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By Jon Scheve, Superior Feed Ingredients, LLC 

Thursday’s USDA report indicated that last summer’s corn objective yield models might have been more accurate than the subjective based weekly reports after all. This could suggest the current average corn yield, estimated to be nearly 175, may increase again in the January report, which would not be bullish news for corn. 

For beans, the USDA only increased the yield slightly and demand remained unchanged. If the estimated export numbers can be attainted, the bean supply will be tight and supportive of prices.

Moving forward both the corn and bean markets will be watching Brazil’s weather the next several months as it is the critical window for crop development. So far, the weather has not been ideal there, but it is still early and growing areas are spread out over a larger area than in the U.S. 

Market Action – Capturing carry in the soybean market

Ten years ago, I built grain bins to store my beans during harvest.… 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 Brent Sohngen, a professor of environmental and resource economics in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at The Ohio State University. They discuss energy prices for gas and diesel, especially as prices trend lower. With the decrease in prices, Brent talks about what this means for different sectors of agriculture. 

 More in this week’s podcast:   

• Scott Raber, Bane-Welker Equipment: Dale and Scott talk about expansions Bane-Welker Equipment is currently undergoing.
• Bret Davis, Delaware County Farmer: Brett chats with Dale about on-farm biodiesel use. 
• Peter Gehres, Jeff Martin Auctioneers: Peter stops in to talk with Matt about recent equipment prices and the outlook of it. 
• Jeff Wolfe, Director for Ohio Poultry Breeders Association: Matt visits Jeff at the Ohio National Poultry show in Columbus, OH. 

Favorable weather supported substantial row crop harvest progress last week, according to Ben Torrance, State Statistician, USDA NASS, Ohio Field Office. Topsoil moisture conditions were rated 1 percent very short, 22 percent short, 73 percent adequate, and 4 percent surplus. Statewide, the average temperature for the week ending on November 12 was 48.7 degrees, 5.8 degrees above normal. Weather stations recorded an average of 0.10 inches of precipitation, 0.68 inches below average. There were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 12.

Last week’s field activities included fertilizer application, lime spreading, and fall tillage. Farmers reported that high corn moisture content continued to slow corn harvest progress in western counties. Sixty-eight percent of corn was harvested and the moisture content of corn grain at harvest was 20 percent. Ninety-five percent of soybeans were harvested and the moisture content of soybeans at harvest was 13 percent. Winter wheat was 90 percent emerged.… Continue reading

Ohio Farm Bureau and Nationwide have created an Ag Intelligence Service report to help guide your technology investment decision-making process. It is designed to help position farm businesses to leverage technology trends on their operations by focusing on six important areas to consider before pulling the trigger on any new technology.

“Adopting New Ag Technologies: Tips to Minimize Your Risks,” available exclusively for Ohio Farm Bureau members, will also help farmers understand and implement technology and help evaluate the risks associated with it.

“Technology is changing how farmers get the job done, bringing more productivity and efficiency,” said Adam Sharp, executive vice president of Ohio Farm Bureau. “These advances and those on the horizon have farmers dreaming about what’s next, and this report will help our members better make decisions to turn those dreams into reality.”

The report identifies common pitfalls when adopting new technology and shares tactics to help avoid them.… Continue reading

By Doug Tenney, Leist Mercantile

Having lost her father in July of 2022, Cindy chose to invite her dad’s lifelong best friend and his wife to our home for lunch. John is 93 years old and has an incredible memory. Growing up on a small dairy farm in Hocking County with no electricity or running water instilled in him a lifelong work ethic. John and Cindy’s father became telegraphers with the C&O Railroad, actually working at the Canal Winchester Depot with my grandfather. Both friends retired from the Chessie System as dispatchers. John recalled the excitement of having a neighbor who owned the first horse-drawn crop harvester in the area, while I shared stories about riding in the combines of today. What an interesting personal history lesson as our deep respect for the legacy of the industry grows even deeper.

