Celebrate: Partners for water, food

Here’s a reason to celebrate Ohio Agriculture Week, March 10–16:

In the Maumee River watershed in northwest Ohio, farmers are partnering with scientists to study fields with elevated phosphorus levels. Are the fields contributing disproportionately to Lake Erie’s harmful algal bloom problem? Phosphorus runoff is a driver of the blooms.

The study hopes to find answers, and then it plans to evaluate farming practices that could help—practices that reduce the runoff of phosphorus from the fields and also maintain the fields’ yields. Water quality and food production both stand to come out ahead.

A CFAES scientist is leading the work, but bottom line, farmers and nutrient service providers are helping make it all possible. Read how. (Photo: Getty Images.)

Pierzynski to be panelist on water quality

CFAES’ Gary Pierzynski will be a panelist for a policy session on “The Future of Lake Erie and the Quality of Our Water” at the Impact Ohio Toledo Regional Conference on March 14. Pierzynski serves as associate dean for research and graduate education.

The event, according to its website, will feature “key government officials, business leaders, and community members (discussing) issues important to the region.” Conference-goers “will hear first-hand from government leaders, political analysts, pundits, and policy experts on issues that affect their community.”

Tom Henry, environmental and energy writer for the Toledo Blade, will moderate the Lake Erie panel.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will give the event’s keynote address.

CFAES is one of the conference’s sponsors.

Find details and a link to register.

What recent weather trends hold for farms

Aaron Wilson, climate specialist with CFAES’ OSU Extension outreach arm, presents “Recent Weather Trends & Future Resilience for Farms” at the Ohio Soil Health Symposium on March 26 in Shelby. Read what he said about our wet year last year here, and learn about a new app he helped develop—one that tells farmers the best times to apply fertilizer and manure to avoid rain—here.

Dig further details about the symposium.

What’s new in research on water quality, farming

Chris Winslow, director of the Ohio State-based Ohio Sea Grant program and CFAES’ Stone Laboratory at Lake Erie, is among the speakers slated for a March 13 water quality meeting in Wapakoneta. The event will look at recent research—on harmful algal blooms, nutrient management, and more—and what it may mean for decisions made by farmers. The host is the Farmers Alliance LLC. Read more.