The Ohio Agronomy Guide

168 Pages·2005·1.99 MB·English

Less Acres and Variable
Bulletin 472
Yield Mark Ohio’s Crops
From 1994 to 2004, the combined acreage of soybean,
corn, wheat, and hay decreased by 6 percent. Oat
Ohio Agronomy Guide
acreage decreased from 120,000 to 60,000 while the
number of farms fell from 80,000 to 77,000.
In 2003 Ohio produced 487,920,000 bushels of corn,
162,640,000 bushels of soybean, 68,000,000 bushels
wheat, and 3,974,000 tons of hay. The combined
th
14 Edition
value of that production was over $2 billion.
In 2003 the top producing counties were:
Corn Soybean Wheat Hay
1. Darke 1. Darke 1. Wood 1. Wayne
2. Wood 2. Wood 2. Putnam 2. Holmes
3. Fulton 3. Putnam 3. Paulding 3. Muskingum
4. Madison 4. Madison 4. Hancock 4. Tuscarawas
5. Pickaway 5. Hancock 5. Henry 5. Columbiana
To: Ohio Farmers and Agricultural Industry Personnel
From: The Authors
The agronomic crop scientists at The Ohio State University are pleased to present the 14th edition of the
Ohio Agronomy Guide. First published in 1966, the Ohio Agronomy Guide continues to serve as the official
compilation of adaptive research results and recommendations from research and educational programs.
Ohio agronomic research programs are designed to determine responses of various crops and cropping
systems to management practices and resource inputs, as well as to understand the basic biological and
chemical mechanisms responsible for these responses. This basic research thrust allows us to model
cropping systems and predict their behavior under a variety of management schemes. Our aim is also to
continue developing technologies and cropping systems that are efficient in capturing solar energy, sus-
tainable over time, and environmentally compatible.
This 14th edition reflects a major change in format for the Ohio Agronomy Guide. Weed control products
and recommendations are printed in a separate bulletin (Weed Control Guide for Ohio Field Crops, OSU
Extension Bulletin 789). Soil fertility information and fertilization recommendations for soybeans, corn,
wheat, and alfalfa are also printed separately (Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Corn, Soybeans,
Wheat, and Alfalfa, OSU Extension Bulletin E-2567). Both bulletins are available at county Extension of-
fices and are also available on the Internet at the Ohio Agronomic Crops Team web site: http://www.
agcrops.osu.edu.
We will continue to supplement the information in this guide with other publications and fact sheets as
necessary. For additional details and assistance, contact your local county Extension educator or one of
the authors (see inside front cover). We welcome your suggestions and input for improvement of both
this publication and our research and educational programs.
Authors
Dr. David Barker Horticulture and Crop Science
Dr. Jim Beuerlein Horticulture and Crop Science
Dr. Anne Dorrance Plant Pathology
Dr. Don Eckert School of Natural Resources
Mr. Bruce Eisley Entomology
Dr. Ron Hammond Entomology
Dr. Edward Lentz OSU Extension, Seneca County
Dr. Patrick Lipps Plant Pathology
Dr. Mark Loux Horticulture and Crop Science
Dr. Robert Mullen School of Natural Resources
Dr. Mark Sulc Horticulture and Crop Science
Dr. Peter Thomison Horticulture and Crop Science
Dr. Maurice Watson School of Natural Resources
Acknowledgments
We would also like to thank the Section of Communications and Technology for text editing, layout, and
development of illustrations.
i
This publication contains pesticide recommendations that are subject to change at any time. These recom-
mendations are provided only as a guide. It is always the pesticide applicator’s responsibility, by law, to
read and follow all current label directions for the specific pesticide being used. Due to constantly chang-
ing labels and product registration, some of the recommendations given in writing may no longer be legal
by the time you read them. If any information in these recommendations disagrees with the label, the rec-
ommendation must be disregarded. No endorsement is intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism
meant for products not mentioned. The authors and Ohio State University Extension assume no liability
resulting from the use of these recommendations.
