CFAES Impact: September/October 2023

  1. CFAES students can access Trimble Technology Labs in Columbus and Wooster

    Starting now, new ultramodern Trimble Technology Labs will give CFAES students a jump-start on using agricultural solutions hardware and software.

    Earlier this year, CFAES received a gift from Trimble to establish the labs, the largest philanthropic gift-in-kind investment to the college.

    Located both on the Columbus campus and at Ohio State ATI on the CFAES Wooster campus, the labs enhance teaching, research, and outreach activities in food and agricultural engineering, construction management, and natural resources. The labs are the first to include Trimble agricultural solutions.

    Students can use customized classroom training workstations that simulate using Trimble agricultural hardware and software such as machine guidance control and steering, and field leveling and water management systems. The workstations allow students to interact with technology in classrooms and the field.

    “The Trimble Technology Labs will become indispensable as we prepare students for the technology-driven careers of the future in agriculture, construction, and natural resources,” said Scott Shearer, professor and chair, CFAES Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “In addition, these labs enhance the land-grant mission of Ohio State by placing state-of-the-arts geospatial tools in the hands of researchers and Extension professionals to enhance the management of agriculture and natural resources statewide.”

    The labs support outreach programs and agricultural professional training programs to re-equip Ohio farmers and agricultural professionals in the adoption of new technologies to increase agricultural output while preserving environmental quality.

    The labs also include components of Trimble’s broad Connected Construction portfolio, which enables professionals along the project lifecycle to bring collaboration, accuracy, and repeatability to the office and the field.

    “The Trimble gift is an investment in experiential learning and practical skills training, which benefit our faculty and students and also foster innovation and progress in industries that rely on cutting-edge technologies,” said Kris Boone, assistant dean and director at Ohio State ATI. “This gift strengthens our partnership with Trimble and increases our ability to develop and deliver workforce training and credentials in the agricultural technology space.”

    The labs include a broad range of Trimble’s industry-leading geospatial and construction solutions such as the Trimble XR10 HoloLens hardhat, robotic total stations, 3D scanners, and GNSS systems. Advanced software solutions include eCognition geospatial analysis software; RealWorks scanning software; TerraFlex Advanced GIS data collection; Trimble Access field software; Trimble Business Center Infrastructure Construction edition; Tekla Structures; Tekla Structural Designer; Trimble Connect collaboration software; Estimation MEP; FieldLink Office; Quadri; SysQue; and the company’s popular 3D modeling software, SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Studio.

    Daryl Matthews, Trimble senior vice president, said, “Ohio State is an educational leader in producing innovative research and top-level graduates in agriculture and construction. In addition, we have many Ohio State alumni who work on teams across Trimble’s businesses, and we have a significant presence in Ohio with our operations. Supporting their important work by providing advanced technologies will help fuel their programs to develop professionals for the future.” 

  2. Ohio State Agronomic Crops Team helps growers deal with problem beans

    From the moment some Ohio soybean growers first began noticing slow growth and yellowing in their plants during the beginning of the planting season this year, many immediately called Ohio State’s Agronomic Crops Team to find out why. And as the season progressed, the team received calls from even more soybean growers statewide with concerns of slow growth, poor root development and nodulation, and disease in their plants.

    Farmers knew they could turn to the Agronomic Crops Team—a multidisciplinary group composed of county Extension educators, field specialists, and state specialists trained to address farmer concerns—because of the many years the team has spent sharing research and building relationships with growers statewide, said Laura Lindsey, a CFAES soybean and small grains specialist and an Agronomic Crops Team member.

    “This year has been particularly challenging in many areas of the state,” she said. “Farmers began reporting various issues since the first soybeans were planted due to cool and wet soils that caused the slow growth and yellowing.”

    “The questions and concerns they had included chlorosis or yellowing, slow growth, poor root development and nodulation, and disease. Growers statewide faced multiple, challenging weather conditions this year with cool, wet conditions early on followed by cool, dry conditions, followed by heavy rainfall.”

    To help soybean growers, members of the Agronomic Crops Team began addressing farmers’ concerns through on-farm visits, phone calls, and Zoom meetings. Specialists on the team examined soil and plant samples to help diagnose issues such as soybean disease, abiotic stress, and soybean cyst nematode. The team also looked at weather records and other factors such as soil compaction that might harm soybeans.

    The team shared information with farmers statewide through the weekly Crop Observation and Recommendation Network (C.O.R.N.) Newsletter. And it’s not just soybeans that the C.O.R.N. Newsletter focuses on.

