Shorter days, cooler temperatures and sweet apple cider usher in the fall season, and with it Log Cabin Days at Hochstetler Log Homes in Loudonville, at 552 State Route 95, Loudonville, OH 44842. Join in the family friendly fun Friday, Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 17. One of the highlights of the event will be the log home tour, where visitors are able to go through up to 8 log homes and discover the casual, relaxing lifestyle that characterizes log home living. This self-guided tour is available for a small donation which supports the American Cancer Society.
The two-day family oriented event has something for everyone and will also include:
Demonstrations of lumberjack skills, ax throwing, wood chopping and cross cut sawing
19th century log home related trades such as hand hewing, wood carving, furniture making, gun building, spinning and rug braiding
Log home building.
Many activities will encourage audience participation as well as offer a lineup of excellent seminar speakers.… Continue reading
The 10th stop of the North Leg of the Ohio Crop Tour, Sponsored by Ohio Field Leader, A project of the Ohio Soybean Council and Soybean Checkoff was in Delaware County.
Corn
This was a great high population stand of corn at 34,000 plants per acre. The stand was uniform, but there was variability in the ear size.
There was little to no insect or disease pressure.
It had an estimated yield of 207 bushels per acre.
Soybeans
The soybeans we evaluated were a 3.1 bean. They were planted on May 25th in 15 inch rows.
There was some inconsistency in height and holes in some spots as well as pale in color due to excess water.
The canopy was 36″ with moderately spaced nodes.
There were mild symptoms of septoria and 5% defoliation from bean leaf beetle.
The beans were at R4 with a population of 126,000.
The average pod count was 34 with 2 -3 beans per pod and 16 nodes per plant.… Continue reading
Animals, especially at night, rely on their noses to lead them to a broad range of food sources. Hunters take advantage of this concept to attract deer and elk that are searching for their next dinner.
Famous University of Sydney ecologist Catherine Price, PhD, and her colleagues have published a study that details how animals use their sense of smell to find food. She also researched how animal owners may be able to use odors to lead astray fox, coyotes, and other predators, to prevent them from killing their livestock and pets.
This study really hits close to home for me. A raccoon got into the chicken coop my late wife Kristen maintained. Her chickens were all wiped out in one night.
The study also brings back memories of my parents, who every year planted a half-row each of marigolds and chrysanthemums in their large garden. These flowers weren’t for decoration.… Continue reading
Following the noon report release, corn was down 28 cents, soybeans down 38 cents, and wheat 13 cents. Prior to the report, corn was down 23 cents, soybeans down 31 cents, and wheat down 12 cents.
Broken record….again. The theme two weeks ago was inflation and recession concerns with consecutive days of dime plus losses for corn, soybeans, and wheat. The U.S. jobs report last week provided only a short term reprieve from the negative market tone. U.S. job growth was stronger than expected and moved the market talk away from inflation and recession.
Today those two items are once again dominating news headlines. Grains are all lower this morning gaining additional strength with losses getting bigger at the 9:30 am restart for the grains.
The U.S. Midwest 2-week forecasts are warm and dry. Monday’s noon weather forecasts provided more rain than earlier expected. Those forecasts provided additional resistance for grain prices, moving them away from the highs of the day established during the night session. … Continue reading
We are getting things wrapped up with planting. We managed to get all of the corn in we were planning on planting. We were able to get the corn spotted in that we needed to get done, though it was probably in vain because we got a rain on June 6 that turned the ground to cement. A lot of our beans have spots in them too because of that rain. For the most part, we are alright where we are at, but it wasn’t the best situation this spring. We are still looking at replanting a couple places in the beans. We finished planting beans on June 20 and we replanted up to 2 days ago and we still may still touch up a couple of places. We replanted about 15 acres of corn. One field in particular, we thought about ripping up, but it turned out to be a really nice stand.… Continue reading
The 2022 date for the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) tenth annual Replacement Female Sale will be Friday evening, November 25. The sale will be held at the Muskingum Livestock Auction Co. in Zanesville, Ohio and will begin at 6:00 p.m.
The tenth edition of OCA Replacement Female Sale will provide an opportunity for both buyers and sellers to meet the need for quality replacements in the state. Consignments may include cow-calf pairs, bred cows and bred heifers. Females must be under the age of five as of January 1, 2023 and may be of registered or commercial background. Bred females must be bred to a bull with known EPD’s and calves at side of cows must be sired by a bull with known EPD’s. Pregnancy status must be verified by an accredited veterinarian through traditional palpation, ultrasound or by blood testing through a professional laboratory. Analysis must be performed within 60 days of sale.… Continue reading
As the national price of diesel fuel averages around $5.40 per gallon, many farmers are considering no-tilling both soybeans and corn for the first time. Also, due to wet weather and a late planting window, getting crop seed in the ground becomes even more important. Here are a few tips that may help improve your first year no-till crop yields.