The Oct. 22 Weekly Crop Progress Report detailed the U.S. corn harvest was 59% complete.… Continue reading

By Vinayak Shedekar, The Ohio State University

If you practice controlled drainage during the growing season, do you think that controlled drainage helped your crop yields in 2023? It may be too early to answer this question, as many of you are still waiting to finish harvest. But if you are wondering about the role that controlled drainage played this year, I will give you a few tips on how to answer this question.

Monthly rainfall during the 2023 growing season

The early season drought affected crops across most of the state. If you can obtain monthly rainfall totals from an on-site rain gauge or a nearby weather station, look at the rainfall totals from April through September and compare them with average crop water use. The OSU weather station network website (weather.cfaes.osu.edu) provides weather data and graphs that can be helpful. For example, the Northwest branch research station in Wood County recorded lower than average rainfall during April, May and June, and slightly above average rainfall in July and August.… Continue reading

We continue our series highlighting the outstanding Ohio Ag Net radio affiliates carrying the best in Ohio ag news.

We say thank you to WMJK FM serving Sandusky and surrounding counties. Tune in to 100.9 FM to hear the Ohio Ag Net Monday-Friday at 6:00 a.m., noon, 2:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.

The best in Ohio ag news is easy to find! If your current station doesn’t feature the voice of Ohio Ag—turn the dial! Click here to view the complete affiliate listing, including air times.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

The equipment market continues to evolve through unprecedented prices and demand.

“Evolving is exactly the right word — I think we’re still continuing to see strong prices for agricultural and construction equipment. We are seeing a little bit of softening in some of the compact construction equipment, but the demand still is there. I think the big issue that many folks are looking at now is with the interest rates creeping up. As they go higher, how is that going to continue to affect the price and the availability of new equipment? Used equipment continues to be a great option for many folks too,” said Peter Gehres, chief operating officers for Jeff Martin Auctioneers, Inc. “The one area where we are seeing a lot of volatility is semi-trucks, your truck tractors or trailers, over the road kind of equipment. There has been a lot of volatility up and down over the last year and we’re continuing to see that as the overall economy begins to change.… Continue reading

By Matt Hutcheson, CCA, Soybean Lead/Field Agronomist, Seed Consultants, Inc. and The SCN Coalition

As we begin to make plans for the 2024 growing season, growers will determine what crops to plant and plan crop rotation across their acres. When considering crop rotations and yields, many focus on continuous corn and the yield penalties associated with that practice. However, there is one possibly overlooked benefit of crop rotation: avoiding a soybean yield penalty.

In this article, the University of Kentucky’s John Grove discusses soybean yields for first year and second year soybeans from 2009 to 2016. Grove’s research data shows an average yield penalty of 2.3 bu/ac across that 7 year period, with some years being showing yield losses greater than 10 bu/ac. In another article from No-Till Farmer, Greg Roth shows data that predicts a 4 to 6 bu/ac yield penalty for second year soybeans.

Yield loses from continuous soybeans (and other continuous crops) are usually associated with increased disease presence as well as pests.… Continue reading

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By Matt Reese

The Ohio National poultry show is coming this weekend to the Ohio Expo Center in the Voinovich and O’Neill buildings in Columbus. This year of the show commemorates the 150th anniversary of the American Poultry Association and there are well over 10,000 birds entered into what is annually among the largest poultry shows in the country.

“These are fancy breeding birds — you’ll be able to see any color, any size of bird there this year. I think that the biggest thing that we hear all the time is that most people never knew there were this many different chickens. At the Ohio National you’ll see just about anything — different colors, different sizes and different combs on their head. People just don’t believe there are that many chicken varieties out there,” said Jeff Wolfe, a director for the Ohio Poultry Breeders Association. “And this is the largest youth show for breeding poultry there is in the United States.… Continue reading

By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and Soybean Check-off

On Sunday, Oct. 22, 360 members of the UNIFOR union went on strike at the thirteen Canadian locks along the St. Lawrence Seaway rendering the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway closed for international exports and imports. UNIFOR is Canada’s largest private sector union. 

