Ohio's Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net

Highlighting fungicide success and 2025 crop strategies BASF’s Kim Tutor joins Ohio Ag Net’s Dale Minyo to discuss strategies for corn and soybean growers heading into 2025. Tutor emphasizes the consistent performance of BASF’s fungicides, Revytek and Veltyma, in boosting yields even under challenging conditions. She shares insights on timing, application rates, and the value of proactive field scouting. Tutor also touches on AI’s growing role in agriculture and BASF’s localized tools for evaluating product performance. With 0% financing available on BASF crop protection and seed treatments through mid-March, Tutor encourages farmers to explore these opportunities. Listen to the full interview at the audio player for advice to optimize your farm’s ROI in 2025.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gkzBu8sf

Connecting with soil and water By Matt Reese and Joel Penhorwood Highbanks Metro Park, just north of Columbus, was home to a unique event this fall for educators from around Ohio to learn more about the soil and water around them. The Soil and Water Quality in the Classroom workshop was a collaboration between GrowNextGen and Feed the World, education programs of the Ohio Soybean Council and Ohio Corn & Wheat. “If you think about where all of our food comes from, you have to start with soil and water. Even if you’re not eating corn or soybeans of some sort today, maybe you’re eating a hamburger or a steak. Where did that come from? Well, that came from an animal that had to eat a plant that was grown for them from soil and water,” said Jeff Jostpille, a GrowNextGen teacher leader and science teacher at Fort Jennings High School. “All life and our food sources require good quality soil and water.”… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/g52auqRS

2024 is in the books By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and Soybean Check-off 2024 is a season that will not soon be forgotten by soybean farmers in the state of Ohio.? Variability seems to be a constant theme for growers in the Buckeye state. From a wet spring to a flash drought and challenging conditions in between, some regions had record setting high yields and some areas were challenged with a low yielding crop and quality issues to compound it. The Ohio Field Leader caught up with Dr. Laura Lindsey, OSU Extension State Soybean and Small Grain Specialist to look back at the growing season and what the outcomes were in the OSU Performance Trials. OFL: Let’s talk about the 2024 growing season now that it is in the rear-view mirror.? What are some of your observations from the past year? Dr. Lindsey: Starting out this spring, I was afraid this year was going to be another 2019.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gvrUpt6q

Relief for farmers and ranchers impacted by drought conditions By Brian Ravencraft The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance in late September providing tax relief for farmers and ranchers in applicable regions forced to sell or exchange livestock because of the recent ?drought conditions. Under the IRS ?guidance, farmers and ranchers may have an extended period of time to replace their livestock and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales or exchanges. Notice 2024-70 provides a list of the applicable areas, by county or other jurisdiction, designated as eligible for federal assistance. The list includes 41 states and other regions for which drought was reported during the 12-month period ending on Aug. 31, 2024. In Ohio, 39 of the 88 counties are listed as applicable drought areas. The tax relief generally applies to capital gains realized by eligible farmers and ranchers on sales or exchanges of livestock held for draft, dairy or breeding purposes. Sales of other livestock, such as those raised for slaughter or held for sporting purposes, or poultry, are not eligible.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gYT-Dyeh

Workshop series shows attendees “How to lose less on the farm” By Amanda Douridas, Ohio State University Extension Educator – Madison County Running a profitable farm can be a challenge even with the best of commodity prices. Lower prices and higher inputs facing farmers this year are putting a serious strain on the bottom line. OSU Extension in Madison County is offering a program in London designed to connect producers to farm management specialists with whom they can share resources, tools and initiate discussion on how farmers can get a better handle on budgets. This series will dive into areas of the budget where adjustments can be made. We will look at results of the FINPACK benchmarking program to see where Ohio farmers are spending the most. This can provide guidance on how one’s budget compares to other farmers in Ohio. Record keeping is not always everyone’s favorite activity but, in this series, we will see how it can help keep that budget on track.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gDivibWk

