We continue our series highlighting the outstanding Ohio Ag Net radio affiliates carrying the best in Ohio ag news.
This week, we say thank you to WFGF-FM serving Allen and surrounding counties, with newly added coverage of the 15-minute Morning Farm Show airing at 5:45 a.m.Tune in to 92.1 out of Lima to hear the Ohio Ag Net Monday-Friday at 5:45 a.m., 11:50 a.m., and 4:20 p.m.
By Matt Hutcheson, CCA, Soybean Lead/Field Agronomist, Seed Consultants, Inc.
One common issue observed and discussed during the 2023 growing season is poor tip fill, or tip-back in corn ears. A lack of kernel development at the tip of the ear can be cause for concern among growers. Keep in mind that any stress right before and during pollination can significantly impact kernel development. If you have scouted your corn fields late in the growing season and have noticed tip back, there are several factors that could be the cause:
• Pollination— if kernels did not develop at all near the tip of the ear, this is a sign of a pollination problem. The silks at the tip of the ear emerge last and stress at pollination can significantly impact them. Heat and drought stress can cause a lack of viable pollen as well as delayed silk emergence, resulting in no kernel development at the tip of the ear.… Continue reading
Mike Heffelfinger, Chair of the Communication & Education Committee with the Ohio Soybean Council, talks with Dale and shares a producer’s perspective on the investment in GrowNextGen.… Continue reading
U.S. consumers will pay less for their favorite Thanksgiving dinner foods, including turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and milk, based on a new American Farm Bureau Federation Thanksgiving dinner cost survey.
The average cost of Thanksgiving dinner fixings for 10 people is $61.17, which breaks down to just over $6 per person. The overall cost for the holiday meal is down 4.5% or about $3 from last year, but the cost is still more than 25% higher than it was in 2019, which highlights the impact high supply costs and inflation have had on food prices.
“Because turkey is about half of the cost of the basket, any reduction in turkey prices ends up having a pretty substantial impact on the total cost,” said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. “Turkey is down 5.6%. The big reason is that we didn’t have nearly as many cases of high path avian influenza.… Continue reading
It’s no secret that corn drydown has come at a premium this season in Ohio. In the latest Beck’s Agronomy Update, Luke Schulte, field agronomist with Beck’s Hybrids, tackles the timely question of how starter fertilizer/nutrition impacts corn moisture later in the season. Watch the video to learn more!… Continue reading
Morgan Anderson, Ohio’s recently elected National FFA Officer, was one of those in attendance alongside her fellow student leaders as one of the great American traditions around this time of year took place. That’s right – two fortunate National Thanksgiving Turkeys were pardoned this week by President Biden on the South Lawn of the White House.
According to the National Turkey Federation, this White House tradition has been observed since 1947, signaling the beginning of the holiday season of national thanks and representing agriculture’s plentiful harvest and the contributions of America’s turkey growers.
The FFA members were able to witness the 20-week-old, 42-pound birds, named Liberty and Bell be pardoned.
In this interview, our own Matt Reese talks with Anderson about the unique experience.
Brazil’s weather caused some excitement in the bean market last week. One day forecasts showed no rain, and the next it did. Until late January, farmers should expect South America’s weather forecasts to have a big impact on prices.
Unfortunately, corn hit a new calendar low this week at $4.61. While Brazil weather issues could still help corn prices, the estimated 2+ billion-bushel carryout will be hard to overcome without a big increase in export demand.
Hedging grain — Using futures in a hedge account verses HTAs
I am often asked why I hedge my grain using a futures account instead of using HTA (Hedge To Arrive) contracts with an end user. Following are some of the pros and cons.
Setting up a futures hedging account
This is a one time “hoop” hedgers using futures must do that selling an HTA does not require. Including a hedge line with a bank to finance the hedge account is also a good idea. … Continue reading
A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to significantly lower duties placed on phosphate fertilizers imported from Morocco has the potential to provide true savings to farmers while giving them access to crucial inputs that have been scarce over the last couple years, according to a recent analysis by the National Corn Growers Association. The decision comes after an intense advocacy effort by state and national corn grower associations.
