Farmers try to balance the big three nutrients for plant growth: nitrogen (N) phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) since they are known to increase crop yields. However, for good soil health and good plant health; the secondary nutrients: calcium (Ca) Sulfur (S) Magnesium (Mg) and micronutrients are also important. Calcium (Ca) is the third most plant abundant nutrient and is a major regulator of plant hormones for plant growth and yield. However, to get Ca into the plant, you need boron (B) a micronutrient. Boron (B) is like a bus driver hauling Ca into the plant. Unfortunately, there needs to be a soil balance because Ca ties up B and vice versa. So too much of either one or too little causes poor growth and low yields. Adequate Ca promotes more roots, bigger shoots, bigger leaves, more flowers, more pollen and ultimately higher yields. Sulfur (S) is another important nutrient especially for building critical plant amino acids. As an electron donor, S helps plants control light int...

  Corn rootworm (CRW) is a common corn insect that costs producers about $1 billion dollars a year in lost yields. CRW started to thrive after World War II for several reasons. First, farms got bigger and the crop rotation got simpler. Larger equipment and more corn on corn or a simple rotation of corn and beans led to poor soil health. Predators to CRW like to live in healthy soils with many cracks and pores and live roots so they can move around. Tillage and compaction increased the prevalence of CRW. Here are six natural ways to fight corn rootworm (CRW). First, minimize tillage and soil disturbance. CRW do not thrive in undisturbed soils because of all the roots, microbial diversity, and insect diversity. CRW are prey to numerous viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi, with 10 billion microbes representing over 11,000 species in just one teaspoon of soil. The most current estimate is that there are a quintrillion insects on planet earth. A quintrillion is a billion billion, or ...

Deer mating season (rutting has started), so deer are on the move. Hunters need to be aware of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD); a fatal, infectious disease affecting the nervous system of deer. It is caused by misfolded proteins called prions. It spreads through direct animal contact, contaminated environments, and bodily fluids, and animals can shed prions for years before showing symptoms like weight loss, poor coordination, and drooping ears. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) recommends not consuming meat from CWD-positive animals and taking precautions like wearing gloves and avoiding brain tissue when handling deer carcasses. CWD has been found in Northwest Ohio. Major hot spot are Wyandot, Marion, and Hardin Counties but many surrounding counties are also affected with confirmed cases in Allen and Morrow Counties. Not all deer are tested, so since the deer population is mobile and far ranging, it could easily be spreading. CWD is very similar to other prion diseases t...

  New research from Virginia Tech University shows that small insects called springtails (Collembola species) help farmers fight herbicide resistant weed species in the soil. These tiny wingless insects are about the size of small rice kernel. They live in soil residue and feed on weed seed. There are more than 6,500 species of springtail (Collembola species) world-wide. Results vary by weed seed species depending upon the thickness of the seed coat.  Two Virginia Tech researchers (Jernigan & Sonoskie) found that in a 4-week greenhouse study, springtails reduced weed biomass by 23%. Unfortunately, at first the springtail affected weed seed seemed to increase weed germination for the first two weeks followed by a dramatic reduction in the last two weeks. The researchers think the springtails increased weed seed germination initially by breaking open the seed coat so that the weed seed could germinate faster. In the last two weeks, the germination was drastically reduced, pr...