October is a good month for livestock producers to look at pastures to see what’s there and what might need a boost to help improve grazing yield and quality for next year, a Purdue Extension forage specialist said.

Looking at pastures early gives producers time to plan for, and implement, stand improvement and weed control.

“Early fall is a wonderful time to assess perennial pastures and hay fields, because the season is about over and there are still actively growing plants,” Keith Johnson said. “It also gives us enough time to get some matters accomplished, such as making plans for soil testing and application of fertilizers or limestone.”

A soil test, which gives pH and nutrient information, should be the first step. If farmers have questions about proper soil sampling procedures, they can contact a local Purdue Extension agricultural and natural resources educator or an agribusiness consultant who specializes in soil fertility.… Continue reading

There is something fishy about a guy who doesn’t golf or watch television, at least in the case of Doug Blackburn. With those two traditional staples of retirement time use not an option, Doug set to work a few years ago to find a way to pass the time as he approached his departure from the work force.

He started looking into agricultural options that would be a fit on his small Union County farm. Through the years he had cattle, sheep and even emus, but he was looking for something different in his retired years.

He initially considered hydroponic plant production, but did not like the idea of bringing in nutrients all the time to meet the plants’ needs. He kept investigating and found a modern take on an ancient practice that interested him — aquaponics.

“I saw a YouTube video on it and I really liked the idea,” Doug said.… Continue reading

The heavy rains around much of Ohio this past weekend has certainly put a screeching halt to what was a very nice start to the 2013 harvest season. Account Manager Bradley Ott tells Ty Higgins what kind of yields he’s been hearing early on and why this break in the action is a good time to double check safety protocols in this week’s DuPont Pioneer Field Report.… Continue reading

In recent years, rye (Secale cereale L.), also known as cereal rye or winter rye, has been planted by producers as an entry level or “user friendly” cover crop. As a cover crop, it is a great nutrient recycler, soil builder, topsoil loosener, and erosion preventer. For dairy and beef producers, rye can also be considered for additional grazing or forage value. Based on surveys from several Northwest Ohio producers who have used rye as a spring feed source, it can provide additional feed tonnage on idle acres in a corn-soybeans rotation and with minimal effort or expense.

According to the Ohio Agronomy Guide, rye is most winter hardy and earliest maturing cereal grain grown in Ohio. While spring rye-lage will not have the same feed value as corn silage, producers can evaluate its cost per pound of gain to see if it may fit in their total mixed ration (TMR) feeding systems.… Continue reading

As farmer John Davis worked a 150-acre Union County field in late September, many would have thought he was running soybeans in a hail storm. The clanging on the windshield of his Case IH combine may have sounded like ice, but it was projectile soybeans that were being flung at the cab instead of being gobbled up by the red harvester. The reason for flying soybeans and slower progress in the field is a problem that some would call an epidemic for Ohio soybean farmers this year — tough stems.

“The soybeans themselves are plenty dry, but the stems are tougher than usual,” Davis said. “That has created some havoc as we have had to run a bit slower in this field and have been plugged up a time or two.”

Some farmers will attribute the ropier stems this season to fungicide and some farmers believe certain varieties are the culprit, but it may just be the type of growing conditions this year’s soybeans have had.… Continue reading

The National Corn Growers Association filed a notice to appeal the Sept. 13 ruling upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load for the Chesapeake Bay.

“NCGA feels it is in the best interest of farmers to appeal the district court’s decision which upheld the TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay. Our organization understands and supports the need to protect water quality but we don’t support a wrongfully decided case when it has a profoundly negative impact on agricultural production and innovation,” said Martin Barbre, NCGA president. “We continue to believe the policies and science behind Chesapeake Bay TMDL are wrong and that it goes beyond the scope of Clean Water Act authority. We hope the Third Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider these arguments and ultimately provide state and local jurisdiction more flexibility to work with agriculture in meeting water quality goals.”… Continue reading

A common joke among attorneys is that the answer to every legal question is “maybe,” and that answer is appropriate when asking whether farms will be exempted from complying with the Oil Spill Prevention, Containment and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule.

May 10, 2013 was the compliance deadline for the EPA rule requiring SPCC plans for farms storing above a threshold amount of oil.  But several legislators have spoken out against the regulation and intend to exempt most farms from its requirements.   As we reported in an earlier post, legislators successfully delayed EPA’s ability to enforce the SPCC rule against farms until September 23, 2013, and also drafted the legislation to exempt many farms from the SPCC rule.  But while the Senate and House have each passed proposals with SPCC exemption language, they’ve used two different bills to do so–the Senate’s Water Resources Development Act and the House’s Farm Bill.  Neither bill has passed both chambers and the SPCC exemption remains in limbo today, the date after which the EPA may begin enforcing the rule.… Continue reading

