Virtual Manure Monday Registration

Manure Monday webinars are back. Manure Mondays Registration Form is included in the link below. Join the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs starting Monday, March 4th, 2024 at 2 pm to continue conversations about a variety of aspects dealing with manure management.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs invites you to the 2024 Manure Monday Series. Sessions will be delivered through Zoom.  The sessions are free. When you register, you will be registered for all sessions. Registration link click here. Session dates will be March 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET.

  • March 4 – Recycling Sand – Emerging Technologies for Sand-laden Manure
  • March 11th–Manure Application Logistics and Field Strategies –making the most of every minute of application
  • March 18th-Manure Additives –Overview of what’s available and how they work
  • March 25 –Composting Bedded Pack Barns -The Ontario Study.

If you have any questions please contact us at by phone at 1-877-424-1300 or by email at ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca.

Fall is the perfect time to review the Phosphorus Loss Risk Assessment document for determining P application rates

Fall is a busy time of year for many of us involved in agriculture; from harvest to cover crop seeding, to wheat planting and fertilizer application, we have a ton of tasks to get done in a short window of time. But with the hectic nature of the season comes an opportunity to refresh ourselves with the recommendations for Phosphorus application rates. Continue reading

Farm Science Review is just around the corner!

LONDON, Ohio – More than 50 companies will join the ranks as exhibitors for the 61st Farm Science Review Sept. 19-21 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center. The new exhibitors represent various sectors in the agriculture industry including livestock handling, equipment advancements, agronomic technology, agricultural policy, and more.

Paulding County Extension Office has tickets for sale at a discounted price total of $10 per ticket. Tickets will be for sale until Monday, September 18 at noon. Continue reading

2023 Small Farm Conference Registration Open!

Ohio State Extension announced plans to host a Small Farm Conference in Mansfield Ohio on March 11, 2023.  The theme for this year’s Mid-Ohio Small Farm Conference is “Sowing Seeds for Success.”

Conference session topics are geared toward beginning and small farm owners as well as farms looking to diversify their operations.  There will be five different conference tracks including Farm Office, Horticulture and Produce Production, Livestock, Agritourism/ Marketing, and Natural Resources.

Some conference topic highlights include: How to purchase our family farm, food animal processing, beekeeping, sweet corn, blueberry and pumpkin production, small ruminant nutrition, agritourism laws, fruit tree pruning, and cut flower diseases.

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 operations. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.

The Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Mansfield OSU Campus in Ovalwood Hall, just minutes from I-71 and US Rt 30.

For conference and registration call OSU Extension Morrow County at 419-947-1070 or OSU Extension Knox County at 740-397-0401. Please follow this link to register for the conference: https://go.osu.edu/2023osusmallfarmconf

2023 Session Descriptions

Small Farm Conference Brochure 2023

Ag Outlook – Great Lineup for Speakers on Tuesday, February 14

Join Defiance and Paulding County OSU Extension in Jewel, Ohio for the next Ag Outlook meeting on Tuesday, February 14 from 5:30 – 9:00 PM at the Jewell Community Center, 7900 Independence Rd., Defiance, OH 43512.

Agenda:

  • Welcome & Dinner—5:30 p.m. – Country-style dinner.
  • Commodity Grain Market Outlook, Seugnki Lee, PhD., Ohio State University, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics
  • Long-Term Care: Is the Farm at Risk? — Robert Moore, JD., OSU Extension, Attorney, OSU Agricultural & Resource Law Program
  • 2023 Weather Outlook – Aaron Wilson, PhD., OSU Extension, Assistant Professor and Field Specialist, Ag Weather, and Climate

Registration is preferred online @ https://go.osu.edu/23DefianceOutlook or call the Defiance County Extension office at 419-782-4771
RSVP by February 13. NO LATE REGISTRATIONS.
CCA Credits Applied For and the Cost: $10.00/person

Check out the Official Flyer Here

Paulding County a host for Ohio Department of Agriculture Pesticide/Fertilizer Testing on February 7, February 23 and March 8

Testing for Private and Commercial Pesticide, Fertilizer Applicator License will take place on February 7, February 23, and March 8 in Paulding County at the Extension Office. While our office does not administer the test, we are the host and will do our best to provide you with information. Testing will start at 10:00 AM. You must pre-register via ODA’s website HERE. You will need to click the exam registration tab and choose exam by location as to where you want to sign up. Multiple exams may be taken during a session. Additionally, the Ohio Fertilizer Certification test is given at these locations.

