farming

Share rental agreements

Last week, cash rental agreements were discussed and now crop share rental agreements. For crop share rental agreements, both landowner and tenant share crop expenses and also the crop. This involves much more involvement of landowners in the farming operation. The landowner has the land while the tenant supplies the labor and the equipment for farming the crop. Since the landowner has more risk, usually the return is expected to be higher, but they also have to have more cash outlay. For newer farmers or for cash strapped tenant farmers, this can be helpful, lowering the tenant cash outlay and risk, but the tenant should expect lower total returns.

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Crop Update

May has been a cold and wet and many farmers are struggling to get crops planted. Some for the first time. Others are already replanting. Although a week old, May 18th USDA’s crop progress report is probably fairly accurate with the recent rains. Estimates are that only 34% of corn acres are planted in Ohio, with 22% of corn emerged. Emerged acres are probably higher by now. Corn planting progress was behind the 5-year average (48%), but corn emergence was slightly ahead (20%) as of May 18th. For soybeans, 40% of soybean acre were planted and 24% of soybeans emerged.

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Reducing compaction with roots

Brian Doughtery, a Understanding Ag consultant, says compaction is a sign of a poorly functioning soil. Soil compaction is not a natural occurrence, it comes from too much equipment (heavy axle loads, too much tillage), not enough biology (lack of roots and living organisms), and excess nutrients.

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New agricultural research

Recent soybean research by Dr. Rafiq Islam, Ohio State University shows benefits from using sulfur fertilization and small doses of aspirin or salicylic acid (SA, a fulvic acid) to increase soybean yields. Soybeans are planted on about 86.5 million USA acres. Yearly increases in soybean yields have been flat and with lower prices, farmers are looking for ways to get higher yields. Hot weather, drought, flooding and other environmental issues have caused soybean yields to stagnate.

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Paulding FFA hosts Tractor Drive-in Day and Parade!

In honor of National Ag Day on March 19, the Paulding FFA held their annual Tractor Drive-in Day and Parade to celebrate on Friday, March 21. 18 members drove their tractors to school including Johnny Lipps, Anna Clemens, Makenna Dunham, Jalyn Klopfenstein, Nick Hatcher, Grady Barton, Mariah Klopfenstein, Mackenzie Leatherman, Kayleigh Dunham, Owen Workman, RJ Wirts, Blake Trausch, Ava Leatherman, Aly White, Delaney Johanns Jackson Gunderman, Max and Kalan Burns, and Remington Boroff. The Paulding FFA members and the students who drove tractors showed the elementary students their tractors and allowed them to climb up in the tractors and explore them.

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