By Ryan Martin, Ohio Ag Net Chief Meterologist November 22, 2024 -- Today's activity is not super impressive on liquid equivalent moisture totals, as we should stay under .25" in most areas. The clouds linger into tomorrow, but start to break up more, and then we moderate temps on Sunday with a mix of clouds and sun... https://lnkd.in/gzYVFEem

Stop. Collaborate. Listen. By Brianna Gwirtz, OCJ field reporter Did I get your attention? These three words — immortalized by rapper Vanilla Ice — carry more weight than just a nostalgic throwback. In agriculture, I’ve seen them come to life in powerful ways this fall. Stop It’s fall, and let’s be honest, farmers rarely stop for anything. Harvest season feels like a race against time, with every minute accounted for. Yet, sometimes, life forces us to pause. Take what happened at Comp Dairy in Dorset, Ohio, in late September. A devastating fire destroyed the farm’s milking parlor, leaving the owners in crisis. Cows still needed to be milked and required care. That’s when the local ag community stepped up in a big way. Farmers, truckers—everyone—came together to relocate the cows and keep operations afloat. I spoke with Kenny Rufener from Congress Lake Farms and Dustin Royer from Royer Farms in Mogadore recently. Both farms opened their doors to cows from Comp Dairy.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gxHYUpsA

Fields, flights and cow feed: A surprising partnership By Brianna Gwirtz, OCJ field reporter A partnership in northeastern Ohio is bringing the spotlight on agriculture to new heights — literally. What started as a casual conversation many years ago between former classmates has turned into a sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership between two dairy farms and a local airport. Congress Lake Farms, Royer Farms, and Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) have turned routine airport maintenance into an agricultural opportunity that reflects the efficiency, collaboration, and resourcefulness at the heart of farming. This partnership isn’t just about sustainability for Kenny Rufener and Dustin Royer, owners/operators of the two respective dairies. It’s a practical solution that strengthens their feed supply and supports the success of their operations. Congress Lake Farms and Royer Farms run large-scale dairy operations near Mogadore on the Summit and Portage County line that require careful coordination to keep things running smoothly. Congress Lake Farms, operated by Kenny, his brother Mike, parents Ken and Linda, nephew Cole, and stepson Nathan, milk about 650 Holstein cows and... https://lnkd.in/gGWuS3Te

Land price plateau By Matt Reese It appears to be both a good time to sell farmland and a good time to buy it. “Lately we have seen kind of a cap on the value of farmland. We’re not really seeing a huge increase like we have over the last 3 or 4 years. Specifically, since 2021, we saw farmland values increase in certain areas in the neighborhood of 15% to 25% year-over-year in value,” said Devin Dye, auctioneer, broker and owner of Dye Real Estate and Land Co. “With the lower commodity prices and the interest rates not as high, but still at higher numbers, it’s kind of just placed a cap on the value of farmland. We haven’t seen any decreases at all, but it’s slowed down its overall increase in value.” This sharp increase, then plateau in land values is repeating a common trend seen in recent decades. “In the last 35 years going back to the early 90s, that has been the general trend.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gu58YmBm

Rangebound prices possible through remainder of 2024 By Jon Scheve, Superior Feed Ingredients, LLC Corn has continued to trade sideways. As of last Nov. 15, December corn had closed between $3.85 and $4.35 in 100 straight trading sessions in a row. Farmers have largely been resilient to the low prices and unwilling to sell. However, it will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the year. There are a lot of bushels still stored in commercial facilities and processing plants with December basis attached to them. Some producers hoping for higher prices may roll bushels to the March contract. Others, who are looking for cash, could just sell. If that happens, it may put downward pressure on the market. There is a lull in the market right now. South America’s weather is not threatening. Plus, export pace and ethanol grind have been very good. The main downside for corn is the 1.9-billion-bushel carryout. A 1-billion-bushel carryout is basically like the U.S.… Continue reading https://lnkd.in/gXyNahRf