If you have not registered for the Southwest Ohio Bee School offered by Ohio State University Extension, your time is closing in fast. Registration opened on January 15th at 8a and as of this morning it is half full. Register at this link!

Ohio State University (OSU) Extension, the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) will host the 7th Annual East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference.  This year’s conference convenes on Thursday, March 19 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the RG Drage Career Technical Center, 2800 Richville Drive SE in Massillon.  All women and young women (high school age) who are interested in, involved in, or want to become involved with food, agricultural, or natural resources production or small business are encouraged and welcomed to attend.

The conference program features an agency/vendor fair and eighteen educational breakout sessions presented by OSU Extension educators, producers and partner agencies.  Sessions focus around five themes: Business & Finance, Plants & Animals, Communication, Home & Family and Special Interest (areas of specific interest to attendees).  Farm and Dairy Editor, Rebecca Miller is the conference featured keynote speaker. Her presentation will engage and enlighten participants on “Clinging to context in a noisy world: don’t lose sight of your “why”.

Interested individuals can register for the conference on-line at go.osu.edu/eowia2020.  Cost of the conference is $55 for adult participants and $30 for students.  Conference fee includes conference participation, continental breakfast, lunch and conference handouts.   Deadline for registration is Thursday, March 12.

Registered participants, community organizations or businesses interested in sponsorships and/or securing an informational or vendor table can do so from the registration page or contact 1-740-264-2212 to obtain more information.  A list of sponsorship opportunities is also available from the registration page.

Stay connected with the Ohio Women in Agriculture Learning Network on Facebook @OHwomeninag or subscribe to the Ohio Women in Agriculture blogsite at http://u.osu.edu/ohwomeninag/ .

OSU Extension – CFAES provides educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. If you have questions concerning access to this event, need a sign language interpreter, or have any other request for accommodation of disability, please contact the OSU Extension Stark County office at 330-832-9856, ext. 3476.  Early requests are encouraged to enable us to provide better access to services.

Are you getting the most from your tax return? Farmers and farmland owners wanting to increase their tax knowledge should attend a Monday, Jan. 13, webinar that will address tax issues specific to this industry.

The live webinar will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. and is being offered by OSU Extension Income Tax Schools. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, registered participants will receive a link to view the recorded webinar at a time of their convenience. The link will be available throughout the tax-filing season.

Topics to be discussed include:

• tax-planning in an unusual year (prevented planting crop insurance indemnity payments, Revenue Protection crop insurance payments, Market Facilitation Program payments, cost-share payments, and disaster-aid payments)
• like-kind exchanges (farm machinery and equipment are no longer eligible for this provision, which is a significant change), how the change in like-kind exchanges might affect state income tax, and how that change might affect Social Security credits and eventual payments
• an estate and gift tax update
• C Corp to S Corp conversions
• qualified business income deductions, which will impact most farm businesses
• qualified business income deductions for sales to cooperatives, which is different from the qualified business income deductions for sales to noncooperatives and is much more complex
• which farmland lease income might qualify for a qualified business income deduction
• tax issues related to getting out of the farming business
• tax from income related to pipeline construction and easements
• other tax strategies to consider under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The cost for the webinar is $35. Register at go.osu.edu/farmertaxwebinar.

For more information, contact Julie Strawser at strawser.35@osu.edu or call the OSU Extension Farm Office at 614-292-2433.

Agricultural Fertilizer Training
3 Hour Certification Class
Thursday, January 23, 2020, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Who needs a Fertilizer Certification: Fertilizer certification is required if you apply fertilizer (other than manure) to more than 50 acres of agricultural production grown primarily for sale. If
you have the co-op or other custom applicator make your fertilizer applications, you do not need the certification.

What will be covered? Best management practices will be the basis of the agricultural fertilizer certification training with a focus on fertilizer applications that have the appropriate rate,
timing, placement and source.

Cost: $30 (Class Only), Checks payable to OSU Extension.

Note: An application & $30 fee to ODA is a separate process & is also required for the Fertilizer License.

Location: OSU Extension, Butler County, 1802 Princeton Rd., Hamilton, Ohio 45011

Details: This training is to fulfill the three hour requirement for all new Fertilizer Applicators (Private & Commercial) who need the Agricultural Fertilizer Applicator Certification.

RSVP by January 16, 2020 to: J.T. Benitez, ANR Educator @ (513) 887-3722 or benitez.6@osu.edu

Registration is now open for the 2020 Ohio Hop Conference. We invite you to consider attending, being a vendor in the tradeshow or a sponsor.

