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Sep. 21, 2015
Last week many of us enjoyed a wonderful week at the fair. After a rainy start, we were able to savor some beautiful fall weather while we talked and laughed with many friends that we don’t get to see very often. It was also a wonderful time to observe our youth in action. If you know the 4-H program, you know it holds a “learn by doing” motto. The youth were in leadership roles at the livestock shows as they were helping younger members, or when they were helping one another. I love to see the qualities that surface, when we as adults stand back and allow them to shine. Thank you...
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Sep. 15, 2015
I was recently asked if it was still necessary to follow the practice of planting winter wheat after the fly-free date. This is a good question because it has been many years since we have had any kind of significant yield losses attributed to the Hessian fly, which is the reason behind the fly-free planting dates. The fall brood of the Hessian fly appears in the later part of September and only lives for a few days. This brood lays its eggs on young grasses which include small grains such as wheat. Maggots hatch from the eggs and the tiny larvae crawl to the crown of the plant and...
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Sep. 15, 2015
Corn silage harvest is done or wrapping up and soybean harvest has started. The earlier start to our harvest season should permit some timely weed control ahead of any planned winter wheat planting. In a recent OSU Extension CORN newsletter, Mark Loux outlined some herbicide options for weed control prior to no-till wheat planting.
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Sep. 08, 2015
Increasingly yield maps are being used to make field level management decisions such as plant population, type of hybrid, fertilizer application, and soil drainage. Sometimes yield maps are used for crop insurance information or provided to landowners as part of the equation in generating a land rental agreement or payment. Yield maps are used to garner bragging rights at the local coffee shop. So consider these points; yield maps are generated from the information collected during harvest by yield monitors and secondly, accurate yield monitor information is dependent upon...
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Sep. 08, 2015
September brings colored leaves, Friday night football and one week of wonders at the Wayne County Fair. Each day, activity at the fairgrounds adds a few more reminders that events will be happening very soon. If you have never joined us in the Grange Rotunda during the week of the fair, here’s your invitation and the schedule of events:
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
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Sep. 01, 2015
Dear Horse Youth, Parents, and Advisors,
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Aug. 28, 2015
A lot of corn was chopped for corn silage last week and harvest continues this week. We are about a month ahead of last year’s corn silage harvest and this year’s earlier harvest provides an opportunity to get cover crops established on those acres. Earlier planting of cover crops is good. The touted benefits of cover crops are dependent upon the crop producing forage mass above ground and developing a root system below ground. More growth is generally equal to more benefits. In addition to protecting the soil against erosion, cover crops can improve soil quality, provide...
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Aug. 28, 2015
Animal welfare is a term that is increasingly used in livestock production conversations. Sometimes it may seem that we most often hear about animal welfare in a negative sense, as when a story breaks about livestock abuse.
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Aug. 21, 2015
Recently palmer amaranth was confirmed in two separate field locations in Wayne County. Palmer amaranth is an aggressive, invasive weed. This is a weed species that is making its way northward from our southern states where it is a major problem in cotton and soybean fields. Virtually all palmer amaranth populations are known to have partial or complete resistance to glyphosate. In one of the Wayne County sites it was this resistance to a glyphosate application that alerted the landowner to the presence of the weed. Most populations of palmer amaranth are also resistant to the ALS...
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Aug. 21, 2015
Our corn silage production season is about to start. The primary factor that determines the potential to make high quality silage is harvest moisture content. If the crop is not chopped at the correct moisture content, it will not matter if all the next steps are done right, silage quality will be poor. The goal is to chop corn at a whole plant moisture content of 65-70%, or 30-35% dry matter.
