Food chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in meat processing bottlenecks. Grocery and food pantry refrigerators and freezers are empty, despite increased need for healthy proteins.
Ohio Farm Bureau, Pickaway County Community Foundation (PCCF) and Delaware County Foundation are working with local farmers to supply local foodbanks with Ohio raised pork.
“We are always looking to generate win-win opportunities,” said Chris Baker, president and CEO of the Delaware County Foundation. “As the number of residents out of work and seeking assistance from food banks increases, some farmers have struggled due to disruptions at processing facilities. With a modest grant from the Foundation’s Community Crisis Fund we are pleased to be able to feed hundreds of people while supporting local businesses.”
When partners learned the meat processing plant in Orient was reopening after temporary closure they sprung to action and purchased 30 hogs from Ohio producers to process for local foodbanks.… Continue reading
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and United Kingdom International Trade Secretary Liz Truss began meeting in May via video conference to formally begin trade talks between the two nations.
“Both parties agree that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would contribute to the long-term health of our economies, which is vitally important as we recover from the challenges posed by COVID-19. An FTA is a priority for both countries and we share a commitment to secure an ambitious agreement that significantly boosts trade and investment. We will undertake negotiations at an accelerated pace and have committed the resources necessary to progress at a fast pace,” according to a joint statement..
The first round of trade negotiations continued through May 15. In October 2018, the Trump administration announced its intention to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.K.… Continue reading
By Andy Westhoven, Regional Agronomist, CPAg, CCA, AgriGold
I realize it is now mid-May and plenty of corn and soybean fields have been planted, but avoiding the knee-jerk reaction actually applies to the entire growing season —
not just at planting. Many farmers (including me) have very short-term memories. The last thing we need to do is base our decisions solely off 2019. Coupled with the frightening facts of the virus pandemic and market decreases — staying with the plan is the best action to take.
Many areas that experienced prevent plant acres know full well there would not be a repeat in 2020. My own farm had only a third of the acres planted and, regardless of the environment(s) this spring, crops will be planted. So far this season, many small pockets were able to plant early while others waited on the sidelines. The planter is the most important pass of the season and no one enjoys a redo.… Continue reading
While temperatures remained cool throughout the state, farmers made good planting progress, according to Cheryl Turner, State Statistician, USDA NASS, Ohio Field Office. Some damage was reported to winter wheat from freezing temperatures early in the week while rain activity late in the week may have caused damage to crops not yet emerged. Average temperatures for the week were below historical normals and the entire state averaged close to 1-inch precipitation. There were 3.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending May 17.
Farmers continued tillage and spraying activities. Large increases in corn and soybeans planting were reported in the Northwest portion of the state. Corn planted progress was 57 percent, 8 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans planted progress was ahead of the five-year average while soybeans emerged was behind the five-year average due to recent cooler than normal temperatures slowing germination. Sixty-six percent of pasture and range was considered good or excellent compared to 53 percent last year.
Though February featured H2Ohio informational meetings with robust farmer attendance and venues bursting at maximum capacity, March and April brought about tremendous uncertainty with regard to the water-quality focused program as Ohio’s financial situation had to be re-evaluated due to the coronavirus. May is bringing a bit more clarity.
“Governor DeWine’s commitment to clean water in Ohio through his H2Ohio Initiative has remained a priority. Although the economic impact of COVID-19 was unforeseen and required a reevaluation of Ohio Department of Agriculture’s budget, ODA is pleased to be able to move forward with $50 million in funds — $30 million in H2Ohio funds plus $20 million primarily allotted from SB 299 — that will be available to farmers currently enrolled in H2Ohio programs,” said Dorothy Pelanda, Ohio Department of Agriculture Director. “This exceeds ODA’s expectations and positions the department to continue building valuable, conservation-based relationships with producers. Although details are yet to be worked out, we plan to move forward quickly to meet with the 2,000 farmers who have enrolled more than 1.1 million acres, in addition to working closely with the 14 SWCDs to help them achieve necessary staffing levels.”… Continue reading
Gracee Workman, like anyone in a new role in agriculture, was asked these questions repeatedly during her first few days on the job selecting breeding gilts for Heimerl Farms and PIC.
“I got a lot of questions about my family’s name,” Gracee said. “They wanted to know where I came from and about my farm background. I didn’t have that.”
She did not have a family heritage in agriculture to share with those who asked. Her story had much different beginnings. Her parents divorced when she was very young and one of Gracee’s earliest memories was sleeping on the floor under a card table in her room surrounded by dog feces in a Columbus house that was mostly otherwise empty. Her mother had been selling everything she could find — rugs, furniture, appliances — to pay for her drug addiction.… Continue reading
Crop roller “crimping” has become a common way to mechanically terminate cover crops. Crimpers are used to kill grass cover crops (cereal rye, barley, wheat, sorghum, Sudan, pearl millet), vetches (hairy and common), annual clovers (crimson and balansa), buckwheat, and multi-species cover crops. Crimpers do not work well with perennial cover crops like red clover, alfalfa, or annual ryegrass as a cover crop. The best results occur on annual cover crops when the heads or flowers are in the “boot” or head stage, near the end of the plant growth cycle.
