Author: Beth Scheckelhoff

Extension Office Taking Putnam County AG Hall of Fame Nominations

Since its creation in 1820, Putnam County has long been recognized as a highly productive agricultural county in Ohio. Past and present farmers have worked the ground, tended crops, raised livestock, protected our streams and rivers, and developed innovative equipment and methods to ensure that we have an abundance of food on our tables.

Early next year we will once again recognize our strong agricultural heritage by inducting recipients into the Putnam County Agriculture Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors individuals and businesses that have contributed significantly to Putnam County’s agricultural legacy. Last year, the Putnam County Agriculture Hall of Fame inducted Lewis Klass, formerly of Leipsic, Donald Kimmet of Ottawa, and Albert Maag of Findlay.

We need your help in identifying potential recipients for 2022 and beyond. If you know of someone who has contributed to the county’s agricultural base, please contact our office so that we may send them or a representative of their family a nomination form. Nomination forms may also be found on our website at www.putnam.osu.edu.

Award nominees, whether living or deceased, must have made their major contribution to agriculture as a result of being born in, living in, beginning or completing their career in Putnam County, Ohio. Nominations may be made in the following categories: producer or farmer; or an agricultural-related activity such as a business, industry association, education, or government.

A wooden plaque honoring our Putnam County Agriculture Hall of Fame recipients since 2018 is on display at the Courthouse in the Recorders office.

Putnam County Ag Hall of Fame Application

 

Celebrate the Holidays with Holiday Cactus

The Christmas season is upon us. Lights, trees, and holiday greens and plants are all around. Most people think of poinsettias as the traditional plant to decorate with for the holidays. Two holiday plants that can be purchased in bloom from Thanksgiving through Christmas are called holiday cacti. These include both Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus.

Both Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus plants are commonly given as houseplants or flowering plants during the holiday season. What are the differences between these two holiday cacti? Both are species of Schlumbergera, a leaf cactus, where the leaves are segments of the plant stem called pads. The Thanksgiving cactus has very sharp pointed leaf edges and flowers typically in the fall around Thanksgiving. The Christmas cactus has softer, scalloped edges and flowers a little later, closer the Christmas.

Image courtesy of gardengatemagazine.com

Holiday cacti are called “short day plants” meaning they require short days (less than 12 hours of light) to set flower buds. Cool night temperatures can also help to set the buds. This environment naturally occurs in Ohio in the fall.

They can be very long-lived, and when given the right conditions, they will rebloom each year.

During the summer, plants may be located outside on a deck, patio, window box, etc. in part shade (3-6 hours of sunlight per day). Filtered sunlight, such as under a tree, is preferable as it mimics the plant’s natural habitat. Excessive sunlight may result in pale green branches, drought, and sunburn.

One way to initiate flower buds next year is to leave plants outdoors in a protected location until just before frost danger. The shortening days and cooler nights of fall signal the plant to produce flowers buds resulting in abundant blooms. Alternatively, locate holiday cacti indoors a cool, bright location where daytime temperatures are 65-70° F and evening temperatures are 55-65° F. When plants are exposed to cooler night temperatures of 55° F, they bloom in approximately 5-6 weeks, sometimes regardless of the day length. However, when the night temperature is 60-65° F, plants must have at least 12 hours of complete darkness every night for about 6 weeks to bloom. Plants are unlikely to bloom if exposed to night temperatures above 65° F.

 

Can you tell what kind of holiday cactus this is?  Hint: the sharply pointed stems indicate that this is a Thanksgiving cactus!

Caring for Christmas Trees

Many families celebrate the end of the Thanksgiving holiday season by selecting and decorating a live Christmas tree in their homes.

Last year, over 32 million live Christmas trees were purchased at box stores, garden centers, Christmas tree lots and local Christmas tree farms across the United States.

Most trees are generally purchased the first weekend in December, which just happens to fall right after Thanksgiving this year – but sales continue all the way through Christmas Eve.

Do you have a preferred type of Christmas tree? Pine, spruce, and fir are the most common conifers cut and purchased for Christmas trees. Conifers are trees that produce their seeds in cones. They also have needle or scale-like leaves that stay green all winter long. Hence, they are also called evergreen trees.

One can identify each type of conifer by examining the needles and how they are attached to the stem. If needles are attached to the stem in clusters of 2-5 needles, then the tree is a pine. Spruce and fir trees have individual needles directly attached to the stem.

To distinguish the difference between a spruce and fir tree, feel the texture, shape, and rolling ability of the needle. Spruce needles tend to be sharply pointed and easily roll between your fingers. Fir needles tend to be soft and flat and are difficult to roll.

