Farmers spend a lot of time perfecting equipment: planting, spraying, and harvesting. However, it’s the microbes and the soil biology that contribute greatly to final yield. Understanding that biology is becoming even more important in modern agriculture. A key fungal microbe called Trichoderma (Tri) provides a lot of soil and plant benefits. Tri is a genus of filamentous, soil-dwelling fungi widely found in the rhizosphere (root zone) and decaying organic matter. It is non-pathogenic to plants and is valued in agriculture and horticulture for its beneficial relationship with plants, disease and pathogen control, and nutrient recycling. Tri stimulates beneficial microbial populations by producing enzymes that break down complex organic matter and secretes compounds that inhibit pathogens while promoting beneficial bacteria. Trichoderma (Tri) also enhance nutrient cycling by solubilizing insoluble nutrients like phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc by secreting organic acids an...

  Corn Tar Spot (Phyllachora maydis) is showing up in Southwest/Central Ohio in Preble and Madison counties. Corn that is tasseling or reaching silking stages with warm, humid, foggy, cloudy and wet weather create favorable conditions for corn tar spot to develop. Tar spot looks like small raised black spots on corn leaves when air temperatures are 64°F - 73°F, high humidity (>75%), and long periods of leaf wetness. Once the tar spot reaches the upper leaves during grain fill, photosynthesis is reduced and it decreases kernel development and grain yield. Tar spot is a corn disease originated in Central America and is spreading rapidly by wind into corn growing states. Corn will mature early with reduced ear weight, poor kernel fill, stalk rot, and possibly lodging with yield losses ranging from 0-60 bushel per acre, depending upon disease severity. There are several ways to combat tar spot. No corn hybrid is totally resistant but some varieties (especially early maturing) are mo...

New research show that microbes, especially bacteria and now fungi are the best at pulling moisture from the sky and making it rain. Dust and dirt particles can help it rain, but they are not as efficient as microbes. A recent article in Science Advances shows how the rain cycle works. Most rain starts as atmospheric water vapor and has to freeze into ice crystals before it comes down, turning into rain. Water in the atmosphere does not always freeze at 32OF. In fact, atmospheric water can stay liquid down to -40OF below zero. Temperatures are much lower at cloud level so clouds can stay full of moisture till it gets cold enough and attaches to something to freeze to cause ice crystals and then turn to rain. “Supercooled” water is a liquid cooler than normal freezing water because it has nothing to hold onto. For clouds to make snow, ice, or rain, it needs a “seed”, a tiny particle for the water molecules to grab onto to form an ice crystal before it falls from the sky as rain. Dust, s...

  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...

Soil and plant nutrients are vital for optimizing crop yields. Some are free while others require extensive fertilization using the 4R's (Right Rate, Place, Form, and Time). Due to higher fertilizer and application costs, agronomists prioritize the 4R's. For conventional farmers, Nitrogen (N)-Phosphorus (P)-and Potassium (K) seem to be the big three nutrients. These three macronutrients consume most of the fertilizer budget, especially on corn and small grains. Nitrogen (N) is used to make protein, P is used for DNA, RNA, cell walls, and for energy transfer (ATP). Potassium (K) is used like money in the plant, involved in nutrient exchange and balancing electrical charges. Next, secondary nutrients are Calcium (Ca)-Sulfur (S), and Magnesium (Mg). Calcium (Ca) is a major regulator of plant hormones and growth. Calcium carbonate or lime is used to balance pH, just slightly acid. Sulfur (S) is needed with nitrogen to make essential amino acids for protein synthes...

  Dr. Eileen Kladivko, agricultural engineer, Purdue University has conducted drainage research for 44 years. About 35 years ago, Purdue installed 4 inch plastic tile on hard to drain, clay resistant soils (Clermont somewhat similar to Paulding Clay). Clemont soil has a clay pan 2.5 to 3 feet deep which act like a bowl, filling up with water so the subsoil stays wet. This research started in the 1980’s using 5, 10, 20 meter spacings (16, 33, 66 feet) compared to no tile drainage (over 40 m or 132 feet). Dr. Kladivko data shows that drainage pays, even on tough clay soils with a claypan. Benefits include more timely spring field operations; improved yields; positive results from other conservation practices; and improved cover crop, hay, and small grains crops growing in the fall and over the winter. Kladivko found that even during dry times, there were positive benefits subsurface tile drainage. The first 10 years, the rotation was corn after corn due to farmers interest in that pr...

