OSU Extension Farm Office Live to be held on Friday, March 15 from 10:00 to 12:00 noon

This month’s webinar will feature the following topics:

  • 2nd Marriages and Transition Planning
  • Legislative Update
  • New Rule for Independent Contractors
  • 2024 Crop Input Outlook
  • Industry Panel on WASDE and Strategies for the 2024 Grain Marketing Plan
  • Hot Topics
  • Upcoming Programs

Featured presenters will include: Robert Moore and Peggy Hall (OSU Ag and Resource Law Program), Barry Ward and Jeff Lewis (OSU Income Tax School Program), and Bruce Clevenger  (OSU Field Specialist -Farm Management).

To register for this program (or to access replays of previous programs):

go.osu.edu/farmofficelive

Characteristics of Ohio Women in Agriculture

By: PhD student Rae Ju and Professor Ani Katchova, Farm Income Enhancement Chair, in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE), and Nanette L. Neal and Sarah Noggle, Extension Educators in Agriculture and Natural Resources in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Department of Extension at the Ohio State University.

Click here to access the pdf version of the report.

Using data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, the characteristics of female farmers in Ohio are examined and compared to the overall farming population.

Profile of Ohio Women Farmers

The majority of agricultural producers in Ohio are male farmers, constituting approximately two-thirds of the total, while female farmers represent about one-third. The percentage of female farmers has remained stable, with a minor decrease from 33.6% to 33.1% between 2017 and 2022.

The geographic distribution of female farmers throughout Ohio’s counties was also examined. Counties in Northwest and Southeast Ohio have a lower number of female farmers, with the number of female farmers being less than 500. However, the counties in Southeast Ohio had a relatively high proportion of female farmers, exceeding 33% of the total farming population. In contrast, the counties in Northwest Ohio had a lower percentage of female farmers (less than 33%).

The average age of female farmers in Ohio was 55.4 years, while the average age of male farmers was slightly higher at 56.8 years in 2022. Regarding the age distribution of female farmers, the data suggest a predominant concentration of farmers in the 55-64 age range. In age groups below 55 years old, the percentage of female farmers is slightly higher than that of male farmers. On the other hand, the percentage of male farmers is slightly higher than female farmers for farmers that are 65 or older. Overall, the age distribution pattern is similar for female and male farmers.

The farming occupation and off-farm employment reveal distinct differences between male and female farmers in Ohio. Only 31% of female farmers in Ohio considered farming their primary occupation in 2022, suggesting a reliance on various income sources. Additionally, 40% of female farmers in Ohio were actively involved in off-farm work for over 200 days per year.

Characteristics of Farms Operated by Female Producers

In 2022, there were 40,269 farms operated by female farmers and 72,184 farms operated by male farmers. The average size of farms operated by female farmers was 132.9 acres, in contrast to the larger average of 185.4 acres operated by male farmers. Female farmers were more likely than male farmers to operate farms that are smaller than 50 acres, while the reverse is true for farms greater than 50 acres.

Female farmers in Ohio operate a variety of farm types, including crop production, animal production, and aquaculture. Over half of the farms operated by female producers in Ohio specialized in crop farming. Specifically, 24% of the farms operated by female producers specialized in oilseed and grain, followed by 22% in other crop farming. In addition, 15% of the farms operated by female producers specialized in beef cattle ranching and farming and 14% specialized in aquaculture and other animal production in 2022. Female and male producers are more likely to specialize in crop production than livestock production.  About 55% of farms operated by female farmers in Ohio specialized in crop production which is lower than the 63% of farms operated by male farmers.

Examining land ownership patterns, full ownership was more common among female farmers, with 80% holding full ownership of their operated acres. On the other hand, 17% of female farmers were part owners of the operated acres compared to 26% for male farmers.

Female farmers predominantly appear in the lower sales categories, specifically those with sales under $25,000. Conversely, in the higher sales brackets, the representation of female farmers decreases significantly. Only 9% of female farmers had sales between $100,000 and $499,999, and 6% had sales above $500,000.

Farms with female producers in Ohio had $146,744, while farms with male producers had $213,060 in market value of agricultural products sold and government payments in 2022. Using the USDA’s definition of economic classes, the average market value of products sold from farms operated by female farmers was $145,313 on a per-farm basis. A higher percentage of female farmers than male farmers belonged to the lower economic class, specifically in the category with less than $5,000 in market value of all products sold. In contrast, the distribution pattern for male farmers is the opposite, with a more significant percentage of male farmers than female farmers in the higher economic classes.

