The Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative (OCAI) “brings an unprecedented group of collaborators together to examine the relationship between water quality and agriculture,” CFAES Dean Cathann A. Kress recently told the Ohio Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

OCAI “furthers H2Ohio’s broader ambitions to address water quality issues across the state,” Kress said, noting that Ohio State supports the initiative through research and outreach aimed at improving water quality and increasing sustainability.

Read more.

“Farming Is Striving for Net Zero Impacts.” That’s the headline of a Forbes.com interview with CFAES alumnus David Darr (BS ’99, MS ’01, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics), who is Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) senior vice president and chief strategy and sustainability officer.

DFA, the interview reports, is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the United States, and is also the first U.S. co-op to set science-based environmental targets for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050—a step in fighting climate change.

Continue reading Moving toward net-zero dairy farms →

For better or worse, it’s time for the summer slime report. The 2020 harmful algal bloom forecast for western Lake Erie, prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and hosted by Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea Grant, will be presented online from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, July 9.

In addition to the official forecast, the event will cover spring nutrient loading and projections and recent research efforts and successes. Seven scientist experts will speak.

Registration is free and open to the public. Learn more and register.

There’s new help for farmers in northwest Ohio for managing nutrients and water quality. Through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the CFAES Water Quality Initiative has hired six Extension associates to work in the western Lake Erie basin.

Continue reading CFAES adds ‘boots on the ground’ for farmers in western Lake Erie basin →

“We try to emphasize that insects aren’t just icky or gross but are actually helpful and awesome.”

So says Kendall King, a CFAES graduate student and co-organizer of Insect Night, a free event for kids of all ages set for Saturday, July 13, in Wooster.

Firefly catching? Got it. Edible insects? Check. Other fun activities including a bug zoo, moth collecting, and guided walks that take you to see what’s out there in the night? Definitely. (Bring a flashlight.)

Read our recent press release.

Algal blooms aren’t just a problem for high-profile bodies of water such as Lake Erie, they pose “serious, toxic threats in small ponds and lakes as well.” So says a recent Ohio State study.

Fortunately, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the Farm Science Review trade show, CFAES aquatic ecosystems specialist Eugene Braig will share details on why the blooms happen and what you can do to control them. His talk, called “Is My Pond Toxic? Managing Against Harmful Algal Blooms,” runs from 1-1:30 p.m. in the Review’s Gwynne Conservation Area. He’ll offer it again from 10:30-11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20.

See the full Gwynne schedule.