First, scout your fields. Weeds like purple dead nettle, henbit, dandelion, chickweed, yellow rocket, ragweed and marestail can be problems and require a good burndown herbicide.
Marestail
Most farmers will use glyphosate (Roundup®)but remember that as a chelator, glyphosate ties up many micronutrients, especially iron, manganese, zinc, and copper, so minimize it use.
Second, check for slugs and other pests, especially in weedy fields. Ferroyx® is a new slug bait that has a 40-day residual. The pellets are very small and the slugs ingest it.
I farm in eastern Ohio with my father. I am the fourth generation of the farm on a dairy and grain operation. We rotate corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay. We are milking about 65 cows and we stay pretty busy with that. We raise corn silage and mainly alfalfa hay with a little bit of sorghum-sudan and ryelage.
The milk prices are definitely climbing. We like this cooler weather for the cows as long as we don’t get too much temperature fluctuation. The manure has been tricky. With the weather we have had we have not been able to get as much spread on some ground as we would like to because field conditions have not permitted. We are also trucking it farther to try and cut down on fertilizer costs at different locations. These prices make you look at things a little closer.
The majority of our ground is rolling hills and we have a lot of strips.… Continue reading
National FFA week is a busy week for every FFA chapter around the country. It is meant to be a week of celebrating the great and national organization that is the FFA. Northwestern FFA took time to celebrate the hard working members in several ways. To kick off the week, the school had spirit days. Our theme days were, Tuesday American day, Wednesday Groutfit day, Thursday Animal day, and Friday Farmer day. Each spirit day was in correlation to our Officer Opening Ceremonies. During the week members wrote thank you cards to their supporters and made tie blankets to donate to the Pregnancy Care Center in Wooster, Salvation Army, and a local Veterans home. The chapter also held an assembly on Tuesday, with middle school students with fun activities to promote agriculture and FFA. On Wednesday, we held our first annual supporter luncheon. Officers sent out invitations to local supporters and invited them to a “Supporter Luncheon” held in the Ag Shop.… Continue reading
No masks required! And the discounted $100 pre-registration is good through March 1 at: ctc.osu.edu.
The annual Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference will be held March 8-9 at the McIntosh Center of Ohio Northern University, 525 S. Main St., in Ada. CTC is presented by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and other supporters.
Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) continuing education credits are available, with an emphasis on soil and water management, crop management and nutrient management. Plenty of Certified Livestock Manager (CLM) credits are also available.
The event focuses on providing information to farmers on promoting and maintaining soil health, said Randall Reeder, a retired Ohio State University Extension agricultural engineer.
From offering a workshop on “Water and Drainage Laws-What is new in Ohio,” and a discussion on “Corn Management Today, Does Chasing the Last Bushel Pay,” the two-day event is designed to provide opportunities “for farmers and crop consultants to learn about the latest technology and practices for conserving soil and improving water quality and how that can boost their financial bottom line while conserving their soils,” Reeder said.… Continue reading
By Randall Reeder, Ohio State University Extension Agricultural Engineer (retired)
“Glover, they’re going to fire you.”
The first time Glover Triplett took his wife to see the new no-till research plots in 1962, the corn was about a foot tall, and the ground was littered with dead weeds and corn stalks from the previous year. The plot looked awful compared to a clean tilled field. She was scared he would lose his first faculty position at OSU-OARDC in Wooster.
Well, he was not fired, and neither was his co-researcher, Dave Van Doren. But they did attract interesting questions about their innovative research, including, “How can you measure erosion if you don’t have any runoff?”
Triplett and Van Doren established identical plots in 1963 at Hoytville (Wood County) and South Charleston (Clark County). These plots at OSU-OARDC research stations continue to give valuable results today. No-till was known as “farming ugly” in the early days by farmers accustomed to perfectly clean fields, with not a speck of crop residue. Since these earliest experiments, Ohio has played a unique and important role in the world of no-till. … Continue reading
By Daniele Siqueira, AgRural Commodities Agrícolas
Imagine having your soybean crop trying to bloom and fill pods under 100 to 110 degrees every day for two weeks, after receiving below-normal rains for nearly three months and already having lost most of your corn crop, which is planted earlier than soybeans. That has been the reality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state and number-three soybean producer.
