Livestock

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been detected in a backyard flock in Ashland County and a commercial chicken flock in Defiance County. The positive detections were confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS). The samples were first tested at the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

HPAI is a highly contagious virus that spreads quickly and can be fatal to flocks and devastating to poultry owners, both commercial and non-commercial. HPAI can infect poultry (such as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, domestic ducks, geese, and guinea fowl) and is carried by free flying waterfowl such as ducks, geese, and shorebirds.

State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Federal and State partners are working jointly on additional surveillance and testing in areas around the affected flocks.… Continue reading

By Chris Penrose and Ted Wiseman, Ohio State University Extension educators, Morgan and Perry counties

Over the past 20 years, we have seen more and more cocklebur becoming established on our farms and many farmers in the area have noted that as well. On Chris’ farm, I think it started when I fed whole shelled corn to my cattle out in the pastures to extend hay supplies in the winter. You would think this summer annual would be easy to control, but it is a challenge.

We recently finished a 5-year trial on timed mowing of pastures in the summer. A year after concluding the study, we went out to the site in September. It had not been mowed yet, and it was completely engulfed with cocklebur. No matter when or how often we mowed, after doing the same thing for five years, there was no difference.

One would think that if we went out and mowed a summer annual when the stem is elongating with immature seeds and cut below the seeds, we would kill the plant, and that still may be the case.… Continue reading

By Garth Ruff, Ohio State University Extension beef cattle specialist

In 1914, the Smith-Lever Act called for establishment of 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’s this “translation” of research has been done 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.… Continue reading

Tribute Superior Equine Nutrition has a new look. New packaging is currently being introduced, as the supply of previous packaging runs out. The fresh new design features key upgrades to help consumers easily access the expertise available, so they can care for their horses with less worry. 

An image of the product is now included on the front of the bag, in addition to familiar colors consistently used on each package, so that the horse owner can quickly spot their favorite Tribute product. A QR code present on the front of each bag gives instant access to complete product information. The contact information to the Tribute product support team has been added to the back of the bag, to make it easier to get questions answered, or even get a personalized equine feeding plan tailored to their horse’s specific needs. A QR code linking to the new Tribute feeding rate calculator can take the guesswork out of how much to feed.… Continue reading

By Chris Penrose, Professor & Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, Morgan County

I became disheartened a few weeks ago after I sent a bunch of ticks to a lab on campus to get identified and they confirmed what I feared: that we have the Asian longhorned tick here in Morgan County. If I am correct, that makes five types of tick we likely have present in the county and many parts of Ohio. Ticks can give us Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and a disease that makes us allergic to red meat.

The Asian longhorned tick (ALT) was found last year in a couple of Ohio counties and the populations of ALT became so high on some cows that they died. That scares me. The good news is there is a team of professionals from OSU, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Health and United States Department of Agriculture that is on top of this and have been very responsive.… Continue reading

By Mike Estadt, Ohio State University Extension Educator, Pickaway County

Open any farm publication, print or digital, and one is likely to see articles related to carbon markets. There are several active companies in the agricultural sector recruiting farmers and landowners to enroll into a carbon credit programs. This proliferation of markets has been due to several factors, but in part it is largely due to the increasing amount of attention by world governments and corporations related to the magnitude of climate change impacts attributed to atmospheric greenhouse gases.

The purpose of this article is to briefly explain why these markets exist, what opportunities grazers and livestock producers may want to give future consideration to and provide you with some additional information that may help one make an informed decision. A key point to be made is that these are voluntary carbon programs, and each farm and ranch is unique as to how it may use a grazing management system or other conservation programs to be eligible for these carbon markets.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

With staggering increases in commercial fertilizer costs and growing concerns with supply chain issues, locally sourced manure has taken on some additional appeal for crop producers in 2022. The additional soil health benefits of manure are icing on the honey wagon.