Once you’ve picked the perfect conifer to bring home – you’ll want ensure it performs all season long. The following tips can help trees retain needles longer once in the home.

Cut ½ to 1” from the end of the trunk and immediately place the tree in cool water. Several hours after a tree is cut, the trunk can no longer absorb water. The freshly cut trunk removes any blocked vascular tissue and allows the tree to take up water again.

Place your Christmas tree in a cool room. Warm temperatures cause trees to dry out quickly.  Make sure to keep live trees away from heat sources such as air vents, wood stoves, fireplaces, etc.

Trees take up the most water in the first few weeks after cutting. Select a tree stand that holds at least one quart of water per inch of stem diameter. If the tree stand accidentally runs out of water, it will need to be taken down and an additional ½ to 1” removed from the base of the trunk. This can be nearly impossible once trees are decorated, so check stands several times each day. Indoor pets also like to drink from tree stands which may require more frequent watering.

Once the Christmas season is over and needles begin to shed, it is time to remove the tree. You may want to wrap the tree in a sheet or tree bag before taking it outdoors to prevent considerable needle shed in the home. Check with your local community or village on whether there is a local tree drop off/pick up or recycling program. Trees can also be chipped and recycled into mulch.

Webinar for 2021 ARC and PLC Program Year

OSU Extension will be offering two webinars this winter focused specifically on the ARC/PLC decision, reviewing decision-tool calculators available to evaluate options, and current market outlook. The dates for these webinars are January 13th from 1:00-3:00 pm and February 25th from 9 -11 am. Both programs are free to attend, but registration is required. Register online at: http://go.osu.edu/arcplc2021.

Additionally, OSU Extension and the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) are offering several webinars between now and the March 15th enrollment deadline for producers to get up to date market outlook information. For information about AEDE’s 2021 Winter Outlook Meetings, visit https://aede.osu.edu/research/agricultural-policy-and-outlook-conferences/county-meetings.

 

ARC and PLC Elections for 2021 Crop Year

This article was originally posted on the Ohio AG Manager Blog at https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/.

Enrollment for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year opened in October, with the deadline to enroll and make amendments to program elections on March 15, 2021. This signup is for potential payments for the 2021 crop.

If changes are not made by the March 15th deadline, the election defaults to the programs selected for the 2020 crop year with no penalty. While changes to program elections are optional, producers must enroll (sign a contract) each year to be eligible to receive payments. What does that mean? Even if you do not change your program elections, you  still need to make an appointment at the Farm Service Agency to sign off on enrollment for the 2021 crop year by the March 15th deadline.

Producers have the option to enroll covered commodities in either ARC-County, ARC-Individual, or PLC. Program elections are made on a crop-by-crop basis unless selecting ARC-Individual where all crops under that FSA Farm Number fall under that program. These are the same program options that were available to producers during the 2019 and 2020 crop years. Producers may want to amend program election to better manage the potential risks facing their farms during the 2021 crop year.

As you consider amending your program choices, here are some important reminders:

PLC payments are triggered by low prices. PLC is a disaster price program and pays when the marketing year average price is below a reference price. The marketing year average price (MYAP) is an average price calculated using cash prices across the nation over the course of a year. The 2021 marketing year for wheat is May 2021 – June 2022 and for corn and soybeans is August 2021 – September 2022. This means that the MYAP for 2021 for wheat will not be known until June 2022 and the MYAP for corn and soybeans will not be known until September 2022. PLC payments will only be triggered for a covered commodity if the MYAP published at the end of the marketing year are below the reference price. The reference price for corn is $3.70, for soybeans is $8.40, and for wheat is $5.50.

ARC-County payments are triggered by low county revenues. Revenues are calculated using the market year average price times the county average yield. When producers enrolled for 2019 and 2020, they were enrolling after the 2019 crop had been harvested. Yields for 2019 were known at the time of the enrollment deadline for that year. For the 2021 crop year, producers will be enrolling before the crop is planted.

Producers have less information about both price and yields for the 2021 enrollment period, compared to the last enrollment period. When producers enrolled for 2019 and 2020, we were more than halfway through the marketing year for each crop, so there was much more information on price expectation. For the 2021 crop year, producers will be enrolling before the marketing year begins.

The maximum ARC-IC payment is triggered in cases where an FSA Farm has 100% Prevent Plant acres. At the time of enrollment for the 2019 crop year, producers knew if they had FSA Farms that fit this description and were able to use that information to decide if ARC-IC was a good fit for a FSA Farm. For the 2021 crop year, producers will need to decide by March 15th if ARC-IC is still the right choice for those farms without knowledge of how many acres they will have in Prevent Plant. While some FSA Farms triggered large payments for ARC-IC in 2019, producers may want to re-assess this program election for the 2021 crop year if they do not expect to put those farms in 100% Prevent Plant in 2021.

