hops

Highland County Tourism at the Ohio Statehouse

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

May 8, 2019

The Ohio State University Extension Office of Highland County and the Visitors Bureau of Highland County partnered to develop and implement an interactive experience for the Tourism Ohio Day on the Ohio Statehouse lawn on May 8, 2019.
Tourism Ohio Day is an annual event held in Columbus that highlights locations for visitors and residents to plan Ohio vacations. Annually there are more than 100 booths displayed on the statehouse lawn.
The Extension Office helped develop a virtual reality experience highlighting locations to eat, play, and stay in Highland County. The virtual reality experience was shown at the Tourism Ohio Day and is also available below through YouTube.

For more information about Tourism Ohio Day, the virtual reality experience, or any of the upcoming Extension 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 OSU 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 OSU Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

A Hops Workshop will be held on July 18, 2019. Cost to attend is $30.00 per person. The workshop will include lunch and a tour of Old Dutch Hops. Preregister at 937-393-1918 or visit the Highland County Extension office. The workshop will be held at the Ponderosa Center at 545 S. High Street, Hillsboro, OH.

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, visithttps://filmfreeway.com/GerminateInternationalFilmFest. Contact Brooke Beam at the OSU Extension Office for more information at 937-393-1918.

 

National Sustainability Summit

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

April 23, 2019

 

Scenes from the National Sustainability Conference. Hops, solar, and pelleted hops.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the National Sustainability Summit and National Energy Extension Summit in Tampa, Florida. It was a week packed with innovation, research, and on-farm tours. The tour I attended a tour focused on hops, solar, and locally-sourced, sustainable breweries. The theme for all of the conference sessions and programs were related to sustainability and energy.

 

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) is conducting research on growing hops in the Florida climate. UF researchers have found that Florida is the only place where hops can be harvested twice a year, with harvests in June and November. The drawback of the Floridian climate and two harvests means there is a lower yield in comparison to an ideal climate. The ideal hops growing region is between 40 degrees and 50 degrees latitude, which is roughly mid-Ohio and Michigan.

While Florida isn’t in the perfect climate location for hops, researchers are utilizing LED lights to extend the number of hours of light exposure. Hops produced at the UF IFAS GCREC facility are used at local breweries in the Tampa Bay region.

The Tampa Electric Company (TECO) is investing in multiple solar farm locations. I toured TECO’s Balm Solar facility, which is a 74.4 MW facility encompassing 541 acres. This facility uses 719,640 modules and 27 inverters. In order to minimize the number of times the grass needs to be mowed; sheep are used to graze the solar farm in rotations.

Utilizing both the hops from UF IFAS GCREC and TECO’s solar-powered electric, Coppertail Brewing Company produces a variety of beverages from all-Florida sourced ingredients. Established in 2014, Coppertail Brewing Company utilizes the most technologically advanced brewing equipment available. They have changed their packaging to solely using recyclable, aluminum cans, of which they can fill 250 a minute. As the company uses only Florida-sourced ingredients, they also market their products only in Florida.

In addition to learning about Florida sustainability efforts, I learned about a variety of innovations and projects being conducted across the United States. I presented at the National Sustainability Conference on the virtual reality (VR) programs that the Highland County Extension Office has hosted in Highland County, the future of VR technology for field trips, and the upcoming Germinate International Film Fest. For more information about any of the upcoming Highland County Extension programs, contact the office at 937-393-1918.

 

Upcoming Programs:

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 is also free to attend, but RSVPs are encouraged to reserve your seat by calling 937-393-1918.

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 Highland County Extension Office for more information at 937-393-1918.

 

Upcoming Beef Quality Assurance Certification Trainings

By Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

July 24, 2018

While the vast majority of American citizens are disconnected from production agriculture, a cultural movement over the last decade has urged consumers to be more interested in their food and how it was produced. This interest in food and agricultural production has coincided with the introduction of the Millennial generation into the consumer market. Millennials differ from previous generations, as they are expected to be the “largest consumer spenders in history” and they are known as trendsetters in the agricultural marketplace (B. D. Johnson, 2016, p. 1).

Millennials want to live healthy lifestyles, and they are influencing not only their generation’s eating habits but also their children’s and parents’ eating trends (G. Johnson, 2016b). Scott Muchkin, a food trends researcher at Wolfe Research in New York, stated that the best advice farmers could follow was to have transparency in their farming operations (G. Johnson, 2016a). Munhkin stated modern consumers want to know everything about how their food was produced. Companies like Tyson Foods and Wendy’s have listened to the demands of the consumer and are setting goals to achieve transparency and high standards of beef production.

Tyson Foods harvests and processed “25 percent of the US beef market share” (OSU Extension Beef Team, 2018, p. 1). Wendy’s is “now the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the U.S.” (OSU Extension Beef Team, 2018, p. 1). Both corporations announced that beginning in 2019, all “cattle they purchase must originate from producers and feedyards who are Beef Quality Assurance certified” (OSU Extension Beef Team, 2018, p. 1).

The Ohio State University Extension Offices in Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Highland Counties will be offering Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certification trainings for area beef producers along with local sale barns and veterinarians. These BQA certification trainings will allow for cattle to be sold to companies, like Tyson and Wendy’s, that will require BQA certification in 2019.

Four BQA certification trainings will be offered in Hillsboro, Ohio. Dates and locations of the upcoming BQA certification trainings are:

  •       Tuesday, August 14, 2018, Noon, Union Stockyards, Hillsboro
  •       Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:30 P.M., Union Stockyards, Hillsboro
  •       Thursday, September 13, 2018, 6:30 P.M., Producers Stockyards, Hillsboro
  •       Thursday, October 25, 2018, 6:30 P.M., Producers Stockyards, Hillsboro

Call your local Ohio State University Extension Office to register for the date and location of the BQA training of your choice. The Highland County Extension Office can be reached at 937-393-1918.

References

Johnson, B. D. (2016, June 9). Future Food: What Will It Be? Retrieved April 16, 2017, from Successful Farming: http://www.agriculture.com/farm-management/future food-what-will-it-be

Johnson, G. (2016a, February). Food Trends: Consumers Want Healthy, Local Foods. Successful Farming.

Johnson, G. (2016b, February 19). Meet Your New Boss: The Millennials. Successful Farming.

OSU Extension Beef Team. (2018). Beef Quality Assurance. Beef Team Blog. Retrieved from https://u.osu.edu/beefteam/bqa/

Upcoming Events:

Ohio Hop Growers Guild 2018 Hop Yard Open House will be held on Saturday, July 28, 2018, from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. The public is welcome to attend and experience how hops are commercially grown in Ohio. Sign up at the Ohio Hop Growers Guild Facebook page. Three regional hop yards will be participating:

Scott Hop Farms

9681 U.S. Route 68

Georgetown, Ohio 45121

http://www.scottfarmsohio.com/hops.html

 

Little Miami Farms

3391 Cemetery Road

Xenia, Ohio 45385

 

Ohio Valley Hops

8329 S. State Route 48

Maineville, Ohio 45039

 The Ohio State University will be hosting the Hops Field Night at the South Centers in Piketon on August 8, 2018, from 5:30 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. The cost is $15 per person and dinner will be served at 5:30 P.M. The deadline to register is Monday, August 6, 2018. The field night will be geared toward all growers, new and experienced. Some topics that will be discussed included galvanized trellis systems, mechanical harvesting demonstration, drying demonstrations, insect and diseases, and pest management. To register, contact Charissa Gardner at gardner.1148@osu.eduor at 740-289-2071 ext. 132.

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