General Information: Ohio Department of Agriculture offers an in-person testing option for Private and Commercial Pesticides examinations for 2023. Pre-registering with the Ohio Department of Agriculture is mandatory.

Day of in-person testing reminders: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ohio Department of Agriculture asks that every person taking the exam do a self-check before entering ODA’s campus or regional exam location. If you are feeling sick, please reschedule your exam.

  • Photo IDs will be required.
  • Pencils and calculators will be provided.

 

Need to check your pesticide test scores?  Go to this link: https://agri.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/oda/divisions/plant-health/pesticides/exam-results

Notes for Pesticide Testing Applicants must be 18 years of age and have a valid ID through the state of Ohio or potential for state reciprocity. Register via the ODA website.

New Factsheet: “Understanding How Soil Test Phosphorus Impacts Water Quality”

A factsheet discussing the relationship between the amount of Phosphorus in our soils and water quality, written by Greg LaBarge, Field Specialist, Agronomic Systems and Rachel Cochran, Water Quality Extension Associate at Ohio State University was released today. It discusses the importance of P management, as well as different studies that have examined the relationship between P levels and water quality. Many best practices for managing high P levels are discussed as well. View the factsheet at this link, or visit Ohioline and search for the factsheet ANR-0111.

January 31 – Private Pesticide Re-Certification and Private/Commercial Fertilizer Re-Certification registration open.

By now many of you who are up for certification for Private Pesticide or Commercial/Private Fertilizer (Category 15) are receiving letters your renewal letters from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. If you have completed your total hours for re-certification, you may mail the invoice and payment into ODA for the $30. This is called the RENEWAL fee. Many times this is confusing as you only do this once every three years. (There is also an option to pay the RENEWAL online at https://www.planthealthrenewal.agri.ohio.gov/ApplicatorPrivate/. To pay online with a debit/credit card, you will need to have the control ID/number on the back of your card. Unfortunately, if your card is worn out, and you can’t read the number, our office does not have access to it.  You would need to call ODA.)

If you have not taken the RE-CERTIFICATION classes, Paulding County is offering the class on Tuesday, January 31 (Fertilizer at 8:30 AM and Pesticide at 9:30 AM). The classes are $35 for Pesticides and $10 for fertilizer (If you need both, $45).  Online registration is required for the class. The link to register is http://go.osu.edu/PauldingPATFERT23.  You may send in registration and payment to Sarah Noggle, ATTN: PAT/FERT,  503 Fairground Drive, Paulding, OH 45879. You will need to print and include the following registration form with your payment. 2023 Paulding PAT and FERT Registration Flyer Debit/Credit card payments are available for 2023 but you must use the online registration.

If you have any questions please email Sarah at noggle.17@osu.edu

OSU Extension’s CLM Webinar Series is back for December!

Join OSU Extension’s Water Quality Team for the third installment of their Certified Livestock Manger (CLM) Webinar Series! The webinar to be held from 10-11:30AM on Monday, December 5th will discuss how to utilize manure as an organic fertilizer on your operation. Continue reading

March Edition of Farm Office Live

This month’s Farm Office Live will be held on March 16th, from 7 – 8:30 pm, and again on March 18th from 10 – 11:30 am. The Farm Office Team provides the latest outlook and updates on ag law, farm management, ag economics, farm business analysis, and other issues dealt with in your farm office.  Targeted to farmers and agribusiness stakeholders, our specialists digest the latest news and information and present it in an easy-to-understand format. To sign up for the webinar (and if you can’t attend the recording link) go to go.osu.edu/farmofficelive.

