A week of good weather finally is letting farmers either replant or finish planting. May weather was more like March and April weather while March and early April were warmer than normal. Some crops look good but many are still struggling and stands are quite variable. Wheat looks the best and likes cool wetter weather. Hay is finally started to get made. Now farmers are turning to spray spraying tweeds and get nitrogen (N) put on corn. With warmer weather, corn should start growing and have a better color. Microbial populations double with every 8-90F in soil temperature. This is good for getting nutrients into the plant and also in helping the plant with its N needs. For corn, N fertilizer prices are really high and corn prices are low, so putting on what N is needed and no more is the most economical. When N was cheap, the common rate was 1.2# of N per bushel of corn produced. So, for 200-bushel corn, a total N rate of 240# N was advised and for 250 bushel 300# N. With new cor...

A week of good weather is welcomed news as farmers finish planting and replanting. The past several weeks have been cold and wet and crop growth has been slow. Warm weather increases plant growth and warms up the microbes to release abundant nutrients. A number of agricultural pests including insects, pathogens, and weeds are now slowing down crop growth. On insects, seed corn maggot and wireworms are two of the worst Midwest seed insects. Cold, wet, soggy fields allow these insects to thrive. Seed corn maggots ( ) are pale larvae that burrow into and hollow out germinating seeds and young seedlings. Infestations cause poor crop stands, stunted growth, and plant death and are a problem in cool, soggy, and manured fields. Wireworm ( Melanotus communis Gyllenhal ) is the most common wireworm attacking corn and soybeans and is the larval form of the click beetle. Wireworms have a slender elongated body and are dark brownish orange. They have a distinct head and projecting mouthparts with...

  Spring is always a fickle thing when it comes to weather. Late March and April weather was more like May and May was more like April even March at times. The difference this year is cold, wet, and windy are common themes. Some farmers have a lot planted, some a fair amount planted, some for the first time. Others are already replanting. Although a week old, USDA's crop progress report is probably fairly accurate but behind for the weekend plantings. Estimates at that time were 34% of corn acres are planted in Ohio (much higher by now), with 20% of corn emerged. For soybeans, 34% of soybean acre were planted and 16% of soybeans emerged. Planted and emerged acres are probably much higher by now and warmer weather is expected. After a drought last year which lasted most of last fall and winter, most areas have recharged but that is highly variable. Along US 30, rain has been steady since March 10th with over 26 inches reported. Some areas North are less than half that amount. On cor...

  Several dairy farmers have been asking the question: Does improving soil health improve dairy cow health and dairy cow performance? Either higher milk yields, higher components, or just overall herd health? It’s a tough and complicated question to prove definitely, but the answer appears to trend in the direction of YES to all of the above. Milk is about 87% water and 13% solids. As it comes from the cow, the solid portion is about 3.7% fat and 9% solids not fat. Milk has fat soluble Vitamins A, D, E, K. The solids not fat portion is protein, carbohydrates (primarily lactose) and minerals including calcium and phosphorus. Milk is a good rich, dense food source especially for young growing children but also for older adults to avoid calcium deficiency. Researchers at Cornell University compared three fields, one unmanured and two that were manured at three different locations. The number of sites is low so our confidence in the data is rather limited. This was research conducted b...