Spring Planting Outlook

Mar 03, 2021

By Jim Noel

After a dry start to winter, the weather pattern has gotten more active. Even though the La Nina pattern in the Pacfiic Ocean is weakening the effect will likely continue through spring. This favors a normal to wetter than normal pattern for Ohio. The western corn and soybean belt will likely continue with the normal to drier than normal pattern through spring.

The greatest chances for wetness appear to favor the southern half of Ohio with closer to normal conditions in northern Ohio. The spring temperatures continue to favor warmer than normal overall.

The result of the warmer than normal temperatures and normal to wetter than normal conditions into spring is there could be some planting delays but they do not look severe at this time. With the above normal temperatures it favors a normal or slightly earlier than normal last freeze.

Indications for summer are for above normal temperatures and a trend for near normal precipitation to possibly below normal at some point in summer to early fall.

Please monitor the latest NOAA climate forecasts at:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

The latest river information can be found at:

https://www.weather.gov/ohrfc

The latest flood, drought and seasonal briefings from the Ohio River Forecast Center can be found at:

https://www.weather.gov/ohrfc/Briefings

The latest 16-day rainfall forecast can be found here:

https://www.weather.gov/images/ohrfc/dynamic/NAEFS16.apcp.mean.total.png

Source : osu.edu

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.