I hope this Newsletter finds you well. Darke County, along with the rest of Ohio, remains in very dry conditions, with varying chances of light rain over the next week (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OH). Silage harvest is largely completed, and soybean harvest is underway as well. Waterhemp has been shown to be one of the more prominent weeds in Darke County soybean fields, with volunteer corn, giant ragweed, velvetleaf, and foxtail appearing as well. Overall, there seems to be less disease pressure in crops than in previous years, but there are cases of Tar Spot, Northern Corn Leaf Blight, and some other diseases in the corn fields.
I’ll be at Worch Library on October 30th at 6:00 p.m. to discuss Backyard Poultry Production. If you’ve ever wondered about getting into small-scale poultry raising, or if you’re interested in learning more about the flock you already have, this program may be of interest to you. We’ll discuss the basics of nutrition, management, species consideration, and other topics for both meat and laying birds.
Our next Darke County Garden Roundtables will be September 24th at 12:00 p.m. and September 25th at 6:00 p.m. These sessions will be at the OSU Extension office, and the agenda is attached.
The next Darke County Ag Breakfast will be October 17th at 7:30 a.m. at Jack’s Cabin in Greenville.
This week’s Newsletter topics include:
Battle for the Belt
·Crop Insurance Decisions for 2026
Fall Armyworm Update
Planting Challenges for Forages and Small Grains
·Strategies for Managing Beef Cattle in a Drought
I hope you enjoy this week’s Newsletter, and as always, never hesitate to reach out to me and let me know how I can best serve you and all of Darke County.
by Caden Buschur, Darke County Extension Educator