  This was adapted from a Randall Reeder article, Retired OSU Extension Engineer at Ohio State University. Most farmers would like to leave their farm in better shape than when they started. The question is: What does that mean? You never hear a farmer brag about making their farm worse. What does it mean to make a farm better when you retire from farming? For some farmers, that means passing on a farm that is actively operating and growing in size. For some that means keeping the buildings freshly painted and the homestead looking attractive. On older farms, sometimes that means getting rid of old barns and fences. Others might say getting higher crop yields. For farms to remain sustainable, keeping soils healthy and productive is important. Are your soils getting darker or lighter in color? Dark colored soil indicate a gain in soil organic matter (SOM) and are more productive. Are the soils getting softer and is the water infiltrating? Often, farmers complain that their soils are...

  Due to a lack of rain, the soil is getting hard. When soil gets dry and lacks adequate soil organic matter (SOM), clay particles set up like cement. Most farmers do a fall tillage, which will increase water infiltration short-term, but long-term the soil just gets denser as the soil compaction gets worse. Brian Doughtery, a consultant for Understanding Ag., says soil compaction is caused by three things: 1) too much heavy equipment, 2) not enough biology, and 3) nutrients and/or a lack of nutrient balance. Soil compaction is common on most farms, but it is not a natural or inevitable problem. On heavy equipment, when a piece of machinery crosses a field, the weight pushes the air or pore space out of soil. Without pore space, the soil compacts. If a field is wet, the soil particles get cemented together when the soil dries. Clay has a negative charge and when positive ions like magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) get pushed together, the soil gets hard. Calcium (Ca) also has a pos...

  While the current 2025 agricultural crop season is still in full swing; farmers and landowners are thinking about renewing or making new rental agreements. In Ohio, about 39% of farmland is leased or rented. About 28% of all Ohio farmers rent exclusively and own no farmland themselves. About 13 Midwestern universities have developed a program called AgLease 101 offering descriptions and advantages and disadvantage to landowners and renters (tenants) of various rental arrangements. The most common rental agreements are cash rent. For the Landowner, the benefits include they do not need to provide much input to the farming operation. The landowner gets a cash payment that does not trigger landowner self-employment tax and does not reduce social security benefits at retirement. With less input, generally there is less disagreements between parties. The landowner does not need to worry about pricing the crop or yields or how to divide and market crops. The renter or tenant takes car...

Brian Doughtery, a Understanding Ag consultant, says compaction is a sign of a poorly functioning soil. Soil compaction is not a natural occurrence, it comes from too much equipment (heavy axle loads, too much tillage), not enough biology (lack of roots and living organisms), and excess nutrients. Well aggregated soils look like black cottage cheese; soil crumbles easily in your hand and water and gases move freely in soil. Well aggregated soils have 50% solid materials made up of ground up rock, minerals and water with the other half being pore space by volume. Compaction just means the pore space is reduced or eliminated resulting in denser compacted soil. For good plant growth, roots need to penetrate the soil to get water and nutrients and have adequate gas exchange. Roots need oxygen produced and released by the leaves to move down into the soil to break down the food produced by the leaves. Roots give off carbon dioxide after the oxygen breaks down the food in the roots. It’s a...

  Recent soybean research by Dr. Rafiq Islam, Ohio State University shows benefits from using sulfur fertilization and small doses of aspirin or salicylic acid (SA, a fulvic acid) to increase soybean yields. Soybeans are planted on about 86.5 million USA acres. Yearly increases in soybean yields have been flat and with lower prices, farmers are looking for ways to get higher yields. Hot weather, drought, flooding and other environmental issues have caused soybean yields to stagnate. Dr. Islam used research funds from the Ohio Soybean Council to investigate salicylic acid (SA). SA helps crops tolerate drought and stress by more efficiently regulating stomatal closure (water loss from leaves), transpiration, and proline biosynthesis (an amino acid which helps proteins to form). By enhancing stress tolerance, SA could help improve soybean yields and quality under challenging conditions. Another growing concern for soybean cultivation is soil sulfur deficiency, due to reduced atmosph...

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...

  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...

  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...