowledge and experiences with other farmers in their area.  Selected farmers will be compensated for their time.  If you are interested in being part of this exciting farmer-led outreach project and would like to apply as a Farmer Advocate for Conservation please complete the online application form by using this Link.  Or by contacting Stephanie Singer, Stephanie.Singer@tnc.org, Phone: 419-782-0652. Continue reading →

Dicamba battles continue: court allows dicamba use

There was a great deal of action last Friday in the case that vacated the registrations of XtendiMax, Engenia, and FeXapan dicamba-based products.  Despite a barrage of court filings on Friday, however, nothing has changed the current legal status of the dicamba products in Ohio, and Ohio growers may use existing stocks of the products now. Still, they must end-use by June 30th, 2020.

Here’s a rundown of the orders that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued in the case last Friday:

The court denied the emergency motion that the petitioners (National Family Farm Coalition, Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, and Pesticide Action Network North America) filed on June 13th.  That motion asked the court to enforce its previous mandate to vacate the registrations, to prevent any further use of the products, and to hold the EPA in contempt for issuing the Cancellation Order the agency had made that allowed continued use of existing stocks of the products.  The court did not provide its reasoning for denying the motion. Continue reading →

Wheat Harvest Preparation: Grain Bin Edition

By Clint Schroeder, OSU Extension, Allen County

The 2020 Ohio wheat harvest is rapidly approaching. Now is the time to prepare for a successful harvest. Before the combine goes to the field, a key component will be to have grain handling and storage facilities adequately sanitized. Taking the proper steps now should help eliminate insect infestations that can significantly reduce grain quality or salability.

The majority of insect infestations that occur in stored grains are a result of migration into the bin. These insect populations will be present in piles of spilled grain from the previous year, livestock feed in the area, litter, and weed growth. Newly harvested wheat can also be contaminated when it comes in contact with infested grain that was not cleaned from the combine, trucks, wagons, augers, dump pits, or grain leg buckets. Another source of contamination can be carryover grain in a bin that was not correctly emptied. Continue reading →

Distribution of Waterhemp and Palmer Amaranth in Ohio

By: Mark Loux and Bruce Ackley, OSU Extension

The maps that accompany this article show our current knowledge of waterhemp and Palmer amaranth distribution in Ohio.  These are based on information from a survey of OSU Extension County Educators, along with information we had from samples submitted, direct contacts, etc. We still consider any new introductions of Palmer amaranth to be from an external source (brought in from outside Ohio) – hay or feed, infested equipment, CRP/cover/wildlife seedings.  Palmer is not really spreading around the state, and as the map shows, we have had a number of introductions that were immediately remediated.  The number of counties where an infestation(s) is being managed is still low, and within those counties, the outbreak occurs in only a few fields still.  Waterhemp is much more widespread in Ohio and is spreading rapidly within the state from existing infestations to new areas via equipment, water, animals, etc.  We do not have Ag Educators in all counties, and even where we do, infestations can occur without us knowing about them.  Feel free to contact us with new information to update the maps. Continue reading →

Scout Alfalfa NOW For Potato Leafhopper

Management of potato leafhopper was needed weeks before this hopper burn.

Management of potato leafhopper was needed weeks before this hopper burn.

By Christian Krupke and John Obermeyer, Purdue University

Potato leafhopper populations were noticeably higher after last week’s tropical storm remnants blew through, and now the warmer temperature will drive further increases. Potato leafhoppers won’t mind this heat, and alfalfa pest managers should begin sampling their alfalfa shortly after cutting. Continue reading →

Ohio Pork Producers and Soil or Manure Samples

From the Ohio Pork Council

The Ohio Pork Council is pleased to announce its partnership with Brookside Laboratories to provide discounted soil and manure samples for all Ohio pig farmers. In an effort to help your operation, Brookside Laboratories has generously offered to provide soil samples for $3/sample and manure samples for $20/sample for all Ohio pig farmers. Continue reading →

Soybean Vegetative Growth Stages- VC vs V1

Article by Laura Lindsey

Stage VC - Definition: Fehr and Caviness (1977)- Unifoliolate leaves sufficiently unrolled, so the leaf edges are not touching Pederson (2009)- Unifoliolate leaves unrolled sufficiently, so the leaf edges are not touching

Stage VC – Definition: Fehr and Caviness (1977)- Unifoliolate leaves sufficiently unrolled, so the leaf edges are not touching Pederson (2009)- Unifoliolate leaves unrolled sufficiently, so the leaf edges are not touching

Across the state, soybean growth and development is variable, ranging from early vegetative stages to flowering. However, there has been some confusion regarding the identification of the VC and V1 growth stages. This confusion is mostly due to two definitions of V1…that actually mean the same thing. The Fehr and Caviness Method (1977) is based on the number of nodes that have a fully developed leaf, whereas Pederson (2009) focuses more on leaf unrolling so that the leaf edges are no longer touching. The VC definition for both methods is the same, but the differences start to appear between the methods at V1. Fehr and Caviness define V1 as “fully developed leaves at unifoliolate nodes,” which also means that there is “one set of unfolded trifoliolate leaves unrolled sufficiently, so the leaf edges are not touching.” This second definition is common in extension publications (Pedersen, 2009). Continue reading →