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.
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
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! 
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!
Join OSU Extension for an event sponsored by the Soil Health Nexus aimed at educators and advisers in the agricultural community. This event will serve as an in-service to educate attendees on all things soil health, and will allow you to become more confident in your abilities to expand this knowledge to others. This event will be held July 13, 2022 from 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM in the Paulding County Extension Hall, 503 Fairground Drive, Paulding OH 45879. Registration is free, but required to attend the event. A meal will be provided with registration.
Questions about who should attend this event can be directed to Sarah Noggle, noggle.17@osu.edu, or (419) 399-8225.
Register here for the July 13th event. Registration has been extended until July 6th, one week prior to the event.
Join Fulton and Williams Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Hillsdale Conservation District for a Tri-County Soil Health Workshop on Friday, March 18 at the Kissell Community Building, 509 N. Main Street, West Unity, OH. Presenters will include Rick Clark, a 5th generation farmer and 2022 National No-Till Conference presenter, and Dr. Aaron Wilson, Atmospheric Research Scientist with the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and Climate Specialist with OSU Extension. The workshop will also feature a local farmer panel moderated by Rick Clark.
CCA credits include 3 Soil & Water Management CEUs and 1 Crop Management CEU. MAEAP Phase 1 and MI RUP Credits are also available. The workshop cost is $20, which includes lunch and refreshments. Registration is required by March 11 at either www.hillsdalecd.org or by submitting a completed registration form and payment to Williams SWCD, 11246 State Route 15, Montpelier, OH 43543.
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?”
Click below to view the second video in our new 5-Minute Ag Topic video series, which we hope to continue over the course of 2022. The topic for this second video is manure. Water Quality Extension Associate Rachel Cochran discusses different types of manure, rules and regulations surrounding its use, benefits to applying manure, as well as safety considerations. If you have any suggestions for future video topics, or would like to get information regarding manure research opportunities on your farm, please reach out to cochran.474@osu.edu or noggle.17@osu.edu.
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. The tour stops will be accessible from Friday, August 13th at 8:00 AM to Thursday, August 19th at 5:00 PM. Following the close of the Soil Health Tour, Paulding County Extension will host speaker Shalamar Armstrong on August 19th from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM to speak on cover crops’ effects on Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycling and fate. In addition, farmers that provided sites for the soil health tour will be present to discuss practices and ideas with attendees before and after our speaker.
When:
Soil Health Tour – Opens Friday, August 13th at 8:00 AM and will close Thursday, August 19th at 5:00 PM
Soil Health Event – Thursday, August 19th from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Where:
Soil Health Tour – Tour stops across Northwest Ohio, see map for details at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour
Soil Health Event – Paulding County Extension Building, 503 Fairground Dr. Paulding, OH 45879
Cost:
No cost for either event
RSVP:
RSVP is not required for the Soil Health Tour
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
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
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How do your soil type and past management practices influence soil health? Find out by participating in the eFields Soil Health Statewide Survey. For this trial, we are seeking fields with various management practices, including:
By Rachel Cochran, Water Quality Extension Associate, and Sarah Noggle, Extension Educator
As we begin to approach Spring planting, it’s important to think about the intricacies of the growing season – what fertilizer to use, how much to apply, how to apply it, etc. If you’re unsure what rate would most benefit your crop while earning you the largest profit, on-farm research may be a good way for you to determine that. If you’re unsure what effects different management practices are having on the health of your soil, on-farm research may be a helpful tool. For almost any question you may have about your operation, an on-farm research trial may be a good way to better understand what the best practices may be for your farm.
This year, we plan to continue the eFields Soil Health Study that was started in 2020. In this study, soil samples are pulled from three depths: 0-4”, 0-6”, and 0-8” within a field. A variety of different tests are then performed on that soil, including routine nutrient analysis, pH, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), total organic matter, aggregate stability, and Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon (POXC). The results of these tests will be grouped with fields of similar management and published in the 2021 eFields book and will help to give you a snapshot of the health of your soil.
OSU Extension Paulding County is here to help you find out what’s best for your operation, whether it be through sharing of information or planning of research trials on your farm. Reach out to Sarah Noggle, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator, or Rachel Cochran, Water Quality Extension Associate, if you’re interested in doing any type of on-farm research this growing season. We will be happy to set up a trial for you to get the answers you need.
Contact our office at (419) 399-8225, or email noggle.17@osu.edu or cochran.474@osu.edu for more information.
Did you miss out on the live presentations for this winter on The Dirt on Soil Health: Investing Below the Surface? Great news! Recordings are available for the entire series of topics.
In this weekly series, farmers, industry, and academic experts weighed in on practical steps to improve soil health and measure impact on crop yield and farm profitability.
Recordings and Slide Sets are available at https://agcrops.osu.edu/events/webinar-recordings/dirt-soil-health-investing-below-surface-0 or on the OSU Agronomic Crops Team YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYlh_BdeqniJPI5Ga7icO7mbFzDdpK7fr or by clicking one of the videos below.
Panel discussion with farmers Nathan Brown (Highland County), Matt Falb (Wayne County), and Les Seiler (Fulton County).
Please see attached the information concerning a women’s learning circle opportunity for the Maumee Watershed. American Farmland Trust is hosting a series of virtual women’s circles starting early October.
Flyer: Maumee Learning Circles 12
Nearly 301 million acres of U.S. land is now farmed or co-farmed by women and at least 87 million additional acres are in the hands of women landowners.
JOIN US online, Virtual Learning Circles, and connect with other women landowners and resource professionals as we discuss incorporating soil health practices on your land.
REGISTER HERE for one circle or all 6!
Brought to you by funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative!
October Soil Health Virtual Learning Circles
Sign-in information will be sent after registration. If you have limited internet access and would prefer to participate in the learning circles via phone please contact Ashley Brucker, AFT Ohio Program Manager, (614) 696-6623
By Steve Culman, Ohio State University Extension
Two new factsheets summarizing key components of the work to update the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations are now available.
Updated Grain Nutrient Removal Rates
How many pounds of nutrients are removed with every bushel of corn, soybean, and wheat harvested? This factsheet reports new numbers and shows how nutrient removal rates in harvested grain have decreased over the past 25 years.
For more information: go.osu.edu/grain.
Converting Soil Test Values: Mehlich-3, Bray P, Ammonium Acetate
The updated Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations will use the Mehlich-3 extractant as the new standard for fertilizer recommendations. This factsheet provides simple, standardized conversions that allow users to convert back and forth from these different extractants.
For more information: go.osu.edu/mehlich.