agriculture

Growing CSA’s Across the Tri-State Region

Join us for the first annual CSA Tri-State Conference! This two day event is hosted by Michigan State University, Ohio State University, and Purdue University and is sponsored by North Central SARE and Rupp Seed, Inc. This exciting event will cover a wide variety of topics and questions for CSA operators. Hear from industry leaders across the tri-state region as they provide beneficial information to new and existing CSA operations!

Date: October 24th and October 25th, 2021

Time: October 24th; 1:00 – 8:00 PM, 6:30 PM Dinner, October 25th; 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM, 11:30 AM Lunch

Location: Sauder Village and Farm, 22611 State Route 2, Archbold, OH 43502

Cost: $75 Per person (Meals included)

Registration: go.osu.edu/csaconferenceregistration2021 

For more information, including registration details, please visit go.osu.edu/2021csaconference. Any questions can be directed to Christie Welch at welch.183@osu.edu or Anna Adams at adams.2061@osu.edu.

 

FLYER

 

ExploreAg Camps for Teens!

ExploreAg brings high school students into labs, fields, and factories to learn about career opportunities in food and agriculture.

A Camp Like No Other

The ExploreAg program is a week-long experience where high school students interact with and learn from internationally known teachers, scientists, and researchers. Students are hosted on campus at the Ohio State University and Central State University and are introduced to various aspects of agriculture both in the classroom and through diverse hands-on learning experiences, both on and off campus.  For More Information

Subject areas include food science, precision agriculture, animal science, natural resources, management skills, technology, and agricultural business.

ExploreAg will offer four camp sessions in 2019!
Session 1- June 9-14 at OSU Main Campus
Session 2-June 16-21 at OSU Main Campus
Session 3-June 23-28 at the OSU ATI Campus
Session 4- July 7-12 at Central State University

Apply Here – Registration Deadline is March 30

Ag Lenders Seminars

The OSU Extension Ag Lender Seminars are set for the following dates, times and locations in October:

Tuesday, October 24  – Champaign Co. Community Center Auditorium, 1512 South US Highway 68, Urbana, OH  43078

Friday, October 27  – Fisher Auditorium, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH  44691

Monday, October 30  – Putnam County Educational Service Center, Assembly Hall, 124 Putnam Parkway, Ottawa, OH 45875

To see the speaker lineup, to register or for more information, please visit the website.

Hope to see you at one of the 2017 OSUE Ag Lender Seminars.

Agriculture Fertilizer Certification Deadline Nearing

Education is the key component of the new fertilizer certification. Farmers will receive research-based training to keep nutrients in the field and available to crops, while reducing nutrients leaving the field. This certification requirement is in response to concern that phosphorous and nitrogen from farm fields contribute to algal blooms in Lake Erie and to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

OSU Extension, Clermont County is hosting an Agriculture Fertilizer Certification training on August 31, 2017 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm located at the 4-H Hall on the Clermont County Fairgrounds (1000 Locust Street, Batavia, OH). The 3-hour training will be for individuals who currently have a pesticide license and for those who do not have a pesticide license, but need the fertilizer certification. Registration is open to anyone that still needs this training for Ohio certification before September 30, 2017.

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 hire a co-op or other custom applicator to make your fertilizer applications, you do not need the certification.

While the training course is free, registration is required. You may register at nutrienteducation.osu.edu or by calling the office at 513-732-7070. This will be one of the last trainings hosted in the state for Agriculture Fertilizer Certification. If you do not have the fertilizer certification by September 30, 2017, it will be a test option to receive the certification from Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Efforts, in addition to the fertilizer certification, will continue across the state to reduce all nonpoint sources of excess nutrients, both in rural and urban areas. Taking a soil sample is the first step to applying the correct nutrients for the given crop or area to be fertilized.

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.

For more information contact Gigi Neal, OSU Extension Clermont County Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, at 513-732-7070 or email neal.331@osu.edu

Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program announces the 2017 Ohio New and Small Farm College

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Are you a small farm landowner wondering what to do with your acreage?  Are you interested in exploring options for land uses but not sure where to turn or how to begin?  Have you considered adding an agricultural or horticultural enterprise but you just aren’t sure what is required, from an equipment, labor, and/or management perspective?  Are you looking for someplace to get basic farm information?  If you or someone you know answered yes to any of these questions, then the OSU Extension Small Farm College program may be just what you are looking for.

OSU Extension is offering a program targeted at the new and small farmer.  The Ohio New and Small Farm College is an 8-week program that introduces new and even seasoned farmers to a wide variety of topics.  The program will teach participants how to set goals, plan, budget, and where to find resources available for them if they chose to start a small farming operation.  The courses will lay out how to manage financial and farm records.  Extension Educators will illustrate many different enterprises that can be profitable on land as small as one acre. The educators will show the benefits and pitfalls of each enterprise so that the participant will be able to pick and choose what may work best for them and what suits their interest.  To round out the experience, a bus tour will be held around area farms so that participants can see firsthand how small farm life works, and also make contacts of practicing farmers in the area.

The Small Farm College was originally conceived as a way to help southern Ohio’s tobacco farmers make the transition away from that crop as government subsidies were phased out. OSU extension educators soon realized such programming also could benefit rural landowners who own small acreage in the countryside. Since 2005, past regional Southern Ohio New and Small Farm Colleges have helped over 700 individuals representing over 500 farms from 60 Ohio counties improve the economic development of their small family-owned farms. This program can help small farm landowners and farmers diversify their opportunities into successful new enterprises and new markets. And, it can improve agricultural literacy among small farm landowners not actively involved in agricultural production.

Many program participants don’t expect to make a living off the land, but do want to recoup something, said organizer Tony Nye of OSU Extension in Clinton County. First time farmers want their interaction with their land to be productive.  “They like living in the country, getting their hands dirty,” Nye said. “That has been their motivation for buying land.”

The New and Small Farm College will be conducted in Clermont County at the OSU Extension Office, 1000 Locust Street, Owensville, Ohio on Thursdays, beginning January 12, 2017 through Thursday, March 2, 2017.  Classes run from 6:30 –9:00 p.m. each week with dinner beginning at 6p.m.

Limited to the first 50 registrations per location.

The cost of the course is $150 per person, $100 for an additional family member.  Along with the vast resources and knowledge gained, participants will receive a notebook (per each $150 registration) of all resource materials, a soil test, dinner, refreshments, and a tour.  Registrations are now being accepted. Individuals interested in the program may contact the Clermont County Extension office at (513) 732-7070. Registration brochures for the program can also be found online at the following website clermont.osu.edu and are available in area Ohio State University Extension offices.

For further information contact Tony Nye, OSU Small Farm Program Coordinator at (937) 382-0901 or email at nye.1@osu.edu or Gigi Neal, Clermont County ANR Educator at (513) 732-7070 or email at neal.331@osu.edu.