Cover Crops

Paulding County Extension Looking for Fields with History of Slug Damage

Do you or some you know have a field that regularly suffers from slug damage? Do you plant cover crops on your farm? If so, we have a great opportunity for you! Rachel Cochran, Water Quality Extension Associate for Paulding, Defiance, and Van Wert Counties is looking for fields to add to her on-farm research project. The project aims to address the question “Do radish cover crops deter slugs?”, and is a continuation of greenhouse and plot-scale research studies.

If you are interested or would like more information, reach out to Rachel at cochran.474@osu.edu or (567) 344-5016.

Farm Science Review is just around the corner!

LONDON, Ohio – More than 50 companies will join the ranks as exhibitors for the 61st Farm Science Review Sept. 19-21 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center. The new exhibitors represent various sectors in the agriculture industry including livestock handling, equipment advancements, agronomic technology, agricultural policy, and more.

Paulding County Extension Office has tickets for sale at a discounted price total of $10 per ticket. Tickets will be for sale until Monday, September 18 at noon. Continue reading →

Share your thoughts on cover crops in the National Cover Crop Survey!

Why do you plant cover crops… or why don’t you?

Share your thoughts on cover crops in an online survey at bit.ly/CoverCrop23. Why do you plant cover crops… or why don’t you? What do you want to know about cover crops? Where do you get your information about them? Your insight will help guide research, communications, seed development, and more.

This National Cover Crop Survey is the seventeenth since 2012 conducted by USDA-NIFA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), with the help of Informa/Farm Progress.

Please take a few minutes to contribute your voice at bit.ly/CoverCrop23.

After completing the questionnaire, you may enter a drawing for one of three $100 Visa gift cards.

Controlling Slugs and Voles in Cover Crops

From the OSU CORN Newsletter:

By Rachel Cochran, CCA and Paige Garrabrant, Water Quality Extension Associates

Last week, OSU Extension’s Water Quality Team launched their annual webinar series with a two-part webinar on cover crops. The team works closely with producers throughout the Western Lake Erie Basin to implement practices that not only improve growers’ operational efficiencies and profitability, but also to promote soil health and reduce nutrient and sediment loss. Several producers that the team works with have requested more education specifically on cover crops.

The webinar last week focused on cover crops with a handful of different speakers. Tim Reinbott, Director of Field Operations at the University of Missouri’s Agricultural Research Stations, provided listeners with some insight and advice on controlling slugs and voles, which are common in no-till and reduced-till situations. Continue reading →

Cover Crops Roundtables to be Hosted in Paulding County

Paulding County Extension is re-starting its Cover Crops Roundtable Series after a three-year hiatus. This series was created as a platform for farmer-to-farmer interaction, with OSU Extension serving as the discussion moderator. The goal of the series is to allow peer learning through networking, problem-solving, and idea sharing regarding the benefits and challenges of growing cover crops on the farm. Continue reading →

Webinar Series on Soil Health for 2023

Greetings Soil Heath Enthusiasts,
The Ohio State University Extension Soil Health Committee as part of the OSU Agronomy Team wanted to make sure you were aware of our upcoming soil health programs scheduled for this winter.

To participate in the SOIL HEALTH 2023 WEBINAR SERIES – Registration can be found at www.go.osu.edu/soilhealthweb
CCA Credits will be available for each webinar.

Continue reading →

Register for ‘Solve Problems and Reduce Risk with Healthy Soil’ Event

The Nature Conservancy is promoting an event for farmers and landowners to solve problems and reduce risk by making their soils healthy. This event will be held at the Hancock Hotel in Findlay, OH from 9AM-4PM on Wednesday, December 14th. Continue reading →

Soil Health Tour 2022 Sites Finalized

 

The 18 in-person and 6 virtual tour stops for the 2022 Soil Health Tour have been finalized and are almost ready to be visited by farmers, conservationists, and soil-lovers around Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and Northeast Indiana. The tour officially opens Monday, September 19th at 8AM and closes Wednesday, September 28th at 5PM. A wrap-up event will be held Thursday, September 29th at the Paulding County Extension Office from 6-8PM to close out the tour. Register for the September 29th event at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour.

The flyer with tour site information can be accessed here.

