climate change

Beef Quality Assurance, Forages, and Climate Change Programming Scheduled for April

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

April 8, 2019

 

Before everyone gets into full swing with spring preparation and planting, there are a few upcoming programs to add to your schedule to help make your farm and garden better prepared for the future.

On April 23, 2019, the ninth Beef Quality Assurance training will be held in Hillsboro, Ohio. The training workshop will be held at Union Stock Yards. Dinner will be served at 5:30 P.M. and the program will be held at 6:30 P.M. Please RSVP to Union Stock Yards to reserve your seat. So far, the Highland County Extension Office has helped certify 680 beef producers. If you do not want to take the Beef Quality Assurance training online, make sure to attend this upcoming training session at Union Stock Yards.

On Thursday, April 25th, Dr. Thomas Blaine will be presenting on Global Climate Change and its impacts predicted through 2050. Dr. Blaine is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. Dr. Blaine will discuss the history of climate change, current trends, and outlook. He will discuss how climate change is and will apply to everything from our lawns, to our farms, and our everyday life through 2050. This program is free to attend, however, RSVP to reserve your seat by calling 937-393-1918.

On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, a live-broadcast forage webinar with Christine Gelley, ANR Extension Educator from Noble County, will be held at 5 P.M. in the Large Meeting Room in the basement of 119 Governor Foraker Place, Hillsboro, OH. Gelley will discuss a variety of forage-related topics to help you prepare for the 2019 growing season and upcoming winter. This program will be useful for livestock owners and hay producers alike. This program is also free to attend, but RSVPs are encouraged to reserve your seat by calling 937-393-1918.

For more information about these upcoming programs, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

 

Upcoming Programs:

A Hands-on filmmaking workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at 3 P.M. at the Lynchburg Library. Bring your own camera and tripod for this walking filmmaking workshop. RSVP to the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

A Video Editing Workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at 3 P.M. at the Lynchburg Library. This workshop will teach basic editing principles on both laptops and mobile devices. Bring your own computer or mobile device to participate. RSVP to the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

The Germinate International Film Fest will be accepting submissions through June 30, 2019. The festival will be held on August 16 & 17, 2019, in Hillsboro, Ohio. For more information or to apply visit https://filmfreeway.com/GerminateInternationalFilmFest. Contact Brooke Beam at the OSU Extension Office of Highland County at 937-393-1918.

Florida Strawberries signal a start of Spring

Florida strawberry Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

A row of Florida strawberries growing on a raised bed.

A row of Florida strawberries near Plant City, Florida, growing on a raised bed.

A few weeks ago, I took a quick weekend trip to Florida to visit one of the agricultural commodity group festivals I’ve been hearing about for a few years. The Florida Strawberry Festival is held annually at the beginning of March in Plant City, Florida. Plant City is located between Tampa and Orlando along I-4 and the region is one of the bright spots for Florida’s agriculture industry.

As you drive along I-4, you are surrounded by fields of strawberries and family operated farm stands filled with fresh produce. However, the Florida Strawberry Festival has more of a state fair feel rather than a small community agricultural festival. The festival includes concerts by numerous bands (this year’s lineup included Willie Nelson), carnival rides, livestock, and youth sewing and baking contests. Despite the typical festival and fair activities, there is definitely a focus on the local agricultural commodity the festival is appropriately named after and the family farms that make the event possible.

One of the strawberry shortcakes made at the St. Clement Catholic Church’s booth at the 2019 Florida Strawberry Festival.

Sprinkled throughout the many vendors were a wide variety of strawberry items, ranging from t-shirts, hats, cookbooks, and socks to edible delicacies. Local farms had provided visitors with the opportunity to try fresh strawberry lemonade, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry preserves, strawberry bread, strawberry cookies, and strawberry pizza. One of the most popular stops on the strawberry foodie trail was the St. Clement Catholic Church’s strawberry shortcake buffet.

There are several take-home lessons from this festival. Agricultural producers capitalized by providing numerous ways for visitors to try fresh strawberries. Providing unique items sprinkled throughout the vast fairgrounds encouraged visitors to explore more of the festival and spend more money with local producers and vendors.

If Highland County had a festival focused on one agricultural product, what do you think would be the best representation of the county? Once you have made your selection, think of how many ways that product could be made into another value-added product.

While it is peak season for strawberries in Florida, it is the peak season in Ohio to consider what to plant for this year’s growing season and plan accordingly. Strawberries are grown locally in Highland County and can be an added item to your garden or farm. Depending on the variety of strawberry plants, it is estimated that one strawberry plant may produce up to one quart of fruit during the first fruiting year in Ohio.

