Ohio Country Journal
Last alfalfa cutting and risk management
Alfalfa growers will need to make a decision if they should take another cutting of alfalfa, and if so, when. The recommendation in the newly revised 15th edition of the Ohio Agronomy Guide is to complete the last regular harvest of alfalfa by Sept. 7 in northern...
Torrefaction: Roasting agricultural, forest and animal residues to produce ?green coal? with improved properties and value
What is torrefaction?Torrefaction is a thermochemical treatment process for biomass upgrading that occurs at a temperature range of 390 to 570 degrees F at near atmospheric pressure, in the absence of oxygen, and at a reactor residence time of 10 to 30 minutes, or...
USDA allows producers to opt out of MPP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that starting Sept. 1, 2017, dairy producers can enroll for 2018 coverage in the Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy). Secretary Sonny Perdue has utilized additional flexibility this year...
Harvey?s agricultural impact and an Ohio relief effort
Anyone involved with agriculture cannot help but be moved by the terrible pictures and videos coming out of the devastated region of Texas where crops have been lost, livestock has been lost and cattle are being moved to higher ground after massive flooding in the...
DowDuPont, Inc. is now the world?s largest chemical company
As of the close of the stock market on Aug. 31, Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. have merged.The largest two U.S. chemical makers received all necessary regulatory approvals and shares of DowDuPont Inc. begin trading Sept. 1, 2017. The value of the new agribusiness...
POET expansion means big demand boost for Ohio corn
Agriculture has long been a victim of its own success. When doubts have arisen in the past about whether farmers could produce enough, they have every time been swept away in a sea of over production.Because of its astounding bounty, agriculture has been able to move...
Fall and winter weather outlook
During August the weather and climate pattern switched where areas of the western half of the corn and soybean belt that needed rain got it while the eastern half dried out. Rainfall the last 30-days has been 2-6 inches with isolated totals to 10 inches in the western...
The benefits of pregnancy diagnosis
We are entering an exciting time of the year for cow-calf producers. They have started or soon will be weaning their spring-born calves. Weaning is an excellent time to prepare the calf crop to become herd replacements or for future marketing opportunities by...
Soybean rust develops rolling epidemics as spores travel north
Although Midwestern soybean growers have yet to experience the brunt of soybean rust, growers in the southern United States are very familiar with the disease. Every year, the fungus slowly moves northward from its winter home in southern Florida and the Gulf Coast...