Registration is $160

Sponsorships starting at $250

Tradeshow Table $300

Held in adjacent room to conference ball room of the Courtyard by Marriott Springfield Downtown.

Tradeshow Cost Includes:

• One conference registration (additional representatives can be added for $100)
• All meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner including Happy Hour on Friday and Breakfast and Lunch on Saturday)
• Table
• Electricity
• Wifi
• Free Parking

Vendor registration is on Eventbrite with attendee registration at the link on the attached flyer.

Tradeshow or sponsorship questions please email: zachrichhopyard@gmail.com

Click here for more information and conference location.

Click here for conference flyer.

Hope to see everyone there for this educational conference!!

A large number of Ohio farmers hire machinery operations and other farm related work to be completed by others. This is often due to lack of proper equipment, lack of time or lack of expertise for a particular operation.  Many farm business owners do not own equipment for every possible job that they may encounter in the course of operating a farm and may, instead of purchasing the equipment needed, seek out someone with the proper tools necessary to complete the job. This farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply “custom work”. A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider.

Custom farming providers and customers often negotiate an agreeable custom farming machinery rate by utilizing Extension surveys results as a starting point. Ohio State University Extension collects surveys and publishes survey results from the Ohio Farm Custom Survey every other year. This year we are updating our published custom farm rates for Ohio.

We need your assistance in securing up-to-date information about farm custom work rates, machinery and building rental rates and hired labor costs in Ohio.

This year we have an online survey set up that anyone can access. We would ask that you  respond even if you know only a few rates.  We want information on actual rates, either what you paid to hire custom work or what you charged if you perform custom work. Custom Rates should include all ownership costs of implement & tractor (if needed), operator labor, fuel and lube. If fuel is not included in your custom rate charge there is a place on the survey to indicate this.

You may access the survey at: ohio farm custom rates survey 2020

Or: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7WN0eNQz3VO41nv

The deadline to complete the survey is March 30, 2020.

Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management

OSU Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources

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Photo from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

Photo credit cfaes.osu.edu

WOOSTER, Ohio —Ohio had a great maple season in 2019 with lots of good quality syrup.  Now is the time to get prepaird for the 2020 maple season at the Ohio Maple Days workshops.

The Ohio Maple Days program, an educational event for all maple syrup producers is offered on three dates in three locations: Jan. 23 in Fulton, Jan. 24 in Fredericksburg, and Jan. 25 in Middlefield. The program will be the same at all three locations.  This year the workshops will feature speakers from Vermont the #1 maple producing state and New York the #3 maple producing state.

Featured speakers Abby van den Berg, researcher at the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center, will discuss research findings on reverse osmosis of syrup flavor and quality.  She will also cover the tips and tricks to efficiently obtaining higher yields of quality sap that leads to more quality syrup.  van den Berg is a leader of research on maple production from red maples and will share her knowledge with Ohio producers.  Ohio is rich in red maples in many parts of the state.

Also featured Steve Childs, New York maple specialist at Cornell University, will discuss the findings from research on tubing, tapping filtering and much more conducted at the Uihlein maple research forest.  He will also conduct a participant favorite on maple value added products.  This program teaches maple producers how to add value to the products they sell.

Another featured speaker, Dan Milo, will explain new portions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, set to be implemented this year, that affect producers of maple syrup. Milo is food safety supervisor with the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Food Safety and is a hobby syrup producer himself.

Graham will present a session called “Maple Nuggets” where he’ll share additional news and updates and answer producers’ questions along with the speakers from throughout the day in a speaker panel.

There will be a trade show at each location; reports by the Ohio Maple Producers Association and by Ohio State University Extension, which is the outreach arm of CFAES.  Once again free testing of hydrometers, refractometers, and Vermont Temporary Maple Syrup Grading Kits that attendees are encouraged to bring with them to the workshops.  A hydrometer that is off can cause moldy syrup or sugar crystals both which can be avoided by checking if the hydrometer is still reading properly.

The Jan. 23 event will be at Lutheran Memorial Camp, 2790 State Route 61, in Fulton.

On Jan. 24, the program takes place at the Mennonite Christian Assembly Church, 10664 Fryburg Road, in Fredericksburg.

The Jan. 25 event is set for the Huntsburg Community Center, 12396 Madison Road, in Middlefield, which is a new location from previous years.

The hours for all three events are 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Preregistration to attend at a single location is $40 and includes lunch. The deadline to preregister is Jan. 17. Registration after Jan. 17, including at the door, is $45 but doesn’t guarantee lunch.

For details and to register, visit go.osu.edu/Ch3n or call Ashley Gerber, 330-674-3015.

Maple Syrup Equipment flyer

Maple Syrup Days event flyer

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