OHIO NOTEBOOK: Ohio corn and soybean yield predictions "optimistic"

Ohio State Extension

Though some of Ohio’s corn and soybean farmers may be pessimistic about this year’s yield, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is not.

Despite the excessive rain that fell in Ohio and the necessary replanting for many, sometimes multiple times, the USDA has a reasonably sunny prediction for Ohio’s average yield on corn, soybeans and wheat.

Ohio’s corn yields this year will be 7.5 percent higher than last year’s total at 171 bushels per acre compared to last year’s 159-bushel-per-acre state average, according to the USDA’s annual crop yield forecast released Aug. 10.

Though the USDA estimates that Ohio’s soybean yields will drop by nearly 3 percent this year (from 54.5 bushels per acre to 53 bushels per acre), that’s better than the 5 percent national average decline predicted for soybeans.

Ohio’s expected yield on winter wheat is forecasted to decrease by 3 bushels this year from 80 bushels per acre to 77 bushels per acre – a nearly 4 percent drop. But that beats the nearly 10 percent bushel decline expected on the national average for wheat.

Heavy rain throughout the growing season in much of Ohio has created difficult conditions for growing many crops. Some farmers have planted and replanted, sometimes twice, because seeds were washed away in rain, muddied soils crusted over preventing plants from emerging or standing water either stunted, killed off plants or caused disease.

“For the year we’ve had, the yield estimates are a bit optimistic,” said Harold Watters, an Ohio State University Extension agronomy field specialist and coordinator of the university’s Agronomic Crops Team. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).

MVNU faculty exhibit coming to Schnormeier Gallery

The Art and Design faculty at Mount Vernon Nazarene University will exhibit various artwork at MVNU’s Schnormeier Gallery Aug. 28 through Sept. 28.

In this exhibition, faculty members will exhibit recent works including ceramics, painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, mixed media, and graphic design. Each of the faculty participating is a working artist, educator, and has exhibited locally, regionally and nationally. Their studio practices are diverse and rigorous, and Schnormeier Gallery is pleased to present this array of creative expression.

There will be an opening reception on Friday, Sept. 1 from 6-9 p.m., in conjunction with Main Street Mount Vernon’s September First Friday in downtown Mount Vernon. This event and exhibition are open to the public. The show will be on display at Schnormeier Gallery weekdays from noon to 4:30 p.m.

- Mount Vernon Nazarene

Special lottery hunt available for Logan County

Transportation Research Center, Inc. (TRC) will hold a lottery drawing for special deer hunt opportunities on Tuesday, Aug. 29, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). The hunts take place on TRC managed property located in Logan County.

The drawing will take place at the West Mansfield Conservation Club, located at 700 South Main Street, West Mansfield, Ohio 43358. Registration begins at 5 p.m. and the drawing will be held at 6 p.m. To participate in the drawing, hunters must appear in person, be at least 18 years old and present a valid 2017-2018 Ohio hunting license and deer permit.  Youth hunters may participate in the hunt but are not eligible for the drawing.

Hunting dates will be scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays from September 30 – November 26, 2017, and approximately 14 hunters (and partners) will be drawn.

- ODNR