On September 19th, Hiland FFA members competed in the District 8 Urban Soils judging contest. Members who participated in this was Grant Mast, Javan Scheufler, Preston Shamp, Lee Shetler, and Dillion Zimmerly. Contest was held in Guernsey County. The contest is designed for students to evaluate the land and soil to see if the limitations qualify for urban use, such as home sites, septic systems, roads, and recreational purposes. During the contest students judged 3 soil pits, took a knowledge base test on urban soils, and a soil survey book test. The knowledge based test is to see how much the students know about the different slopes, textures, and depth of the soils. The survey book test asked different questions about the depth of the soil, type, texture and layers of the soils. Placing’s are as follows: Grant 5th, Javan 24th, Preston 40th, Lee 22nd, and Dillion 51st. They placed 5th as a team overall and will be competing in the state contest on October 12th.… Continue reading

The Big Walnut DACC Soils team was named the first place team in the Rural Land Judging Event held on September 20th, 2013. This event was hosted by the Delaware County and Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation Districts in order to help the local Agricultural Education Programs experience what they have learned in the classroom.

The top four individuals from each chapter that participated got to move onto the District Soils Competition to be held in London, Ohio on September 24th, 2013.

In the Rural Land Judging Event students are asked to judge a marked area for the Land Description, Land Capability, Land Use and the Recommended Conservation Practices. Students get to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Team’s included Big Walnut, Cardington, Northmore, Highland and Mt. Gilead FFA Chapters. Members of the Big Walnut team included Emily Boyd, Ali Carter, Brady Daniels, Lane Davis, Harrison George, Garrett Golihugh, Courtney Holland, Jacob Howard, Justin MacKay, Caleb Odell, Zach Pruyn, Zane Tuttle, and Hailey Wauben.… Continue reading

Off a country road, down a long gravel lane, visitors follow the signs adorned with apples and arrows that point the way to the Apple Shed. Some come looking for the taste of fall that lies in the sweet crunchy bite of a fresh picked apple they sought out themselves. Others are seeking out a mouth-watering slice of pie with a flaky crust that is baked up in 26 different flavors.

So what came first, the fruit or the pie? At Stevens Bakery and Orchard in Springfield it was actually the desire to be able to work from home. Sharon Stevens and her husband, Chris, had been tossing around ideas for a home-based business for some time when one of Sharon’s pies won a blue ribbon at the county fair, inspiring them to start taking orders and selling pies from their home.

In the early stages, business came mostly from word of mouth with the Stevens’ working out of their kitchen baking pies a few at a time.… Continue reading

By Kim Lemmon, Ohio’s Country Journal

Most of us have had a friend or family member who has been touched by cancer, and in particular, breast cancer. Each October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are all given an opportunity to help do our part in finding a cure for breast cancer.

During the past couple of years, The National Percheron Association and the World Percheron Congress have teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure by selling “Drive for the Cure” bracelets to raise money to fight breast cancer. The pink bracelets include artwork of a Percheron horse and the words “Drive for the Cure.”

This fund raising effort will conclude in October 2014 on the final day of the 2014 World Percheron Congress during the Drive For Cure Charity Cart Class. All ages of drivers and sexes of horses will compete in the class. The only requirement is that the drivers wear pink.… Continue reading

Based on a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and comments made during a news conference it appears Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid believes the farm bill could be included in a larger budget package. American Farm Bureau Federation Senior Director of Congressional Relations Mary Kay Thatcher was given hope by statements Reid made. She explains it appears likely the farm bill may not be able to pass as a stand-alone bill, so the belief that a farm bill can pass by adding it to other bills is good news. The sooner we can pass the farm bill, Thatcher said, the better.

It appears Republicans still want a regular conference and a stand-alone conference report to be considered on the House and Senate floors. What ultimately happens could greatly depend on who Boehner appoints as his farm bill conferees. While he’s expected to appoint conferees shortly, it still isn’t clear if he will follow tradition and name members of the House Agriculture Committee.… Continue reading

On Sept. 19 of 2013 some members of the Madison Plains FFA chapter visited The Farm Science Review. While there, students saw different companies and learned what agriculture was all about. There were many different activities and contests for members to participate in while they were there. Rachel Garrison said, “LG Seed Company allowed us to enter a contest to win a grant for our FFA.”  Students also enjoyed watching the field demonstrations where they learned about new technology they would like to apply to their 120 acre school farm.

Members delivered centerpieces donated from the VP lunch that was held at the FSR to their local nursing home, The Madison House.  Kayle Mast even got to visit her grandma who lives there.  She said, “She was so happy, and she loved them.” Many members said they didn’t realize how much it meant to them to be surprised with flowers.

This was a great experience for a lot of the FFA members.… Continue reading

An unsettling trade barrier is brewing in Central America, according to the U.S. Grains Council. On Sept. 27, 2013, the Panamanian government published the regulations governing quota administration for three products (powdered milk, rice and corn) governed by the auction system as part of the Panama-U.S. Trade Promotion Agreement. Unfortunately, the Panamanian government decided to exploit a loophole in the agreement and closed the imports of U.S. corn for three and a half months (January through April 15, 2014) — a move that is counter to the spirit of the free trade agreement (FTA).