But, while the interest in using manure on crop ground may be growing, since last fall the windows to actually get out and apply manure have been extremely limited outside of recent chances for sidedressing corn and following wheat harvest.  

After a soggy autumn, frozen frustrating winter and saturated spring, Megan Dresbach with W.D. Farms based in Pickaway County was finally able to get in fields in mid-May.

“Field conditions are right, finally,” she said on May 13. “It has been a long-awaited spring for that to happen.” 

She was in Preble County applying hog manure at 6,000 gallons an acre ahead of a yet-to-be-planted corn crop.… Continue reading

Pork producers are now able to continuously share info with state animal health officials thanks to a new AgView feature. 
This new feature allows producers to voluntarily opt in, log info for each premise, and share the following: 

• Site owner and contact info by premise 

• Movement data 

• Secure Pork Supply documentation 

• Lab results. 

With this information always available, state animal health officials can better monitor foreign animal disease (FAD) concerns even without a declared FAD event.  
AgView, a pig-contact-tracing platform funded by the Pork Checkoff, provides herd health and movement data at the state and federal level to promote business continuity in case of an FAD concern. 
An FAD outbreak in North America, such as African swine fever, could stop the movement of animals and animal products across international borders for an unknown amount of time. With enough voluntary users, AgView will help the pork industry rapidly contain or regionalize an FAD outbreak.… Continue reading

The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) recently hosted young cattlemen from across the state for the annual Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC) in Columbus on Aug. 11-13. The conference focused on industry knowledge enhancement, advocacy through political efforts at the state and national level, career development training and networking. The overall goal of the conference is to create future leaders for Ohio’s beef industry.   

This event was sponsored by Farm Credit Mid-America, Nationwide, the Ohio Beef Council and the Ohio Soybean Council.   

 The group of attendees ranged from beef producers to career professionals. This year’s group of young cattlemen and women included:        

• Ellie Horst, Certified Angus Beef, Wayne County
• Emily Warnimont, TransOva Genetics, Hancock County 
• Jacy Bapst, beef producer, Pike County 
• Hannah Topmiller, United Producers Inc., Franklin County
• Adam Garman, United Producers Inc., Ross County
• Skylar Plank, beef producer, Clark County 
• Macie Riley, beef producer, Fayette County
• Mackenzie Riley, beef producer, Fayette County 
• Tyler Humphrey, AgriMarketing Solutions, Allen County 
• Lynnette Garver, AgriMarketing Solutions, Allen County
• Quinton Motts, beef producer, Stark County
• Madison Huck, beef producer, Monroe County 
• Caroline Walton, Certified Angus Beef, Wyandot County
• Clare Moody, beef producer, Stark County
• Joseph Grubbs, beef producer, Carroll County 
• Savannah Applegate, beef producer, Gallia County
• Benjamin Applegate, beef producer, Gallia County
• Luke McKee, OCA, Knox County 
• Kelly Keirn, Ohio Beef Council, Union County
• Darian Brooks, OCA intern, Huron County
• Emily Rudd, OCA intern, Crawford County   

Attendees kicked-off the conference on Thurs.… Continue reading

U.S. beef exports remained on a red-hot pace in June, topping $1 billion for the fifth time this year (after twice reaching $1 billion in 2021), according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Exports of U.S. pork remained below last year’s large totals in June, while lamb exports continued to trend higher.

Broad-based growth fuels torrid first-half pace for beef export volume and value

June beef exports totaled 130,638 metric tons (mt), down slightly from the record volume posted in May but up 16% year-over-year and the fourth largest on record. Export value was $1.05 billion in June, also down slightly from the May record but 31% above last year. For the first half of 2022, beef exports increased 6% from a year ago to 743,904 mt, valued at $6.19 billion (up 33%).

