The Shelby County Forestry Field Day will be held next Sunday, Oct. 16, at Jim and Karen Scheer’s Farm, 8800 Tawawa-Maplewood Road, south of state Route 47, from 1 to 4 p.m. This free event is a great opportunity for families to spend some time outdoors with nature and can also provide some forestry education: timber management, tree identification, and habitat improvement for wildlife. Other activities include chainsaw sculpting, Woodland Crafts for kids, a “Candy Scramble” and Smokey Bear!
A Farmland Leasing Workshop will be held Monday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to noon, at the OSU Miami County Extension office in Troy. Some of the topics to be discussed include Farmland Leasing Options, Factors affecting Options and Rates, Legal Issues in Farmland Leasing, and Developing a Written Lease for your Farm. The cost of $15 per person includes handouts and refreshments; additional family members are $5. Pre-registration/pre-payment are required. Pick up a registration form at our OSU Extension office or go to http://miami.osu.edu/events/farm-rental-workshop.
A Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day will be held Monday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Wapakoneta FFA farm on Redskin Trail, north side of Wapakoneta. This Field Day will feature Dr. Steve Cullman speaking about soil health and visiting cover crop plots seeded with an inter-seeder when the corn was in the five- to six-collar stage; use of the inter-seeder will be demonstrated. This event is free, but please register by Oct. 21 by calling the Auglaize OSU Extension office at 419-739-6580. This field day will be held outdoors.
A “new” event on the calendar is a program for Ag Women to be held in Troy on Thursday, Nov. 3. AgricultuHER “Finding Your Voice” is being planned by OSU Extension, Champaign and Miami counties. This event is to bring women of agriculture together to discuss how to share our way of life and career with the general public.
The evening will feature three guest speakers. Emily Adams, an Extension Educator in Coshocton County, will guide participants on how to navigate conversations when emotions are strong. Laura Sutherly, who runs a cattle/grain farm as well as a commercial grain and fertilizer business with her husband, will share how she has used social media to raise awareness about today’s agricultural practices. Jess Campbell, co-owner of Carroll Creek Farms, a loan officer with Farm Credit Mid-America, and president of the Warren County Farm Bureau will discuss her roles as an advocate for agriculture at the local, state, and national levels.
This will be held at the First Baptist Church, 53 S. Norwich Road in Troy. The evening will begin with light refreshments and mix and mingle time at 6 p.m. and will conclude at 9 p.m. Registration is $15, due Oct. 21. The registration brochure can be found at http://go.osu.edu/agevents or you can pick one up at our OSU Extension office.
Just a “heads up” that our Extension Pathologist Pierce Paul has indicated various Corn Ear Rots are prevalent this fall. Diplodia was the first mentioned a week ago, but others are showing up: Tichoderma, Fusarium, and Gibberella.
A good way to determine whether you have a major ear rot problem this year is to quantify the disease in your field and get suspect samples tested for mycotoxins. For more information on ear rot identification, how to quantify the amount of damage, and for information on getting samples tested for mycotoxins, refer to last week’s CORN Newsletter at http://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-32/.
Harvest is getting well underway! I’m seeing more and more combines and wagons/trucks in the fields! And then there’s that “harvest smell:” moist corn, fresh from the ear. Farming: What a life! Be safe!