While the FTA outlines dispute settlement procedures, everyone is hopeful to find resolution to the issue informally. Unfortunately, due to government furloughs, key employees of the U.S. Trade Representative and Foreign Agricultural Service-Panama are unable to do their job in keeping markets open for U.S. products.

Panama produces approximately 85,000 metric tons (3.3 million bushels) of corn annually with annual imports totaling more than 350,000 tons (13.8 million bushels).… Continue reading

The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation (OSCF) recently received a $30,000 grant from the DuPont Pioneer Giving Program to host the Ag Biotechnology Academy. This program introduced 41 science teachers to the content and skills necessary for teaching biotechnology and other related agriculture topics.

“The goals of the Ag Biotechnology Academy run parallel with the DuPont Pioneer Giving Program. A main focus is to support science education; partnering to provide training for high school science educators reaches the source of tomorrow’s bright science and agriculture minds,” said Rebekah Peck, communications manager at DuPont Pioneer.

While attending the two-day conference, teachers participated in several activities including an interactive panel led by farmer and industry leaders who discussed their personal experiences with biotechnology.

“The Ag Biotechnology Academy has been extremely beneficial for the new Ag Biotechnology program at Anthony Wayne High School, a satellite of Penta Career Center,” said Whitney Short, Anthony Wayne High School agriculture teacher.… Continue reading

It seems that fields with weed problems are more of the exception rather than the rule this growing season. Herbicide resistant weeds are also a growing problem.

To address the issue, some farmers are stepping up their weed control efforts to try and stay ahead of the problem.

“I think we have some weed issues, with marestail being No. 1,” said Doug Longfellow, who farms in Darke County. “Even though we had really good control early, I am looking across 15 acres of beans right now and I can see a couple dozen marestail plants that escaped. It looked good through summer until the soybeans started dying and these marestail started to emerge. We still have work to do, even though I thought we had a good program. I think the solution is going to be part cover crop and part a double application of 2,4-D in the fall and the spring.… Continue reading

WEEKLY CORN BELT CROP REPORT

The Snapshot Tour is hosted by Jay Calhoun of Colgan Commodities. This is a daily update on crop and weather conditions across  locations in the Corn Belt.  Listen to the audio report in full by visiting  www.colgancommodities.com and clicking on the audio tab.

Maumee, Ohio

The NW Ohio region saw very little harvest activity. However, they were fortunate over the weekend and most areas only reported around an inch of rain, so they should be in the fields again by tomorrow, or Wednesday,  and the weather forecast looks wide open for the remainder of the week.

Henderson, KY

Several locations in the Kentucky area had severe storms over the weekend, along with heavy rains.  Harvest activity will not likely resume til mid week at earliest, and damage reports  from storms are still coming in.

Greenville, OH

Rainfall amounts ranged in the 1.5-2.25” amounts and that will keep producers out til Wednesday, although some may try to run corn by tomorrow afternoon. … Continue reading

If you are looking for an updated Crop Progress Report for Ohio or any part of the U.S., consider the source. With the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) out of commission due to the government shutdown, that means that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) isn’t doing much these days either. Therefore, the weekly Crop Progress Reports will not be coming until the impasse of the 2014 Federal Budget is resolved. This will also keep USDA from issuing its crop reports this Friday (October 11).

“No question that the delays in these reports will disrupt the market from the information flow that it traditionally has,” said Bob Young, Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.… Continue reading

Researchers from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are collecting samples of several weed varieties that are herbicide-resistant and could pose problems for growers in the region, said Mark Loux, an OSU Extension weed specialist.

Loux is collecting the samples as part of an effort to track herbicide-resistant weeds that are beginning to show up in Ohio fields that have caused problems for growers in other states. The goal is to try to prevent the weeds’ further spread in Ohio.

At the top of the wanted list is Palmer amaranth (pictured), which is also known to many cotton and soybean farmers in the South as a “pigweed on steroids.” Palmer amaranth, which is a glyphosate-resistant weed that has wreaked havoc for Southern U.S. growers, has now been found at several sites in Ohio.

“We are ideally looking for seeds from plants that survived a herbicide program that has typically provided effective control in the past, or repeated application of glyphosate or other herbicides,” Loux said.… Continue reading

“This would have been a beautiful rain on the first of August. We got just shy of 3 inches. I would guess we are out until at least the weekend unless we get some sunshine.

“We did get our wheat in and it is coming up. We generally plant wheat in our drier soils so I don’t think we’ll have ponding in our wheat ground. We did have pretty healthy wind yesterday and I don’t know if that blew any corn down or not.

“We probably have about 25% of our corn to harvest yet. We’re half done with beans. There are still a lot of crops to come off around here yet. We’re probably a little ahead with corn because we were able to harvest pretty early.  I am guessing people in the area are 25% to 40% done with soybeans.

“There are some green stem beans, especially in some of the drier soils where they may have died early.… Continue reading