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and UNIFOR announced it reached a tentative agreement on Sunday, Oct. 29, ending a week-long strike and reopening the St. Lawrence Seaway for imports and exports. Annually 760,000 metric tons of soybeans are exported via the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway.

“We are pleased the strike was short-lived. Supply chains are a two-way street. Those who provide and operate supply chain options — like the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway — request and expect predictability and reliability from shippers regarding the expected usage of the supply chain option,” said Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition.… Continue reading

By Dan Armitage, Buckeye Sportsman

It’s no news to me that Ohio’s oak trees are offering an abundance of acorns this season. The red oaks that tower over our small, metal-roofed cabin have been letting us know since September by shedding their fruit, which sounds like a rifle shot when a premium acorn hits the “tin” roof. Official numbers back-up our own findings: the 2023 survey of acorn abundance on select Ohio wildlife areas shows an average of 40% of white oaks and 54% of red oaks bore fruit, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODOW). The long-term average for white oak production is 37%, and 54% for red oaks.

“The thousands of acorns a mature Ohio oak tree drops on the forest floor will feed about 90 wildlife species,” said Kendra Wecker, ODNR Division of Wildlife Chief. “Deer, turkeys, squirrels, ruffed grouse, blue jays, raccoons, woodpeckers, foxes, and more seek out and eat acorns throughout the fall and winter.”… Continue reading

By Mitch Greve, Channel technical agronomist — Northwest Ohio

Producers in Ohio experienced a unique set of challenges in 2023 including delayed planting, poor emergence, drought and water stress, disease, stalk rots, and ear molds to name a few. This variability can teach farmers lessons around how to manage their crops in future years.

Planting conditions for much of the state were favorable early and not-so favorable the deeper into May that we got. Planting for success starts with good uniform soil moisture and temperature, seed-to-soil contact, and accurate delivery of seed from the planter to the soil. Most growers across the state did not have all three critical components, as weather was less than favorable in the latter half of May with drier soil conditions and delayed planting from early May rainstorms. All this variability can contribute to varying yield ranges that farmers may experience this fall.

Disease was minimal through the midway point of the season, but when we finally started receiving rainfall in August, it set us up to have a conducive environment.… Continue reading

By Doug Tenney, Leist Mercantile

US highlights – Corn 2023 production 15.234 billion bushels, last month 15.064 billion bushels, yield 174.9 bpa, last month 173.0 bpa. Soybean 2023 production 4.129 billion bushels, last month 4.104 billion bushels, yield 49.9 bpa, last month 49.6. 

Additional US highlights – US corn exports for 2023-2024 were actually up 50 million bushels, corn for ethanol was unchanged. US soybean exports for 2023-2024 were unchanged and crush was unchanged.     

Following the noon USDA report release, corn was down 8 cents, soybeans down 23 cents, and wheat down 15 cents. Moments before the report was released, corn was down 5 cents, soybeans down 11 cents, and wheat down 14 cents.

US 2023-2024 ending stocks: corn 2.156 billion bushels, last month 2.111 billion bushels; soybeans 245 million bushels, last month 220 million bushels; and wheat 684 million bushels, last month 670 million bushels.

Trader estimates for 2023-2024 US ending stocks: corn 2.129 billion bushels; soybeans 221 million bushels; and wheat 669 million bushels.… Continue reading

Managing manure application when STP >50

By Greg LaBarge

I often get questions about managing manure applications in fields where Soil Test P (STP) is above the maintenance limit of 50 parts per million (ppm) in the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybean, Wheat, and Alfalfa, Bulletin 974. Be aware that the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations provide recommendations for the economical use of purchased fertilizer. The 50 ppm maintenance limit is the STP level where “no agronomic response, either higher yield or benefit of a higher STP, results from added fertilizer.” The Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations only address crop agronomic needs, not P’s environmental impact. If you need to apply manure to a field with STP greater than 50 PPM, how can it be done to limit field P loss?

The publication Assessing Nutrient Loss Risk in Ohio, NRCS, 2020 provides environmental P loss criteria based on the STP in a field.… Continue reading