I hoped you all survived the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family.
Are you still enjoying the many ways to eat leftover turkey? If you’re looking for ideas let me know. I have probably had about every leftover turkey dish you can imagine.
Did you get your Black Friday shopping fix for another year? I went a little Friday morning but most places have taken the fun out of it by opening on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was meant for spending time with family so I will hang onto that tradition over shopping any day.
The big event of course is that rival game with the team up north. I plan to be there in the stadium rooting hard for this one. It might be a titanic struggle this year but I can always be hopeful.
A great event every year that is coming quickly is the annual Ohio No Till Conference which will be held Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City, Ohio. The program is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $40. To register and prepay, go to https://ohionotillcouncil.com/ .
Topics include: Nutrient Application in No Till; Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus Cycle; Deep Placement of Fertilizer with Strip-till; Cover Crops — It’s All About Timing; Conservation Benefits for Landowners; Digital Ag Apps; and more.
If soil health is an interest, you might consider a new film on soils recently released.
Alan Sundermeier, OSU Extension educator in Wood County, noted recently The Soil Health Institute released Living Soil, a 60-minute documentary about soil health featuring innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the United States. The film is freely available to download and stream at www.livingsoilfilm.com .
Living Soil captures the background of the current soil health movement and its momentum, beginning with painful images of the Dust Bowl, and then transitions to personal experiences of innovative women and men who are managing their land to enhance soil health.
The film features rural and urban farmers from Maryland to California, selling everything from corn to bouquets, united by their care for the soil.
The Soil Health Institute (www.soilhealthinstitute.org) is a non-profit whose mission is to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement.
Finally this week, as you know, there is lots of discussion on drift and inversion of certain herbicides we use in agriculture.
Recognizing weather conditions that could cause inversions is important when using certain herbicides in corn and soybeans. On Dec. 14, join a discussion about recognizing inversions as well as ways to improve communication between farmers growing sensitive crops and pesticide applicators.
An Inversion and Drift Management Workshop, presented by the Ohio State University Extension IPM program, will be conducted on Friday, Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Farmers and pesticide applicators can attend the workshop in person at the Ohio Department of Agriculture, 8995 E. Main St. in Reynoldsburg, or attend virtually through the online webinar link. More information about the workshop is available at http://go.osu.edu/IPM
Leading off the workshop will be Aaron Wilson, weather specialist and atmospheric scientist with OSU Extension and the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. Wilson will focus on weather conditions that cause inversions and provide useful measures and observation to help determine if inversions are happening.
Wilson will also look at average growing years and the days available for herbicide applications that avoided inversion or wind concerns.
Jared Shaffer, plant health inspector with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, will speak next focusing on FieldWatch, the sensitive crop registry available to Ohio farmers and used throughout the Midwest.
Shaffer will showcase tools available for farmers with sensitive crops to communicate about the location of their crops. Shaffer will also detail techniques available to applicators to find real-time information about crops in the area and how this information can be used in their spray planning.
There is no cost for the workshop; however, pre-registration is required to attend in person at the Reynoldsburg location and is limited to the first 75 registrants. Registration is online at go.osu.edu/IPM .
Commercial and private applicator re-certification credits for core will be available only at the Reynoldsburg location. No re-certification credits are available for online participants.
For further information about the workshop, contact Cindy Folck at 614-247-7898 or [email protected] .
The workshop is sponsored by the OSU Extension IPM Program and the USDA NIFA Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program (Grant number: 2017-70006-27174).
Cheer loud and go Buckeyes!
Tony Nye is the state coordinator for The Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for over 30 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA.
