National Cover Crop and Soil Health Conference to Feature Local Farmer Who Has Benefited from Ohio State Research

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An Ohio farmer who has worked with agronomists from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences to further implement cover crop usage on his 1,150-acre farm will discuss his experiences during a conference next month that will be broadcast nationwide at locations including the Ohio State University Extension office in Wayne County.

Growers interested in learning the latest information on cover crops and soil health can view the live broadcast of the National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health Feb. 18 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at several Ohio locations, including the OSU Extension office at 428 W. Liberty St. in Wooster, said Alan Sundermeier, an OSU Extension educator who helped organize the nationwide viewing.

OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college.

The broadcast will feature a panel discussion of farmers including David Brandt, a Carroll, Ohio, farmer who works with OSU Extension to host classes, presentations and workshops at his farm on several agronomic subjects including conservation tillage methods, cover crops and soil health, Sundermeier said.

The local viewings will allow farmers who aren’t able to attend the national cover crops convention next month in Omaha, Neb., to hear from national experts and to participate in discussions on cover crops and soil health specific to the needs of local farmers, Sundermeier said.

“We’ve been doing cover crop education for a while, and this will allow farmers a chance to interact on a national level with USDA and other farmers from across the county to get their perspective on cover crops,” he said. “The local broadcasts will have facilitated discussions at each location to help people fine tune their cover crop management in local areas.”

The local broadcast in Wooster will be facilitated by Rory Lewandowski, agriculture and natural resources educator for OSU Extension.

Local broadcasts, which are free and open to the public, will also be shown at the following U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices:

• 7868 County Road 140 in Findlay, Ohio.
• 1000 Locust St. in Owensville, Ohio.
• 220 West Livingston St. in Celina, Ohio.
• 771 East Main St., Suite 100, in Newark, Ohio.
• 9711 East Pike Road in Cambridge, Ohio.
• 831 College Ave., Suite B, in Lancaster, Ohio.

The national conference and the local forums are jointly funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, with planning support from NRCS, the Midwest Cover Crops Council, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

For more information about the Cover Crops and Soil Health Forums and a list of forum locations, visit www.SARE.org/covercropconference. For more information on the local broadcasts, contact Sundermeier at 419-354-9050 or sundermeier.5@osu.edu.

To RSVP for the local broadcasts, contact Steve Baker at 614-255-2483 or e-mail him at steven.baker@oh.usda.gov.