References:

United States. (2022). U.S. Census of Agriculture. https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/

Ohio Farmland Leasing Update webinar is March 1

Northeast Ohio Small Farm Financial to be held in Cortland, Ohio on March 9 and 16

By: Lee Beers, Extension Educator – Trumbull County

Small and beginning farmers in NE Ohio are encouraged to participate in the new in-depth farm management educational program! The college will consist of two Saturday courses to be held on the March 9 and March 16, 2024. Both days will run from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM with lunch included. Both days will be held at the OSU Extension Trumbull County Office, located at 520 West Main St in Cortland, Ohio. This course will offer 10 hours of farm management education that will help start your farm on the path to financial success.

The college is designed to help landowners examine potential ways to increase profits on their small acreage properties. The program is open to all new or aspiring farmers, new rural landowners, small farmers, and farm families looking for new ideas. During this college, participants will be challenged to develop realistic expectations for their new farm business. They will receive information on getting started, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their property, and developing a farm business plan. Information on farm finances, insurance, liability, labor, and marketing will be covered during the college.

The cost for the college is $100 per participant, with the option to bring an additional family/farm member for $50. This program also qualifies attendees for the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program. Those interested in receiving this credit would be subject to additional requirements and fees (More information is available later in this release and online). Those interested in registering for this college, please access: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4HqwjHUs1yJGQx8

More information about the college can be obtained by calling the Trumbull County Extension office at 330-638-6783

 

 

 

 

OSU Extension Launches New Food Business Central Online Course

By Emily Marrison, Assistant Professor and Extension Educator- Family & Consumer Sciences in Coshocton County

Are you a baker ready to sell your home-baked goods? Are you a farmer looking for value-added opportunities for crops you’ve grown or livestock you’ve raised? Are you an entrepreneur aiming to use local agricultural products to make value-added foods? The new Food Business Central online course through Ohio State University Extension can equip you with knowledge and strategies to launch a successful farm-raised or home-based food business in Ohio.

Navigating food regulations, establishing a new business, and applying best practices for food safety can be challenges for food entrepreneurs. “Many people interested in starting a food business aren’t sure where to turn first,” says Emily Marrison, OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Educator and course development team member. “This course is designed to serve as a centralized hub to connect participants to information and resources regarding all types of food products they might want to make and sell.”

OSU Extension experts will help you develop a Food Business Action Plan and learn what you need to start off organized, safe, compliant, and strategic. The self-paced course focuses on several food types including cottage foods and baked goods, canned foods, meat, poultry, eggs, and more. Throughout the course participants will consider key questions and develop action steps to take on their journey to start a food business. As food entrepreneurs complete the course, they will have the answers they need to complete a business plan with help from their local Small Business Development Center. The cost of the course is $25, and registration is at go.osu.edu/foodbusinesscentral .

The development of the Food Business Central online course has been funded through a grant from North Central Extension Risk Management Education. This assistance comes from the United States Department of Agriculture through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop resources that help farmers and ranchers effectively manage risk in their operations. Click here for informational flyer

OSU Extension Farm Office Live to be held on Friday, February 16 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

OSU Extension and the Farm Office Team is pleased to be offering the “Farm Office Live” webinar on Friday, February 16, 2024 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

This month’s webinar will feature the following topics:

  • Ag & Natural Resources State Update
  • Reporting for the Corporate Transparency Acy
  • 2024 Crop Input Outlook
  • OSU Extension’s New Food Business Central Course
  • Legislative Round-up
  • Spring Crop Insurance
  • Farm Bill Update – A Panel Discussion
  • Upcoming Programs

Featured presenters will include: Chris Zoller (OSU Extension Interim State ANR Leader), Robert Moore & Peggy Hall (OSU Ag and Resource Law Program), Barry Ward (OSU Income Tax School Director), David Marrison & Eric Richer (OSU Field Specialists -Farm Management), Emily Marrison (Assistant Professor and Family & Consumer Sciences Educator), Clint Schroeder (Program Manager – Ohio Farm Business Analysis Program) and Brandon Kern (Director of Public Affairs and Issues Analysis- Ohio Soybean Association)

To register for this program (or to access replays of previous programs):

go.osu.edu/farmofficelive

More information about this program can be accessed at farmoffice.osu.edu

OSU Extension to host Eastern – Ohio Small Farm Conference – April 6, 2024 at the Mid – East Career Technical Center Buffalo Campus, Senecaville, Ohio

By: Julie Wayman, Community Development Educator -OSU Extension Ashtabula County

Ohio State Extension announced plans to host a Small Farm Conference in Senecaville, Ohio on April 6, 2024. The theme for this year’s Mid-Ohio Small Farm Conference is “Sowing Seeds for Success.”

