Backyard Chicken Keeping Class at the Urban Farm Church on Wednesday February 12th @ 6:00pm

Interest in keeping backyard chickens for eggs, meat, or show has been steadily increasing for the past decade.  I get lots of questions on where how to get started.  Come learn where to get your birds, what to feed them, and how to keep a healthy flock at a free Backyard Chicken Keeping Class hosted by the Urban Farm Church on Wednesday February 12th @ 6pm.  The class is free (super cheep!) but does require registration to plan for snacks!  Bring your friends and your questions!

See you there!

CLICK HERE to Register

CLICK HERE for directions to the Urban Farm Church

2025 Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Grant Applications are OPEN!

The Franklin County Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure grant opened on January 3rd, 2025 and will close January 31st, 2025 at 11:59PM, with grant awards in mid February. The application can be accessed HERE.

Please read all grant resources and info below before submitting your application. Incomplete applications or applications that do not follow directions will not be considered for funding.

Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District is excited to announce another year of the Franklin County Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Grant in partnership with Franklin County Economic Development and Planning! This grant makes $285,000 of federal ARPA funding available to local growers. Each individual organization may apply for up to $15,000 of grant funding or up to $20,000 for water line installation. This grant seeks to strengthen the local food supply chain and support local farmers and is available to both for-profit and non-profit farms, including community gardens and other types of growing operations. Growing operations 5 acres or less are eligible to apply, with additional consideration given to operations under 1 acre. Eligible uses of this grant include infrastructure that helps local farms and community gardens scale up their production and distribution, with examples including but not limited to high tunnels, water service, cold/dry storage, and market stands.

FSWCD would like to thank Franklin County Board of Commissioners, City of Columbus, Franklin Park Conservatory, OSU Extension, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Columbus & Franklin County Local Food Board for their partnership throughout the planning process. This grant was financially assisted by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and builds on and contributes to the ongoing efforts to implement the Columbus & Franklin County Local Food Action Plan.

Visit the grant page at the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District website to learn more.

Small Farm Conference in Guernsey Co. on April 6th, 2024

It may be a bit of a drive from Franklin Co. but there will be a ton of useful information for small farmers, or those who are looking to start a small farm.

OSU Extension will host the Eastern Ohio Small Farm Conference on April 6, 2024, at the Mid-East Career Technical Center Buffalo Campus, in Senecaville, Ohio! This is an incredible opportunity to hear from a vast selection of producers, professionals, and peers all in one place and just a short drive away.

Conference session topics are geared to beginning and small farm owners as well as to farms looking to diversify their operations. There will be five different conference tracks including: Horticulture and Produce Production, Business Management, Livestock, Natural Resources and new this year- The Farm Kitchen.

Some conference topic highlights include:

  • Raising Meat Rabbits (Kim Ray)
  • Making Goat Milk Products (Radisson Norman & Kirstin Roman)
  • Pastured Poultry (Jessie & Tyler Radcliff)
  • Livestock Handling (Mid-East CTC Students, Garth Ruff, & Brady Campbell)
  • Timber Harvesting and Marketing (Jake Peer)
  • Invasive Species (Carrie Brown)
  • Basics of Growing Paw Paws (Valerie Libbey)
  • Food Preservation Basics (Emily Marrison)
  • Herb Vinegars (Kate Shumaker)
  • Organic Pest Management (Logan Minter)
  • Growing Produce with Hydroponics (Tim McDermott)
  • Starting and Setting Up a Business (David Marrison)
  • Ohio Landowner/Hunter Access Partnership Program (John Morton)
  • Introduction to Bramble Production (Ryan Slaughter)
  • Products from the Hive (Joan Leary)
  • And SO MUCH MORE!

Anyone interested in developing, growing, or diversifying their small farm is invited to attend including homesteaders, gardeners, farmers market vendors, and anyone with a general interest in small farm living.

Attendees will have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovative ideas and services for their farming operation. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.

The Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at the Mid-East Career Technical Center Buffalo Campus (57090 Vocational Rd. Senecaville, Ohio 43780). Registration to attend is $100 and includes light breakfast and catered lunch by Hog Hollow BBQ, due by March 28, 2024.

For conference and registration information call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070 or OSU Extension Knox County 740-397-0401.  You can also register for the conference online at: https://go.osu.edu/2024osusmallfarmconference

 

I will be speaking on hydroponics! I hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

 

2024 Beginning Farmer Series

Are you a beginning farmer trying to nail down all the resources and information you need to be successful? This series is designed to introduce you to some of the most important topics and resources of which a farm should be aware. OSU Extension, USDA and Farm Credit staff will present critical information on each of these topics allowing attendees to build relationships with these critical partners.

 

This series of events is free and open to the public but we do ask for pre-registration for planning purposes.  You can click the QR in the flyer or THIS LINK to register.