For most producers, the number one consideration driving program election is the market. What are markets going to do? We will not know the MYA price for corn or soybeans until September of 2022, and a lot could change in that time.

OSU Extension and the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) are offering several webinars between now and the March 15th enrollment deadline for producers to get up to date market outlook information. For information about AEDE’s 2021 Winter Outlook Meetings, visit https://aede.osu.edu/research/agricultural-policy-and-outlook-conferences/county-meetings.

Additionally, OSU Extension will be offering two webinars this winter focused specifically on the ARC/PLC decision, reviewing decision-tool calculators available to evaluate options, and current market outlook. The dates for these webinars are January 13th from 1:00-3:00 pm and February 25th from 9 -11 am. Both programs are free to attend, but registration is required. Register online at: http://go.osu.edu/arcplc2021.

2021 Small Farm College – POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2021

THE SMALL FARM COLLEGE WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2021 WHEN WE CAN MEET IN PERSON.

Are you a small farm landowner wondering what to do with your acreage?  Are you interested in exploring options for land uses but not sure where to turn or how to begin?  Have you considered adding an agricultural or horticultural enterprise, but you aren’t sure what may be required for equipment, labor, and/or management?  Are you looking for someplace to get some basic farm information?

If you or someone you know answered yes to any of the above questions – then the Ohio State University Extension New and Small Farm College program may be for you!

OSUE’s New and Small Farm College is a five-session short course that will be held one night a week beginning in January.  The 2021 Ohio New and Small Farm College program will be held in four locations across the state including right here in Putnam County!  These sessions will be held at the OSU Putnam County Extension Office, 1206 East Second Street in Ottawa.  Classes will be held on Thursdays beginning January 21 and concluding February 18, 2021.

Face-to-face sessions will address the following topics:

  • Getting started with a small farm (goal setting, family matters, business planning, budgeting, resources)
  • Appropriate land use -Walking the Farm;
  • Small farm legal checkup and farm insurance;
  • Financial and business management strategies for decision makers of small farms;
  • Where to get help – an overview of County resources; OSU Extension, government agencies and programs, (i.e. CAUV, EQIP, grants, etc).

In addition to the five traditional face-to-face sessions, the 2021 Small Farm College includes on-demand webinars, podcasts and other resources and content that participants can access virtually. These topics will include: Horticulture and Livestock Production Enterprises; Natural Resources and Wildlife; Honeybees; New Crops such as Hops, Malting Barley, and Hemp; Marketing Alternatives, and more.

All sessions begin each evening at 6:00 PM with a light dinner followed by the nightly presentations from 6:30 PM to 9:00PM. COVID-19 precautions will be in place at all locations.  Due to spacing and social distancing requirements, class size at each location will be limited. 

The cost of the course is $100 per person, $75 for an additional family member.  Each participating family will receive a small farm college notebook full of the information presented in each class session plus additional materials.  Registrations are now being accepted. You may also find more information at the following website: https://agnr.osu.edu/small-farm-programs/new-and-small-farm-college.  For more details about the course contact Tony Nye, Small Farm Program Coordinator (937)382-0901 or email at nye.1@osu.edu.

Registration forms can be found on our website (putnam.osu.edu), by calling the Putnam County Extension office at 419-523-6294, by email at Scheckelhoff.11@osu.edu or stop in at 1206 East Second Street in Ottawa. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for OSU Extension Putnam County.

Caring for Poinsettias

Many homes, offices and churches are decorated with festive trees, lights, and popular holiday plants like the poinsettia. December 12 marked National Poinsettia Day, a day celebrating our country’s most popular holiday plant! This day recognizes Joel Robert Poinsett, the first US ambassador to Mexico who introduced poinsettias to our country in 1821.

In their native habitat in Mexico and Central America, poinsettias grow as shrubs and can even develop into small trees. Today, the poinsettia is prized as an indoor holiday potted plant with over 100 varieties grown in varying shades of red, burgundy, coral, pink, white and combinations of the above.

The brightly colored leaves of poinsettia are often mistaken for the flowers. These colorful leaves are called bracts and surround the small, inconspicuous, yellow flowers called cyathia. The cyathia are clustered in the center of the bracts and shed yellow pollen. Once the pollen is shed, the bracts begin to fade. When shopping for a poinsettia, choose plants that have closed flowers or those that are only slightly open and not shedding pollen.

