Keep an eye out for slugs...

With the cooler temperatures and planting delays, it is a good idea to keep your eyes open for slugs in no-till fields. To read a complete write-up on what else to be on the lookout for visit http://extension.osu.edu/~news/story.php?id=4651.

Busy, busy, busy...!

I am so glad the weather held out last week and this weekend (for the most part) to give you all much-needed time in the fields.

Corn is definitely starting to appear and there is a bit more planted that what I originally thought (no-till). When I was out and about I noticed quite a bit of rye and hay down and baled - gotta love the smell of fresh-cut hay! Haven't seen any beans up yet, but maybe I didn't drive the right roads over the weekend.

One of my weekend roadtrips took me to Shelby County (one county away from the Indiana border). Honestly, Coshocton County fiends look better crop-wise than a lot of the ones I saw. There is no doubt some producers in western Ohio will have to do replanting.

Drier weather on the way...

Hopefully this week will bring some drier weather our way. Some corn is starting to emerge, but most of it is pretty yellow. There is still lots of corn and beans to get in the ground yet - especially on some small to mid-sized farms.

First-cutting alfalfa could be in competition with corn platning this week time wise. There's a good article out of Penn State about this - http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefMa7.html.

Armyworm and Black Cutworm Update

Growers should be aware that the potential for armyworm problems over the coming weeks is high, much more than in other years. To our south, Kentucky has reported extremely large collections of adult armyworm moths.

According to their reports, these have been the highest captures they have recorded. These moths are also being captured in Ohio in relatively high numbers. With these higher moth collections, growers should be aware that the potential for problems this spring from armyworm larvae is high.

Growers should be concerned and thus, they should begin sampling wheat, grass pastures, corn adjacent to wheat fields, and corn planted in rye cover crops. This last scenario is especially important because we often see entire corn fields heavily damaged when grass cover crops are used.

Reports have been received of black cutworm cutting corn plants as they emerge from the soil, including in seed treated fields. Please contact your local Extension office if you have an outbreak of any of these pests in your fields.

contributed by Ron Hammond, Andy Michel, & Bruce Eisley

National Weather Service Update

Here's what Jim Noel with the National Weather Service has to say about the upcoming weather pattern:

Well, most of you probably do not want to hear from us right now. La Nina is rearing its ugly head. Historical data points to lower crop yields in years with La Nina events, especially for corn. Wheat and soybeans can go either way. We hope to present this research at the annual National Weather Association meeting this October in Louisville. Most of the time it is a wet and cool early spring followed by a dry early summer that causes this.

However, the exceptional wet winter and early spring means subsoil moisture levels are full. Hence, even some rain is filling things up to where it is causing issues.

It appears after a 3 week dry spell in April, May has opened with cool and moist conditions. It looks like this will linger for 2 more weeks. Not great news. This is against historical data which supported a near normal temperature May and below average rainfall. In fact, it is going to go down as a cool May with near normal rainfall and pockets of above normal rainfall. The real problem is the frequency of systems. They are coming every 2-3 days. The pattern is one not of real heavy and flooding rains, but frequent rainfalls. Expect another system Wednesday statewide mainly under 0.50 inches, another one in southern Ohio later Thursday or early Friday and another over the weekend and another next week.

In summary...Below normal temperatures and near normal rainfall with frequent light to moderate rains can be expected the next 2 weeks. It appears a warmer and drier pattern will close out May into early June.

It's wet in Coshocton County...

Field activity came to a hault mid-day yesterday when rain moved into the area. Looks like rain is on tap for today, but things should dry out this weekend when the sun returns.

I'm going to project that most county farmers have less than 20 percent of their crops in right now. Some fields have yet to dry out...

It's something new!

Hello agricultural producers in Coshocton County and other eastern Ohio counties!

In an effort to track crop insects and diseases, some Extension offices across the state have set up crop and weather blogs. These blogs are on-line "journals" that allow anyone to post a comment about crop conditions, weather information, and any other crop production info.

Please visit the blog regulary and contribute as much as you like (creating an account is easy and can be confidential).

There will often be polls about what's happening on your farm (see the current poll on the right side of the screen about how much grain crop is planted on your farm) so you can share what's happening on your farm with Extension professionals and other producers.

Most importantly, the information you provide will help Extension professionals track crop insects and diseases in the state. Crop scouting is important and knowing what weather conditions are and how crops are progressing are two critical components to this effort.

I look forward to reading your comments and learning from you all...