Informational Topics

OPGMA-OSUE Summer Tour at OSU-Wooster/OARDC June 24

Up-to-date tips for and research findings related to key challenges and opportunities in Ohio specialty crop production will be available during the tour on June 24, 2025. Members of the statewide OSU Specialty Crops Team and collaborators will be on hand to address your questions as we view field research plots, see emerging pros and cons of various practices, planting stocks, and materials, link production and marketing, and more. The 9:00 AM-noon tour and Q/A session will feature grape, small and tree fruit, vegetable and marketing research on multiple topics. Join us for a firsthand look at field research coordinated by the OSU people listed below and others, then for lunch and visits to Greenfield Farms Cooperative (https://gffarms.com/) and a nearby farm. Register and see more information by typing go.osu.edu/tour25 in your browser navigation bar.

Scheduled OSU presenters include:
* Frank Becker (OSUE-Wayne County) – OSUE specialty crop scouting and IPM program
* David Francis (tomato breeding/genetics) – resistance as the first tool in combating soilborne disease
* Shoshanah Inwood (community, food, and economic development) – Northeast Ohio Ag Innovation Center
* Melanie Ivey research team (fruit pathology) – a new strawberry disease and biological control of apple scab
* Matt Kleinhenz (vegetable production) – uses for farmer-controlled, on-demand, solar-powered motors
* Ashley Leach (entomology) – best practices in integrated insect pest management in specialty crops
* Diane Miller (pomologist) – new apple varieties in a U-pick orchard system
* Francesca Rotondo (plant pathology/plant and pest diagnostic clinic) – correct diagnoses for successful responses
* Andres Sanabria-Velasquez (vegetable pathology) – best practices in integrated vegetable disease management
* Maria Smith (viticulturist) – grape research in support of the Ohio grape/wine industry
* Ram Yadav (weed science) – multi-pronged approaches to weed management in specialty crops
* Heping Zhu (ag engineering) – smart sprayer for efficient pesticide application

 

SBA Relief Still Available to Ohio Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by September Drought

Deadline to apply for economic injury loans approaching

ATLANTA—The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Ohio of the June 2 deadline to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by the drought beginning Sept. 24, 2024.
The disaster declaration covers the Ohio counties of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Coshocton, Guernsey, Hamilton, Highland, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Montgomery, Muskingum, Pike, Preble, Scioto, Tuscarawas and Warren and Dearborn, Franklin, and Union in Indiana as well as Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Kenton, Lewis, Mason, and Pendleton in Kentucky.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster, even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. For more information on SBA, applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Tick Webinar on May 7th

Join Ohio State tick experts on Wednesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. to learn more about the growing public health concern caused by the exploding tick population in the Buckeye State.

Meet the experts:

Risa Pesapane, PhD

Associate professor, College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

 

Tim McDermott, DVM

Assistant professor, Ohio State Extension, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

The webinar will highlight:

  • Tick species
  • Tick pathogens
  • Tick-borne diseases
  • Tick bite prevention
  • Proper tick removal
  • Buckeye Tick Test, Ohio State’s new tick-borne pathogen testing service

Buckeye Tick Test Flyer

Register Here

The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Infectious Diseases Institute are partnering to host a webinar that highlights this important public health issue.

Farm Office Live

OSU Extension will offer a Farm Office Live webinar on Friday, April 25, at 10:00 a.m. Farm Office Live is a monthly webinar of updates and outlooks on legal, economic, and farm management issues that affect Ohio agriculture.

Our featured guest this month is Dr. Margaret Jodlowski, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, who will discuss farm labor issues with us.  Our remaining agenda features the Farm Office team addressing these topics:

  • Strategies for Developing the Next Leader of Your Farm Operation – David Marrison, Farm Management Field Specialist
  • Crop Profit Outlook – Barry Ward, Production Business Management Leader
  • Farm Business Analysis Update – Clint Schroeder, Farm Business Analysis Program Manager
  • State and Federal Legislative Update – Peggy Hall, Agricultural & Resource Law Program Director
  • New Laws: Paystub Protection Act and Operation of Drones – Jeff Lewis, Agricultural & Resource Law/Tax Schools Attorney
  • Tax Update: Are Avian Flu Indemnifications Exempt? – Barry Ward and Jeff Lewis
  • Upcoming Events and Deadlines – David Marrison

Join in for this free webinar by registering at farmoffice.osu.edu/farmofficelive, where replays of previous webinars are also available.

Just-in-Time or “Gig” workers Survey

A research team from OSU (Extension, ATI, and AEDE) is surveying the role that just-in-time or “gig” workers could play in the agricultural labor force across Ohio. Please consider filling out this survey, regardless of your current role in an agricultural operation. Your responses will contribute valuable insights into this ongoing issue in the state’s farm economy. The survey is confidential and should take no more than 10-15 minutes.

April’s Women in Ag Wednesday Webinar

Join us on April 2, 2025, for the next session on… Tips and Tricks for Building Healthy Soils

Join Manbir Rakkar, OSU Assistant Professor of Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management, for a session that will discuss the importance of soil health and outline strategies for promoting healthy soils. 

Register for the entire series using this link once. go.osu.edu/wiawednesdaywebinars2025  

The 2025 Series will take place on the first Wednesday of each month.​

10:30 am – 11:30 am​

Via Zoom Platform

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Observations of Pepper Seedling Development in Stabilized Plugs, not Standard Loose Rooting Medium

On a March 1, 2025 in this blog, we summarized our initial impressions of pepper seedling development in stabilized plugs instead of a standard loose medium and explained that our upcoming use of stabilized plugs was prompted by collaboration with researchers at UC-Davis and The OSU in which we are working to better understand and breed for yield under water and heat stress in bell pepper. Here, we provide a brief update on seedling development in stabilized plugs provided by https://ihort.com/q-plug/. Images below collected 3/22/25 reinforce the idea that seedlings produced in the plugs may be uniform, straightforward to irrigate, easy to handle, and field-ready sooner after seeding (requiring less time in the greenhouse and adding flexibility to seeding schedules). Additional tests are required to verify these preliminary, early-stage speculations. These and other stabilized plugs can be used with seed (varying in size) and cuttings. Please contact https://ihort.com/q-plug/ or Matt Kleinhenz (kleinhenz.1@osu.edu, 330.263.3810) for more information.

 

Tri-State High Tunnel School

Friday, March 14, 2025
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern
Cost: $25 per person
Pesticide Credits Pending

Register: go.osu.edu/htschool

Join us for an exciting new endeavor: the Tri-State High Tunnel School. This school is focused on high tunnel production and offers information to benefit commercial growers, beginning farmers, and educators, among others. Lunch is included with your registration.

Join us in person at one of several host locations:

Ohio – Piketon, Chillicothe, Wooster, Tiffin

Indiana – Goshen, Richmond

Michigan – Ann Arbor

Hosted by Extension Specialists and Educators from Michigan State University, Purdue University, and The Ohio State University.

QUESTIONS: Bradford Sherman (sherman.1473@osu.edu)

 

Event Sponsors:

Additional Programs for Specialty Crop Growers Available in March

Fall to spring is a terrific time for growers, extension, members of industry, and others to learn more about important topics firsthand. Consider participating in one or more of the five programs outlined below and sharing news about them with others.

 

 

Ohio Agroforestry Summit

Agroforestry is the intentional combination of trees and shrubs with other agricultural products. That could be planting trees in your pasture, growing crops between rows of nut trees, cultivating medicinal plants in your woods, and many other land management practices!

Friday, March 7, 2025

9:00 am

Shisler Conference Center, 1860 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691

Register at go.osu.edu/AFsummit