Month: June 2025

Octagon Earthworks Visit

The Professional Agrarians is a Licking County organization with strong interests in agriculture and community. We would like to invite you to our July meeting. We are hosting a very special diner meeting on July 1, 2025. The Ohio History Connection has opened the Octagon Earthworks to the public. This historic site is at the previous location of the Moundbuilders Golf Course at 125 N. 33rd St. Newark, OH 43055.

The evening will begin with a guided walking tour of the grounds at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. After dinner Jeff Gill, who was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition, will talk to our group about the earthworks. This World Heritage site will have a long-lasting impact on our community.

“What makes the Octagon Earthworks unique is that its earthen mounds and embankments functioned as an ancient astronomical observatory. In 1982, researchers from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana realized that the earthworks formed an ancient lunar observatory designed to track the motions of the moon. When the moon is at the northernmost point of the 18.6-year cycle of its lunar orbit, it rises within one-half of a degree of the octagon’s exact center, when seen from the observatory mound. In comparison to the possible observatory functions of the Stonehenge complex, the Newark earthworks may be twice as precise.” (from Cultural Property News)

The meeting will be professionally catered and will require an RSVP. We need to know how many meals need to be prepared ahead of time. The RSVP deadline is Tuesday, June 17, 2025. To cover cost, the fee for guests for this meeting will be $20. Please RSVP to the OSU Licking County Extension Office at 740-670-5315.

Cover Crop Cost Share

2025 Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Cover Crop Program is offering $12.00/acre with a cap of 175 approved acres per applicant across eligible counties in the jurisdictional boundary of the MWCD District unless fields are located within one of the specified MWCD Lake watersheds.  Application deadline is July 9, 2025.

For application click here. 2025 Cover Crop Application

New Ohio State tick testing service tracks diseases, aids faster diagnoses

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ticks are creeping into more corners of Ohio every year — and with them, the threat of serious illnesses.

Now, a new service from The Ohio State University is helping protect people and pets by identifying ticks and the diseases they carry.

Ohio State has launched the Buckeye Tick Test, a new pathogen testing service that offers comprehensive identification and disease screening for ticks found on humans and animals.

The Buckeye Tick Test, Ohio’s first service allowing residents to mail in ticks for analysis, is an interdisciplinary project led by Ohio State’s Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). The lab is directed by Risa Pesapane, an associate professor with joint appointments at Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and CVM.

The test identifies tick species and screens for multiple pathogens, including those causing Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Continue reading New Ohio State tick testing service tracks diseases, aids faster diagnoses →

Ohio Legislative Roundup

By:Peggy Kirk Hall, Attorney and Director, Agricultural & Resource Law Program Wednesday, June 04th, 2025
Ohio Statehouse

Written by Ellen Essman, J.D., Senior Research Associate with the OSU Agricultural & Resource Law Program

Note:  We welcome Ellen Essman to the OSU Agricultural & Resource Law Program.  Ellen worked with us previously, and has returned to assist with covering legislation and serving as the Education Director for our Ohio Farm Resolution Services agricultural mediation program.

The Ohio General Assembly is currently considering several bills that would affect agriculture, farmers, livestock producers, sellers of homemade foods, landowners, and students participating in FFA or 4-H.  Here is an update on the bills we are following, including a few updates on bills we mentioned in our last legislative blog post.

H.B. 10 – Imitation meat and egg products

As we reported in our previous legislative blog post, H.B. 10 would prohibit the sale of foods that are “misbranded” as meat or egg products. Sponsored by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Rep. Jack Daniels (R-New Franklin), H.B. 10 defines “misbranded” meat and egg products as those that: contain manufactured-protein food products or fabricated-egg products, are offered for sale by a food processing establishment, and have a package label that includes certain “meat” or “egg” terms.  A food processing establishment that sells misbranded meat and egg products would be subject to a penalty of up to $10,000 per day.  The bill would also require Ohio agencies to request a USDA exemption of cultivated-protein food products and fabricated-egg products from eligibility under SNAP and WIC food programs and would require Ohio school districts and state institutions of higher education to adopt policies preventing the purchase of cultivated-protein food products or foods misbranded as meat or egg products. H.B. 10 is still being deliberated in the House Agriculture Committee. At the bill’s most recent hearing on May 28, there was no opponent or proponent testimony.

H.B. 65 – Agriculture Appreciation Act Continue reading Ohio Legislative Roundup →

USDA Reminds Ohio Producers to File Crop Acreage Reports

After spring planting is complete, agricultural producers in Ohio should make an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office to complete crop acreage reports before the applicable deadline.

How to File a Report

A crop acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch, its intended use and location.  Producers should file an accurate crop acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planted acreage before the applicable deadline.

The following acreage reporting dates are applicable in Ohio:
July 15, 2025 — Report all your Burley Tobacco, Cabbage (Planted 3/19/25-5/31/25), Corn, Grain Sorghum, Hybrid Corn Seed, Spring Oats, Popcorn, Potatoes, Soybeans, Sugar Beets, Tomatoes and all other crops. Report Perennial Forage Crops. Report Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage.
Aug. 15, 2025 — Report Cabbage (Planted 6/1/25-7/20/25).
Sept. 30, 2025 — Report Aquaculture.
Dec. 15, 2025 —- Report Fall-Seeded 2026 crops, Barley, Fall Wheat, and all other Fall-Seeded Small Grains.

To file a crop acreage report, producers need to provide: Continue reading USDA Reminds Ohio Producers to File Crop Acreage Reports →