Month: October 2009

Recap: 2009 Ohio Sheep Day

Roger High, Executive Director, OSIA
Susan Schultz, OSIA President

OARDC Eastern Research Station in Caldwell, OH hosted the 2009 Ohio Sheep Day

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, with a glint of rain in the air all day, and finally it rained near the end of the program, which was very much appreciated in the drought stricken area of southeastern Ohio.  The air was filled with positive thoughts of an exciting Ohio sheep industry and the OSIA/OSWP/OSU coordinated Ohio Sheep Day was another overwhelming success.   Sheep producers from all over Ohio and Continue reading Recap: 2009 Ohio Sheep Day →

Dodder (Cuscuta spp.) Rears its Ugly Head in Western Ohio in 2009

Joy Aufderhaar, OSU Extension Agriculture Program Assistant, Shelby County
Roger Bender, OSU Extension Educator, Shelby County

As you looked across your pasture and hay fields this past September you may have noticed not only were the surrounding trees turning fall colors, but your red clover and alfalfa were also showing colors of fall? But this is not a color of fall we like to see especially in our red clover and alfalfa.

(Image source: UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program)

Yellow or orange threadlike stems were reported  in red clover and alfalfa fields in several western Ohio counties in September. The stems are stringlike, twining, smooth and branching to form dense masses in some fields.

Purdue’s Glen Nice says that dodder is a parasitic plant without any leaves or any chlorophyll to produce its own food. It lives by attaching to a host with small appendages (called “haustoria”) and extracting the host plant’s carbohydrates. Continue reading Dodder (Cuscuta spp.) Rears its Ugly Head in Western Ohio in 2009 →

Grazing Corn Residue

Dr. Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Morrow County

To survive the current feed economy livestock producers need to graze their livestock as long as they can.  Every day livestock are meeting their nutritional needs through grazing they are being fed as economically as possible.  Typically cattle producers utilize corn residue as a feed source but, Continue reading Grazing Corn Residue →

Breeding Season Preparation

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

Reproductive performance is an important factor in determining profitability in the sheep flock. Most breeds of sheep have seasonal breeding patterns and the majority of flocks in Ohio are spring lambing. In this scenario, the peak fertility of the ewe is from late September through November. The breeding season will extend Continue reading Breeding Season Preparation →