Crimpers are 16-inch rolling steel drums with blunt steel blades either tractor pulled or front mounted. As the crimper rolls through a cover crop, the blunt blade “crimps” or injures plant stems every 7 inches.
Roller Crimper, photo courtesy of Hoorman Soil Health Services
The blades are usually curved or positioned in a “chevron” pattern at a 7-100 angle to reduce bouncing, soil movement, and to increase maximum plant stem crimping pressure.
By Chris Zoller, Ohio State University Extension Educator, ANR, Tuscarawas County and Mike Estadt, Extension Educator, ANR, Pickaway County
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and other USDA authorities to provide $16 billion in support to farmers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The program is available to all farmers, regardless of size, who suffered an eligible loss. Included in the program is $3 billion that will go toward purchases of commodities for distribution by food banks and faith-based programs through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. USDA announced $1.2 billion in contracts for that program.
CFAP will provide direct support based on actual losses where markets & supply chains have been impacted. The program is also designed to assist farmers with additional adjustment and marketing costs from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19.… Continue reading
Even with most of the country shut down, the U.S. EPA and the Supreme Court recently released an important rulemaking and a decision, respectively, regarding how parts of the Clean Water Act will be interpreted going forward. On April 21, 2020, the EPA and the Department of the Army published the Trump administration’s final rule on the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Then, on April 23, the Supreme Court released its long awaited opinion determining whether or not pollutants from a point source, which are released and then carried by groundwater into a navigable water, must be permitted under the CWA.
Trump’s new WOTUS
If you recall, we explained this final rule in January when the draft version was released. Basically, the Trump administration wanted to repeal and replace the Obama administration’s 2015 WOTUS rule because the administration felt that it was overreaching in the waters it protected.… Continue reading
Thursday mornings at my church, a class of primarily Japanese women meet to learn English. They are sponges for American culture, food and words. Classes are filled with laughter as words get mixed up, Americanisms are learned, and bonds are created. I had been planning a class about All-American foods when the pandemic hit. To get my mind off the germs, I took matters in my own hands and decided to make Tasty Tuesday All-American Favorites. Tasty Tuesday would feature a how-to video of a recipe. First up: Easy Crockpot Roast Beef (a.k.a. Pot Roast). I made cue cards of vocabulary words such as ground beef, ground sirloin, ground round and ground chuck. My husband Paul filmed as I began talking about cuts of beef using the great interactive resources on www.brobbq.com. First, the round and then “moving on to the chicken, I mean chuck!”… Continue reading
Farmers aren’t traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits, but that won’t be the case when Ohio’s newest unemployment program opens. We’ve been keeping an eye out for the opening of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which will provide unemployment benefits to persons affected by COVID-19. The program is targeted to persons who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits, such as self-employed and 1099 filers. PUA is yet another economic assistance program generated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act recently passed by Congress.
PUA will provide regular unemployment benefit amounts to qualifying individuals, plus an additional $600 per week for the period of March 29 to July 25, 2020. Qualification doesn’t include a minimum income requirement, but a person must not be eligible for Ohio’s regular unemployment benefits and must not be currently receiving vacation, sick or other paid leave.… Continue reading
By Dan Armitage, host of Buckeye Sportsman, Ohio’s longest running outdoor radio show
As I write this in mid-April I see a glimmer of light way down the gun barrel after noting that Governor DeWine this week did not extend our stay-at-home orders past the first of this month. We’ll all know more by the time you read this, but hopes are for a gradual return to a new norm in life at home, work and in the outdoors. Hopes also hang on the possibility that some of the lessons learned and practices engaged in will carry over and allow us to derive something positive from these weeks of isolation. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I hope you all are weathering these times well and enjoying what finally feels like spring. When I am done here I head to our turkey hunting grounds, where wife Maria and I planted our pop-up hunting blind back on Easter Sunday in anticipation of the opener of the gobbler season now underway.… Continue reading
Depending upon where you are in the state, it’s possible right now to be experiencing delays in getting anything done, progress in planting but delays in herbicide application, weather too dry to activate residual herbicides, and/or reduced burndown herbicide effectiveness on big weeds due to cold weather — what’s become a typical Ohio spring. Some information relative to questions that OSU Extension educators have passed on to us:
1. Residual herbicides and rainfall. Residual herbicides do vary in the relative amounts of rain needed for “activation,” or adequate movement into the soil to reach germinating seeds. Most growers are applying mixtures or premixes of several products, so we’re not sure these diiferences are as important as the overriding principle here. Residual herbicide treatments need to receive a half to one inch of rain within a week or so after tillage or an effective burndown treatment, to control weeds that can will start to emerge at that time.… Continue reading
By Rory Lewandowski, Ohio State University Extension Educator Wayne County
Like any resource, pastures respond to management. Grazing offers economic benefits as compared to producing and feeding stored forages as livestock harvest the forage directly. Capture the benefits of grazing and set yourself up for success by using the 4-Rs to manage pastures. We typically hear of the 4-Rs in relationship to water quality and fertilizer management, but pasture management has its own set of 4-Rs. Those 4-Rs stand for the grazing principles of Right beginning grazing height, Remove/Reduce seed heads, Residual leaf area and Rest period.
