GROWING ATHENS COUNTY...Johne’s disease is a fatal gastrointestinal disease of sheep and goats and...
Transcript of GROWING ATHENS COUNTY...Johne’s disease is a fatal gastrointestinal disease of sheep and goats and...
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 [email protected]
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)