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  With the selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services, many farmers are wondering how long Roundup (active ingredient glyphosate) will be around. On 298 million acres of USA cropland, 280 million pounds of glyphosate are used annually. Globally, Roundup (glyphosate) has increased 15X since its introduction in 1996 due the use of genetically modified crops which allow its use without killing the main crop.  The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has ruled glyphosate a carcinogen. The IARC says that glyphosate could cause Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, autism, and cancer. The USA has not outlawed glyphosate or even definitely said what health risks may or may not be caused by glyphosate use. Many legal and health questions remain about the use of glyphosate. In agriculture, weed resistance is becoming another problem, especially with glyphosate. Weeds over time genetically change to become re...

  The 2025 winter weather has been colder than most years. Temperatures in the teens and single digits have caused the soil to freeze deep. While this may reduce some insects and pests, it can also harm wheat and hay crops. How deep the soil freezes depends on the amount of snowfall received. Snow acts as a natural insulator, blanketing the soil and preventing deeper freezing. This year, the northern part of Ohio received less snow than some areas to the south. Reports from Toledo indicate significantly less snowfall than counties further south. Snow prevents wind from desiccating crops like wheat, barley, hay (alfalfa, red clover, etc.), and cover crops. Several northern farmers are already reporting wheat and barley damage. Cover crops may also suffer, and as thawing begins, expect damage to the crowns of hay crops, especially alfalfa roots, which tend to heave—just like fence posts. Slugs and voles tend to decrease in cold winters, with cycles occurring every 2-5 years. During d...

Plants need both Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) to grow well. A lack of these two elements limits growth. Farmers apply N & P fertilizer, especially to corn, to increase yields, but there is a limit. Since the 1900s, N fertilizer applications have increased 5X or 500%, while P fertilizer inputs have increased 76%. Too much N fertilizer ties up soil P levels and other nutrients. A recent study looked at how farmers may be able to reduce N fertilizer inputs while increasing crop yields and enhancing P fertilizer use efficiency. P fertilizer stocks are running low in the USA (expected to be depleted by 2050), so farmers need to start thinking about how they can use existing stocks of P fertilizer better, both mined and in the soil, to enhance yields. A large meta-study (combined results from 222 independent studies) looked at how N responds to P fertilizer. Overall, adding P fertilizer had a positive effect on plant N uptake, resulting in higher plant growth above and below ground. I...

  The price of eggs has soared, and consumers can blame the Bird Flu virus (Avian Influenza or H5N1 virus). Egg prices may increase another 20% in 2025 before decreasing. Darke and Mercer County had two new outbreaks, affecting 1.4 million birds in Mercer County. Bird Flu affects dairy and beef cattle, swine (hogs), even cats, and dogs. Currently, there are at least 100 million poultry affected by Bird Flu and at least 11,000 cases in wild birds identified. The Bird Flu is especially high in wild bird populations and has been around since the 1900s. The problem is it has now moved into domestic livestock farms. So far, 67 human cases in the USA have been identified with Bird Flu, but all the people had direct exposure to poultry on farms or in backyards. This month, one person died of Bird Flu in Louisiana, and another person was identified in San Francisco. Most contact is likely from the virus getting into their eyes, nose, or mouth. Bird Flu is a disease and should be taken seri...

  January is when the coldest weather generally occurs in winter. For agriculture, cold temperatures can be beneficial. Many insect and disease organisms are reduced due to the freezing and thawing. Slug and vole (field mice) populations often decline, especially if the snow is not too deep to insulate them from the cold. Another benefit occurs when microbes freeze, they split open and spill nutrients into the soil. Plant spring green-up is a natural benefit as long as these enriched nutrients do not leach away. Two ways plants survive cold temperatures is by elevating certain nutrients in their cells like potassium (K) and silicon. These two nutrients allow plants to continue to grow longer in the fall, lowering the temperature at which they freeze. While K is a known essential element, very little is known about silicon until recently and its effect on plant growth. Our soils are largely composed of silicon, sands (silicon oxide), and clays (aluminum-silicates plus many other ele...

Dr. Dwayne Beck, retired researcher, shared insights on arid farming at the Louisville National No-till meeting last week. Dwayne Beck managed the Dakotas Lake Research Farm in Pierre, SD for many years. Here are some insights.  Dr Beck says that doing things in an environmentally good way is almost always the most profitable! Mother Nature designed it so that nutrients and diversity are always preserved. Weeds and diseases are Mother Nature’s way of adding diversity. Nature always wants something growing, so weeds proliferate on bare soils. When there is not enough diversity, diseases cause the main crop to fail so that other plants can grow. It’s a natural balance.  High disturbance causes weeds to grow. Soils are full of weed seed, so disturbance brings those weed seeds to the surface to grow. In South Dakota, no-till decreases weed species by almost 60% (225 species on conventional tilled to 94 on no-till). When a 4-way crop rotation was used, the reduction was 85% (44 spe...

  Digging Deep into Nutrient Content & Function Presentation

  Understanding Biologicals - View Presentation

  Farmers are finally getting moisture; rain, snow, and even ice. Recent rains followed by colder temperatures has restored some soil moisture. The slow steady rains have soaked in rather than running off. Waterways finally did fill up with water; but it took a long time. That is both good news for future crops planted next year, but also for water quality. Slow steady rains release much less nutrients into our waterways than fast hard driving rainfall events.  Farmers do not know what the weather will be like this next year but hotter and drier summers are expected. Rain in summer generally makes grain, as long as it comes in moderation. An inch of fully used rainfall generally results in a minimum of 8-bushel corn, 3.5-bushel soybeans, and 6-bushel wheat. However, if moisture occurs when corn is tasseling (mid-July), soybeans are blooming (late July through mid-August) or wheat starting to bloom (mid-May to early June) expect higher yields. Moisture is critical for high yiel...

  Dr. Manbir Rakkar, assistant professor of nutrient management, took over for Dr. Stephen Culman at Ohio State University. She shared that Hoytville and Wooster have two of the longest-running soil quality research experiments. Started in 1962, over 100 research publications have been published on this research. This research was started by soil quality and no-till pioneers, Dr. Grover Triplett and Dr. David Van Doorhan, both deceased. These pioneers had three basic research questions they wanted to answer. First, how much tillage, if any, is required to grow a good crop? Second, how do tillage and crop rotation affect crop yields? Third, how does tillage or no-till vary by soil type? All good questions, still being debated! To answer these questions, they set up long-term plots at Hoytville on a flat (0-2%) heavy clay soil (Hoytville) and at Wooster on a silt loam soil with 6-10% slope. The tillage was continuous no-till, chisel plow, and moldboard plow. They included crop rotati...