February 5 Dr. Pierce Paul, OSU Extension State Specialist in Corn and Small Grain Diseases will speak to the Conservation Tillage Club about Corn Diseases.  Although the current crop season started out with few corn diseases, gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight did appear in some area corn fields.  Later in the growing season, some farmers experienced corn ear rots which had an impact on grain quality.  Dr. Paul will discuss these and other disease issues in corn production, providing recommendations for effective control.  Deciding when the disease reaches an economic threshold for fungicide treatment is only one factor to consider.  The other one is the window of opportunity to make application for best control.  Producers will learn about these topics as well as choosing a disease resistance package while selecting the best hybrid for a field will be part of this meeting’s message.      

The January 22 program will feature Bailey Elchinger, an INTL FC Stone, Risk Management Consultant with Grains.  Her presentation will focus on the 2019 Grain Marketing Outlook.  After experiencing a high yielding growing season this year with lower grain prices, farmers are looking for marketing tips to make the new year more profitable.  World events such as trade with China, changing weather patterns, production in other crop producing areas, and the abundant supply of grains have had an impact on the current markets.  Elchinger will discuss some of these events and how they could impact market projections for 2019.  Her presentation will also provide some insight about grain marketing options to consider and tools that producers might use to help reduce risk and gain better insight to help make better marketing decisions.            

The Central Ohio Precision Ag Symposium will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at All Occasions Catering 6986 Waldo-Delaware Rd., Waldo Ohio from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  This year’s program will feature the most current technologies available in precision agriculture. These topics will be shared by some of the leading university and industry Precision Ag experts.