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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Field Day to Focus on Drought Situation

July 23, 2002

CUSTAR, Ohio - Corn and soybean growers throughout northwest Ohio should get a feel for how dire of a drought situation they are in at an Ohio State University Extension field day on July 25.

The Field Crops Day, to be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Northwest Branch, will bring together Ohio State Extension agents, animal science researchers, agronomists, plant pathologists and entomologists to discuss overall crop condition and yield impacts and offer production suggestions. The field day will also focus on forage crops and livestock utilization under drought-stressed situations.

The field day is free and open to the public. Free refreshments will be available.

"The field day will be an informal question and answer and panel discussion of the drought situation here in northwest Ohio. Just how bad is it and how much of the crops can be rescued," said Gary Wilson, an agricultural agent in Hancock County for Ohio State Extension.. "We cancelled some of the sessions to include at least two hours of drought discussion." According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) Drought Severity Index, northwest Ohio is under moderate drought conditions.

"Last night (July 22) we got a tenth of an inch to an inch of rain and that was the first major rainfall we've seen since June 10," said Wilson. "Before then we were getting too much rain and then it just stopped. Nobody is ever prepared for that." Other topics to be covered at the field day include new technologies in precision agriculture and how weed populations change with tillage rotation and herbicides.

For more information on the field day, contact Gary Wilson at (419) 422-3851 or wilson.26@osu.edu.

Author(s): 
Candace Pollock
Source(s): 
Gary Wilson