While beef export growth has been largely driven by major Asian markets such as South Korea, China/Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, exports are also trending higher to the ASEAN region, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and the Middle East.… Continue reading

By Mark Sulc, Greg LaBarge, CPAg/CCA, Ohio State University Extension

Early fall is one of the best times to topdress maintenance fertilizer on perennial forages. Soils are usually firm in September, and autumn topdressing provides needed nutrients for good winter survival of the forage stand and vigorous regrowth the following spring. Now is a great time to begin preparations and acquiring fertilizer supplies so timely fall applications can be made.

Remember that hay crops will remove about 50 lbs of K₂O and 12 lbs of P₂O₅ per ton of dry hay harvested. Adequate amounts of soil P and K are important for the productivity and persistence of forage stands. But nutrient over-application harms the environment and can harm animals fed those forages. A recent soil test should always guide what nutrients to apply and how much. If a recent soil test has not been made, now is a great time to do it.… Continue reading

Crawford Soil and Water Conservation District, in conjunction with Crawford-OSU Extension, will be hosting a Manure Nutrient Management Field Day on August 30. The event will be held at the Scott-Reinhard Seed’s Warehouse at 2030 State Route 4, just south of Bucyrus. The day will start at 9 a.m. and continue until about 3 p.m. With nationally known speakers. Jenifer Yost, a Research Soil Scientist with USDA-ARS from Temple, Texas will be speaking about soil health and the benefits of swine and dairy manure. Scott Shearer from The Ohio State University will showcase some of the latest technologies being researched and developed. 

Other topics will include utilizing poultry litter by Taylor Dill, OSU Extension. Composting Manure and its benefits, Eric Richer, OSU extension. Learning to understand your manure analysis, cover crops, and the latest on H2Ohio, EQIP, and spreading regulations. Field trials with both liquid and dry handling and spreading equipment will be showcased in the afternoon.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

I have been attending the Ohio State Fair Sale of Champions for more than 20 years and auctioneer Johnny Regula has said it every year. He wants $100,000 for the Grand Champion Steer. Going into Sunday, Aug. 7, the record sale for the Grand Champion Steer at the Ohio State Fair was $85,000 from 2011. Every year Regula has said it, and every year he has come up short. The 2022 Sale, though, was different. 

“I’m going to get this out the way early,” Regula said as he took the microphone after Ryleigh Egbert from Auglaize County entered the sale ring with her Grand Champion Steer. “He has won more times than he has been beaten. This is a very unique, very special calf. This young girl lost her Grandpa this year. She told Grandpa, ‘This one is for you.’ And by gosh she did it. She did it…It is time to sell him.… Continue reading

Grand Champion Market Beef Animal Interview

Reserve Grand Champion Market Beef Animal Interview

… Continue reading

Grand Champion Market Barrow Interview

Reserve Grand Champion Market Barrow Interview

Third: Avery Andrews, Wayne County

Fourth: Landon Elchinger, Henry County

Fifth: Makenah Rohr, Stark County

Sixth: Kane Ellwood, Tuscarawas County

Seventh: Megan Smith-McCarley, Pickaway County

Eighth: Landon Rohr, Stark County

Ninth: Brodie Wheeler, Delaware County

Tenth: Claire Winkle, Highland County… Continue reading

Aug. 6, 2022

Judge: Brandon Callis, Oklahoma

Angus

Grand Champion – Madison Paden, Guernsey County
Reserve Champion – Alex Meyer, Mercer County

Charolais

Grand Champion – Frani Levan, Champaign County

Reserve Champion – Roger Winner, Darke County

Chianina

Grand Champion – Olivia Jones, Allen County
Reserve Champion – Carter McCauley, Guernsey County

Hereford

Grand Champion – Reid Bishop, Clark County

Reserve Champion – Logan Brinksneader, Darke County

Maine-Anjou

Grand Champion – Lane Underwood, Hardin County
Reserve Champion – Essie McGuire, Champaign County

Shorthorn

Grand Champion – Tavin Warner, Sandusky County
Reserve Champion – Joshua Blakeman, Jackson County

