Ned Birkey
| Farmers’ Advance
The National Weather Service predicts a near normal outlook for temperature and precipitation for Jan. 5-11. The official 30-day forecasts for January and February from the Climate Prediction Center for the upper Midwest predicts near normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. The three-month outlook for March, April and May 2026, has an outlook for near to leaning above normal temperatures, with a slightly higher outlook for precipitation. As long as winter is here for the next two and a half months, here is some winter trivia. Who has the colder winter, the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere? Because the Southern Hemisphere has more water (warmer ocean water), the Northern Hemisphere is colder. How fast do snowflakes fall from the sky? Snowflakes fall at an average speed of 3 to 4 mph. What percent of the sun’s rays are reflected back from freshly fallen snow? Snow blindness, a condition caused by sunlight reflecting off snow is because the reflective property of fresh snow is around 87%.
Northwest Ohio Corn-Soybean Day will be held on Friday, Jan. 16, at Founders Hall in Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio. It is one of a number of popular regional educational meetings with timely topics by great speakers, a variety of commercial vendors and Amish style food. Registration costs $50 and includes the 2025 eFields On-Farm Research, an annual report featuring actual on-farm research trials from across the state of Ohio and on a wide variety of projects. The research reports change from year to year, so do not discard 2024 or previous summary books! Contact Maddie at newcomb.84@osu.edu for more details.
2026 Farm breakeven calculations can be helped by using people farmers deal with anyway. A seed, chemical or co-op agronomist can provide data about variable production costs. Different fields and farms may need more precise decisions. The banker or lender can help figuring principal and interest payments, tweak cash flow projections and maybe restructure loans. Don’t forget to include family living expenses such as food, vacation, clothing and similar expenses. An accountant may be the most important advisor this year with all the federal tax changes passed by Congress in 2025, including direct expenses, depreciation and even estate planning. The crop insurance agent can provide risk management advice, coverage and changes for 2026. Not mentioned is marketing, where maybe an entirely different strategy may be helpful. As University of Minnesota Ed Usset says, “Grain marketing is simple, it’s just not simple.” Ed has a second edition book with the same title.
Are old garden seeds still viable or should you order new seeds? The temptation is to look at the new garden catalogs and beautiful photos of new varieties and forget about last year’s seed. If last year’s produce did well, it is easy to test leftover seed with a warm germination test at home. Put 10 seeds on a damp paper or cloth towel, fold it up and check after a week or so to see how many seeds have sprouted. If eight of 10 germinate, then use that variety again. If only two out of 10 germinate, then buy new seed. Colorado State University has a seed viability chart to help you know how long leftover seed may be good for. For example, beet seed may be good for four years, while lettuce seed may be good for only one year. The seed viability chart can be found at extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/07221.pdf.
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