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Jul. 06, 2021
As the growing season moves along so do the potential pests and diseases of our various crops. Scouting at least a few fields of each crop on a regular basis can provide warning of increasing insect and disease pressure which allows for more efficient and tailored control options.
Agronomic Crops
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Jul. 06, 2021
College Hills Honda of Wooster in partnership with the Northern Ohio Honda Dealers recently presented a gift of $2,000 to our Wayne County 4-H Camp Counselors to help provide camp scholarships and support for our camp counselors. 4-H Camp just ended July 3rd and 184 youth, counselors, and adult volunteers engaged in fun and educational activities at 4-H Camp including archery, campfires, crafts, swimming, scuba diving, zip lining, and much more. We are very grateful for the support of businesses like College Hills Honda that step up to support our 4-H youth.
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Jun. 29, 2021
Laundry. It’s often a dreaded yet necessary task. I assume I’m not the only one who has let the clothes in the hamper pile up until it’s overflowing then groan at the thought of having to fold it all once it’s washed.
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Jun. 29, 2021
Farming in the winter is usually not a livestock producer’s favorite time of the year. But, if I must give it a positive aspect, the lack of flies and other flying pests make it somewhat enjoyable compared to when those same critters burst forth in full swing come summer.
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Jun. 15, 2021
The heat and humidity of the last week have signaled that the comfortable temperatures for our cool season perennial grasses are behind us and the warm season grasses will start their growth cycle. Planting warm season annual grasses are a feasible way to improve summer pastures or hay fields to maintain dry matter production during the cool grass summer slump. A few warm season annual grasses that come to mind include forage sorghum, sudangrass, and sudex (a catch-all phrase for sorghum-sudangrass hybrids).
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Jun. 15, 2021
How long is your to do list today? Do you ever feel like your multitasking needs to have an overhaul because all you are doing is moving tasks from one day to the next? Have you ever considered taking a “time out” for yourself? Dr. Daniel Siegel, co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center suggests that in this age of distraction, we are so busy running from one activity to another and interacting with so many people, that we neglect to tune in to ourselves. I suspect that in this era of constant change, we might find this to be even more accurate.
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Jun. 08, 2021
As June continues, many of us are looking forward to the season for jams and jellies with our locally grown berries and soon to come fruits. Those favorite toppings for breads, pancakes, and of course, ice cream are some of the ones we look forward to every year. Sometimes other fruit spreads are used as an addition to meats or side dishes. Following is a quick definition for the types of products:
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Jun. 01, 2021
Making premium quality dry hay requires a 3-4 day stretch of premium weather when the forage is of premium maturity, which can sometimes be hard to come by in Ohio and other parts of the Midwest during the spring. Therefore, baleage, or wet wrap, gives the weather some grace. The beauty of baleage is that you can cut one afternoon and bale the next day after the dew lifts. Odds are that finding a 2-day, rather than a 4-day, window will likely enable you to capture the perfect maturity of the forage you’re growing.
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May. 25, 2021
I enjoy this time of year because the days are longer, and I can typically spend more time outdoors. I also enjoy this time of year because I know I will soon get to eat all kinds of fresh fruits. Blackberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries… We are fortunate to live in Ohio where we have access to a large assortment of fresh, local fruits!
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May. 25, 2021
With warm weather in the forecast, it is time to start thinking about heat stress and its impacts on your dairy. Just as we have our comfortable temperatures in which we keep our homes in the summer or winter, dairy cows are the same. They have upper and lower critical temperatures, or temperature thresholds at which cows must expend extra energy to cool or warm themselves. Dairy cows have a pretty large threshold – between 25- and 65-degrees Fahrenheit – meaning that below 25 or above 65 degrees their energy requirements will change.
