Fungus infestations. Changing weather patterns. Rising fertilizer costs. Export market
uncertainties.
All of these elements are factors in why field planting is behind for this time of year, and prices are low on some key crops.
Grain growers across the region are navigating these challenges – and more just to maintain a narrow margin of profitability.
Around 50 area farmers and visiting scholars from at least seven countries came to the annual Small Grains Field Day on June 18 at Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in Wooster.
Those in attendance were seeking input from a small army of agricultural experts made available through the program.
Wheat is Ohio’s third largest grain crop after soybeans and corn. About half of all wheat grown in the United States is exported to other countries.
But around 75% of Ohio’s wheat crop is put to use right here, processed into flour at seven grain mills across the state, according to Gerry Puckett, communications director at Ohio Corn & Wheat.
Mark Fredrick wanted to learn more about how to handle common wheat diseases on
his farm in Medina County.
Wheat farming is so hard. People don’t understand. Agriculture is the biggest business in Ohio, not manufacturing.
MARK FREDRICK, AREA FARMER
“Wheat farming is so hard. People don’t understand. Agriculture is the biggest business in Ohio, not manufacturing,” Fredrick said. “You’ll never find more PhDs in one place talking on this one topic. It’s world-class. Do people realize what a value this is?”
Owen Niese runs a family farm near Shelby where he grows wheat, corn, and barley. He’s also the chairman of the Small Grains Checkoff board at Ohio Corn & Wheat, one of the sponsors of the event.
A tiny fraction of the proceeds from each bushel of wheat sold in Ohio goes to fund the grain board’s research work and lobbying activities.
Niese says he’s doing whatever he can to expand international market access for Ohio wheat farmers.
He recently hosted grain mill leaders from four South American countries on his farm. He also met with a large trade delegation from Vietnam at the governor’s office in Columbus earlier this month.
They committed to buy $2 billion worth of agricultural products from the United States, including grain from Ohio.
Tadd Nicholson, executive director of Ohio Corn & Wheat, says he’s laser focused on increasing profitability for grain farmers.
“We’re dealing right now with a farm bill that’s getting rewritten into a different form. It’s going into this budget reconciliation, almost a different way of doing a farm bill,” Nicholson said.
“If you don’t have an organization that’s watching you and all the intricate things that are happening to the farm programs we think are important to us, that’s going to leave you in the cold.”
Nicholson pointed out that Ohio farmers are facing headwinds from far outside the United States.
“A Ukraine war can impact that price, or an Australian wheat crop. We have less ability to impact that price,” Nicholson said. “But we do have ways, through agronomy and the research here through breeding program, to increase yield and realize more potential that many farmers don’t have today.”
Standing amid OSU’s research fields with tall stalks of wheat waving in the breeze, area farmers mingled with visiting scholars from Africa, India, Asia and South America, comparing their farming experiences with agricultural specialists around the world.
“When it comes to a lot of crops here, I’ve never seen them before in my country,” said Amina Kwiya, an entomologist from Tanzania who’s particularly interested in pesticides and other types of pest control. “I learned a lot.”
She’s excited to take the knowledge she gained here to help farmers back home. Longtime Richland County farmer Tom Moss has been coming to this event for years to catch up on the latest scientific findings to guide his farm in Greenwich, and to learn about possibilities to create test plots there with OSU experts.
“It’s easier for them to research these questions than us farmers,” he said.
Many factors can impact a crop’s marketability.
“Growing wheat by itself and selling the grain can be a tough proposition, probability wise,” said OSU farm management specialist Eric Richer. “You have to couple it with some other revenue stream associated with wheat, or some other cost-saving mechanism, whether that means investing in a long-term improvement in the soil, or making changes in fertilizer practices.”
Richer and OSU small grains specialist Laura Lindsey built a calculator tool to help farmers to produce the most yield possible with the lowest cost.
It analyzes data from factors like fertilizer applications, amount of seed used, and estimates of nutrients removed from the crop for various reasons, all of which will affect the market price of wheat.
Marketability is a major concern for local growers, like Niese, who face growing global uncertainties in making budgets and plans for next year.
“We’re all nervously in the same position of not knowing what’s going to happen. We’re trying to plan out 2026. I have to buy fertilizer for 2026 and 2027 right now, and I’ve already marketed some of my 2026 wheat,” he said.
“But if you can get some certainty that there’s going to be some buyers around the world, it helps make those future plans, and gives me some security that maybe we can upgrade equipment.
“We’re trying to do more with less, and also doing it on less farm ground,” Niese said, citing increased demands for land from manufacturing, housing developments, and solar parks.
“Also with less equipment, because that’s getting more expensive, and less labor, because our labor pool is shrinking all the time,” he said. “There’s struggles everywhere, but when most of us wake up every day, we love what we’re doing and are willing to embrace it.”