March topics will include

  • Updates on FSA programs
  • Federal Tax Law Update/Medicaid Planning Review
  • Financial Efficiency Review for Grain Farms
  • Fertilizer Update/Crop Budgets
  • Grain Marketing Outlook

Williams County Private Pesticide and Fertilizer Recertification Meeting on March 21

Do you have a Private Pesticide Applicator’s License and/or Fertilizer Certification expiring in 2022 and missed our Paulding County Re-certification? These opportunities are getting limited. If so, register for the Williams County re-certification session on March 21 at the Veterans Memorial Building.

Fertilizer recertification (Category 15) will be from 5 – 6 pm and pesticide recertification (CORE & Categories 1-6) from 6 – 9 pm. Pre-registration is required at go.osu.edu/williamspat or 419-636-5608. Registration cost is $10 for fertilizer recertification and $35 for pesticide recertification and includes educational materials and refreshments. This is separate from the ODA $30 license renewal fee. Can’t attend? Check out https://pested.osu.edu/Recert/maumeevalley for more recertification opportunities.

Farm Office Live Scheduled for February 16th or 18th Online

We hope that you can join us this week for Farm Office Live.  The Farm Office Team provides the latest outlook and updates on ag law, farm management, ag economics, farm business analysis, and other issues dealt with in your farm office.  Targeted to farmers and agri-business stakeholders, our specialists digest the latest news and information and present it in an easy-to-understand format.

Farm Office Live will be held via zoom on February 16th from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, and again on February 18th from 10:00 am – 11:30 am.

To register, or to watch recorded Farm Office Live episodes, please visit https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive

Van Wert County hosting 3-Hour Initial Fertilizer Certification In-Person

Today, I learned that Van Wert County is holding a 3-hour initial Fertilizer Certification class for new applicators on February 10 from 6 – 9 pm. Please call the Van Wert office at 419-238-1214 to register or email Curtis Young at young.2@osu.edu.

Timely Frost Seeding Improves Pasture, Hay Stands!

Chris Penrose, Extension Educator, OSU Extension, Morgan County

If and when the seed can reach the soil in late winter while there is still freezing and thawing activity, clover can fill in bare spots and add to the density of the pasture stand.

In the past, as we’ve talked about the virtues of frost seeding, we’ve suggested it’s something that is best to occur in February or March during the period when the ground is freezing and thawing almost daily. In recent years freezing and thawing temperatures haven’t always happened after mid-February. Since it’s the freezing and thawing over time that gives frost seeding a great chance to work, the time for frost seeding may be upon us soon.

Frost seeding is a very low-cost, higher-risk way to establish new forages in existing fields by spreading seed over the field and letting the freezing and thawing action of the soil allow the seed to make “seed to soil” contact allowing it to successfully germinate. When you see soils “honeycombed” in the morning from a hard frost, or heaved up from a frost, seed that was spread on that soil has a great chance to make seed to soil contact when the soil thaws. I think the two biggest reasons why frost seeding fails is people wait too late to frost seed and the seed never makes good contact with the soil. I have heard some say that they like to “overseed” or just spread seed over an established stand. Let’s face it, if the seed does not land on the soil but on existing living or dead vegetation, it does not have a chance to successfully germinate: you need exposed soil. In light of the recent snow that’s arrived and/or expected throughout Ohio, it’s important to also note that frost seeding can be done over a thin layer of snow, however, it’s important to realize that rapid snowmelt can cause the seed to be washed away from where it’s needed. Continue reading

Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council Conference, February 18

Registration for this annual conference is due February 11

The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council Annual Conference will be held in person on February 18, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Beck’s Hybrids at 720 US 40 NE, London, Ohio. The program theme is “Foraging for Profit.” All Ohioans involved in forage production and feeding are invited to attend.

The keynote speakers will be Greg Braun, Victor Shelton, and Bob Hendershot. All three are retired NRCS Grassland Conservationists from Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio respectively. The program is being sponsored by the Logan County Land Trust with generous support from the James Forsythe Milroy Foundation.

