Ohio up to 7th in US for number of organic farms

Ohio ranks seventh in the U.S. for its number of organic farms, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture survey reported last week in the Akron Beacon Journal. That’s up from eighth in 2015.

Of note, the 2016 Certified Organic Survey also showed a more than 30-percent increase from 2015 in the state’s organic food sales. Read the survey summary.

Gift creates new learning community on food security

A $700,000 gift from the Columbus Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Pat and Bobby Moser has created the Food Security and Sustainability Learning Community in CFAES. The new program, a residential housing option for students in our college, will encourage holistic study and community engagement on food security issues.

Pasture-ized: 2 sustainable farm events Saturday

The Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series continues this Saturday, Oct. 21, with two events, both rooted in grass: The Pastured Providence Farmstead Open House from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Chillicothe in southern Ohio, and the Pasture-Raised Livestock Beginning Farm Tour from 4 to 7 p.m. in Ashtabula in the state’s far northeast corner. CFAES’s Sustainable Agriculture Team is a co-presenter of the series. Download the series brochure.