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 Planng is well under way at the Master Gardener Children’s Garden.
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GROWING ATHENS COUNTY...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
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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
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
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