Copyright © 2005 Ohio State University Extension
OSU Extension embraces human diversity and is committed to ensuring that all educational
programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a
nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, age, gender identity or expression,
disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Director,
Ohio State University Extension
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868
9/05—XX—XXXXXX
ii
Contents
Chapter 1—Ohio’s Climate and Soil
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Soil Formation and Soil Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Soil Properties and Crop Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Organic Matter Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Soil Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Subsoil pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Soil Water Available to Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Slope of the Topography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Natural Soil Drainage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Ohio Soil Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Available Data on Soil Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 2—Soil and Water Management
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Drainage—The Critical Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Managing Soil Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Efficient Water Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Irrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Soil Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conservation Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conservation Tillage and No-Till . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Basics of Conservation Tillage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Drainage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Compaction Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cover Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Planting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Soil Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Weed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Considerations for Crop Production on Mine Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 3—Soil Fertility
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Elements Essential for Plant Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Primary Macronutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Secondary Macronutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Micronutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Animal Manure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Calculating Fertilizer Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Lime and Liming Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Determination of Lime Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Liming Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Lime Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Adjustments for the Type of Liming Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Adjust for the Depth of Tillage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
No-Till Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Other Adjustments in Lime Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Why Re-liming Is Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Acidic Subsoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Organic Soils (Muck and/or Peat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
iii
High Organic Matter Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Diagnostic Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Soil Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Soil Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Soil pH and Buffer pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Available Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exchangeable Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Cation Exchange Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Calcium to Magnesium Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Magnesium to Potassium Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Soluble Salts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Plant Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Plant Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Interpretation of Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 4—Corn Production
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
How Climate Affects Corn Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Corn Growth and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Hybrid Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Days-to-Maturity Rating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Growing-Degree-Day (GDD) Maturity Rating System . . . . . . . . . . 35
Yield Potential and Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Stalk Quality and Lodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Disease Resistance and Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Grain Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Date of Planting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Seeding Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Row Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Plant Populations and Seeding Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Making Replant Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Fertility Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Phosphorus and Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Crop Rotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Corn Pest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Weed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Insect Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Disease Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
. Test Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Ear Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Corn Silage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Specialty Types of Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Isolation Requirements for Identity Preserved (IP) Non-
GMO Corn Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Chapter 5—Soybean Production
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Variety Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
iv
Variety Performance Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Disease Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Early Season and Seed-Borne Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Mid-Season to Late-Season Soybean Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Crop Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Tillage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Producing Soybeans Without Tillage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rhizobium Inoculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Planting Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Late Planting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Row Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Skip-Row Planting Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Plant Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Replanting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Planting Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Fertilization Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Nitrogen (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Phosphorus (P) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Potassium (K) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Sulfur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Manganese (Mn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Insect Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Weed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 6—Small Grain Production
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Wheat Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Variety Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
High-Quality Seed and Seed Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Crop Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Land Selection and Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Planting Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Seeding Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Row Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Lodging Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Manganese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Disease Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Insect Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Weed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Production of Other Small Grain Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Weed Control for Small Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 7—Forage Production
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Perennial Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Species Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Agronomic Adaptation & Intended Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Pure Stands vs. Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