Shorthorn Plus

Grand Champion – Evelyn Koehler, Fairfield County
Reserve Champion – Mckayla Nelson, Meigs County

Simmental

Grand Champion – Carson Barton, Clinton County
Reserve Champion – Hailey Cornett, Highland COunty

All Other Breeds (AOB)

Grand Champion – Kaitlyn Mattis, Perry County
Reserve Champion – Logan Souder, Brown County

Market Heifer

Grand Champion – Luke Fulton, Miami County
Reserve Champion – Austin Sutherley, Clark County

CrossbredDivision I Champion – Grant Belleville, Wood County
Division I Reserve Champion – Easton McClure, Marion County
Division II Champion – Ryleigh Egbert, Auglaize County
Division II Reserve Champion – Delaney Jones, Allen County

Division III Champion – Hayden Smith, Holmes County 
Division III Reserve Champion –  Avery McGuire, Champaign County

Division IV Champion – Mason Kinney, Huron County
Division IV Reserve Champion – Austin Sutherly, Champaign County… Continue reading

Judges: Miles Toenyes and Jeremy Cantrell

Aug. 5, 2002

Berkshire
Grand Champion: Landon Elchinger, Henry County

Reserve Champion: Tanner Rose, Fairfield County

Chester White
Grand Champion: Colton Bartoe, Pickaway County
Reserve Champion: John Smoch, Shelby County

Duroc
Grand Champion: Megan Smith-McCarley, Pickaway County
Reserve Champion: Landon Rohr, Stark County

Hampshire

Grand Champion: Brodie Wheeler, Delaware County
Reserve Champion: Corbin Winkle, Highland County

Hereford
Grand Champion: Abby Ferryman, Shelby County
Reserve Champion: Emma Wheeler, Delaware County

Landrace
Grand Champion: Josey Schift, Butler County 
Reserve Champion: Corbin Winkle, Highland County 

Poland China
Grand Champion: Claire Winkle, Highland County
Reserve Champion: Evan Banester, Fulton County

Spot
Grand Champion: Kane Ellwood, Tuscarawas County
Reserve Champion: John LaFountain, Putnam County

Tamworth
Grand Champion: Samantha Durst, Shelby County
Reserve Champion: Victoria Gossard, Allen County

Yorkshire
Grand Champion: Makenah Rohr, Stark County
Reserve Champion: Victoria Gossard, Allen County

Dark Cross
Grand Champion: Nick Adams, Mercer County
Reserve Champion: Mallory Petro, Gallia County

Light Cross
Grand Champion: Avery Andrews, Wayne County
Reserve Champion: Landon Elchinger, Henry County… Continue reading

Aug. 5, 2022

Judge: Brad Dale, Brooklyn, Iowa

Hampshire

Champ: Morgan Evans, Union County

Res. Champ: Paige Pence, Clark County 

Shropshire

Champ: Bria White, Ashland County

Res. Champ: Alissa White, Washington County

Southdown

Champion: Addison Wallen, Logan County

Res. Champion: Paige Bremke, Lorain County

Suffolk

Champion: Nathan Sattler, Defiance County 

Res. Champion: Adeline Kendle, Tuscarawas County

Dorset

Champion: Marshall Miller, Tuscarawas County

Res. Champion: Anara Shroyer, Logan County

Oxford

Champion:, Delaney Dudte, Wayne County

Res. Champion: Mylee Shatto, Shelby County

AOB

Champion: Paige Pence, Clark County

Res. Champion: Delaney Dudte, Wayne County

White-face cross

Champion: Sophie Young, Highland County

Res. Champion: Brynn Huntsman, Mercer County

Natural Colored

Champion: Elizabeth Shatto, Shelby County

Res. Champion: Caleb Stone, Miami County

Black-face cross

Champ: Reece Cook, Richland County 

Res. Champ: Ava Shroyer, Logan County