Month: April 2016

Ohio State ‘getting serious’ about sustainable agriculture

Kara Holsopple of the The Allegheny Front radio program interviewed Brian Snyder for an April 1 story called “Ohio State Is Putting Big Money Into Sustainable Agriculture.” Read and listen to it here.

Ohio State University is getting serious about transforming the state’s agricultural system. How serious? Try $100 million serious. That’s what Ohio State President Michael Drake has pledged to a program called the Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation, or InFACT. And they’ve tapped one of Pennsylvania’s own rock stars in the sustainable agriculture scene to run it.

Snyder, who’s the executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, will take the same position with InFACT June 1.

Brian Snyder joins InFACT leadership team

Image of Brian SnyderBrian Snyder, pictured, executive director of one of the leading sustainable agriculture organizations in the nation, will join the Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation at The Ohio State University as it pursues its mission to create sustainable and resilient food systems for Ohio and beyond. Continue reading →

Watch: Clean water? Healthy farms? How to have both

In the new video above, CFAES’s Jay Martin talks about a recent report on the best ways to improve Lake Erie’s water quality while making sure farms stay healthy — that is, that they’re good producers of food, profitable for the farmer and sustainable for the environment. Martin heads CFAES’s Field to Faucet water quality initiative. There’s a previous related post here.

Columbus mayor, GreenSpot awards to headline next EPN event

Image of girl holding new green plant_4Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther will present the city’s 2016 GreenSpotLight Awards during an April 12 breakfast program hosted by the Environmental Professionals Network. The awards honor achievements in Columbus’s GreenSpot sustainability program. Also featured at the event will be the projects by nine teams of students in the college’s Assessing Sustainability capstone course. The course is required of students in the Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability major. The teams developed the projects specifically to support Ohio State’s new sustainability goals. EPN is a professional group coordinated by CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. Read the full story.

Green fair to host Renewable Energy Workshop

Image of sunshine and two sunflowers_3Fred Michel, a Wooster-based biosystems engineer with CFAES, has solar panels gleaming on his home and his car.

He’ll share his experiences with both setups in a Renewable Energy Workshop during the Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair in Wooster. Continue reading →

Farmers, consultants needed for major initiative to update fertilizer guidelines

Image of farmers fieldIt’s been 20 years since agronomists have developed fertilizer recommendations in Ohio.

But now, CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, is embarking on a major initiative to determine the optimal rates of fertilization on the state’s major crops. The goal is to not only maximize farm profitability, but also contribute to improved nutrient management and water quality in the state. Continue reading →

More than 10,000 Ohio farmers have received water quality training

Image of farmer in fieldIn a little over a year, CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, has trained more than 10,000 Ohio farmers on best practices to apply fertilizer for optimum crop yield, reduce the risk of nutrient runoff and improve water quality throughout the state. And more training opportunities are scheduled to reach even more farmers. Continue reading →