Author: Nanette Neal

2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium 

 

The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) will host the 2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium in Columbus, Ohio, from June 11 to 13. The event includes keynotes, a grower panel, 40 presentations, a reception with more than 30 posters, a choice of off-site educational tours, and dinner at The Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, a unique 261-acre university facility for teaching, research, and community engagement.

 

This symposium will bring together a national and international audience of academic, non-profit, government, and research-oriented professionals. Join 250 like-minded people to share and gain knowledge on how to build coalitions to adapt to this changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions.

 

Keynote Presentations and General Sessions Include: (see more details)

  • Keynote Presentation: Let’s Get Dirty – Cultivating Collaboration, Policy, and Resiliency in Cities by Qiana Mickie, Executive Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture
  • General Session: The Intersection of Climate Change and Urban Agriculture by Trent Ford, climate scientist at the Illinois State Water Survey and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/ Illinois State Climatologist, and Carol Davis, Sustainability Manager for the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia
  • General Session: Urban Grower Panel by Jerry Hebron, co-founder of the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, a member of the USDA Innovative Production Committee, a member of the state Farm Service Agency committee, and the Director of the Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust; Vincent Peterson, President and CEO of VIGEO GARDENS; and Amanda Stanfield, owner/operator of Richland County’s only urban homestead farm – GrowFourth Urban Farm
  • Capstone Presentation: Urban Farmers – A Great Benefit is Coming Our Way: A Mid Tunnel Climate Smart Growing System by Reverend Dr. Carl P. Wallace, chief operating officer of Abundant Life Farm (a non-profit entity in Akron) and serves as one of the 12 federal advisors to the Secretary of Agriculture for Urban and Innovative Agriculture Committee

Register now and book your hotel room! Registration prices increase on May 25, and hotel reservations close on May 21.
UrbanFoodSystemsSymposium.org

Clermont County MGV Ask a Master Gardener Booth at Williamsburg Farmer’s Market

On Wednesday, May 1, the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market opened its 2024 season with a bang! 295 customers/attendees enjoyed the variety of food, plants, and doggy treats available from 7 vendors, and LOTS of children enjoyed the “Touch-a-Truck” event with a variety of fire, EMT, and law enforcement vehicles available for exploration. Clermont County MGVs Diana Dickinson and Susan Givler manned the first-ever MGV booth at the Farmer’s Market to answer questions and provide information to attendees. They logged more than 30 attendee visitors over the 3 hours of the Market.

The Williamsburg Farmer’s Market is a weekly affair, open from 4-7:00 every Wednesday from May 1 through October 16 at 150 E. Main St., Williamsburg. As the season progresses and produce and meat become more available, the number of vendors will increase to around 13-14 each week. The Clermont County MGVs will be a regular feature, with a booth twice in May and once a month for the rest of the season on the Market’s Special Event Days, which are:

May 1                   Touch-a-Truck

May 22                Touch-a-Truck 2

June 12                Community Outreach Day

July 17                  Christmas in July

August 14            Williamsburg Local Schools Event

September 18    Williamsburg Garden Club Scarecrows in Williamsburg

October 16         4th Annual Trick or Treat/Costume Contest

See us and enjoy the bounty of the Market!

Friday’s Escape to the Forest – If it Bugs the Bugs, it Bugs the Birds!

Join us on May 10, 2024, for If it Bugs the Bugs, it Bugs the Birds! Join Hardy Kern with the American Bird Conservancy and Matt Shumar with the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative to learn more about pest management’s impacts on birds, how to better understand the chemicals you may be using, and ways to make your spaces bird-friendly while still reducing pest threats.

Registration is open HERE.

This webinar will be recorded and posted to our website – https://woodlandstewards.osu.edu/resources/webinars

Backyard Poultry Certification Course

Flyer

For a variety of reasons, there is an increase in interest in keeping backyard poultry. Backyard flocks provide the opportunity for people in rural and urban areas alike to produce tasty eggs and meat for personal and family food security. You might want egg layers. You might want to raise meat birds for a harvest in your freezer. You might even have a youth interested in raising chickens for their 4-H or FFA project, as these lower-maintenance livestock can be kept in a fraction of the space for a fraction of the cost when compared to other species.

