Licking County Agricultural Hall of Fame breakfast

Dear Friends of Agriculture:

You are cordially invited to the 2022 Licking County Agriculture Hall of Fame Breakfast. The Hall of Fame was established to recognize those individuals who have demonstrated lifelong exemplary service to their community and the industry of agriculture.

Due to the pandemic, we were unable to host this breakfast in 2020 and 2021.  Please join us in celebration of our 2020, 2021, and 2022 Inductees; Phil Watts, Fred Hendren, Jim Kiracofe, and Tim Shipley!  We will also recognize of our previous inductees.

The breakfast this year is at The Reese Center located on the Newark campus of The Ohio State University and Central Ohio Technical College, 1179 University Drive in Newark on March 18th from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

Please return the enclosed reservation form with payment of $10 per ticket by March 6th in order to reserve your seats for this catered event.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (740) 670-5315.

I hope to see you on Friday, March 18, 2022!

Click here for  a printable form: AG Hall of Fame March 2022 Flyer

Two top Seniors in Agriculture from Licking County

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Twenty-six seniors have received the most prestigious undergraduate award at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).

The Distinguished Senior Award honors top graduating seniors on the Ohio State Columbus campus who exemplify the CFAES mission in areas such as academics and scholarship, research and innovation, service and involvement, and influence and leadership.

“The 2022 recipients are our future innovators and leaders who have already made an impact within the academic environment at this university and beyond,” said Steven Neal, CFAES professor and associate dean for academic programs.

Please congratulate these students and their families when you see them!

Elizabeth Ohl, Animal Sciences, Alexandria, Ohio

Cora Dorman, Agribusiness and Applied Economics, Croton, Ohio

Hot Topics – What’s the Future of Soil Health?

Join our webinar on March 3rd at 8:00 a.m.!

We will have 5 soil health researchers from Ohio State providing updates on their research along with their projections of soil health topics in the future.  Now is your chance to learn first hand what is going on in research labs at OSU and get your questions answered.

Register here: go.osu.edu/soilhealth2022

Small Farm Conference and Trade Show

OSU Extension Mid-Ohio Small Farm Conference – Sowing Seeds for Success scheduled for March 12th 2022

No need to feel alone in the field. Our new and small farm conferences provide connections that will last long after the event.

  • Do you own a few acres that you want to be productive but you’re not sure what to do?
  • Do you have a passion for farming and turning your piece of this wonderful earth into a food producing oasis?
  • Do you own land or forest that you’re not quite sure how to manage?
  • Do you raise or produce products that you would like to market and sell off your farm but you’re not sure how to make it successful?

If you’re asking yourself these questions, this conference is for you! Targeted to new and small farm owners, we cover topics like:

  • Horticulture
  • Produce Production
  • Natural Resources
  • Livestock
  • Specialty Crops
  • Farm Management
  • Marketing
  • Miscellaneous Topics

You’ll also have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovated ideas and services for your farming operation. Talk with the vendors and network with your peers. If you are a new or small farm owner, you don’t want to miss the 2022 Small Farm Conference – Sowing Seeds for Success on March 12th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Mansfield OSU Campus in Ovalwood Hall.  The campus is just minutes from I-71 and US Rt 30.

Please visit: https://go.osu.edu/osufarmconference2022  for class and registration details or call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070.

Conference speaker presentation information: Small Farm Conference Brochure 2022 (003)

The Ag Law Roundup

By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Friday, February 25th, 2022

It’s time to round up a sampling of legal questions we’ve received the past month or so. The questions effectively illustrate the breadth of “agricultural law,” and we’re happy to help Ohioans understand its many parts.  Here’s a look at the inquiries that have come our way,

I’m considering a carbon credit agreement.  What should I look for?   Several types of carbon credit agreements are now available to Ohio farmers, and they differ from one another so it’s good to review them closely and with the assistance of an attorney and an agronomist.  For starters, take time to understand the terminology, make sure you can meet the initial eligibility criteria, review payment and penalty terms, know what types of practices are acceptable, determine “additionality” requirements for creating completing new carbon reductions, know the required length of participation and how long the carbon reductions must remain in place, understand how carbon reductions will be verified and certified, be aware of data ownership rights, and review legal remedy provisions.  That’s a lot!  Read more about each of these recommendations in our blog post on “Considering Carbon Farming?”

I want to replace an old line fence.  Can I remove trees along the fence when I build the new fence?   No, unless they are completely on your side of the boundary line.  Both you and your neighbor co-own the boundary trees, so you’ll need the neighbor’s permission to remove them.  You could be liable to the neighbor for the value of the trees if you remove them without the neighbor’s approval, and Ohio law allows triple that value if you remove them against the neighbor’s wishes or recklessly harm the trees in the process of building the fence.  You can, however, trim back the neighbor’s tree branches to the property line as long as you don’t harm the tree.  Also, Ohio’s line fence law in ORC 971.08 allows you to access up to 10 feet of the neighbor’s property to build the fence, although you can be liable if you damage the property in doing so.

I want to sell grow annuals and sell the cut flowers.  Do I need a nursery license?  No.  Ohio’s nursery dealer license requirement applies to those who sell or distribute “nursery stock,” which the law defines as any “hardy” tree, shrub, plant, bulb, cutting, graft, or bud, excluding turf grass.  A “hardy” plant is one that is capable of surviving winter temperatures. Note that the definition of nursery stock also includes some non-hardy plants sold out of the state.  Because annual flowers and cuttings from those flowers don’t fall into the definition of “nursery stock,” a seller need not obtain the nursery dealer license.

