WOOSTER, Ohio – A field day scheduled for Aug. 29 will look at the old and the new in tillage practices.
The Ohio No-Till Field Day will feature panelists with a combined 250 years of no-till experience, as well as a tour of the historic Triplett-Van Doren No-Tillage Experimental Plots. It will also include updates on recent research regarding cover crops, soil health, and more.
The event takes place on the Wooster campus of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University.
The Triplett-Van Doren plots, established in 1962, are known as the longest continually maintained no-till research plots in the world.
“Long-term research plots are incredibly important because soil can take longer than three to five years to...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new online class can help non-Latino managers of Spanish-speaking employees communicate more clearly with their Latino workers – but not by learning a new language.
Claudio Pasian, associate professor in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University, has modified his “Latinos in the Workforce” college credit course for online learners who can take the course at their own speed and on their own timeline.
Although the typical American or Latino person does not exist, Pasian’s course assumes certain generalizations about people from different cultures.
“We all behave the way we behave because we learned that in our culture. We expect people to react in a certain way. When we interact...
Tip 1. May is Mental Health Month, and you can commemorate it with a story about Ohio State University Extension’s efforts to connect people with helpful mental health resources. For details, contact Jami Dellifield, dellifield.2@osu.edu, 419-674-2297, and Amanda Raines, raines.74@osu.edu, 419-674-2297.
Tip 2. Nearly one in seven Ohio households experiences food insecurity, yet agriculture is one of the state’s largest industries. Ohio State’s Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation is addressing this conundrum with the goal of generating solutions that will improve Ohioans’ ability to regularly eat enough nutritious food. Learn more here and from Brian Snyder, snyder.1534@osu.edu.
Tip 3. Now that your garden is planted – or at least planned...
Agricultural Products Targeted for Tariffs: The Chinese government imposed tariffs this week, some as high as 25 percent, on American products including pork, wine and fruit. The move was in retaliation for tariffs that President Donald Trump put in place March 8 for steel and aluminum imports into the United States from China and other countries. Ian Sheldon, an agricultural economist with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University, is an expert in trade and its impact on the U.S. economy and economies abroad. Sheldon is a professor who serves as the Andersons Chair in Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Policy with CFAES. He can be reached today (April 2) at sheldon.1@osu.edu or tomorrow (April 3) at sheldon.1@osu.edu and at ...
Tip 1: Learn how to butter up butterflies so they spend more time in your garden. In honor of “Learn about Butterflies Day” on March 14, Denise Ellsworth, program director for honey bee and native pollinator education in the Entomology Department, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University, can explain how to attract more butterflies to gardens, the role butterflies play in pollination, and anything else you want to know about the flying beauties. Contact her at ellsworth.2@osu.edu (best way) or 330-263-3723.
Tip 2: Farm Rescuers Day is March 16. Talk with Lisa Pfeifer about how agriculture is one of the country’s most dangerous professions. She is program manager for Agricultural Rescue, AgrAbility and Emergency...
Tip 1: Chocolate: Columnist Dave Barry once wrote, “Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.” Mary Kay Pohlschneider would disagree. She teaches a Chocolate Science class in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and can discuss the history of chocolate, its health benefits, how it’s processed and what you should look for in a chocolate to please your Valentine. Contact her at pohlschneider.1@osu.edu or 614-292-3867. She is busy teaching classes in Food Science and Technology, so leave her a message and she will get back to you.
Tip 2: Olympic Illnesses: While Pyeongchang Olympic officials scramble to manage events among high winds and bitter cold, they...
Tip 1: New year, new tax rules. How will the new tax bill affect farmers? What steps should farmers take in 2018? Any nuances for 2017 taxes? Contact Barry Ward at ward.8@osu.edu or 614-688-3959.
Tip 2: Winter in Ohio means, yes, it’s cold outside. Find out how livestock farmers can make it safe for their animals when the temperature drops. Contact Stan Smith, smith.263@osu.edu, 740-652-7265, or Steve Boyles, boyles.4@osu.edu, 614-292-7669.
Tip 3: Daily work on the farm goes on no matter the weather. Ohio farmers have been combating frigid winter temperatures tending to their farms and animals. Learn how they can lower their risk of frostbite and hypothermia. Contact Lisa Pfeifer at pfeifer.6@osu.edu or 614-292-9455.
January 2018 Events
9 Registration deadline for New...
Editor’s note: This article includes cutline information and an additional photo. Due to a technical issue, the previous version of this article did not include them.
A new technology could make it possible to save a growing crop from imminent widespread disaster – whether drought, pest or disease.
And it doesn’t come in a pesticide sprayer.
Rather, scientists from The Ohio State University and partner institutions are using cutting-edge technologies from three scientific fields and combining them to provide an insect-delivered antidote, of sorts, to whatever ails a growing plant.
