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Forages for Horses and Winter Horse Webinar Series

| Nanette Neal

Horse owners, managers, and equine enthusiasts will soon have access to an updated and comprehensive online learning opportunity focused on pasture and forage management. The Forages for Horses online course, developed by The Ohio State University Extension Equine Program, launches in October 2025 and will include live monthly webinars, a revised Forages and Pasture Management Manual, and additional digital learning materials.

The course will feature three live, 60-minute webinars held once a month in October, November, and December 2025. Each webinar will offer participants the chance to ask questions of featured speakers. Recordings will be available afterward for those unable to attend live.

Participants who register will gain access to the full online course through OSU’s Scarlet Canvas platform. All recordings, resources, and the updated manual will be available for self-paced learning through September 2026.

The registration fee is $75, which includes a digital copy of the Forages for Horses Manual. A printed manual may also be purchased at checkout. Current and new members of the Ohio Forages and Grasslands Council are eligible for a $15 registration discount. Participants who attend all three live webinars will have the opportunity to earn a certificate of completion.

Registration for Forages for Horses is available through the PCE website.

In addition, the Equine Extension Team will host a free Equine Winter Webinar Series once a month in January, February, and March 2026. Registration for these sessions is also available at www.go.osu.edu/equinezoomseries25  Equine Winter Series Flyer

This new course provides a flexible, research-based resource for anyone interested in improving horse care and pasture management—from casual horse owners to industry professionals. All Zooms will be recorded. For questions, please reach out to Janessa at hill.1357@osu.edu

Soil Health Series 2026 – Save the Dates

| Nanette Neal

Join the 2026 OSU Extension Soil Health Webinar Series and empower your farm with science-backed, practical strategies! Each monthly webinar delivers expert-led insights—from real-world cover crop management and soil testing to boosting yield, resilience, and profitability in Ohio’s fields. Aimed squarely at farmers, these sessions feature Extension educators, researchers, and producers sharing proven approaches you can start using immediately. Plus, Certified Crop Advisors can earn continuing education credits by tuning in live, and past recordings are conveniently accessible anytime. It’s your direct connection to the latest research and on-farm experience—designed to help your soil and bottom line thrive.

The webinars will be held from 8:00 to 9:00 AM on:

  • January 15, 2026
  • February 12, 2026
  • March 19, 2026
  • April 9, 2026

Speaker details and specific topics will be announced in December, so stay tuned!

We encourage you to share this with your network and post the attached flyer on your county website to help spread the word.

Please feel free to contact Manbir Rakkar (rakkar.4@osu.edu) or Asmita Murumkar (murumkar.1@osu.edu)  if you have any questions.

Don’t miss the chance to join these informative sessions and enhance your soil health knowledge!

No-Cost Swine RFID Tags for Sows and Exhibition Swine

| Nanette Neal

 

Contact: aphispress@usda.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 21, 2025—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announces a new initiative to provide no-cost RFID (radio frequency identification) eartags for swine beginning fall 2025. These tags will be available for sow and exhibition swine producers. Once available, producers and State animal health officials will be able to order tags on the Merck Animal Health website at www.840swinetags.com.

In July 2025, APHIS awarded a contract to Merck Animal Health to supply up to $20 million in tags to sow and exhibition swine industry segments over the next 5 years. Modeled after the no-cost RFID cattle tag program, this effort will supply no-cost RFID tags to swine producers to boost national swine disease traceability, which is vital to supporting the safety and marketability of the U.S. swine herd. Although animal disease traceability does not prevent disease, an efficient and accurate traceability system reduces the response time involved in a disease investigation, limiting the number of farms and animals affected. This, in turn, reduces the economic impact on owners and affected communities.

Unique to this program is a direct-from-manufacturer to swine premises distribution model. Merck will receive, process, and ship orders directly to producers and State animal health officials, removing APHIS as intermediaries and expediting getting tags into producers’ hands and pigs’ ears. To order these tags, producers must have a valid premises identification number, provide shipping and contact information, and provide the number of sows onsite (for commercial sow farms) or the number of show pigs on the premises (for exhibition swine). State animal health officials will also be able to order no-cost RFID tags based on the number of sows in their State.

These RFID tags will need to be applied with a compatible tag applicator, which is not supplied through this program.

For more information about this program, including the ordering process, requirements, and number of tags that can be ordered based on sow/exhibition swine numbers, check out the web page at www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/swine/swine-identification.

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aphis.usda.gov

Webinar for New Owners of Farmland

| jagger.6
By:Peggy Kirk Hall, Attorney and Director, Agricultural & Resource Law Program
Webinar announcement by National Agricultural Law Center

Are you a new owner of farmland? Whether inheriting or purchasing farmland for the first time, a new farmland owner must choose what to do with the land. Farm it, sell it, lease it, preserve it — all are viable options that require an understanding of economic considerations and legal requirements.

Our upcoming webinar for the National Agricultural Law Center can help. Join me and Robert Moore on October 15, 2025 at Noon EST as we present “So Now You Own a Farm: A Beginner’s Guide to Farmland Ownership.”

Based on our recently published Beginner’s Guide to Farmland Ownership, this webinar will provide practical insights and strategies on new farmland ownership.  We’ll cover topics such as:

  • Estimating the value of farmland;
  • How to sell, lease, manage, or preserve the land;
  • Protecting the farmland from risk.

The session can help both new farmland owners and the professionals who advise them better navigate the responsibilities, options, and decision-making that comes with farmland ownership.  Register for the free online webinar at https://nationalaglawcenter.org/webinars/beginners-farmland-ownership/. 

Harvesting Success: Resources for Urban Growers

| jagger.6

We would like to invite you to attend the upcoming Harvesting Success: Resources for Urban Growers on October 25th, 2025, 10am-4pm in Cleveland.

This free one-day event, held by the OSU Urban Ag Team in cooperation with the Cleveland Farm Service Agency, will bring together urban farmers, community leaders and agriculture professionals to share practical knowledge, innovative resources, and local success stories to support urban agriculture in Northeast Ohio and beyond. If you are new to urban agriculture, this is a great opportunity to connect with the local urban ag network. Throughout the event, our keynote and invited speakers will present on five key topics of urban farming, including the path to a successful urban farm, high tunnel production, integrated pest management, marketing, and business management. A panel of experienced urban farmers will share their practical strategies in overcoming challenges in urban farming during the lunch and learn session. Representatives from local and state organizations will exhibit resources and services provided specifically for urban producers.

Registration is free and required, and lunch will be provided. Please register by October 15th using this link: http://go.osu.edu/harvestingsuccess to receive further guidance about the event.

If you have any questions, please contact Yiyun Lin (lin.2266@osu.edu).

 

A Day in the Woods – Tree Identification

| Nanette Neal

“Tree Identification” offered by A DAY in the WOODS to woodland owners and enthusiasts in SE Ohio at Ohio State University South Centers on Friday, October 31st

Where do the logs go after harvest? A look at the current hardwood marketplace

| Nanette Neal

Have you ever harvested trees or seen logs piled and wondered about where they go from there? Ohio has lots of fine hardwood trees that end up in many different places. Join the US Forest Service’s Matt Bumgardner to follow where they go once they leave the woods.  Follow their journey with us from tree to market – you may be surprised where Ohio’s logs go.

Registration is available here.