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Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I hope your holiday season was enjoyable and COVID free. This is a relatively quiet time of year for agriculture — harvest is done and no field work to do. Unless you have livestock, when there is no down time and there is always manure to clean and spread.

During what down time is available, a lot of plans for the upcoming season are made with ordering supplies, equipment and securing land leases. Supply chain issues and increased demand for some products has turned what is a usually stress-free event into an expensive and frustrating struggle to find supplies.

Glyphosate, a staple of farmers for weed control, has become increasingly hard to find. You used to be able to purchase this herbicide in standard quantities without having to order it, but those times have changed. If you are able to find it, you will also be surprised at the price. I have heard increases of 50% or more. It’s not just glyphosate that will be in short supply this year. Liberty (glufosinate) is also anticipated to be in short supply. Fortunately, the supply shortage does not appear to be reaching all herbicides as many other products remain in normal supplies, but likely with a higher price. If you are finding yourself wondering how to approach spring weed control during the shortage, give me a call or email and I can provide several options.

I won’t beat the dead horse of supply-chain issues, but equipment and equipment parts continue to be a challenge to locate. Tillage season is right around the corner, and due to the limited supply of tillage parts last year, shovels, discs, coulters and other parts are still in short supply and high demand. One bright spot is that new equipment supplies appear to be correcting at a very slow pace. You may still need to preorder a new tractor or implement, but the delivery times are getting shorter.

Around the first of the year, I start to get calls about land rental rates for the county. If you are a landowner who wants to rent your land, a quick online search for Ohio farmland rental rates will show you some pretty high figures ($200-plus per acre). What that search does not tell you is that those values are from more productive western Ohio soils than our corner of the state, therefore they command a higher price.

Here in Trumbull County, the typical rates are between $0 per acre and $125 per acre, but it’s not uncommon for those values to be higher in certain circumstances. The county average rental rate has hovered around $60 per acre for many years. The average rate is a great starting point, but as I mention below there is a lot that can influence that rate.

There is a lot that goes into determining how much your land is worth for rental rates. The first factor is location. Kinsman and Gustavus townships will typically demand higher land rental rates with better drained and more productive soils than other parts of the county. Field tile increases value, and sometimes larger fields will command a higher rate. It is easier to farm one large field than several smaller fields. You may be asking yourself, “Why would I rent for $0 per acre?” Many times a landowner does not have the equipment or time to maintain the land, and having a farmer keep the weeds back is a fair trade. Also, consistent farming is necessary to stay enrolled in the Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) program which can lower property taxes.

If you are new to leasing out your land, OSU Extension has several tools available from sample lease agreements, to best management practices for landlords. Leases can be as simple as a standard rate per acre, to more complex crop and profit sharing agreements that increase rental rates with higher yields. If you have any questions give us a call at 330- 638-6783. We can provide you with the resources needed to make a somewhat complicated scenario a little bit easier.

Here at OSU Extension we have a lot of great programs coming up this winter and spring. You can see the events at trumbull.osu.edu, but with the evolving COVID environment please give our office a call for the most up to date information. We will be offering a host of online programs throughout the season so you can learn and stay safe at the same time.

Take care, and stay healthy!

Submitted by Lee Beers, an Agriculture & Natural Resources Educator for OSU Extension – Trumbull County. He can be reached by email.

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