Dubbed “Insect Allies,” the project is being supported by a $10 million cooperative agreement with the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Guo-...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – If pigs could say gesundheit, you could be hearing the German blessing as you visit fairs this summer.
Andrew Bowman, veterinarian with the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University, is in the midst of a seven-year study of 100 county fairs in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, checking for incidences of Influenza A Virus Infecting Swine (IAV-S). On average, at least one animal at 25 percent of county fairs tests positive.
“It’s like kids at preschool. If one hog comes down with it, it’s going to spread,” Bowman said.
That’s likely what happened July 13 at the Clinton County Fair in Ohio, where Ohio Department of Agriculture officials discovered IAV-S and fair officials closed the Junior Fair Market Hog...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio is ranked number 1, and Shelley Mather Meyer wants you to help keep the Buckeye state in first place.
Wife to Urban Meyer, coach of The Ohio State University’s men’s football team, Shelley Meyer recently “raised her hand” as an alum of 4-H, the national youth development program, by reciting the 4-H pledge for a social media effort.
As part of its “Raise Your Hand” campaign, National 4-H wants alumni to sign in at 4-H.org/alumni. The state with the most registered alumni by the end of June will bring home $20,000 to use towards 4-H programming. On May 10, Ohio led the competition with 10,217 alumni. Coming in second was Indiana with 7,362.
4‑H gives youth the opportunity to learn by doing and develop the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The American Council on Education (ACE) has chosen a local leader for its prestigious ACE Fellows Program.
Laquore Meadows, director of the Franklin County office of Ohio State University Extension, will join 45 other college and university leaders for the fall kickoff of this intensive, yearlong leadership program.
Launched in 1965, the program condenses years of on-the-job experience and skill development into a single year. According to the council, 80 percent of its fellows go on to serve as chief executive officers, chief academic officers, deans and in other cabinet-level positions.
“Laquore is an innovative administrator committed to enhancing the effectiveness of OSU Extension,” said Roger Rennekamp, director of OSU Extension. Extension...
SUFFIELD, Ohio — She can recite Newton’s laws the way most people give out phone numbers.
She built a model of a trebuchet — a catapult-like device used in the Middle Ages to hurl stones — and can accurately predict the trajectory of the marble it throws. She even decorated the mini weapon with a picture of the “Father of Anatomy,” Andreas Vesalius, born in 1514.
When she turned 8, she wanted a “science-themed” birthday party, to include a History Channel program and science experiments.
Ava Lonneman is no ordinary 17-year-old.
The third-generation 4-H member from Suffield, Ohio, just east of Akron, is winner of the 2017 Youth in Action Pillar Award for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) from the National 4-H...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — If the Trump Administration follows through on international trade plans, the United States would see increased unemployment and a recession, according to an agricultural economist at The Ohio State University.
Ian Sheldon, the Andersons Chair in Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE), said if Trump were to implement a 45 percent tariff against China and a 35 percent tariff against Mexico, “He’s going to put the economy into a recession, if the Chinese and Mexicans retaliate, as I expect them to do.”
AEDE is a department within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Citing the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Sheldon...
WOOSTER, Ohio – Access, affordability and excellence are three major reasons the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute’s incoming director sought the position.
Kristina M. Boone, Communications and Agricultural Education department head in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University, will start her new role with ATI April 1, 2017.
Located in Wooster, ATI is an associate degree-granting institute within The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. ATI provides smooth entry into the college, with all credits transferring for those who wish to pursue a four-year degree.
“The radical concept of a land-grant university is that of accessibility, and ATI reflects this like no other institution,...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Farm Science Review got its new manager in the Nick of time.
Nick Zachrich begins his new position Sept.12, just days shy of when the 2016 show will open its gates.
One of the nation’s premier agricultural trade and education shows, the Farm Science Review is an annual three-day event sponsored by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
Zachrich is a six-year employee of the Review, having served as site manager since 2010.
“Nick possesses a unique combination of education and experience that has prepared him well for this important role within the college,” said Roger Rennekamp, director of Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of the college. “Our goal is to continually...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Students have the chance to conceive the next Uber app, this one in the food world at The Ohio State University Sept. 16-17.
SmartAg 4.0, open to all Ohio college students, aims to attract entrepreneurial-minded students interested in using technology to create the next generation of food system solutions. Attendees will conceive, create and develop app‐based startup business models with the support of business strategists, subject matter experts, thought leaders and idea people.
“SmartAg4.0 is patterned after ‘hack-a-thon’ events, which are becoming increasingly popular on college campuses,” said Scott Shearer, one of the planners of the event and chair of the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering in the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maria Lucia Cavalli Neder, rector of the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Cuiaba, Brazil, will discuss teaching and research collaborations between her university and The Ohio State University on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. Rector is a similar position to president. The seminar is free and open to the public in 333 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road in Columbus.
