Month: May 2020

Free virtual Quality Assurance training for Highland County 4-H and FFA members

Free on-line Quality Assurance will be offered to Highland County 4-H and FFA members via Zoom. You must register no later than 48 hours prior in-order to attend the training. Each training is limited to 40 families. You can register the entire family at one time.

The following are dates  and times QA is currently being offered:

June 3, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
June 4, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
June 10, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
June 11, 2020 at 3:00 p.m.

Approximately 24 hours before the webinar, you will receive a Zoom link to connect to the webinar from Kathy Bruynis. The link will be sent from bruynis.5@osu.edu. Training will be limited to a maximum of 40 families per session. Families only need to register once if all family members will be participating at the same time. Make sure to list all family members first and last name participating in the registration form.

 

Please register at the link below no later than 48 hours before the session you would like to attend.

 

https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1FgQkREt9lALvLv

 

For more information contact Kathy Bruynis at bruynis.5@osu.edu or 937-393-1918

Share the Road With Farmers this Spring

Brooke Beam, PhD

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

May 26, 2020

Spring planting season has arrived in Highland County. Farmers have faced a challenging spring due to wet weather conditions, and in particular the large quantities of rain we received last week have delayed planting.

Due to the weather delays, when the planting conditions are right again, you will see many area farmers rushing to plant their crops.

When you see farm equipment on the road, the first thing you should do is slow down. It isn’t an inconvenience to take a few extra minutes to ensure your safety and the safety of the individual driving the farm machinery.

Farm equipment is large and slow-moving. The equipment is marked with reflective slow moving vehicle emblems (SMV), reflective markers, and flashing lights to make the equipment easier to see in low-light conditions.

In most cases, tractor drivers will pull over and let traffic pass when it is safe to do so. However, passing is not advised near intersections. Passing is also not advised on roads with no passing zones (double yellow lines) or on roads where on-coming traffic visibility is reduced due to hills, curves, or dips in the road. Be sure to look for hand signals from the tractor driver indicating that it is safe to pass.

When it is safe to pass farm equipment, be sure to identify the edges of all of the equipment. In many cases, attachments to tractors are larger than the tractor itself.

Slow down, use caution and common sense when driving near farm equipment this spring. Take a few extra minutes to protect yourself, your passengers, and your local farmers as we all go on drives this spring.

 

Next Week on the Southern Ohio Farm Show

Next week’s episode on the Southern Ohio Farm Show will cover information about canning with Margaret Jenkins, Family and Consumer Science Extension Educator in Clermont County.

Winning 4-H Plan

Winning 4-H Plan

Winning 4-H Plan request forms and final 4-H plan need to be completed by June 1, 2020.  A completed Winning 4-H Plan includes the request form and a meeting with the child, guardian and extension educator to discuss and plan out the year’s accommodations.  Please visit Highland.osu.edu for the request form and email the completed form to Danielle Combs by 4pm on June 1st.

This Week on the Southern Ohio Farm Show

In this week’s episode of the Southern Ohio Farm Show, there was a weather forecast by Dr. Aaron Wilson, a conversation about the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE), a gardening activity for youth, tips for growing strawberries, and a reason to keep an eye in the sky on clear nights. Next week, we will have another weather outlook, continued discussions about local foods and Coronavirius Food Assistance Program. Tune in next Wednesday at 10 AM for another new episode of the Southern Ohio Farm Show via https://go.osu.edu/thesouthernohiofarmshowregistration

Coronavirius Food Assistance Program Enrollment Begins May 26, 2020

Brooke Beam, PhD

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

May 20, 2020

 

The Coronavirius Food Assistance Program (CFAP) enrollment period opens on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 for eligible agricultural producers. Eligible producers are defined as any person or legal entity that shared in the risk of producing the crop or is entitled to share in the revenue from marketing on January 15, 2020 or April 16, 2020 through May 14, 2020. An eligible producer must also be a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

Eligible non-specialty crops include malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, and wool.  Eligible specialty crops include apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapefruit, kiwifruit, lemons, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, and watermelons, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, dry onions, green onions, peppers, rhubarb, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, taro, almonds, pecans, walnuts, beans, and mushrooms. Additional crops may be added later, specifically aquaculture and nursery crops including cut flowers. The Agricultural Marketing Service will assist the Farm Service Agency (FSA) with respect to matters dealing with producers of specialty crops.

Additional details of the CFAP program and the necessary forms for enrollment are available on farmers.gov/cfap. Producers who are new to FSA programs will need to complete paperwork and verify their ownership share or risk exposure, adjusted gross income, wetland and erodible land compliance and their contact information. Producers who participate in Farm Bill programs, like the Agricultural Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage or Dairy Margin Coverage, will already have these forms on file at the FSA office.

Ohio State University Extension and Ohio FSA will conduct a webinar in the coming days covering the CFAP program in detail. For more information about the webinar, visit farmoffice.osu.edu.