Additional featured speakers include Dr. Marilia Chiavegato, Assistant Professor at Ohio State University, and two of her students, Ricardo Ribeiro and Marina Miquilini, who will provide a University Forage Research Update. Several producer talks will also be presented including Hay Producer, Glen Courtright from South Charleston, Ohio; Dairy Producer, Jason Hartschuh from Sycamore, Ohio; and Sheep and Goat Producer, Shawn Ray from Cumberland, Ohio. To finish the program Greg Braun, Victor Shelton, and Bob Hendershot will be lead a discussion entitled “Hot Topics in Forages and Grazing.”

Additional details of the program and online payment are available at https://ohiofgc.square.site/. Registration is due by February 11, 2022. For more information, contact OFGC Executive Secretary- Gary Wilson at osuagman@gmail.com or 419-348-3500.

2022 Agricultural Fertilizer FIRST-TIME Certification Webinar

Tractor and fertilizer spreader in field

Newly added is an online Fertilizer Certification Webinar for first-time users.

March 31, 2022 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Registration Deadline: March 24, 2022
Cost: $35

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. Following the completion of this course, we will collect your information to be transferred to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. If you currently hold a pesticide license, your license information will then be updated to include fertilizer certification. If you do not hold a pesticide license, you will be sent an invoice to collect your certification fee. Once the fee is received by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, you will receive your fertilizer certification.

Continue reading

Ag Tech Tuesday

Join the Digital Ag Team as they dive into research results from around the state of Ohio based on the 2021 eFields report. Registration is free but required. Have you been enjoying the 2021 fields Report and are excited to learn more? Join us to learn more about the eFields program and the results we are seeing across the state.

The program will happen on Tuesday, February 1 and 8 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM. The format will be the same but due to participants registered different 2021 eFields reports may be discussed. CCA and CEUs will be offered.

Register at http://go.osu.edu/AgTechTues

Farm Office Live – Did You Miss the January Topics? Recording Available.

Farm Office Live provides the latest outlook and updates on ag law, farm management, ag economics, farm business analysis, and other issues dealt with in your farm office. Targeted to farmers and agri-business stakeholders, our specialists digest the latest news and information and present it in an easy-to-understand format.

Photo of Farm Office Team Presenters

To register, visit the Farm Office Live registration site at https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8abbbMu0RdC-oPB5DFuB3w.

Register once and you’ll receive reminders for future sessions.

DOWNLOAD JANUARY SLIDES 

Future dates: 

February 16 7:00 – 8:30 pm
February 18 10:00 – 11:30 am
March 16 7:00 – 8:30 pm
March 18 10:00 – 11:30 am
April 20 7:00 – 8:30 pm
May 18 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Did you miss a Farm Office Live?  Access our past Farm Office Live recordings and materials https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive

Be sure to catch an Agricultural Outlook and Policy Meeting this winter

by: Mike Estadt, OSU Extension, estadt.3@osu.edu

The Ohio State University Extension is pleased to announce the Regional Ag Outlook and Policy Meetings for 2022.  Meetings will be held around the state beginning the last of January and ending in March.

Speakers will address a myriad of topics of agriculture interest here in Ohio as well as across the Corn Belt.  Programs will include presentations on Grain Market Outlook, Ag Law Updates, Dairy Industry 2022, Ohio’s Changing Climate, Farm Policy, and Farm Bill, SB 52: Utility Solar Legislative, Farm Real Estate, and Cash Rent Trends, Ag Input Price Projections, and Federal Tax Updates.

New to this year’s program is the statewide sponsorship and support of the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association.

“We are proud to partner with Ohio State University  Extension educators across the state to support this year’s agronomy, outlook, and grower meetings.  We value this partnership and look forward to supporting programs that bring value to our member’s farm businesses”, according to Brad Moffitt, Director of Membership and Market Development for the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association.

The following table lists the scheduled Outlook programs with contact information to register. 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.