Tip 1: The Endangered Species Act has been prominent in the news recently as efforts to weaken the law have been either introduced or voted on in Congress or proposed by the current presidential administration. Researchers in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University (CFAES) have found that attempts to roll back the act runs counter to most people’s interests. A July 27 CFAES story details a new study that found that roughly four out of five Americans support the act, and only one in 10 oppose it. That support reaches across party lines with about 74 percent of conservatives, 77 percent of moderates and 90 percent of liberals saying they support the act. Learn more about the study from Jeremy Bruskotter, an associate professor in...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tickets for the 2018 Farm Science Review, a three-day agricultural trade show Sept. 18-20, are now available for purchase online at fsr.osu.edu.
This year’s show at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London will have a larger exhibit area, and improvements have been made so visitors can better access parking, the ever-popular “Ride and Drive” area as well as other offerings.
“With additional exhibitors and space available in 2018, everyone in agriculture will be sure to find something new for their operation,” said Nick Zachrich, manager of the Farm Science Review.
The annual event features 4,000 product lines and over 700 commercial and educational exhibits as well as workshops and presentations delivered by experts from...
I know that summer is a great time to get fresh sweet corn and juicy watermelons, but what else is in season now?
Summer heat and long days make it a good time to indulge in a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables like berries, melons, sweet corn and tomatoes, among a wide range of plentiful produce. Not only are these items extremely fresh and flavorful because they’re in season, they’re also widely discounted because of the abundance of supply based on the time of year.
As mentioned in a previous “Chow Line,” improved technology and agricultural innovations mean that consumers can access fresh fruits and vegetables year-round.
But because fruits and vegetables naturally grow in cycles and ripen during a certain season, produce typically is fresher and...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Weeks before Ohio corn and soybean farmers put seed in the ground this past spring, the threat of a trade war loomed.
Now both crops are thriving amid a trade war that’s likely bringing down prices of the two commodities.
“I hear about it every day. There’s great concern out in the countryside,” said Harold Watters, an Ohio State University Extension agronomy field specialist. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University.
“Farmers are not quite sure how this will get fixed.”
Yesterday (July 24), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled a $12 billion package of emergency aid for farmers, including producers of soybeans,...
Tip 1: Smart Sprayers: A new “intelligent” sprayer designed and developed jointly by engineers and entomologists from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University (CFAES) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, can reduce pesticide use by more than 50 percent while reducing off-target contamination. A July 20 CFAES story featured the new agricultural tool and one of its co-developers Erdal Ozkan, a professor of agricultural engineering in CFAES’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Ozkan can be reached at 614-292-3006 or by email at ozkan.2@osu.edu.
Tip 2: What the Muck: Muck soil, which is packed with organic matter, offers a fertile ground for...
I never knew that nonperishable foods like breakfast cereal can become contaminated with salmonella – how is that possible?
While many people are aware that fresh produce and raw meat can become contaminated with pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses, fewer people think about nonperishable foods like breakfast cereal becoming contaminated with the same kind of pathogens.
Such is the case in the recent outbreak of Salmonella Mbandaka that has been traced back to a popular sweetened puffed wheat breakfast cereal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning last week advising consumers “do not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal because it has been linked to a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections.”
As of July 12, the CDC said...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Many rural counties in Ohio and across the nation are facing dwindling populations, reduced agricultural income and lagging job growth.
Since the nationwide recession ended in 2009, economic recovery in rural communities has not matched that in urban areas, said Mark Partridge, a professor in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University.
In Ohio as well as in other states, many rural counties have not transitioned well from a commodity-based economy to a new economy, Partridge said. Within the state, such areas are predominately in western and Appalachian Ohio. And areas that once had a lot of off-the-farm job options, including high-paying, unionized manufacturing jobs, now have far fewer of them....
Tip 1: Weeds spreading: With so much waterhemp invading gardens and fields across Ohio right now, it’s important to consider one way the pesticide resistant weed is spreading. Cows, pigs and chickens are ingesting waterhemp seeds in their feed, then excreting the seeds in their manure, which is spread across agricultural fields, furthering the promotion of the weed. Mark Loux, a weed specialist with Ohio State University Extension and an expert on waterhemp, can address this phenomenon as well as discuss ways to avoid the weed from spreading. Loux can be reached at loux.1@osu.edu or 614-292-9081. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Tip 2: Corn Crop: This year’s corn crop is...
I clean my grill each time after I cook on it, using a steel wire grill brush to keep the grease and grime from building up on the grill racks. I’ve used the same brush for a couple of years now because I love how it cleans, but I’m wondering if I should get a new one this year.
That depends on just how old your grill brush is and what condition it’s in. If your grill brush is worn down, warped or has some missing bristles, you may want to consider throwing it out.
This is because you’ll want to be careful that you don’t inadvertently leave behind any wire bristles from the grill-cleaning brush that could end up in the meat or vegetables that you are grilling.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been several...
PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — Experts are predicting that Lake Erie’s harmful algal bloom this summer will be smaller than last year’s, which was the third-largest ever recorded. But the bloom will be larger than the mild bloom in 2016.
The bloom is expected to measure 6 on the severity index, but could range between 5 and 7.5, according to a forecast issued today (July 12) by scientists including from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The Ohio State University’s Ohio Sea Grant program.
“Research efforts across the state have helped our communities prepare for blooms of this size, from developing new technologies to keep toxins out of our drinking water to assessing the human health impacts of harmful algal bloom toxins,” Ohio...
