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Getting Started with Goats | All About Goats! 2024 Spring Webinar Recording Release

| jagger.6

Interested in raising goats? Want to get started and don’t know how? Watch our Ohio State University Extension experts break down the ins and outs of Getting Started with Goats. During this video, our experts will walk you through how to define your operational goals and then give you the tips and tricks you need to accomplish those goals. They will share information on breeding, feeding, and housing your goats as well as an introduction to having a pasture and the uses of goat milk. This video also provides insight and education that can be useful for those taking or raising goats for exhibition.

Interested in learning more? Want to join us live? We will have our All About Goats! 2025 Fall webinar series starting in September. Subscribe to sheep.osu.edu and stay tuned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThGWT6-zLhI

Getting Started with Value-Added Products for Profitability

| jagger.6

Offered by PennState Extension

Discover how to launch a profitable value-added food business with expert tips on product development, marketing, packaging, and sales—perfect for farm and food entrepreneurs.

Learn how to turn a great idea into a successful value-added food product in this informative session designed for aspiring food entrepreneurs. Participants will gain practical insight into launching a profitable value-added business, from product development and packaging to marketing, distribution, and sales within the competitive food industry. Whether you’re just starting out or refining an existing concept, this session offers essential tools to help you navigate the path from concept to market.

Register By: July 22, 2025
This event is free of charge.

Who is this for?

  • Farm owners and managers
  • Farm market and agritourism owners and managers
  • Farm and food business owners and managers
  • Value-added food producers

What will you learn?

  • Identify steps for launching a profitable value-added food business
  • Incorporate strategies for product development
  • Apply effective marketing approaches
  • Understand packaging considerations
  • Plan for distribution
  • Strengthen sales efforts
This event is being offered at no charge to participants. 

Registration is required to receive the link to access the webinar.

A link to the recorded webinar will be emailed to registrants within ten business days after the live event. The recording will be accessible for six months from the event date.

Learn More

SBA Relief Still Available to Ohio Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by September Drought

| Nanette Neal

Deadline to apply for economic injury loans approaching

ATLANTA—The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Ohio of the June 2 deadline to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought beginning Sept. 24, 2024.
The disaster declaration covers the Ohio counties of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Coshocton, Guernsey, Hamilton, Highland, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Montgomery, Muskingum, Pike, Preble, Scioto, Tuscarawas and Warren and Dearborn, Franklin, and Union in Indiana as well as Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Kenton, Lewis, Mason, and Pendleton in Kentucky.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster, even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. For more information on SBA, applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Consider attending a “New Sprayer Technologies and Best Practices for Vineyards and Orchards” workshop on August 12.

| Nanette Neal

This workshop allows you to learn the best spraying practices using conventional sprayers and the new technology available to growers to make the pesticide application more precise and cost-effective. For example, you will see an “intelligent sprayer” with an AI application (developed here in Ohio several years ago) that detects the existence of targets to be sprayed and varies the application rate on the go depending on the canopy characteristics (size, canopy leaf density). Another new technology gaining popularity is using drones to spray pesticides. These new technologies and several types of conventional orchard/vineyard sprayers will be demonstrated in the afternoon part of the workshop. There will be plenty of time to talk with the presenters of talks and the vendors who will bring their sprayers to the site for demonstrations.

The attached flyer provides detailed information about this workshop, including location, agenda, and registration, but here is the key information you should know.

DATE: August 12, 2025

TIME: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Quarry Hill Winery & Orchard, 8403 Mason Rd #2, Berlin Heights, OH 44814

REGISTRATION COST (includes lunch and refreshments): Early Registration: $45 per person until July 1; Late Registration: $60 per person, July 2 until August 1

REGISTER at https://go.osu.edu/spray2025

FLYER  

The morning part of the workshop will be indoors, with limited seating capacity. Registration will be closed once the seating capacity is reached, so please consider registering early.

This event is a collaboration between Ohio State University Extension, Michigan State University Extension, Pennsylvania State University Extension, and the USDA-ARS Application Technology Research Unit.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the following organizers of the workshop:

Erdal Ozkan: ozkan.2@osu.edu

Maria Smith:  smith.12720@osu.edu

Frank Becker: becker.587@osu.edu

April Ohio Fruit News

| Nanette Neal
The April issue of Ohio Fruit News is now available online at https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/b/28945/files/2025/05/OFN_APR_2025-FINAL-3.pdf.
Features in the article include:
  • An introduction to pawpaw by Dan Lima
  • Best practices for spraying in the orchard and vineyard by Erdal Ozkan
  • Managing moths in the apple orchard by Ashley Leach
  • Update on federal funding to NCCR and NEWA by Melanie Ivey

Tick Webinar on May 7th

| Nanette Neal

Join Ohio State tick experts on Wednesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. to learn more about the growing public health concern caused by the exploding tick population in the Buckeye State.

Meet the experts:

Risa Pesapane, PhD

Associate professor, College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

 

Tim McDermott, DVM

Assistant professor, Ohio State Extension, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

The webinar will highlight:

  • Tick species
  • Tick pathogens
  • Tick-borne diseases
  • Tick bite prevention
  • Proper tick removal
  • Buckeye Tick Test, Ohio State’s new tick-borne pathogen testing service

Buckeye Tick Test Flyer

Register Here

The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Infectious Diseases Institute are partnering to host a webinar that highlights this important public health issue.

May 7th Wednesday Women in Ag Webinar

| Nanette Neal

Join us on May 7, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., for the next session on…

 Cut Flowers for Beginners

Interested in growing cut flowers on a small scale? Join Sabrina Schirtzinger, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Knox County, to learn valuable tips and tricks to get started!

Register for the entire series using this link once. go.osu.edu/wiawednesdaywebinars2025

Farm Office Live

| Nanette Neal

OSU Extension will offer a Farm Office Live webinar on Friday, April 25, at 10:00 a.m. Farm Office Live is a monthly webinar of updates and outlooks on legal, economic, and farm management issues that affect Ohio agriculture.

Our featured guest this month is Dr. Margaret Jodlowski, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, who will discuss farm labor issues with us.  Our remaining agenda features the Farm Office team addressing these topics:

  • Strategies for Developing the Next Leader of Your Farm Operation – David Marrison, Farm Management Field Specialist
  • Crop Profit Outlook – Barry Ward, Production Business Management Leader
  • Farm Business Analysis Update – Clint Schroeder, Farm Business Analysis Program Manager
  • State and Federal Legislative Update – Peggy Hall, Agricultural & Resource Law Program Director
  • New Laws: Paystub Protection Act and Operation of Drones – Jeff Lewis, Agricultural & Resource Law/Tax Schools Attorney
  • Tax Update: Are Avian Flu Indemnifications Exempt? – Barry Ward and Jeff Lewis
  • Upcoming Events and Deadlines – David Marrison

Join in for this free webinar by registering at farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive, where replays of previous webinars are also available.

Just-in-time or “Gig” Workers Survey

| Nanette Neal

A research team from OSU (Extension, ATI, and AEDE) is surveying the role that just-in-time or “gig” workers could play in the agricultural labor force across Ohio. Please consider filling out this survey, regardless of your current role in an agricultural operation. Your responses will contribute valuable insights into this ongoing issue in the state’s farm economy. The survey is confidential and should take no more than 10-15 minutes.