News Releases

  1. Fred Michel at his solar-powered house, next to his solar-charged hybrid vehicle. (Photo by Ken Chamberlain)

    For Ohio State Scientist Fred Michel, Sustainability Is a Way of Life

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- Not too many people drive around with a solar panel on top of their cars. For Ohio State University scientist Fred Michel, that's just another way he is trying to make sustainability an important part of everything he does -- at work, in his community and at home. A biosystems engineer in Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Michel believes using more bioproducts and bioenergy can make a difference for the environment and also the economy. It's a belief he acts on both professionally and personally.  On the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), where his office and laboratory are located, Michel...
  2. Ohio State University to Offer Shepherd’s Symposium Dec. 14

    WOOSTER, Ohio – Sheep and goat producers can gain insight into nutrient management and how to better market and increase demand for their products at the Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium Dec. 14.  Sponsored by Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association (OSIA) and the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program, as well as other industry partners, the day-long symposium is part of an ongoing effort to help sheep and goat producers continue to improve their operations, said Roger A. High, OSIA executive director and OSU Extension state sheep program specialist. The program will be led by experts from industry and from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. OSU...
  3. Ohio State Agricultural Economist Offers 2013 Farm Bill Update

    COLUMBUS, Ohio – As the farm bill progresses through Congress’ legislative process, several major differences exist in the House and Senate versions of the bill, an economist with Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences said. Carl Zulauf, an agricultural economist in the college’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, recently offered a comprehensive update of the 2013 farm bill process in a policy brief that he co-authored with Jonathan Coppess, clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The conference process involves select members of the House and Senate working together to resolve differences in their two versions of a bill, Zulauf said. These differences must...
  4. Chow Line: Public policies can help fight obesity

    I’ve always thought that maintaining a healthy weight is a personal responsibility, but I hear some people talk about what the public should do about the issue. How can that make a difference?  You might be surprised. Researchers have learned that people’s health behaviors are often influenced at multiple levels, so it makes sense to use multiple strategies to combat the nation’s weight problem. The idea is this: It is not enough for people to know they should eat nutritious foods or become more physically active if the social or physical environment that surrounds them doesn’t support that knowledge. For example, requiring school lunches to include more fruits and vegetables is the type of public policy that is aimed at improving the environment to help...
  5. Image of Ohio State scientist Stan Gehrt

    Feral Cats Avoid Urban Coyotes, Are Surprisingly Healthy

    Editor: This story was previously released by Ohio State University’s Office of Research and Innovation Communications, http://go.osu.edu/X87. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cats that live outdoors in the city do their darnedest to steer clear of urban coyotes, a new study says. The cats cause less damage to wildlife in urban green spaces, such as city parks and nature preserves, because of that dodging, the study suggests. And they live longer and are healthier than previously thought. “Free-roaming cats are basically partitioning their use of the urban landscape. They’re not using the natural areas in cities very much because of the coyote presence there,” said the study’s lead author, Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist in the College of Food, Agricultural, and...
  6. Ohio AgrAbility to Host Statewide Aging Farmers Workshops

    COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aging farmers who want to gain insight and tips on how to remain productive in agriculture, continue gardening and stay active outdoors can learn tips and techniques from the Ohio AgrAbility Program at Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences during a workshop designed to address the evolving needs of older farmers. The workshop, “I’m Not as Young as I Used To Be,” seeks to show how to remain safe and productive as an older farmer, said Kent McGuire, Ohio AgrAbility program coordinator for Ohio State University Extension. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the college. “The idea is to offer information that can benefit a growing, aging population,” he said. “The average age of...
  7. USDA: Record Corn, Soybean Forecast

    COLUMBUS, Ohio – With U.S. corn production forecast at a record 14 billion bushels, growers can expect to see futures prices stay above $4 per bushel for the time being, an expert from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its crop production report today (Nov. 8) that farmers will produce a record 14 billion bushels of corn per acre, an increase of 1 percent from the projected 13.843 billion bushels per acre USDA forecast in its September report. The results are an increase of 30 percent from 2012, USDA said, noting that “if realized, this will be a new record production for the United States.”   Yields are expected to average 160.4 bushels per acre, an increase of...
  8. Ohio State Agricultural Economist: An Aging U.S. Farmer Population Does Not Necessarily Warrant Concern

    COLUMBUS, Ohio --  U.S. farmers are aging, and the agricultural community often expresses concern about who will replace them. But that apprehension may be overblown, an economist with Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) said. Although some farm communities worry over a lack of new, younger farmers to replace the current population, these concerns are unwarranted, according to a recently conducted analysis by Carl Zulauf, an economist in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, which is a part of CFAES. Using USDA census data from 1945 to 2007, as well as data from the U.S. Department of Labor from 1980 to 2010, Zulauf compared the average age of U.S. farmers with the average age of the U.S. labor...
  9. Chow Line logoNov. 8, 2013 Chow Line: Grapefruit affects more medications I know you’re not supposed to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice with some types of medication. Which ones do I need to be concerned about?   Actually, there’s quite a long list, according to the researchers who first discovered the interactions more than 20 years ago. In a review published earlier this year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the same researchers report there are now more than 85 drugs that are known t

    Chow Line: Grapefruit affects more medications

    I know you’re not supposed to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice with some types of medication. Which ones do I need to be concerned about?  Actually, there’s quite a long list, according to the researchers who first discovered the interactions more than 20 years ago. In a review published earlier this year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the same researchers report there are now more than 85 drugs that are known to or are predicted to react with grapefruit. And, they said, the number of medications that can cause serious adverse effects increased from 17 to 43 between 2008 and 2012. The Berkeley Wellness Letter provides a link to the list of interacting drugs that researchers included in their review, and you can see it online here: http://www.cmaj...
  10. Grass carp

    Media Advisory: CFAES, Ohio Sea Grant Experts Available to Speak on Asian Carp

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The following experts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and Ohio Sea Grant College Program are available to speak with the media about the recent report of invasive grass carp breeding in a Lake Erie tributary: • Eugene Braig, Aquatic Ecosystems Program Director, Ohio State University Extension, School of Environment and Natural Resources, 614-292-3823, braig.1@osu.edu. Braig can speak on the significance of the finding and the potential impact of grass carp and other Asian carp on Lake Erie. • Jeff Reutter, Director, Ohio Sea Grant College Program, Stone Laboratory, Center for Lake Erie Area Research and Great Lakes Aquatic Ecosystem Research Consortium, 614-247-6469 (...

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