Whatever your reason for raising poultry, this course is designed to provide you with the knowledge and resources you need to start your backyard flock well.

This self-paced course is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete and includes the following 6 modules:

  • Getting Started
  • Brooding, Basic Husbandry & Nutrition
  • Housing
  • Egg Production
  • Maximizing Health
  • Biosecurity

Quality Assurance

  • 12-14-year-old and 15-18-year-old 4-H and FFA members may test out of their annual quality assurance (QA) program
  • Tests are given based on age group and large or small animals shown
  • These ages are as of January 1, 2024 – a youth’s 4-H age.
  • Youth ages 12-14 who pass the QA test can test out of their annual QA program for up to 3 years.
  • Youths ages 15-18 years who pass the QA test can test out of their annual QA program permanently.

All exhibitors in the following categories must complete an approved QA program in Ohio County before June 1 of the current year to compete at the Clermont County Junior Fair or the Ohio State Fair.

  • lactating dairy cattle (cows NOT heifers)
  • lactating dairy goats (goats that are producing milk, even if they are in their dry phase)
  • market beef (steer or heifer), NOT beef or dairy feeder calves
  • market goats
  • market hogs
  • market lambs
  • market poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese)
  • market rabbits (NOT breeding or fancy)

FAMACHA Certification and Egg Floats/Counts for Small Ruminants

Friday, May 31st, 2024, from 9:00 A.M. –3:00 P.M.

Location:

Small Ruminant Research Unit

5651 Fredericksburg Road

Wooster, OH 44691

Cost: $40 at the door

Meal: Lunch will be provided

Space is limited to 20 participants.
Pre-registration is required

Speaker Topics:

  • FAMACHA Certification, Fecal Egg Floats/Counts- Braden Campbell, State Small Ruminant Extension Specialist
  • Pasture Management – John Yost, ANR Educator, Wayne County
  • Blood Sampling- Shelby Tedrow, Program Assistant, Wayne County

This program is a mixture of lectures and hands-on activities. For questions and to pre-register, please get in touch with Shelby Tedrow
330-264-8722 or tedrow.28@osu.edu

 

Pesticide Container Recyclcing Collection August 20, 2024

DATE:

Tuesday, August 20, 2024
TIME:

8:00–11:00 a.m.
LOCATION:

Nutrien Ag Solutions     6704 E US Highway 22     Wilmington, OH 45177

 

CLEAN SWEEP PROGRAM Ohio Department of Agriculture
Do you have unwanted, unused, or unknown FARM chemicals?
The pesticide collection and disposal services are FREE OF CHARGE, but only farm chemicals will be accepted. Paint, antifreeze, solvents, and household or non-farm pesticides will not be accepted.

What can be recycled? Agriculture pesticide containers –jugs, drums (up to 55 gallons), and mini bulks (if cut into strips) will be accepted. FREE OF CHARGE

REQUIREMENTS

• All containers must be triple rinsed
• Remove caps from jugs and lids from drums
• Remove loose leaf labels
• MUST BE DRY!
• Mini bulks must be cut into 2×2 foot sections with no lid, no valve, and no screws

STRICTLY ENFORCED! If containers are not clean, dry, and in small sizes (mini bulks), they will not be accepted.

SIGNS WILL BE POSTED TO DIRECT YOU TO THE CORRECT AREA OF RECYCLING

RURAL RECYCLING GRINDING LLC will be the recycling company.

 

Governor DeWine Announces Availability of $14 Million in Meat Processing Funding

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik today announced the availability of funding to support Ohio livestock and poultry producers with improvements and expansions to meat processing services.

Applications for the Ohio Meat Processing Grant Program are now available on the program webpage.

“The need for meat processing services is significant, and it’s our job to ensure that Ohio companies have the support they need to continue to feed Ohio’s families,” said Governor DeWine. “Not only that, but this program creates jobs and supports the future of an essential industry in Ohio.”  Read more here

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