Click here to access 2024 Small Conference Brochure

Conference session topics are geared to beginning and small farm owners as well as to farms looking to diversify their operation. There will be five different conference tracks including: Horticulture and Produce Production, Business Management, Livestock, Natural Resources and new this year The Farm Kitchen.  Some conference topic highlights include: Raising Meat Rabbits, Making Goat Milk Soap, Timber Harvesting and Marketing, Basics of Growing PawPaw’s, Food Preservation Basics, Herb Vinegars, Organic Pest Management, Growing Produce with Hydroponics, Starting and Setting up a business, Solar and Wind Leasing.

Anyone interested in developing, growing or diversifying their small farm is invited to attend including market gardeners, farmers market vendors, and anyone interested in small farm living. Attendees will have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovative ideas and services for their farming operation. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.

The Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Mid – East Career Technical Center – Buffalo Campus located at 57090 Vocational Road Senecaville, Ohio 43780

The registration fee for this all day conference is $100 per person. For conference and registration information call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070, or OSU Extension Knox County 740-397-0401.

Please follow this link to register for the conference: https://go.osu.edu/2024osusmallfarmconference

 

 

 

 

Commodity Marketing Strategies Workshop scheduled for February 28 in Wayne County

by John Yost, OSU Extension Educator- Wayne County

The Ohio State University Extension – Wayne County, will be hosting a one-day commodity marketing strategies workshop on February 28th for grain, beef cattle, and dairy producers.  Participants will learn: how to write a marketing plan, how to establish price targets, futures and option market pricing strategies, and the use of crop and livestock insurance products to protect against market declines.  The workshop is sponsored by Farm Credit of Mid-America, Gerber Feed Services, and Walnut Hill Feeds.  The program will be held from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Buckeye Agriculture Museum in Wooster, and costs $20 per participant.  For more information, please visit our website at wayne.osu.edu, or to register call 330-264-8722.

Click here for Commodity Marketing Strategies Program Flyer

Ohio Crop Production and Enterprise Benchmarking for 2022

By: PhD student Xiaoyi Fang and Professor Ani Katchova, Farm Income Enhancement Chair, in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE), and Clint Schroeder, Farm Business Analysis Program Manager, Ohio State University Extension.

Click here to access the pdf version of the report

The Ohio Farm Business Analysis and Benchmarking Program, conducted by the Ohio State University Extension, offers benchmark reports for Ohio farms, summarizing farm business management, particularly in crop production. These reports provide insights on 38 key measures from crop enterprise analysis, covering income, expenses, and efficiency measures. In 2022, the program included 36 corn enterprises and 31 soybean enterprises, allowing participants to compare their performance against similar Ohio enterprises. Benchmark reports are tailored to crop type (corn or soybeans) and land tenure (owned or cash rented). The data on physical production, gross returns, direct and overhead costs, and net returns per acre offers valuable insights to farmers.

Corn and Soybean Production for Owned Land and Cash Rented Land

In 2022, 16 Ohio corn producers with owned land, with an average of 127 acres per enterprise for corn production, had a yield of 191.96 bushels per acre and an average corn value of $5.98 per bushel. This resulted in an average gross return of $1155.89 per acre. For the 20 corn enterprises on cash rented land in Ohio, the average enterprise size was 195.87 with a yield of 188.78 bushels per acre and a corn value of $6.10 per bushel, leading to an average gross return of $1166.69 per acre.

In Ohio, 12 soybean enterprises on owned land operated at an average of 133.47 acres in 2022. They had a gross return of $704.13 per acre, with a yield of 51.43 bushels per acre and an average soybean value of $13.6 per bushel. The 19 soybean enterprises on cash rented land had an average operation size of 279.3 acres. These enterprises earned an average return of $769.33 per acre, with a yield of 55.08 bushels per acre and an average value of $13.79 per bushel.

Direct Expenses of Crop Production

For cash rent corn enterprises, the cost of production for corn was $5.43 per bushel in 2022, including labor and management charges. Direct expenses averaged $807.45 per acre, with around 60% allocated to land rent, seed, and fertilizer.

Likewise, for cash rent soybean enterprises, the cost of production for soybeans was $11.81 per bushel, also including labor and management charges. Direct expenses averaged $520.91 per acre, with around 30% allocated to land rent.

