Our new Master Gardener training class for 2016 will be held on Thursdays, March 3, through May 5. Some of the topics that will be presented include soils and fertility, botany and plant propagation, lawn care, invasive species, trees and pruning, good and bad insects, fruit/vegetable/herb production, ornamentals/annuals/bulbs, and integrated pest management. The cost for this training is $150. If you are interested in learning more, contact our office for an application packet.

According to OSU Plant Pathologist Anne Dorrance and Nemotologist Terry Niblack, the farm fields in Ohio are “polluted” with Soybean Cyst Nematodes. Fortunately, most of those fields are at very low levels. However, there are areas where individual fields have gotten into trouble with very high populations. So, this year’s early harvest provides the perfect opportunity to take a look at the SCN populations in *your* fields.

Sampling in the fall is recommended. With the warmer weather this year and no frozen ground (yet!) there should be plenty of time to collect the samples and have them processed in time for spring planting. Processing of samples does cost money, so here are a few thoughts on how to target your sampling to get the best information:

Target those fields where yields have been stuck at or below 30 bu/A. Do you have pockets in a field where the soybeans tend to be shorter or mature earlier, that maybe always yield less than the rest of the field?? Those would be prime locations and should be given the top priority for sampling. A sample area should be no more than about twenty acres; if the field or identified location is larger than that, you will need to have additional samples tested.

Samples are collected in the same way as for soil tests: 12 to 25 scores taken in a zig-zag fashion across the area. These cores should be one-inch in diameter and six to eight inches deep. Mix these cores in a bucket and break up any clods. Put about two cups of this mixture in a plastic bag and seal it. You will want to have this sample identified with the field/location where you collected it, as well as your name. Keep this sample cool and out of the sun until you get it to the lab.

What lab? Well, we’re in luck: Brookside Labs in New Bremen does testing for SCN. Their address is 200 White Mountain Drive on the west edge of New Bremen. Phone, 417-977-2766.

Now, while SCN is picky about what it feeds and reproduces on, it does like a few weed hosts and cover crops as well as soybean. If you have SCN in your fields, it is important to also control winter annuals such as purple deadnettle and avoid cover crops such as several of the clovers, cowpea, and common and hairy vetch.

Well, I’ve had the Fuzzy Babies out on pasture the past two weeks. They love it: running, kicking, eventually eating. They have settled right in. However, you should have seen the look on the faces of the Big Kids when they first realized that Happy Meal and SirLoin were in “their” fields! They eventually laid down on the other side of the gate, waiting for their turn, even though they had access to a whole field on their side!

I’m hoping we can get the barn set up so each group can have access to “their” own pen (without the big ones crowding out the small ones). That way we could run them together while grazing. Maybe now that the corn’s off …