Season 3, Episode 11 of Battle for the Belt is now available
In Episode 11 of Battle for the Belt, we get a June weather update from Dr. Aaron Wilson, OSU Extension Ag Weather & Climate Field Specialist and State Climatologist of Ohio.
Join us on February 27th for the 5th annual virtual Corn College and Soybean School presented by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomic Crops Team. The program will run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and feature OSU Extension field and state specialists with updates and topics relevant for the 2025 growing season. CCA CEU credits will be available upon viewing the live presentations.
The purpose of the Ohio Corn Performance Test (OCPT) is to evaluate corn hybrids for grain yield and other important agronomic characteristics. Results of the test can assist farmers in selecting hybrids best suited to their farming operations and production environments as well as recommendations made by seed companies and breeding programs.
With >70% of mature corn and harvest season just started it is time for a brief update on dry down and potential lodging issues post-recent storms. Cooler than normal temperatures and wetter than normal precipitation can impact corn drydown. We recently transitioned to cooler temperatures as well as ample precipitation in many parts of the state.
The last USDA Crop Progress & Condition report (week ending 9/29/24) indicated that 96% of Ohio's corn acreage was at the dented stage (R5), 70% of corn was mature (R6), and 16% was harvested for grain. All of last week’s progress was well ahead of 2023 and the 5-year average for this time of the year.
Today rounds out our 16th week of monitoring for Ohio pests at the Lep Network. This past week, we have seen a sharp decline in WBC numbers and are continuing to see a low average for CEW. Since we are nearing the end of scouting season for WBC, expect this decline to continue and for averages to remain low. Monitoring for WBC will only continue for one more week, while CEW scouting will carry on through August.
We have just finished out our 15th week of monitoring for Ohio pests at the Lep Network. This past week, we have seen a continuation of WBC numbers trending down and a slight increase in the CEW average. As was mentioned last week, WBC populations across Ohio have most likely hit their peak numbers of the season and a decline should be expected.
Corn growth and development are progressing well across most of the state (Figure 1), though recent reports indicated limited rainfall and dry soil conditions potentially leading to crop stress in some areas. Despite the wide range of growth and stages across the state due to a wide planting date window this year, over 50% of corn fields have reached the silking stage, R1 (Figure 2).
This week we continue providing updates pertaining to the projected risk of grain contamination with the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), which is commonly referred to as vomitoxin. This week, the focus is on fields reaching the silking or R1 growth stage between July 21 and August 4. Using temperature and RH data from CFAES weather stations across the state of Ohio as predictors, the chance (or probability) of vomitoxin contamination of corn grain was estimated using models developed in the Paul lab.