Must I collect sales tax on cut flowers that I sell?  Yes.  In agriculture, we’re accustomed to many items being exempt from Ohio’s sales tax.  That’s not the case when selling flowers and plants directly to customers, which is a retail sale that is subject to the sales tax.  The seller must obtain a vendor’s license from the Ohio Department of Taxation, then collect and submit the taxes regularly.  Read more about vendor’s licenses and sales taxes in our law bulletin at this link.

I’m an absentee landowner who rents my farmland to a tenant operator.  Should I have liability insurance on the land?  Yes.  A general liability policy with a farm insurer should be affordable and worth the liability risk reduction.  But a few other steps can further minimize risk.  Require your tenant operator to have liability insurance that adequately covers the tenant’s operations, and include indemnification provisions in your farm lease that shift liability to the tenant during the lease period.  Also consider requiring your tenant or hiring someone to do routine property inspections, monitor trespass issues, and ensure that the property is in a safe condition.

My neighbor and I both own up to the shoreline on either side of a small lake–do I have the right to use the whole lake?  It depends on where the property lines lay and whether the lake is connected to other waters. If the lake is completely surrounded by private property and not connected to other “navigable” waters, such as a stream that feeds into it, the lake is most likely a private water body.  Both of you could limit access to your side of the property line as it runs through the lake.  You also have the legal right to make a “reasonable use” of the water in the lake from your land, referred to as “riparian rights.”  You could withdraw it to water your livestock, for example; but you cannot “unreasonably” interfere with your neighbor’s right to reasonably use the water.   The law changes if the lake is part of a “navigable” waterway.  It is then a “water of the state” that is subject to the public right of navigation.  Others could float on and otherwise navigate the water, and you could navigate over to your neighbor’s side.  Public users would not have the riparian rights that would allow them to withdraw and use the water, however, and would be trespassing if they go onto the private land along the shore.

If I start an agritourism activity on my farm, will I lose my CAUV status?  No, not if your activities fit within the legal definition of “agritourism.”  Ohio law states in ORC 5713.30(A)(5) that “agritourism” activities do not disqualify a parcel from Ohio’s Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) program. “Agritourism,” according to the definition in ORC 901.80, is any agriculturally related educational, entertainment, historical, cultural, or recreational activity on a “farm” that allows or invites members of the general public to observe, participate in, or enjoy that activity.  The definition of a “farm” is the same as the CAUV eligibility—a parcel devoted to commercial agricultural production that is either 10 acres or more or, if under 10 acres, grosses $2500 annually from agricultural production.  This means that land that is enrolled in the CAUV program qualifies as a “farm” and can add agritourism activities without becoming ineligible for CAUV.

Send your questions to aglaw@osu.edu and we’ll do our best to provide an answer.  Also be sure to check out our law bulletins and the Ag Law Library on https://farmoffice.osu.edu, which explain many of Ohio’s vast assortment of agricultural laws.

 

Escape to the Forest Webinar – Spring Migration!

Join us for another Friday’s Escape to the Forest webinar –

March 18th at 10 am – 12 pm

Here Come the Birds – The Joy of Spring Migration!

Every year, spring brings the obvious signs of renewal: hillsides painted with Eastern Redbud and valleys full of daffodils. But overhead, the skies are full of brilliantly colored warblers, tanagers, and grosbeaks making their way from Central and South America to lush temperate breeding grounds in North America. Join the School of Environment and Natural Resources’ Matt Shumar, Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative Coordinator, for an in-depth look at the phenology of spring bird migration in Ohio.

Registration is now open and can be accessed at go.osu.edu/springbirds.

 

 

Pruning School

The Ohio State University South Centers is hosting an expanded, three-part Online Fruit Pruning School on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 and Tuesday, March 8, 2022. This is a FREE online event that will conducted virtually via the Zoom communications platform. NEW this year, we will devote an entire session to training and pruning apple trees from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. on March 1.

Parts 2 and 3 will be held March 8, beginning with grapes at 9:30 a.m. and continuing with raspberries at 11 a.m.

Anyone wishing to attend should register no later than Monday, February 28, 2022. Simply visit the link below and fill out the registration form. Registering once will get you links to all the sessions, simply attend as many or as few as you would like. We plan on again offering recordings afterward, so you can access the event on-demand, as we know this fits some people’s schedules better.

Be sure to include a working email address so we can mail you the link to join the event closer to the date.

Register here: http://go.osu.edu/pruningschool

Click here for flyer:  Pruning 2022

Large Carnivores and Humans!

Join us on Tuesday (February 15th) for Coyotes, Coffee, and Carnivores to learn from four unique and world-renowned experts on various large carnivore species and their diverse coexistence adaptations to human environments. Each speaker Madeline Winans (program coordinator, Ohio State’s Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research and Education), Tom Schmid (president and CEO, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium), José Vicente López Bao, Ph.D. (Universidad de Oviedo-Campus de Mieres, Spain) and Stan Gehrt, Ph.D. (professor of wildlife ecology and extension wildlife specialist, Ohio State) will provide their own firsthand experience and advice on wildlife ecology, management, and conservation. This event, featuring in-person and virtual streaming options, is located Ohio State’s 4-H Center and via EPN’s YouTube livestream service. All aspects of this program, including the in-person networking, freshly brewed coffee and assorted breakfast beverages, are free! Register today for in-person or virtual programming options at go.osu.edu/epnfeb22