A new report from the United Nations “finds that biodegradable plastics, commonly found in plastic bags and bottles, degrade at extremely slow rates,” according to a story in the Christian Science Monitor. CFAES scientist Fred Michel is quoted in the story among others. The issue relates to the growing amount of plastic polluting our oceans. The authors of the report, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, wrote: “There is a moral argument that we should not allow the ocean to become further polluted with plastic waste, and that marine littering should be considered a ‘common concern of humankind.’”
Month: June 2016
Algae alert network underway
A project called the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network, or CyAN, is developing an early warning system to detect toxic algal blooms in inland lakes across the U.S., reports a recent Columbus Dispatch story by James Steinbauer. Senior researcher Justin Chaffin of Ohio State’s Stone Lab on Lake Erie is quoted among others. The project involves the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey, and NASA. More from EPA.
Produce growers: ‘Find your path(ogen) to clean water’
The Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series continues on Monday, June 20, with Find Your Path(ogen) to Clean Water: Food Safety Water Quality Standards and Testing Protocols for Produce Growers in Delaware in central Ohio. The series booklet says the event is “designed to shine a bright (UV) light” on produce-related water quality standards in the Food Safety Modernization Act. Get details here on p. 18.
Bees exposed to ‘wide, concerning range of pesticides’: Study
Honey bees living next to corn and soybean fields are “exposed to a surprisingly wide and concerning range of pesticides,” according to a May 31 Newsweek story about research involving CFAES insect scientist Elizabeth Long, who was at Purdue University at the time of the study. There’s a video interview, too, with the story.
Get the drift? Hopefully not
Ohio’s corn and soybean growers could soon be spraying a lot more of two potent herbicides on their fields. That’s why experts from CFAES are offering tips on how to keep those herbicides from getting onto other crops, especially valuable specialty crops like grapes.
Farm tour Tuesday to feature diversified veggies
“I think what visitors will learn is the real time commitment and dedication it takes to manage a year-round, highly diversified farming operation,” says OSU Extension Educator Jerry Iles about Tuesday’s Diversified Vegetable Farm Tour at Schultz Valley Farms in southeast Ohio. Read a press release about the tour here. Iles calls the owners, Josh and Lynne Schultz, “amazing young producers.”
This large, hungry insect is preying for you: Ohio’s natural pest controllers
Next in our look at Ohio’s beneficial predatory arthropods: Mantids, aka mantises. From their CFAES fact sheet:
“How can one not be captivated watching a mantid stalk its prey? These charismatic garden predators are often called praying mantids because most species are sit-and-wait hunters that hold their front legs together as if in prayer while they survey their surroundings for a potential meal.
“Their prey can include both pests and other beneficial arthropods such as bees and spiders.
“Although they are a large predatory insect, mantids do not bite humans.” Read the fact sheet.
Diversified vegetables on a family farm
See how Schultz Valley Farms in Lancaster, Ohio, uses high tunnels to extend the season and grow vegetables for market sales and a successful CSA program on a free tour from 6:30-7:30 p.m. June 14. It’s part of the ongoing Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series and is specifically being presented by CFAES’s Sustainable Agriculture Team. Learn more here on p. 21.
Go, daddy, go: Ohio’s natural pest controllers
Next in our look at Ohio’s beneficial predatory arthropods: Harvestmen, aka daddy longlegs. From their CFAES fact sheet:
“Harvestmen are arachnids in the order Opiliones. The name of this group comes from the Latin opilo, which roughly translates to shepherd. At one time European shepherds used stilts to look over their sheep, and it is thought that the look of this arachnid’s body atop its long legs inspired the comparison.
“Harvestmen are beneficial predators in the garden and very common in residential landscapes. While the presence of harvestmen is not likely to completely suppress pest populations, they do contribute to biological control.”
Read the fact sheet. Next: Mantids.
Ultrasound scanning for better sheep
Sheep producers are invited to join Laura Minnig of The Spicy Lamb Farm, a Cuyahoga Valley National Park Countryside Conservancy farm, for a workshop on using ultrasound technology to select breeding stock and improve product quality. It’s from 2-4 p.m. June 11 at 6560 Akron-Peninsula Road in Peninsula and is part of the Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series. Read more here on p. 17. CFAES’s Sustainable Agriculture Team is a co-presenter of the series.