Since poinsettias are native to warm, tropical habitats, they can be injured if exposed to low temperatures below 55°F. Despite a few warm days here and there, you will want to make sure to cover plants with a paper or plastic sheath when transporting them from the place of purchase to your car and from your car to your home or office. Exposure to low temperatures can result in damage to the bracts and leaves, and in some cases, death of the plant.

Indoor conditions during the winter are not ideal for poinsettias, but proper care will help plants perform well throughout the holiday season. Poinsettias are grown in greenhouses under conditions that mimic their native habitat – temperatures of 65-70°F with high relative humidity and bright light. Once inside the home, provide at least six hours of bright, natural daylight such as near a sunny window. Maintain air temperatures between 65 and 70° F and avoid places where plants are exposed to drafts, fluctuating air currents, and excess heat or dry air from appliances, fireplaces or ventilation ducts.

Poinsettias prefer evenly moist soils that are not too wet and not too dry.  Water plants thoroughly when the soil surface feels dry to the touch.  Make sure the water begins to drain out of the holes at the base of the pot. Discard any excess water, as poinsettias left sitting in water generally develop root rots.

Signs that your plants are stressed and not happy include yellow leaves as well as rolling and dropping of leaves and bracts. Wilted plants will also drop leaves prematurely.  If wilting does occur, water the plant thoroughly to moisten the soil, then re-water again after 10 minutes. Never allow the plant to stand in excess water.

Poinsettia plants can be maintained in the home throughout the year and encouraged to rebloom the following winter with some coaxing. It is often easier to discard plants once they have finished blooming and look forward to purchasing fresh, vibrantly colored plants next year.

 

Soil Testing

What is one of the most helpful resources to use when establishing or maintaining a garden bed, lawn, landscape, or cultivated field?  A soil test!  For relatively little cost, soil testing labs provide invaluable information for homeowners, gardeners, and farmers by pinpointing nutrient needs and providing fertilizer recommendations or corrective actions for sampled soils.

Why should you test soil?  There are four main reasons to test your soil: 1.) to guide plant selection  2.) to maintain proper soil fertility 3.) to diagnose plant problems and 4.) to follow industry-accepted management practices, such as those used for tree care or for agronomic crop production.

What does a soil test measure? A basic soil test provides information on soil properties including soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), base saturation, lime requirement index, and levels of phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). Additional tests can measure soil texture and the amount of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), soluble salts, nitrates, and organic matter in the soil.

Why is soil pH important? Knowing your soil pH is a cost effective way to match a plant’s pH requirement with that of the soil in which you are planting. Soil tests provide a pH value from 1 to 10, though soil pH rarely measures below 3.5 or above 9. Soil is considered acidic when it measures less than 7.0 and alkaline when it measures more than 7.0.

Many plants grow in a wide range of soil pH levels, while others have more specific requirements. For example, numerous ornamental flowering plants, fruits, vegetables, and turfgrass species grow well when the soil pH ranges from 6.2 to 6.8. Other plants such as pin oaks, azaleas and blueberries require a more acidic soil (5.5 to 6.5) to thrive in our area. When grown in a higher pH soil, they tend to exhibit nutrient deficiency symptoms such as leaf yellowing and/or stunted growth.

When should soil be tested? With the growing and harvesting season winding up in NW Ohio, now is a perfectly good time to soil test. Soil testing can be done throughout the year as long as the soil is workable to collect a sample. Since soil test results are used in planning what needs to be done with a specific growing area, they should be taken with ample time to evaluate and act upon the recommendations. Fall is an excellent time to make lime applications to raise soil pH, while spring is best to apply sulfur to lower soil pH.

How often should should soil be tested? For most garden, landscape and agronomic purposes, soil testing every two to three years is adequate to maintain soil fertility. More frequent sampling may be required when diagnosing plant problems or for nutrient-hungry plantings.

Where can soil be tested and how do you interpret results? While Ohio State University no longer provides soil testing services, we do provide soil sampling kits from Penn State University for $10 at the Extension office. After you collect and mail your sample to the lab, recommendations on how to improve soil fertility based upon the desired plants or crops to be grown will soon follow. While many online resources can help explain soil test results, you may also bring or email soil reports to the extension office for further interpretation.

 

 

 

Believe it or not – it’s Bat Week!

Coincidentally Ohio Bat Week and International Bat Week are celebrated from October 24 through October 31 – just in time for Halloween! What is Bat Week? Bat Week celebrates the immense contributions that bats provide in nature and heightens awareness for bat conservation through education.

