Spray drift not only results in wasting expensive pesticides and pollution of the environment, it may damage non-target crops nearby, and poses a serious health risk to people living in areas where drift is occurring. Drift happens! It accounts for about half of all non-compliance cases investigated by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

This year, due of the wet conditions we experienced during the spring, Fusarium head blight, also known as head scab, developed in a few localized areas of the state. Grain harvested from scab-affected fields is often contaminated with vomitoxin and other mycotoxins, because the disease and toxins go hand in hand. Severely affected kernels are usually small, shriveled, lightweight, covered with pinkish-white fungal mycelium, and most importantly, heavily contaminated with mycotoxins.

Corn development varies tremendously across Ohio because of planting dates that range from late April to early July. Some corn is tasseling and silking but in many counties, corn stages range from V7-V12. Moreover, it is not unusual to see striking differences in plant height and growth within cornfields.

It is important to understand corn growth and development in order to determine the health and status of the crop for effective use of management practices (e.g. application of post-emergence chemicals) and assessment of stress events (e.g. flooding, drought, hail, etc.).

The 2019 Ohio Manure Science Review is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7 at JIMITA Holsteins, a 400-plus-acre family dairy farm at 9877 Strasburg Bolivar Road NW in Strasburg Ohio. Strasburg is about 20 miles south of Canton, Tuscarawas County, in Northeast Ohio.

Registration is $25 by July 30; $30 after July 30; and includes coffee, doughnuts, and lunch and the afternoon tour. Participants can earn Certified Livestock Manager and Certified Crop Advisor credits.

Week three of The Ohio State University Western bean cutworm (WBC) monitoring network has resulted in an increase of moths captured. Last week’s trap count included WBC adults captured from July 8 – July 13. A total of 24 counties monitored 75 traps across Ohio. Overall, trap counts increased, resulting in a total of 287 WBC adults (18 total last week) and a statewide average of 3.8 moths/trap (up from 0.3 average last week) (Figure 1).