Click here to view, print, or download the flyer –> 2024 Beginning Farmer Series

Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Grant RFP Due Soon! Apply by February 1st!

I want to remind everyone that the newly established Franklin County Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure grant is accepting applications until February 1st!

To apply for the grant or to get more information (e.g. application questions, scoring criteria, and eligibility requirements), please visit Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District’s website. Additionally, Franklin Soil & Water Conservation District posted the Grant Info Session recording on YouTube!

This grant aims to address a significant funding gap that small growers face when looking to scale up their operations. The current City-County Community Garden Grant continues to be very successful in its purpose, however, the total request amount for this existing grant is capped at $3,000 per applicant and it is only available for nonprofits – so another source of support is needed for local growers who have outgrown the Community Garden Grant and want to scale up their operations. Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District will also provide technical assistance, education, and key third party connections to grantees while ensuring equitable support for socially disadvantaged growers, including BIPOC growers, women growers, and low income growers.

 

 

CLICK HERE to learn more about the grant. 

Backyard Poultry Certification Course

Interest in keeping backyard poultry has been increasing steadily with a huge jump in growth around the COVID pandemic and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak due to egg price increases and egg shortages.  We have also see a big jump in the number of 4H kiddos who want to keep chickens and turkeys for 4H livestock projects.  Many cities and municipalities require a certification before they allow you to keep backyard poultry.  Lots of people just want to learn more about this for their own family and personal food security.  Maybe this is the perfect holiday gift for that hard to buy family member.  Whatever your reason, we have you covered.

 

The course costs $25 dollars. (Super cheep!)  Click on the QR code or head to go.osu.edu/chicken

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

After completing this course, learners will be able to:

  • Identify rules and regulations relevant to raising backyard poultry in their state, city, or municipality
  • Source healthy birds to raise in their backyard
  • Apply concepts of basic husbandry, nutrition, and housing to successfully raise backyard poultry.
  • Explain how eggs are produced
  • Practice safe handling of birds and eggs
  • Recognize health-related abnormalities of poultry through physical examination
  • Describe the roles of of veterinary care and biosecurity in maximizing poultry health

There are NO refunds issued for this course.
If you have questions about the course, contact Tim McDermott at mcdermott.15@osu.edu for assistance.

Biosecurity for Backyard Poultry

Biosecurity is one of the most important tools in the toolbox of the poultry producer.  Learn some tips about keeping your flock safe in this short video collaboration with The Ohio Poultry Association.

It is also up on OSU Extension Facebook and Twitter.  Feel free to share with your audiences.

2021-2022 Urban Gardening Grant RFP is Open!

The Urban Gardening Grant RFP is open.  This is a chance to get some funding to support your garden.  Make sure to read the application information carefully.

Grant applications are due by Friday October 29th, 2021

 

For more information on the grant check out the Columbus Foundation website.

Backyard Poultry Production Webinar on Tuesday May 25th, 2021 @ 6:30pm

There will be a free Backyard Poultry Production Virtual Clinic held in partnership with the Harrison/Jefferson Co. Extension ANR and 4H programs on Tuesday May 25th @ 6:30 pm.  The clinic is geared towards youth but youth of all ages are invited.  The class is free but registration is required so check out the registration link below and bring your friends and your questions.

For questions contact Erika Lyon.194@osu.edu or Angie Allison.325@osu.edu

Hi there,

You are invited to a CarmenZoom webinar.
When: May 25, 2021 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Backyard Poultry Production

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FFLe77ufRpybZBfwG4GKDQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Any questions about this webinar should be directed to the webinar organizer.

 


The Ohio State University

CarmenZoom is supported by the Office of Distance Education and eLearning.

If you have a disability and experience difficulty accessing this content, contact the Accessibility Help Line at 614-292-5000.

 

Top Ten Backyard Poultry Diseases Webinar Recording

There has been a resurgence of people who wish to raise their own food for personal and family food security, both with produce and with poultry.  I am increasingly getting asked about backyard poultry keeping so I wanted to put a resource together to assist you in getting the knowledge you need for safe, healthy and productive backyard poultry keeping.  Here is the second webinar to support backyard poultry keeping:  Top Ten Diseases of Backyard Poultry

FIRST THING:  Find out the regulations in your city or municipality that governs the keeping of backyard poultry and follow those rules carefully. 

 

Here is the recorded Top Ten Backyard Poultry Diseases class.

 

Below is a Backyard Poultry Production Webinar Recording plus some helpful links:

We also have a number of Fact Sheets hosted on Ohioline to support poultry keeping:

There is also a fact sheet on Selling Eggs in Ohio: Marketing and Regulations that details safe handling, washing and storage of eggs.

If you need help finding a Veterinarian that sees poultry,  we have a list plus a map to assist you with that.