In the first days of January, AgRural cut its production estimate for the 2021-22 Brazilian soybean crop to 133.4 million metric tons, 12 million down from the potential production forecasted in early November and about 4 million metric tons smaller than the record crop harvested in 2020-21. Even before the failure in Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná (our number-two soybean producing state) also lost a significant part of its crop due to hot dry conditions in November and December, and further damage occurred in January. … Continue reading
Temperatures across Ohio have been running 2-6°F above average (1991-2010) during the month of December, almost guaranteeing another top 10 warmest year on record for the Buckeye State (1895-present). Daily average soil temperatures remain above freezing, with upper 30s to low 40s across the north and low to mid 40s across central and southern counties.
Precipitation, mainly in the form of rain, has been plentiful as well with a large portion of the state picking up 2-4 inches of precipitation since Dec. 1. Pockets of heavier precipitation can be found across portions of southwest, north central, and southern Ohio. Snowfall has been very light, even across the snowbelt areas of the northeast, with less than 1 inch statewide.
Forecast
High pressure will remain anchored across the Ohio Valley for the next couple of days, with cool daytime highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s.… Continue reading
Seed Genetics Direct, the largest Ohio-based independent seed company, as well as the fastest-growing in the Eastern Corn Belt, will host its Herbicide and Seed Days on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Dec. 28 event will be held in Williamsburg, Ind. at 7263 North U.S. Highway 35. The Dec. 30 event will be held at the SGD main offices in Jeffersonville, 9983 Jeffersonville-West Lancaster Road.
Free and open to all farmers, Herbicide and Seed Days provide the opportunity for farmers to talk with a seedsman about their needs while taking advantage of early-order and early-pay discounts.
“It’s a rapidly-changing and unpredictable herbicide market, but we are working hard to secure good positioning on products our customers will need this spring,” said Todd Jeffries, SGD vice president. “The best advice right now is to order and pay as soon as possible in order to get the best product pricing and availability.”… Continue reading
Four individuals who have made significant contributions to agriculture and Farm Bureau were honored by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Dec. 9 in Columbus at the 103rd annual meeting of Ohio Farm Bureau.
The 2021 Distinguished Service Award recipients are Dr. Tony Forshey of Licking County, Belinda Jones of Franklin County, Randy Leis of Montgomery County and Keith Stimpert of Franklin County. Each honoree was recognized for lifetime achievements that benefited Ohio’s farming community.
Dr. Tony Forshey
Throughout his 27 years as a practicing veterinarian, Tony Forshey made invaluable contributions to the betterment of the swine industry. He focused on herd health and disease prevention, rather than simply treating sick animals. He was so well respected in his profession that he was named Ohio’s state veterinarian and chief of the Division of Animal Health for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Through his leadership in that position, Forshey, in partnership with Ohio Farm Bureau, helped create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board and was a charter member.… Continue reading
Move over pumpkin spice latte, it is egg nog time! Hallmark Christmas movies have arrived, so it is time for a new drink of the season. Egg nog is it!
Breaking news on the latte scene is that egg nog Latte is being replaced on menus across the country with some kind of sugar cookie almond milk (nut fluid) concoction. The horror of it all! If egg nog latte is one of your favorites, have no fear, look below for a recipe you can make. It embraces authentic dairy and egg products to create your own egg nog coffee beverage at home. Destined to be spectacular this holiday season!
Americans are passionate about their egg nog. There appears to be no middle ground; you either stalk the dairy case until it arrives on the shelf or you avoid it like COVID. The Detwiler house was split with Luke drinking egg nog by the carton and Jake ecstatic not to get even a drop.… Continue reading
Ohio corn and soybean harvests crawled along last week and were hampered by cold, wet soil that wouldn’t support harvest equipment, according to Cheryl Turner, State Statistician, USDA NASS, Ohio Field Office. The average temperature for the week was 34.2 degrees Fahrenheit, 4.9 degrees below normal. The statewide average precipitation was 0.42 inches, 0.44 inches below normal. There were 3.6 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending November 28.
Ohio farmers were wrapping up harvest season. Some farmers completed harvest while others still had some corn and soybeans needing to be harvested. Corn and soybean harvest were both behind last year and the 5-year average.
Reports will be issued monthly during the winter season and will be available at www.nass.usda.gov.
November 23, 2021 -- Remaining cold today, but not quite as cold as yesterday. Winds will start to move to the south this afternoon and that will set us up for a warmer Wednesday. Temps will actually be above normal tomorrow. We should see full sunshine today and start with full sun tomorrow, but clouds increase late tomorrow and tomorrow night...
November 15, 2021 -- Our next front will be tracking across MI and IN Wednesday, but likely will not put any moisture into Ohio until late Wednesday afternoon when showers move into NW parts of the state...
November 12, 2021 -- Our cold front is through the state this morning, and we should put together a mostly rain free day. In this dry slot, we see a mix of clouds and sun...