During the spring flush, the goal is to remove only the top couple of inches of the plant, and then quickly move on. Do not begin to graze pastures too soon. There is a positive correlation between pasture plant height, density, and livestock intake. Animal intake is directly correlated with animal performance. The goal is to make sure that grazing livestock get a full mouthful of forage with every bite they take.… Continue reading
Perhaps one of the most significant and overlooked species of farmed livestock in Ohio is the honeybee. Much like any other livestock species, honeybees require food, water, protection from the elements, parasite management and general health care. At the same time, these vital “livestock” are essential to the production of many fruit and vegetable crops in Ohio.
Ohio has a long history in the beekeeping industry. Two notable members of beekeeping history called Ohio their home. Amos Root, inventor of a beehive that allowed apiarists to harvest honey without destroying the hive, was from Medina. His business still exists there today. L.L. Langstroth, who lived in Oxford and Dayton for periods of his life, invented the Langstroth hive, a vertical hive that remains extremely popular.
Today career apiarists have been replaced by hobbyists and sideliners as the art of beekeeping has been more commercialized. Ron Zickefoose , owner of Grandpa’s Farm, a 100-colony apiary in Creston has been beekeeping for over 20 years.… Continue reading
By Chris Zoller, Ohio State University Extension Educator, ANR, Tuscarawas County
The word “resilience” is used often in the agricultural press. What does this mean? Merriam-Webster defines resilience as: The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress. An ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change.
We often see resilience used in agriculture when discussing climate and weather. There is documented evidence of weather changes that have impacted agriculture, and farmers have done their best to adapt to these changes. Examples include building soil health, managed grazing, the use of cover crops, water management strategies, technology adoption, and more.
Resilience can also be used when discussing the economics of agriculture and the resulting effects. It is no surprise to anyone in agriculture that people are strained, are experiencing stress, and are trying to adjust to new and different ways of operating.… Continue reading
Most of the wheat in the northern half of the state is still between Feekes growth stage 8 (early flag leaf emergence) and 9 (full flag leaf emergence), but in the southern half of the state, wheat is much further along. Malting barley is even further along than wheat, and will soon be approaching the heading growth stage. Understandably, given the wet weather we have had so far this season, folks are asking questions about head scab and vomitoxin. Based on some of the questions I have been asked over the years, here are a few things to remember and consider as you make your head scab management decision.
Q: What should I apply for head scab and vomitoxin control?
A: Prosaro, Caramba, or Miravis Ace. In my experience, they are just as effective when applied at the correct growth stage.
Q: What is the correct growth stage for applying a fungicide to control vomitoxin and head scab?… Continue reading
Corteva Agriscience announced the launch of a brand-new seed brand for the U.S.
Brevant seeds is a bold, high-performance corn and soybean brand that is exclusive to retail in the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt. Brevant will replace Mycogen Seeds as the primary retail seed brand from Corteva.
“To retailers and their customers, Brevant brings a completely new and unique opportunity. It’s people and it’s proven products from an organization that truly cares about your individual success,” said Jason Dodd, general manager for Brevant. “Having access to this germplasm pool for retail has never been possible broadly in the past. The genetic diversity that is now available is a great new advantage.”
Brevant will offer more than 200 corn hybrids and soybean varieties with the latest trait technology solutions.
“Brevant is rooted in more than a century of U.S. ag experience, science and support, and we’ve built Brevant for farmers who prefer the service and local expertise the retailer brings to their farm,” said Mike Lozier, marketing leader for Brevant.… Continue reading
By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Ohio Field Leader: a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and soybean checkoff
Sixteen years ago, this month, when Reid Rice was walking across the stage as a graduate from high school in Wauseon, Ohio, he never would have guessed just a decade later, he would be a research scientist and plant breeder for Corteva Agriscience at a location, just a few miles south of their family farm. For the past six years, Rice has been leading soybean research for Corteva (formerly DuPont Pioneer) at their research center just north of Napoleon, Ohio.
“The breeding objective at the Napoleon research center is focused on soybeans with a relative maturity of 2.6 to 3.9 for the target production environment (TPE) found in Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and Northeast Indiana,” Rice said. “We have done a lot of work in the past on agronomic traits, herbicide resistance, and high oils like the Plenish soybeans.”
This week on the Pioneer Field Report, we are joined by Kyle Polling, Field Agronomist with Pioneer. We discuss the cooler temperatures, the warmer weather in the forecast, scouting crops, and pre-emergence herbicides.… Continue reading
Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal 
