Growing Athens County 1 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

GROWING ATHENS COUNTY Growing Plants and Animals in Athens County Ohio May I 2019

IN THIS ISSUE:

Garden Time ..................Page 2

Millions in Ag. Sales......Page 3

Calving Period................Page 4

Sheep Numbers.............Page 5

Johne’s Disease............Page 5

Pasture Walk..................Page 6

Calendar of Events........Page 7

The Last Word................Page 8

Athens Ag. by the Numbers Every 5 years, the USDA conducts the census of agriculture. The last

one was in 2017. Many of you probably filled out the form and sent it in

or filled it out online. The results finally came out a few weeks ago. I

enjoy going over the numbers and find it interesting to see the trends in

Athens County. Throughout this newsletter, and probably the next few,

I will highlight the interesting facts that make our county unique. The

bottom line is that farming is still strong in Athens County and

contributes millions of dollars to the local economy; though much of

this may be through all of the purchases made to support our

operations. We are on the right track in decreasing expenses and

increasing profitability.

Spring Planting is well under way at the Master

Gardener Children’s Garden.

Growing Athens County 2 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

Master Gardener Plant Sale

Be sure to take advantage of the

Master Gardener Plant Sale on May

18 when selecting plants for your

garden. They will once again be at

the Athens Community Center, un-

der the solar panels from 9 AM—

Noon. Come early for the best se-

lection.

Garden Time Vegetable Trials

A new pilot project starting this year is the Southeast Ohio Vegetable Trials.

Home Gardeners from four counties are growing selected varieties of different

vegetables side by side and reporting their successes and failures. From this,

we will be generating recommendations for other growers as to what grows well

here, what tastes great

and what you might

want to avoid.. If all goes

well, we will be expand-

ing the program in the

coming years to include

a large network of gar-

deners helping us evalu-

ate vegetables in real

world gardens. You can

follow our progress

through our Facebook

page “Growing Athens

County” .

May is a great month to start your gar-

den. Take a look at what can be planted

this month.

Growing Athens County 3 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

Athens Agriculture Generates Millions of Dollars in Sales

When coming to Athens County almost 5 years ago, I was

concerned about the operating loses that farms were in-

curring. With the latest numbers, there may be cause for

cautious optimism. Over the last 20 years, farm sales

have gone from a little over six million dollars to a little

over eleven million dollars. At the same time, farm ex-

penses have been increasing at a faster rate. In economic

terms this is the law of diminishing returns. To earn more,

we are spending more with no return on our investment.

The last time that farmers turned a profit was in 2002. So,

where does the optimism come from? During the previous

census, farms were operating at an average $4000 loss.

The most recent numbers show that farms have cut that

in half and are operating at an average $2000 loss. As an

extension educator, I see my job as helping farmers in-

crease production and decrease costs. The good news is

that we have most of the numbers for the various farm

expenses and the opportunities for future sales. We can

do a whole farm analysis or help you to develop a farm

business plan. We can also evaluate your productions

“The farmer has to be an optimist

or he wouldn’t still be a farmer”

– Will Rodgers

methods to see where you might become more efficient.

Making changes on the farm may be difficult, but are

worth it in the long run. Even if that means taking uor

farm in a different direction.

Growing Athens County 4 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

The Long-Term Impact of a Few Days—John Grimes

For spring-calving beef herds, the

breeding season is currently or soon

will be underway. Many decisions have

been made in terms of the genetic

makeup of the 2020 calf crop. Natural

herd sires or sires to be used through

artificial insemination have been se-

lected. Mature cows have been re-

tained and replacement heifers have

been introduced to the breeding herd.

Hopefully the genetic decisions that

have been made will prove profitable

when next year’s calf crop is sold.

Reproduction is the most economically

important trait in beef cattle for the cow

-calf producer. Numerous studies have

shown that reproduction is several

times more important than growth or

carcass traits. Simply put, genetic su-

periority in any trait does not matter if

the beef female is not bred and deliver

a live calf for the producer.

Regardless of the size and scope of

your operation or your preferred time of

year to calve, there is little economic

justification for a lengthy calving sea-

son. The arrival of breeding season for

many herds seems like an appropriate

time to revisit this issue. A 60-day

breeding season is an ideal goal to

shoot for and I would recommend noth-

ing longer than 90 days. If you are cur-

rently involved in a longer breeding

season, there are valid economic and

management reasons to make a

change. It requires a little discipline,

some rigid culling, and a willingness to

use technology and other resources

available.