v
Mixtures for Hay and Silage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Mixtures for Pastures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Seeding Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Examples of Seeding Rates for Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Characteristics of Perennial Cool-Season Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Forage Species Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Pre-establishment Fertilization and Liming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Soil pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Topsoil pH Levels for Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Phosphorus and Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Pre-establishment Fertilization for No-Till . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Starter Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Stand Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Crop Rotation and Autotoxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Seed Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Seed Inoculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Seed Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Spring Seedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Late Summer Seedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Conventional Tillage Seeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
No-Till and Minimum-Till Seeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Seeding Year Harvest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Fertilizing Established Stands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Timing Topdress Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Nitrogen Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Micronutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Grass Tetany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Established Stand Harvest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
First Harvest Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Summer Harvest Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Intensive Cutting for High Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Fall Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Minimizing Fall Harvesting Hazard to Tall Legumes . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Weed Management in Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Insect Pest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Warm-Season Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Annual Lespedeza (Kummerowia spp.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Perennial Warm-Season Grasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Annual Forage Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Small Grains for Forage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Establishment and Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Harvest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Grazing Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Animal Health Concerns with Small Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Summer-Annual Grasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Harvest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Animal Health Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
vi
Reducing the Risk of Prussic Acid Poisoning in
Sorghum Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Brassica Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Animal Health Concerns With Brassicas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Chapter 8—Multiple Cropping
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Multiple Cropping Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Double Cropping With Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Double Cropping Wheat and Soybean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Relay Intercropping Wheat and Soybean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Alternative Wheat/Soybean Relay Intercropping System . . . . . . . 122
Emergency Aerial Seeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Chapter 9—Pasture and Grazing Management
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Grazing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Stocking Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Grazing Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Feed Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Improving Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Fertilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Weed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Pasture Renovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
First-Year Management of Renovated Pastures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Pasture Species and Cultivar Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Cool-Season Grass Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Legumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Other Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Chapter 10—Alternative Crops
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Buckwheat Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Canola Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Grain Sorghum Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Sugarbeet Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Sunflower Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Other Alternative Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Chapter 11—Variety Evaluation, Seed Quality,
and the Seed Law
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Seed Quality Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Seed/Variety Protection Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Chapter 12—Principles of Weed Management
in Agronomic Crops
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Weed Management in Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Weed Management in Soybeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Weed Management in Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
vii
Managing Weeds in Forage Legumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Control Before and During Forage Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Control in Established Forages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
English and Metric Conversions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
viii
Chapter 1
Ohio’s Climate and Soil
By Dr. Jim Beuerlein
Because no mountain ranges exist between Ohio and along the Lake Erie shore to a low of 140 days in east
the polar regions, no effective barrier prevents the central Ohio (Figure 1-1). The earliest dates with a
southward spread of Arctic air from northern Canada. 50% or less chance of frost (32°F) range from April 20
Similarly, warm tropical air masses move freely north- for areas immediately adjacent to Lake Erie to May 15
ward in the summer. Storm systems form along the in east central Ohio (Figure 1-2). The earliest freezing
boundary between major cold and warm air masses, temperatures in the field generally occur around Sep-
and storm paths frequently cross the Ohio Valley and tember 30 in east central Ohio and October 20 along
the Lower Great Lakes. the Lake and in southern Ohio (Figure 1-3).
The climate of Ohio varies significantly throughout the Most soils in Ohio are saturated during March and ear-
state. Mean annual air temperatures range from 49°F ly April. Although growing season rainfall varies from
in the northeast to 57°F in the extreme south. Normal a low of 18 inches to a high of 26 inches (Figure 1-4), it
annual precipitation ranges from a low of less than 30 may not be adequate for maximum yield unless effec-
inches at Put-in-Bay to a high of more than 44 inches in tive water management practices are used throughout
parts of Clinton and Highland Counties. Ohio’s cli- the growing season. Soil moisture declines during
mate is continental, with a wide range of air tempera- June, July, and August; by the end of August, available
tures, higher precipitation in the spring and summer, soil moisture is usually reduced by 80% or more.
and lower precipitation in the fall and winter.
For additional information on climate and its influence
Average length of the freeze-free period (number of on crop production, refer to: http://www.usda.gov/
growing season days) ranges from a high of 200 days nass/pubs/staterpt.htm?
180
190
200 170
170
Fulto1n50 1L6u0cas 181090 200 Lake Ashtabula 150 160
Williams Ottawa 140
Cuyahoga Geauga Trumbull
Defiance Wood Sandusky Erie Lorain Portage
S 140
150 Paulding Henry Hancock Seneca Huron Medina umm
Putnam it Mahoning
VanWert Allen Hardin Wyandot Crawford hland Ashland Wayne Stark Columbiana 150
Auglaize Marion Ric Carroll 150
Holmes
Mercer Logan Union Morrow Knox Tuscarawas son 150
Darke Shelby Delaware Coshocton Harrison Jeffer 160
Licking
Champaign Belmont
160 Miami Franklin Guernsey 170
Clark 150
Montgomery 180 Perry Muskingum
Monroe
Preble
170 Greene Madison Pickaway Fairfield Morgan Noble
Fayette
Butler Hocking
Warren Clinton Washington
Ross
Athens
Vinton
Hamilton 180
mont Highland Pike Meigs 180
180190 Cler Brown Adams Jackson
190 Scioto Gallia 180
Lawrence
180
Figure 1-1. Average number of days without killing frost.
1