Commerce decided in November to reduce rates on the imports from 19.97% to 2.12%. While that decision covers duties from Nov. 30, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2021, it could still be an incentive for OCP, the Moroccan company that manufactures the products, to reenter the U.S. market. Growers say it is a big step in the right direction.
“The decision is very meaningful to us,” said Harold Wolle, Minnesota farmer and NCGA President. “Farmers were already facing rate hikes on inputs and the duties were making the situation worse.… Continue reading
Every two years, Ohio State conducts a survey of farmers on cropland values and cash rent. Barry Ward, OSU Economist conducts this survey of professionals including ag business, farm managers, farmers, rural appraisers, and ag lenders. Western Ohio cropland values and rental rates are significantly different than the eastern and southern values. The type of soil, fertility, productivity, and generally higher returns result in higher prices in Western Ohio. Also, larger squarer fields, flatter soils, and access to crop markets add value to the cropland and to rental rates. In 2022-2023, Barry Ward surveyed 190 participants and the results were just released in August 2023. The numbers are reported for top, average, and bottom farmland with only the average farmland and cash rent values reported.
For all of Western Ohio, average producing cropland produced 185.3 bushels corn per acre and had a projected value of $9,672/acre in 2022 with a projected value of $10,329/acre in 2023 for a 6.8% increase in land values expected.… Continue reading
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and Ohio Christmas Tree Association (OCTA) are partnering once again to send American troops stationed in Kuwait 75 Ohio-grown Christmas trees. Operation Evergreen is an annual event that was held at ODA’s Reynoldsburg campus and organized by OCTA.
“Our servicemen and women deserve the best,” said Brian Baldridge, ODA Director. “Everything our farmers grow is first-rate and that includes Christmas trees. I am proud of the contribution both Ohio growers and ODA are making to ensure military members get a piece of home for the holidays.”
The trees are donated by Ohio Christmas tree growers and checked by ODA nursery inspectors before being sent to soldiers serving in the armed forces. Trees received a phytosanitary certificate for international shipment and will be delivered to troops. In addition, decorations were donated by local schools, churches, and veterans’ groups, ensuring the military units receiving the packages will have all that is needed to celebrate the holidays.… Continue reading
In this episode of the Ohio Ag Net Podcast, hosts Matt Reese of Ohio’s Country Journal and Dusty Sonnenburg of Ohio Ag Net talk with Brandon Kern, Director of Public Policy and Issue Analysis at the Ohio Soybean Association. They talk about the future of the Farm Bill with the recent extension of the 2018 Farm Bill. Brandon also talks about priorities of soybean farmers and other policy updates.
More in this week’s podcast:
Jonathan Coppess, University of Illinois: Jonathan talks with Matt about the Farm Bill process and what it looks like in broad terms.
Farmers took advantage of last week’s fair weather, making steady progress towards harvest completion, according to Ben Torrance, State Statistician, USDA NASS, Ohio Field Office. Topsoil moisture conditions were rated 2 percent very short, 20 percent short, 73 percent adequate, and 5 percent surplus. Statewide, the average temperature for the week ending on November 19 was 44.9 degrees, 3.7 degrees above normal. Weather stations recorded an average of 0.58 inches of precipitation, 0.01 inches below average. There were 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 19.
Last week’s field activities included corn harvesting, lime application and fall tillage. Eighty-one percent of corn was harvested. The moisture content of corn grain at harvest was 20 percent, unchanged from last week. Winter wheat was 95 percent emerged. Winter wheat condition was 84 percent good to excellent, down slightly from the previous week.
