NW Ohio Crops Day
Between the mud and the snow in the forecast, there hasn’t been a whole lot to get excited about this past week. All of our year end reporting is done and in the office, we are now focusing our attention towards upcoming programs.
Similar to the last couple of years the flagship program for agriculture in the county has been Northwest Ohio Crops Day, held at the Bavarian Haus in Deshler. This year’s program will be Friday, February 7th and we have a great line up of presenters and sponsors.
Head lining this year’s meeting are Greg Roth, professor and cover crop specialist from Penn State University. Greg is an expert in the area of cover crop interseeding. In addition, I have asked him to elaborate on best management practices for the use of cover crops as they apply to water quality. Penn State was at the forefront of development and implementation of BMP’s in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Also, coming to Deshler for the day is Ben Brown, Farm Management Program leader within OSU Extension. I’m excited to have Ben in the county to discuss commodity outlook and farm management as we start into 2020.
With 2019 being a challenging year weather-wise, it was only fitting to invite Aaron Wilson, state climate specialist back to NW Ohio to discuss precipitation trends and what the next year or two may have in store for area farmers.
The rest of the program will feature Greg Labarge, covering edge of field water monitoring and the impact of BMP implementation. I will be covering annual forages and what we learned in about production of those crops in 2019, and Bruce Clevenger will be talking grain storage.
Educational materials, light breakfast (including homemade coffee cake), and lunch are included in the program registration. The fee for the program is $35 and we are asking that RSVP’s be made to the office by the 31st of January in order to have a correct meal count. Walk-ins the day of the event will be asked to pay $45 at the door.
Continuing education credits are also included with registration. By attending one can earn fertilizer recertification and a full three hours of private pesticide recertification. Also available are 2.5 hours of commercial pesticide credit and 4.5 hours off CCA credits.
We look forward to seeing this event continue to grow, in an effort to better serve the agricultural community in Henry County. I’ll end this week with a thought from Samuel Johnson: “Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own.” Have a great week.
Upcoming Events
1/23 Beef Quality Assurance
2/7 NW Ohio Crops Day