There are 13 species of bats reportedly found across Ohio, including the little brown and big brown bats. These mammals are essential for controlling insect pests, pollinating flowers, and spreading seed across wide areas. On any given summer night, you can see them flying about consuming their weight in mosquitoes, flies, beetles, and other insects. In fact, insects are the only thing that bats in Ohio eat. If bugs are out and about, bats are out and about too.

If you have ever sampled a margarita – you have bats to thank for pollinating and dispersing agave seed. Blue agave plants are the only plants used to make tequila!

History suggests that bats became associated with Halloween due to their dark coloration, nocturnal habits, and tendency to roost in caves and dark places. They can also be seen in large swarms this time of year looking for places to hibernate for the winter. Some bat species will fly south while others find more local retreats with moderate temperatures including caves and mines.

Fear not!  Bats are not the scary, blood-sucking creatures depicted in Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” or countless other vampire-themed tales and movies.  Rather, they are harmless, beneficial mammals that intentionally avoid human contact. Bats coexist around us generally without ever being detected. In some rare cases, you might cross paths with a bat.

Bats can enter homes and buildings through small openings or through open windows, doors, or cracks. The best way to prevent encounters with bats is to seal entry points and install one-way exclusion openings that allow bats to leave but not return. The extension office has a nice bulletin on excluding bats from buildings, so please call for a copy.

If you find a bat in your home or other living space, it is best to isolate it to a single room, turn off all lights, and leave a window or door to the outside open, The bat will leave on its own. I had a bat in the garage over the weekend, turned off the garage light and let the door open – and the bat was gone before morning.

Once excluded – it is a good idea to provide bats with a more suitable living space. Bat houses can be easily constructed or purchased. Place bat houses around your property to encourage bat-friendly habitats.

Bats can carry the rabies virus, though fewer than 4% of bats in Ohio have rabies. For this reason, it is advised to not touch or handle bats with bare hands as a precaution. If you are bitten by a bat it is wise to seek medical care immediately.

To learn more about bats in Ohio as well as other mammals, please visit The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Mammals of Ohio guide.

Bats are threatened by the loss of natural habitats due to development of land and deforestation, wind turbines, and pesticide use. For more information on bat conservation, please visit Bat Conservation International (batcon.org), Batweek.org, or the Extension office at 1206 East Second St. in Ottawa. You may also contact us by phone at 419-523-6294, email at scheckelhoff.11@osu.edu, or find us on Facebook by searching for OSU Extension Putnam County.

Image of a little brown bat by Bernell MacDonald from Pixabay.

Leave the Leaves

Leaves across Northwest Ohio are near peak fall color. The brilliant shades of yellow, red, and orange will vanish over the next few weeks as leaves drop to the ground. One question often asked this time of year is “What should I do with all these leaves?”. As you might guess, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. It depends. Homeowners have many options for dealing with fallen leaves including mowing, mulching, composting – and just letting them be.

What happens when trees lose their leaves in a forest or a natural area? Fallen leaves generally form a carpet of sorts on the ground, keeping the soil moist and of moderate temperature. This in turn allows living organisms like animals and fungi to thrive. In fact, leaves provide winter protection for countless animals including butterflies and moths, beetles, spiders, among others.

Deciduous tree leaves are an excellent source of organic matter and fertilizer. Over time, decomposing leaves provide a slow release of nutrients, roughly 2% nitrogen, which can be used by plants for growth.

If you have turfgrass, mowing is a good option when the lawn is covered by a light layer of leaves. A lawn mower can quickly reduce fallen leaves into smaller leaf fragments that break down quickly. Mowing also eliminates wet, matted piles of whole leaves that can prevent grass from growing in the future.

One word of caution – rake and remove leaves from trees that have certain foliar diseases such as tubakia leaf spot on oak, tar spot on maple, or guignardia on buckeye.  Leaving diseased leaves in the landscape will keep the fungi around to possibly infect trees again next year.

Mulching can reduce large amounts of leaves in your yard. Leaves can be mulched and collected in a leaf bag attached to a mower or by using a leaf shredder. Applying several inches of leaf litter mulch to landscape or garden beds will help conserve moisture, moderate soil temperatures, and reduce weed growth.

Whole or mulched leaves can also be incorporated into the soil with a tiller to increase organic matter and improve soil texture, aeration, and drainage. Leaves can be broken down along with other yard wastes into compost. The composting process reduces these wastes into a nutrient-rich organic material that can be used in containers, gardens, and flower beds.

Finally, you can simply leave the leaves. Leaf piles provide ample winter cover for a wide variety of insects and spiders – and eventually add organic matter, nutrients, and improve soil health as they break down. What will you do with your leaves this year?