The Brown County Fairboard is seeking amateur artists to design the cover of the 2021 Fairbook with the theme “Blue Jeans and Country Dreams.”

The competition is open to any amateur artist in Brown County, and winners will be selected for a junior category for participants under 18, and the winning adult competitor will represent the cover of this year’s fair book. A Junior contestant’s work may also be chosen for the cover if the judges decide it tops the adult competitors.

Any Brown County resident interested in participating in the competition must follow these guidelines:

1. Artwork is preferred to be in color
2. Must be on 8 1./2 x 11 white paper
3. Must be in portrait form. not landscape.
4. Must include the theme of the 2021 Fair:  “Blue Jeans and Country Dreams”
5. All entries are due in the fair office by May 15, 2021.
6. Name, address, and phone number, and age if entering the junior competition, must be written on the back of the drawing.
7. Any amateur artist in Brown County is eligible to enter (No professional artists, please).
8. All entries become the property of the Brown County Agricultural Society.

A $50 award will be given to the winner of each category, and the directors of the Brown County Agricultural Society will select the winning entries. For questions or additional information about the competition, contact Christy Lucas at brcofair@hotmail.com.

Read the full article at brown.osu.edu

From: Ohio Beef Cattle Letter https://u.osu.edu/beef/

In this episode of Forage Focus, Host- Christine Gelley- Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources in Noble County and OSU Extension’s Beef Cattle Field Specialist- Garth Ruff met in the pasture at the Eastern Agricultural Research Station to offer tips for spring grazing. In March and April, pasture green-up is an exciting sight, but it does present some challenges for managing both the animals and the forages. Garth and Christine discuss how to know when to turn animals out on fresh grass, the risks of grass tetany, the benefits of high-mg mineral, fly control, renovating winter feeding sites, soil fertility, timely fertilization (or not) and more!

Join the OSU Extension Farm Office team for Farm Office Live, where we discuss the latest information helpful to running the farm office–including agricultural, tax, financial and other farm management law and policy issues.

Register at https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive

April dates:

• April 9, 2021 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. (live repeat of April 7 topics)

April topics include:

• USDA Pandemic Assistance Program
• Socially Disadvantaged Farm Issues
• Paycheck Protection Update
• Legislative Update
• Employee Retention Credits
• Economic Injury Disaster Loan
• Ohio Farm Business Analysis- A look at crops
• Your Questions

by: Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist

For beef producers in Ohio and across the U.S., 2020 was no walk in the park for several reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On January, 26 2021 the OSU Beef Team hosted a Cow-Calf Outlook program featuring Dr. Kenny Burdine, Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist from the University of Kentucky.

In this presentation Dr. Burdine highlights reviews the impacts of COVID on the beef cattle industry, some management considerations for beef producers looking to add value to feeder cattle, touches on rising feed prices, and looks at the feeder cattle markets in the coming year.

For the full presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUtWYuo1zR0

We’ve also pulled some short clips showing the value of increased management. One management consideration is to shorten and control the breeding season to increase marketing power via increasing uniformity and group size. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFkOGHEJrgA&t=87s

Another management toll that will increase the value of calves is to castrate bull calves and market steers, as selling steer calves will be rewarded in the marketplace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSOTdDSiZpY