Manure

Certified Livestock Manager Webinar 4: A Summary of eBarnsOn-Farm Research – CLM Credits Offered

Join the Water Quality Team for our 4th Certified Livestock Manager Webinar of the series on February 6th from 10-11:30 am for “A Summary of eBarns On-Farm Research”.  Speakers include OSU’s own Dr. Brady Campbell, Assistant Professor, and Small Ruminant Specialist, Courtney Krieger, Water Quality Extension Associate, and USDA’s Dr. Jessica Pempek, Research Animal Scientist.  CLM and CCA Credits will be offered at the end of the program. Register at go.osu.edu/CLM to attend this webinar. For questions email emmons.118@osu.edu

eBarns was new in 2022 and focuses on applied livestock, forage, and manure management research across Ohio. The report can be found online at go.osu.edu/ebarns2022. Continue reading →

eBarns- Putting Data in Producers’ Hands

by: Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist
Source: https://u.osu.edu/beef/2022/08/24/ebarns-putting-data-in-producers-hands/
In 1914, the Smith-Lever Act called for the establishment of an Extension program within land grant universities. The Act spells out that Extension is to disseminate “useful and practical information on subjects related to agriculture” and to disseminate reach being conducted at the experiment stations (OARDC here in Ohio). Over the year this “translation” of research has been done in a variety of ways including field days, seminars, one-on-one instruction, and via printed or digital newsletters. Traditionally, faculty who had Extension responsibilities on campus led research efforts, wrote academic journal articles, and then it was up to someone to share and interpret data that was meaningful to clientele in the counties across the state. eBarns, much like Ohio State Extension’s eFields publication does just that, putting the data of applied research into the hands of producers who can then interpret the research to make production decisions. eBarns in new in 2022, focusing on applied livestock, forage, and manure management research across Ohio. The report can be found online at go.osu.edu/ebarns2022. Within the report readers will find forages, dairy, beef, small ruminants, manure nutrients, and swine research projects highlighted and summarized in a user-friendly format. If there are questions regarding a study within the 2022 eBarns report or interest in becoming involved with eBarns efforts in the future contact Garth Ruff at ruff.72@osu.edu.

Upcoming Western Lake Erie Basin Conservation Practices Public Input Meeting

Input Meeting Email Flyer – Link to flyer

Join OSU Extension’s Water Quality Associates on Tuesday, February 22nd from 10-11AM for a public input meeting regarding on-farm conservation practices. This webinar is aimed toward farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin who farm or live near our target watersheds, found on the attached flier. This virtual webinar will allow OSU’s Water Quality team to hear directly from farmers and landowners to guide local watershed planning efforts and funding priorities. What conservation practices do you want to learn more about? Are there practices that you think may work for your farm, but you don’t know where to start? Are there practices you are interested in if additional funding or support becomes available? Join us for an informal discussion to talk about these topics.

Register for this webinar at www.go.osu.edu/inputmeeting, or contact a Water Quality Extension Associate to give your input if you can’t attend the meeting. Contact Paulding County’s WQEA Rachel Cochran, cochran.474@osu.edu, (567) 344-5016, with any questions.

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.

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 →

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.

Safety Around Manure Pits

Tragedy struck a farm family in Mercer County when three brothers were killed after entering the manure storage on their dairy farm. This is an unimaginable loss and one that occurs way too often. It is hard to stand by and wait for help when a loved one is unconscious in a dangerous situation but we see time and again how entering to save them often leads to the death of another family member. Please be aware of all the dangers on your farm and inform your family and employees as well. To learn more about manure gasses, read this fact sheet.

Soil Health Tour and Event Scheduled for Northwest Ohio

Farmland, Half, Soil, Ground

By Rachel Cochran, OSU Extension Water Quality Associate

Paulding County Extension will be hosting two events in Northwest Ohio in August: a soil health tour and a follow-up event with a guest speaker. The soil health tour includes stops around Northwest Ohio showcasing different practices to help improve soil health. A map of tour stops can be found at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour and will be updated as tour stops are confirmed. Continue reading →

Manure Science Review Coming August 10th

By Glen Arnold- OSU Extension

The annual Manure Science Review will be held on Tuesday, August 10 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at MVP Dairy near Celina, Ohio. Attendees will see and hear about this state-of-the-art dairy’s 80-cow rotary milking parlor, manure handling and management for the 4,400-cow herd, and regenerative farming practices. Speakers will provide updates on the effectiveness of saturated buffers in reducing runoff in Grand Lake Saint Marys as well as issues of legacy phosphorus runoff and the KDS/Quick wash system for manure nutrient recovery. Field demonstrations will include solid and liquid applicators, the Cadman Side-dress System, Oxbo Equipment, in-season manure side-dress demos, and more.

Continuing education credits have been approved for Certified Crop Advisors, Certified Livestock Managers, and Indiana State Chemist certifications. Registration costs are $25 per person until August 1st and $30 per person after that date. For program and registration details, click on the link at ocamm.osu.edu or contact Mary Wicks (wicks.14@osu.edu; 330.202.3533).

The Dirt on Soil Health: Investing Below the Surface recordings available.

Did you miss out on the live presentations for this winter on The Dirt on Soil Health: Investing Below the Surface? Great news! Recordings are available for the entire series of topics.

In this weekly series, farmers, industry, and academic experts weighed in on practical steps to improve soil health and measure impact on crop yield and farm profitability.