Neder has led Mato Grosso since 2008 and also serves as president of Brazil’s National Association of Directors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education. More than 34,000 students attend her university, which includes campuses in five cities.
While visiting, Neder will also meet with Ohio State President Michael V. Drake, Caroline Whitacre, senior vice president for research, and Bruce McPheron,...
TOLEDO, Ohio – Fourteen leaders in the fight against harmful algal blooms will convene in Toledo on Sept. 15 to share the latest information on protecting water quality.
Scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Stranahan Theater and Great Hall, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., registration for the Understanding Algal Blooms: State of the Science Conference is $20, including lunch, and is free for students.
Harmful algal blooms are caused by a combination of warm water temperatures and high concentrations of phosphorus in the water. The blooms can produce dangerous toxins, such as microcystin. Toledo residents lost access to drinking water for two days in August 2014 due to high microcystin levels.
Presenters will focus on how to prevent and predict harmful algal blooms and how to remove...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Got ragweed?
Come to the Farm Science Review. Visitors can talk one-on-one with agronomists about everything from weed control to cover crops.
The Review, Sept. 20-22, is a three-day trade show for everything agricultural. It features field demonstrations, more than 630 exhibitors, and 180 educational presentations.
It also features Ohio State University Extension’s Agronomic Crops Team, who will meet with Review visitors, provide demonstrations and make presentations. Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, which is the sponsor of the show.
Harold Watters, agronomist for college, expects most discussions at the Agronomic Crops Demonstration plots to surround...
LONDON, Ohio — If Matt Sullivan, superintendent of the Farm Science Review, were to take a selfie to show what the farm show means to him, it would look east on Friday Avenue, the main drag through the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London, Ohio.
“It would be Wednesday at noon, when crowds are the biggest,” Sullivan said. Behind him, some of the 110,000 to 130,000 people who attend the three-day event would be visiting with exhibitors, checking out the educational programs, and enjoying the milkshakes and pork chops served up by students from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, sponsor of the show.
“My FSR is being able to interact with all of those visitors, see where they came from. They are not just from Ohio,...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Harmful algal blooms dangerous to human health and the Lake Erie ecosystem — such as the one that shut down Toledo’s water supply for two days in 2014 — could become a problem of the past.
A new report shows that if farmers apply agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on half the cropland in the Maumee River watershed, the amount of total phosphorus and dissolved reactive phosphorus leaving the watershed would drop by 40 percent in an average rainfall year — the amount agreed to in the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
Scientists believe that a drop of this magnitude would keep algal blooms at safe levels for people and the lake.
“With aggressive adoption of best management practices, it is...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – It will be seven months of pointing toward the finish line for Ron Hendrick.
On Dec. 2, Hendrick begins his role as acting dean and vice president for agricultural administration for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. He is filling in for Bruce McPheron while McPheron serves as interim provost for the university.
“Over the next seven months we’ll be bringing to fruition efforts that have been in the works for the past two years,” Hendrick said. “It’s an exciting time for the college.” His focus will be in three areas:
Finish building the leadership team: A new director for Ohio State University Extension, Roger Rennekamp, starts in January. A search for the...
Editor: Reporters who want to schedule an interview with Roger Rennekamp may contact Suzanne Steel 614-582-3184 or steel.7@osu.edu.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Roger Rennekamp, the associate dean for Outreach and Engagement at Oregon State University, has been named the next director of Ohio State University Extension.
Bruce A. McPheron, Ohio State’s vice president for agricultural administration and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, made the announcement today at the Farm Science Review, a three-day educational and trade show offered by the college that attracts about 130,000 people annually.
Rennekamp will begin his duties on Jan. 4, 2016, replacing Keith Smith who retired June 30 after 23 years in the position. Rennekamp will be the 12th leader...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Greg Davis has been tapped to serve as interim director of Ohio State University Extension.
Now Extension’s assistant director overseeing community development, Davis will begin his role July 1, 2015, as Director Keith Smith begins his first day of retirement following 23 years as leader. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Davis serves on the steering committee for Conversations on the Future of Extension, an effort that began in spring 2014 with discussions to identify the most challenging trends and issues Ohioans will face by 2035. It is now in the “So what?” phase, he said, determining how Extension should address those issues.
As interim director, Davis will look at how...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — This cowboy isn’t riding into the sunset.
Come June 30, Keith Smith’s last official day as director of Ohio State University Extension, you will find him on campus bright and early, riding herd over a series of business meetings and sporting his signature cowboy boots.
Smith retires after 35 years at The Ohio State University, 23 of them as head of Extension. Leading up to his last few weeks in office, he showed no signs of slowing down.
“I promised to stay engaged until June 30, and I am,” Smith said, after working until 9 p.m. the day before. “I’m trying not to leave too many untied ends.”
“Keith has led the organization through significant growth and has been a steady guide all the way through his final days as...