The in-person tour stops are as follows: Continue reading →

Save the Date for 2022’s Soil Health Tour!

 

Save the Date! The second annual Soil Health Tour, presented by OSU Extension Paulding County, will be held September 19th-28th, 2022. Visit tour stops showcasing a variety of soil health practices across the region. This year, we have expanded to include tour stops in Northeast Indiana and Southeast Michigan as well as Northwest Ohio. We are also introducing a few virtual tour stops to showcase sites that may be inaccessible to the public or better explained through photos and videos. However you plan to attend, we hope to see you during Tour Week!

Wrap up the Soil Health Tour with Paulding County Extension on Thursday, September 29th, 2022 at the Paulding County Extension Hall. Join us, a guest speaker, and farmers and landowners who provided tour stops for an educational and networking event. Meal will be provided with $10 registration fee. Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) continuing education credits will also be offered at the wrap-up event on September 29th.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the event: go.osu.edu/SoilHealthTour; We can’t wait to see you!

Summer Ag Events in NW Ohio

 

Hi all,

I wanted to share the upcoming events in NW Ohio Extension related to Agriculture to get those events on your calendar. Here is the link https://go.osu.edu/summernwohio22 or you can download the PDF of the newsletter 2022 Summer NW Ohio Newsletter PDF Version. I hope to see you at these summer events.

Paulding County To Host Agriculture Breakfast Next Week!

Join OSU Extension’s Water Quality team for a breakfast meeting focused on conservation practices!

We need your input on which types of conservation practices to include in future watershed plans. The practices outlined in these watershed plans will be the first to receive funding once the plans are implemented and grants are secured. The meeting will be held on the Paulding County Fairgrounds in the Youth Leadership Building from 7:30AM – 9:00 AM on Tuesday, April 12th. Breakfast will be provided free of charge, but an RSVP is required. Call 567-344-5016 to register, or email cochran.474@osu.edu.

Click the link below to see an enlarged version of the flyer

Paulding Breakfast Meeting Flyer

 

 

New 5-Minute Agriculture Topic Video on Cover Crops

Check out the newest video in the 5-Minute Ag Topic Video Series, found on the Paulding County YouTube Channel. This video, centered on cover crops, features Water Quality Extension Associate, Rachel Cochran, and Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Educator, Sarah Noggle, both from our Paulding County Extension Office. To learn more about benefits that cover crops can provide, as well as tools for selecting the best ones to fit your goals, click the embedded video above!

Upcoming Western Lake Erie Basin Conservation Practices Public Input Meeting

Input Meeting Email Flyer – Link to flyer

Join OSU Extension’s Water Quality Associates on Tuesday, February 22nd from 10-11AM for a public input meeting regarding on-farm conservation practices. This webinar is aimed toward farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin who farm or live near our target watersheds, found on the attached flier. This virtual webinar will allow OSU’s Water Quality team to hear directly from farmers and landowners to guide local watershed planning efforts and funding priorities. What conservation practices do you want to learn more about? Are there practices that you think may work for your farm, but you don’t know where to start? Are there practices you are interested in if additional funding or support becomes available? Join us for an informal discussion to talk about these topics.

Register for this webinar at www.go.osu.edu/inputmeeting, or contact a Water Quality Extension Associate to give your input if you can’t attend the meeting. Contact Paulding County’s WQEA Rachel Cochran, cochran.474@osu.edu, (567) 344-5016, with any questions.

Ag Tech Tuesday

Join the Digital Ag Team as they dive into research results from around the state of Ohio based on the 2021 eFields report. Registration is free but required. Have you been enjoying the 2021 fields Report and are excited to learn more? Join us to learn more about the eFields program and the results we are seeing across the state.

The program will happen on Tuesday, February 1 and 8 from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM. The format will be the same but due to participants registered different 2021 eFields reports may be discussed. CCA and CEUs will be offered.

Register at http://go.osu.edu/AgTechTues

Soil Health Webinar Series Continues!