Recordings and Slide Sets are available at https://agcrops.osu.edu/events/webinar-recordings/dirt-soil-health-investing-below-surface-0 or on the OSU Agronomic Crops Team YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYlh_BdeqniJPI5Ga7icO7mbFzDdpK7fr or by clicking one of the videos below.

Does It Pay to Improve Soil Health on Your Farm?

Panel discussion with farmers Nathan Brown (Highland County), Matt Falb (Wayne County), and Les Seiler (Fulton County).

Continue reading →

H2Ohio Reminder

Fall Nutrient Applicator and Tractor

By Glen Arnold, CCA, OSU Extension

Harvest is starting and farmers participating in the H2Ohio program are reminded that any fall fertilizer applications, including manure, need to be approved by their local Soil & Water Conservation Districts. This will assure the application is in compliance with their Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan and there will be no problems with the payment process.

Many farmers will be working with their local fertilizer dealerships for fertilizer recommendations, but it is still a requirement to get approval from your local Soil and Water Conservation District before the fertilizer or manure is applied.

Battle for Lake Erie includes debate over manure-based phosphorus concentration

8/31/2020
BY TOM HENRY / THE BLADE

A major agronomic debate is being played out in Columbus now, which has potentially large ramifications for western Lake Erie and goes beyond simply looking at the staggering volumes of liquid and solid excrement produced by northwest Ohio cows, hogs, and chickens.

It focuses on the minutia of agricultural science, right down to the parts per million of phosphorus applied to soil in the form of manure.

One of the many groups raising questions is the Lake Erie Foundation, a consortium of Lake Erie-area business and environmental interests. That group and others, including Lake Erie Waterkeeper, want manure-based phosphorus applications dialed down to roughly the same concentration as commercially made, synthetic fertilizers, which is about 40 to 50 parts per million. Manure has for years been applied on northwest Ohio crop farms at much higher concentrations, usually 150 ppm. Some critics, though, claim the application rate has, in reality, gotten as high as 200 ppm to 250 ppm.

From information gathered in a public records request, the foundation believes the state of Ohio has rejected a recommendation from an independent consultant, McKinsey & Co., to promote 50 ppm as a limit for manure, even though Dorothy Pelanda, Ohio Department of Agriculture director, showed support for that in 2019. The firm was paid $1.5 million to provide advice to the DeWine administration for its H2Ohio program, which aims to improve water quality statewide through better farming techniques, more and improved wetlands, better pipelines, and other measures. Continue reading →

Poultry Litter Application

Loading poultry litter

By Glen Arnold, OSU Extension

Stockpiles of poultry litter can be seen in farm fields across Ohio. While common each year in wheat stubble fields, there also many stockpiles in soybean fields. Poultry litter is an excellent source of plant nutrients and readily available in most parts of the state.

Poultry litter can be from laying hens, pullets, broilers, finished turkeys, turkey hens, or poults. Most of the poultry litter in the state comes from laying hens and turkey finishers. Typical nutrient ranges in poultry litter can be from 45 to 57 pounds of nitrogen, 45 to 70 pounds of P2O5, and 45 to 55 pounds of K2O per ton. The typical application rate is two tons per acre which fits nicely with the P2O5 needs of a two-year corn/soybean rotation. Continue reading →

Updated Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations Available

Evaluating Fertilizer Purchase Decisions: Frequently Asked QuestionsThe authors of the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Alfalfa include Steve Culman, Anthony Fulford, James Camberato, Kurt Steinke, Laura Lindsey, Greg LaBarge, Harold Watters, Ed Lentz, Ryan Haden, Eric Richer, Bethany Herman, Nicole Hoekstra, Peter Thomison, Rich Minyo, Anne Dorrance, Jeff Rutan, Darryl Warncke, Cassandra Brown

The Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, and Alfalfa was first published in 1995 and has served as a cornerstone in nutrient management in field crops for Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. As crop production practices in this region changed over the past 25 years, many questioned if these nutrient management guidelines were still relevant today.

In 2014, work began to revise and update the nutrient management recommendations in corn, soybeans, and wheat. Over 300 on-farm trials were conducted across 34 Ohio counties, including trials evaluating crop response to N, P, K, and S. It was a tremendous collective effort with the ultimate goal of providing objective information to farmers to manage nutrients as judiciously and profitably as possible.

The recommendations have been comprehensively revised and updated. A summarized version can be found online: go.osu.edu/fert-recs

There is a menu at the bottom of this webpage that will allow users to view the topics of interest, including an executive summary that provides the highlights. The full version of the recommendations is being finalized at OSU Extension Publishing and a downloadable pdf and printed bulletin will be available soon.

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 →

Winter Application of Manure – Remember Setbacks

Winter manure

By:  Glen Arnold

Some Ohio livestock producers will be looking to apply manure to farm fields frozen enough to support application equipment.  Permitted farms are not allowed to apply manure in the winter unless it is an extreme emergency, and then moved to other suitable storage is usually the selected alternative. Thus, this article is for non-permitted livestock operations.

In the Grand Lake St Marys watershed, the winter manure application ban from December 15th to March 1st is still in effect.  Thus, no manure application would normally be allowed from now until March 1st. Continue reading →

2019 North American Manure Expo

The 2019 North American Manure Expo is being held on July 31st and August 1stat Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. This event is a great opportunity to see new manure technology, gain knowledge through educational sessions, and see equipment being demonstrated.

The Expo kicks off on Wednesday, July 31st with tours in the morning followed by liquid manure agitation demonstrations, special industry presentations, and the trade show in the afternoon.

Continue reading →