By Scott Gerlt, American Soybean Association Chief Economist
The Environmental Protection Agency has recently released several proposals regarding its Endangered Species Act commitments under its pesticide program. One such proposal could significantly hinder or prevent pesticide use on close to 13 million acres of cropland, including over five million acres of soybeans. EPA holds responsibility for approving federal registration of pesticides in the United States. It determines the parameters for use during the registration process, including ensuring pesticide uses will not harm wildlife or the environment. The Vulnerable Species Pilot Project (VSPP) is part of EPA’s efforts to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to consider endangered species as part of federal registration process. The broad approach EPA is proposing as part of the VSPP would greatly inhibit agriculture on a significant amount of land, and the agency intends to expand the pilot project to scale up the program to much larger areas in the future.… Continue reading
A team of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin researchers and Extension professionals has recently been awarded funding from USDA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help support use of agroforestry practices and markets by small and medium sized farms in the region.
“This project involves a team of passionate and dedicated researchers and Extension professionals who have worked with farmers and woodland owners in the Upper Midwest for decades. This is a unique opportunity to support synergy between forestry and agriculture professionals and landowners to expand use of agroforestry practices through the region,” said Emily Huff, the project lead and associate professor in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University.
Much is known about the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of U.S. family forest owners and agricultural landowners independently. However, little is known about those who own bothwoodland and farmland, and what, if any, agroforestry and woodland management practices are used by these Farmer Woodland Owners (FWOs).… Continue reading
It is no secret that consumers are increasingly opinionated concerning the origins, production methods and ingredients in the food they eat. With this in mind, the United Soybean Board is working to better understand and quantify consumer preferences with regard to the meat they purchase.
“A lot of people aren’t sure what the protein source that they’re choosing to buy at the grocery store or some other retail establishment has been fed. One of the statistics out there says that 49% of consumers say that they knew that the animals were fed a vegetarian diet. We know from the industry that means the meat and bone meal has been excluded from the livestock diet. For the average consumer, though, they’re not aware of that. They do not understand we’re taking the soybeans we’re growing and producing another very healthy product for the consumers to eat.… Continue reading
We had about a week in April to get stuff planted early. If you missed that window then that put you well into May because of the rains. That corn planted in May just did not want to dry down and it took a long time to harvest. With the dryer it takes twice as long to take twice as much moisture out. Typically, we should be in the 18% moisture range and we were in the 24% moisture range.
We were extremely dry early, but when the corn is knee high, it doesn’t take all that much moisture. And then we got our July and August rains like we have the previous 2 years, so that makes 3 years in a row we’ve gotten really good rains in July and August. That’s what really makes a good yield. With it being dry earlier, we didn’t have hardly any insect pressure or disease pressure until later on after when we started getting the rains.… Continue reading
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) held a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 16 to celebrate the start of construction on the new Ohio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (OVDL). The ceremony brought Ohio’s leadership and agricultural commodity groups and stakeholders to the Reynoldsburg campus. Construction of the new laboratory also brings a name change, as the current title of Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) will be retired.
The 70,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility will include 40% more laboratory space and updated bio-security measures. A more energy-efficient building will also accommodate dozens of new staff members. The Capital Budget signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine last summer allocates $72 million for the new OVDL.
“It’s a great day for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. We provide testing for our livestock industry and the building that is being replaced is way out of date. This new facility is going to take us to the next level.… Continue reading
Ohio Farm Bureau’s 2023-2024 AgriPOWER Institute kicked off in November with 14 farmers and agribusiness professionals participating in Class XIV.
AgriPOWER is a program of Ohio Farm Bureau and designed for farmers and agribusiness professionals. It focuses on public issues that are relevant to the food industry such as consumer relations, regulations, energy and trade policies. In AgriPOWER, individuals develop the skills necessary to become effective leaders and advocates for agriculture by learning from experts in these fields.
“AgriPOWER XIV is poised to provide these budding leaders with a remarkable chance to delve into the intricate challenges that Ohio agriculture faces, all while fine-tuning their abilities as powerful advocates for the industry,” said Melinda Witten, director of AgriPOWER.… Continue reading
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