For more information about growing strawberries in Ohio, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

Upcoming Programs:

Video Production 101 will be held on Monday, March 25, 2019, at 6 PM at the Lynchburg Public Library in Lynchburg, OH. The topic of this program will cover the basics of video productions for beginners and will be presented by Brooke Beam. If you have a small business and would like to incorporate more videos into your marketing plans or you are interested in learning the basics of video production, this program is for you!

The topic of the Highland County Monthly Extension Programming for March will be Storytelling for Video Production. The program will be held on March 27, 2019, at 10 AM. Attendees will learn about the different kinds of documentary films and how storytelling impacts the audience’s perception of videos. The program will be held at Ponderosa Steakhouse in Hillsboro and is free to attend. Attendees are encouraged to purchase lunch on their own at Ponderosa. Please RSVP to reserve your seat by calling 937-393-1918.

Global Climate Change Update with Dr. Thomas Blaine will be held on April 25, 2019, at 6 PM in the Large Meeting Room in the basement of 119 Governor Foraker Place, Hillsboro, OH. Come and learn about the history of climate change, its currents trends, and outlook. Hear how it applies to your backyard, farm, and everyday life. RSVP to reserve your seat by calling 937-393-1918.

Cover Crops Can Provide Added Benefit

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

October 29, 2018

Cover crops are a frequently discussed topic among agriculturalists of both livestock and crop production. Primarily used to manage soil erosion and soil quality, cover crops can provide added benefit to many farming operations. While cover crops are not always a traditional crop that is planted with the intention to be harvested, they can provide other benefits which may result in higher profits by improving the soil.

Cover crops have been used for centuries, but have made a comeback in popularity due to environmental and ecological efforts, according to Alan Sundermeier, an Ohio State University Extension Educator. Benefits of cover crops include improvements to soil quality, erosion control, fertility improvements, suppression of weeds, and insect control. Cover crops can be planted as soon as the previous crop has been harvested or consumed. For instance, once a field of soybeans has been harvested in September, wheat could be planted immediately following.

There are a variety of plants that serve well as cover crops. These plants include hairy vetch, alfalfa, clovers, rye, oats, wheat, and forage turnips. Sundermeier said, “a combination of two or more types of cover crops may be beneficial for quick establishment and improved nutrient utilization.”

Dr. Jim Linnie, a Highland County grass-fed beef producer, has utilized cover crops on his farm to extend the grazing season and improve the soil quality. Linnie no-tilled his cover crop seed into his existing perennial pastures after his cattle had grazed the pasture to a low height. He used a combination of forage oats, nitro radish, purple top turnip, rape, and hairy vetch. Linnie said his cattle will enjoy this “salad bar” in November and December.

Cover crops planted in Dr. James Linnie’s pasture near Hillsboro, Ohio. Photo credit: Dr. James Linnie. 

As you consider cover crops for your farming operation, think about the use of the land and how long the fields or pastures are green. Fields that experience longer periods of growing seasons can be healthier due to added nutrients, enhanced soil biology, and improved organic matter in the soil. Linnie partnered with Peter Donovan of the Soil Carbon Coalition to study how many days his pasture had a green growing season. The Soil Carbon Coalition utilizes Google Earth Engine’s catalog of satellite imagery to detect the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is an indicator of the activity of photosynthesis or the presence of green vegetation.

The Soil Carbon Coalition has an interactive map of the Little Miami watershed, which includes portions of Highland County, available to view on their website. If you are interested in seeing the impact of cover crops from a local perspective, check out the map at https://soilcarboncoalition.org/html/LittleMiami.html. For more information about cover crops and how to incorporate them into your farming operation, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

 

Upcoming Events:

 The Global Climate Change Update with Dr. Thomas Blaine from The Ohio State University will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, from 6: 30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. The program will be held at the Brown County Fairgrounds, Rhonemus Hall. The cost to attend is free, but registration is required. For more information or to register, contact James Morris at morris.1677@osu.eduor at the Brown County Extension Office at 937-378-6716.

The next Highland County Monthly Extension Program will be held on December 10, 2018, at 10:00 A.M. at the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Hillsboro, Ohio. More details will be coming soon, please save the date and plan to attend.

Global Climate Change Update

Dr. Blaine will be speaking about the history and trends of climate change. He will also be addressing the common questions that surround the subject:

  • “Hasn’t Earth been much warmer than it is now for most of its history? If that is true (and it is), then why worry about a few degrees warming in the next 50-100 years?”
  • “Isn’t it likely that the warming is natural and not caused by humans at all?”
  • “Hasn’t global temperatures always fluctuated? After all, the glacial grooves at Kelley’s Island prove that Ohio was once covered with ice. Something caused that global cooling, and when the ice age ended, something caused massive global warming – and none of it was humans. So why the concern about global warming now?”