The OSU Extension 2022 soil health webinar series will present “What does the Research Tell Us about Cover Crops & Soil Health?” on February 3, 8-9 a.m. Join us as OSUE Field Specialist Elizabeth Hawkins and State Soil Specialist Steve Culman share recent Ohio research trial results. Come with your questions! We hope to use the chat feature to collect some ideas from you on things you’re trying or would like to see researched. Register at go.osu.edu/soilhealth2022 for this virtual event. And mark your calendar for our final session on March 3, “Hot Topics – What’s the Future of Soil Health?”

Water Quality Extension Associates Planning Winter Meetings and Spring Research Need YOU!

The six water quality extension associates located in Northwest Ohio are gearing up for winter programming and need input from you! Continue reading →

Regional Field Days Focus on Cover Crop Application and Termination – Paulding County host site

OSU Extension will host two educational field days focused on soil health and cover crops next week. Extension specialists and farmers experienced with cover crops will present on topics including inter-seeding cover crops into a growing crop, terminating cover crops, cover crop variety selection, and more. Field demonstrations cover crop plots, and equipment demonstrations will be on-site.

Each field day is free to attend. Registration is appreciated. Register at go.osu.edu/RegionalFieldDay

Monday, August 16th – 6:30-8:30 pm. Location: Klopfenstein Farm (Paulding County), 10136 Road 60, Haviland, OH.  The event will feature Jason Hartschuh speaking about interseeded cover crops and Alyssa Essman will speak about cover crop termination.

Tuesday, August 17th – 2:00-5:00 pm. Location: Fayette County Airport, 2770 Old Route 38, NW, Washington CH, OH. This event is part of the Southwest Corn Growers’ Field Day, which is from 9:00-2:00 pm. Get more information on this field day here.

Purdue Researcher Shalamar Armstrong to speak in Paulding County on Thursday, August 19

Know via his Twitter handle as the @CoverCropDr, Dr. Shalamar Armstrong is an Associate Professor of Soil Conservation and Management in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University. He holds a B.S. degree in Plant and Soil Science from Southern University, an M.S. in Soil Fertility from Alabama A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Agronomy from Purdue University.

Paulding County is very excited to host a soil health tour round-up event with Armstrong as the keynote speaker. Speaker Shalamar Armstrong of Purdue University will speak on Cover Crops’ Effects on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycling and Fate, and certified crop advisor credits will be available for this talk. In addition, talk with farmers from Northwest Ohio about different practices used to improve soil health on their farms. This event follows the Northwest Ohio Soil Health Tour showcasing different soil health practices, such as reduced tillage, cover crop usage, manure usage, and structural practices such as controlled drainage and wetlands.

Soil Health Event – Thursday, August 19th from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM; networking from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM with speaker Shalamar Armstrong beginning his talk at 7:30 PM. A free meal is being sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and an RSVP is appreciated by Wednesday, August 18 by 5:00 PM.

Where:  Soil Health Event – Paulding County Extension Building, 503 Fairground Dr. Paulding, OH 45879

Cost: No cost

RSVP: Registration is required for the Soil Health Event, as a meal will be provided at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour

For more information, contact Rachel Cochran at Cochran.474@osu.edu or 567-344-5016 or Sarah Noggle, noggle.17@osu.edu or 419-399-8225

Soil Health Tour and Event Scheduled for Northwest Ohio

Farmland, Half, Soil, Ground

By Rachel Cochran, OSU Extension Water Quality Associate

Paulding County Extension will be hosting two events in Northwest Ohio in August: a soil health tour and a follow-up event with a guest speaker. The soil health tour includes stops around Northwest Ohio showcasing different practices to help improve soil health. A map of tour stops can be found at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour and will be updated as tour stops are confirmed. Continue reading →

Producers with Crop Insurance to Receive Premium Benefit for Cover Crops

From the RMA Website 

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2021 – Agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) if they planted cover crops during this crop year. The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), offered nationally by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), helps farmers maintain their cover crop systems, despite the financial challenges posed by the pandemic.

The PCCP is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, a bundle of programs to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions.

“Cultivating cover crops requires a sustained, long-term investment, and the economic challenges of the pandemic made it financially challenging for many producers to maintain cover crop systems,” said RMA Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy. “Producers use cover crops to improve soil health and gain other agronomic benefits, and this program will reduce producers’ overall premium bill to help ensure producers can continue this climates-smart agricultural practice.” Continue reading →