For enterprises with owned land, the cost of production for corn was $5.36 per bushel in 2022, including labor and management charges. Direct expenses averaged $712.29 per acre, with more than half allocated to seed and fertilizer.

Similarly, for soybean enterprises with owned land, the cost of production for soybeans was $11.77 per bushel, also including labor and management charges, with direct expenses averaging $366.74 per acre.

Enterprises with owned land typically incur lower overall production costs per bushel for both corn and soybeans compared to cash rent enterprises. Cash rent enterprises incur higher direct expenses per acre for both crops, primarily due to significant land rent costs. Notably, corn production tends to be less costly per bushel than soybean production for both enterprise types. Land rent is a crucial cost component for cash rent enterprises but is not a direct expense for owned land enterprises.

Government Payments for Crop Production

In 2022, government payments for corn producers on cash rented land averaged $4.09 per acre, while soybean producers received an average of $2.23 per acre.

Government payments for corn producers on owned land averaged $2.47 per acre. Conversely, due to the small sample size, government payments were not reported by the 12 soybean enterprises on owned land.

The Bottom Line of Crop Production

For Ohio’s owned land corn enterprises in 2022, net returns averaged $119.62 per acre, considering all direct, overhead and management expenses, as well as contributions from government payments. Notably, the net returns were lower than those observed in corn enterprises on cash rented land, where the net return over labor and management stood at $127.28 per acre. The net returns for soybeans on owned land were $94.26 per acre, which were lower than the net returns of $109.13 per acre for soybean enterprises on cash rented land.

References:

Schroeder C. and Shoemaker, H. ”2022 Ohio Farm Business Summary.” Ohio State University Extension, September 2023.

Regional Ag Outlook and Policy Meetings Set for 2024

By: Mike Estadt, OSU Extension estadt.3@osu.edu

Ohio State University Extension will present its 2024 Regional Agricultural Outlook and Policy Meetings starting in late January and continuing into February. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and the main sponsor of the meetings. Economists from the CFAES Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Extension specialists in tax policy, ag law and meteorology, along with other college specialists and invited guests, will serve as speakers.

Held throughout the state, the outlook meetings will address agricultural topics of interest not only in Ohio, but across the Corn Belt as well. Programs will include presentations on grain market outlook; the dairy industry; agricultural law updates; Ohio’s changing climate; energy outlook, international economic outlook, farm real estate values and cash rent trends; grain transportation infrastructure; agricultural input price projections; and federal tax updates. Bearish price projections, world conflicts and lower farm income projections make these program important as you plan for the year ahead. University experts and industry representatives will give the latest information on what to expect.  “Outlook meetings have useful take- aways that I have seen farm managers use directly for the upcoming season and planning for the future of the farm business.  Farmers are the CEOs of their farm and collecting unbiased information and putting it into action is essential for success”, according to Bruce Clevenger, Extension Farm Management Field specialist.

Here is a current list of Extension opportunities for ag policy, outlook and grain marketing topics. Check with the local contacts for more information regarding specific topics and times.

January 22, 2024- Friendly Hills Camp and Conference Center, Zanesville, Ohio.

Contact: Clifton Martin (martin.2422@osu.edu)

https://go.osu.edu/2024dinner

 

January 23, 2024- Jewell Community Center, Defiance , Ohio

Contact: Kyle Verhoff (Verhoff.115@osu.edu)

https://defiance.osu.edu/events/2024-farm-outlook-meeting

 

January 23, 2024- Napoli’s Pizza, Belpre, Ohio

Contact: Ed Brown (brown.6000@osu.edu)

https://go.osu.edu/SEcrops

 

January 25th, Plaza Inn, 491 S. Main St. Mt. Victory Ohio.

Contact Mark Badertscher (Badertscher.4@osu.edu)

https://hardin.osu.edu/sites/hardin/files/imce/Tillage%20Club%20Flyer%202024.pdf

 

January 30, 2024, 2022- Emmett Chapel, Circleville, Ohio.

Contact: Mike Estadt (estadt.3@osu.edu)

web: https://go.osu.edu/pickawayoutlook

 

February 6, 2024 Allen County Fairgrounds-Youth Activities Building.

Contact: Nic Baumer (baumer.15@osu.edu)

https://u.osu.edu/allenanr/upcoming-programs/ag-outlook-and-agronomy-day/

 

February 23, 2004- Der Dutchman Restaurant, Plain City, Ohio.

Contact: Wayne Dellinger (Dellinger.@osu.edu) web:

https://go.osu.edu/TriCountyOutlook