A joint study between Oklahoma State

and Texas A&M Universities found a

positive relationship between number

of days of the breeding season and the

production cost per hundredweight of

calf weaned. In addition, they reported

a negative relationship between num-

ber of days of the breeding season and

pounds of calf weaned per cow per

year. The full article can be found at

https://u.osu.edu/beef/2019/05/08/the-

long-term-impact-of-a-few-days/#more-

6735

Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter

A publication

of the Ohio

State

University

Beef Cattle Letter

The Ohio State Beef Cattle

team produces a weekly

newsletter with articles rele-

vant to cattle production in

Ohio. It can be found at

u.osu.edu/beef

Growing Athens County 5 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

The State of the Sheep Flock

Anyone involved in the sheep business

for the last few decades has seen the

changes in flock numbers and types of

production. In Athens County, sheep

numbers had been declining over the

last 15 years, but saw a recent surge

and a 20 year high in the latest Census

of Agriculture. This is similar to what

has been seen in the state of Ohio, but

not to the extent that was seen in Ath-

ens County. Although wool production

in Ohio has dropped dramatically over

the last 20 years, Athens County has

seen a steady increase over the last 15

years and is now

above 1997 lev-

els. This has re-

sulted in a ten

fold increase in

wool sales over

the last 5 years.

These sales are

combined with

increased meat

sales and points

towards a positive

trend for sheep

producers.

Sheep numbers and

sales in Athens

County have seen a

dramatic increase

over the past five

years.

Johne’s Disease in Small Ruminants

Michael Metzger, Michigan State University Extension Educator (Previously published on MSU Extension, Sheep & Goat: January 3, 2019)

Johne’s disease is a fatal gastrointestinal disease of sheep and goats and other ruminants (including cattle, elk, deer, and bison) that is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Also known as paratuberculosis, this infection is contagious, which means it can spread in your flock or herd. Young animals are more susceptible to the disease than adults. It is primarily spread by the fecal-oral route but may also be transmitted across the placenta and through milk and colostrum of infected ewes and does. The most consistent clinical sign in sheep and goats is chronic weight loss despite a good appetite. Although profuse diarrhea is common in cattle with Johne’s disease, this sign is not common with goats or sheep. It is important to differentiate this disease from internal parasites because these conditions may look similar. This wasting condition eventually results in death, although infected animals may take months to years to

show clinical signs of the disease. An infected animal can be shedding the organism in its feces, contaminating the environment and other animals in the herd. There is no cure for Johne’s disease.

The first diagnosis is often made at necropsy. Bacterial culture on live animals is not very successful in sheep. In goats, the bacteria can be cultured about 60% of the time when they are present in the feces. The bacteria are very slow growing and take 2 – 16 weeks to grow, meaning that negative results take at least 4 months and then a negative result may only mean failure to grow or that the animal is still in the early stages of disease. Blood tests can be used to detect antibodies to MAP. Blood tests rarely classify a healthy sheep or goat as infected (few false positives), but may misclassify many infected sheep and goats in the early stages of the disease and call them negative.

Due to lack of testing and reporting, it is not known how widespread Johne’s disease is in sheep and goats in the United States. However, the disease had been confirmed in many goat herds and sheep flocks throughout the country.

To read the full article go to https://u.osu.edu/sheep/2019/04/30/johnes-disease-in-small-ruminants/

Sheep numbers (including lambs) in Athens County are at

their highest level in 20 years

Growing Athens County 6 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

Growing Athens County 7 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

Over the last 20 years, the number of farms in Athens County has trended up

There are now 687 farms in the county.

Calendar of Events

May 11—AMW Cattlemen’s

Youth Grooming Clinic

May 16 –Athens County

Area Beekeepers Meeting,

Extension Office, 7 PM

May 18—Master Gardener

Plant , Athens Community

Center, 9 AM—12 Noon

May 20—Master Gardner

Monthly Meeting, Male’-

Brune house, 6 PM

June 6—Athens Grazing

Council Pasture Walk,

Sturbois Farm, 6 PM

June 17—SEOWIG tree

stand tour in Hocking Coun-

ty.

Growing Athens County 8 ATHENS COUNTY EXTENSION

CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu.

For an accessible format of this publication, visit cfaes.osu.edu/accessibility.

Athens County Extension 280 W. Union St. Athens, OH 45701 Phone: 740-593-8555

Fax: 740-592-1113 Brown.6000@osu.edu

The Last Word

I’ll end the newsletter in the same way that I started,

with a reflection on the numbers. It’s always interesting

to see the direction that farming is taking in the county.

Some things remain pretty consistent while others

seem to follow trends, especially with the specialty and

niche markets. I do get the question from time to time

from people interested in getting into farming, “What

can I grow to make money?” I always follow that with

“What are you interested in growing?” There is not one

that I can guarantee that you will make money with.

Farming can be an expensive proposition to get into

and people have many different reasons to start farm-

ing. It tends to be a business or a hobby or a little of

both. For those wanting to make it a true business, it

takes a real dedication to develop a business plan,

keep good records, and then make changes as need-

ed. Even with the best management, things don’t al-

ways go as planned. Farming is a risky business and

not for the faint of heart.

While honey production is down, sales have shot up

over the last 5 years. (sales numbers are not availa-

ble for years prior to 2012)