    “Any and all growers in all 88 Ohio counties are welcome to visit or contact their county Extension office with any questions or issues from their fields,” said Horacio Lopez-Nicora, a CFAES assistant professor of plant pathology. “We work together year-round to help answer these questions and offer farmers expert recommendations based on research and scientific methods.”

    To learn more, visit go.osu.edu/agtech. 

  3. Bigger than beakers

    Researchers have a new way to study Lake Erie thanks to a facility at The Ohio State University Stone Laboratory that is the first of its kind on the Great Lakes. 

    Stone Lab’s Mesocosm Facility, which opened in 2022 on South Bass Island, is the first open-air mesocosm on the Great Lakes and allows scientists to research environmental issues facing the lakes at a previously unavailable scale. Stone Lab is a part of CFAES. 

    The facility contains 15 600-gallon tanks called “mesocosms” that researchers are using to study organisms ranging from algae and bacteria to adult fish. The tanks pump in water from Lake Erie to replicate the natural environment on a larger scale than what’s possible with “microcosms” such as beakers, bottles, or fish tanks. 

    “It allows us to do research that wasn’t possible before,” said Justin Chaffin, research coordinator at Stone Lab. “We’ve been doing small-scale experiments for years, but we can’t do controlled experiments out in the lake. So, the Mesocosm Facility allows us to do research that can be better extrapolated to the natural system.” 

    He said mesocosms help eliminate artificial results that pop up in small-scale bottle experiments. 

    “It’s more exposed to the elements,” Chaffin said. “You get the natural sunlight, cloud cover, rain, wind. Everything that’s happening in the lake can influence what’s happening in the mesocosm when it’s an outdoor facility.” 

    The mesocosms can function with water flowing to and from Lake Erie, or they can serve as batch culturelike experiments. Filters are available to remove particles down to the size of a micron—one-millionth of a meter. 

    This summer, scientists used the facility to study how smallmouth bass respond to changing climate and to determine the impact federally registered algaecides have on zooplankton, small shrimplike creatures that are important food for fish. 

    Chaffin anticipates demand for the facility will grow. One goal is to equip the tanks with improved, automated instruments that monitor temperature and dissolved oxygen and report data every couple of minutes. Another goal is to create similar outdoor facilities at other field stations around the Great Lakes. 

    To learn more information, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.

  4. Agricultural community steps up big for Ronald McDonald House at Dean’s Charity Steer Show

    Over $172,000 was raised at the Dean’s Charity Steer Show, held at the Ohio State Fair. 

    Local celebrities and media personalities paired with Ohio 4-H youth, along with their steers, to donate their time, raise money, and compete for bragging rights in front of a large crowd of supporters Aug. 1, in the Voinovich Livestock & Trade Center. 

    The show’s awards and awardees are as follows. 

    • Best Steer: Team McSteering All Together—with crossbred steer Mook; 4-H’er Taylor Barton of Clinton County; and the McDonald’s team of Marshela McDaniel, Dan Aloi, Melissa James, and Tara Vorst. 

    • Showmanship Award: Team Burrow 4 the House—with steer Joe Burrow; 4-H’er Connor Youchum of Highland County; and the NBC4 Columbus anchor team of Matt Barnes, Monica Day, McKenna King, and Kristine Varkony. 

    • Best Dressed: Team CosMOOpolitans—with steer Cosmo, 4-H’er Emily Scott of Portage County, along with Tammy Roberts Myers of RE/MAX Apex, Kimberly Flaherty of Washington Prime Group, and Timothy Flaherty of Post House Creative. 

    • People’s Choice: Team THE Buckeye Mood—with market heifer Tree Trunks, 4-H’er Delaney Moore of Fairfield County, along with Melissa Shivers of The Ohio State University, and journalist Tracy Townsend of WBNS-10TV. 

    • Grand Champion (lead fundraiser): Huntington Green Team—with steer Olson, 4-H’er Mason Powell of Morrow County, along with Rich Porrello and Christina Brown of Huntington, and Yolanda Harris of 10TV. 

    The 4-H youth who participated in the show represented the counties and Ohio 4-H youth development programs of Clinton, Darke, Defiance, Fairfield, Highland, Morrow, Portage, Seneca, Stark, and Warren. 

    The show was hosted by Cathann A. Kress, Ohio State vice president for agricultural administration and dean of CFAES. 

    The Dean’s Charity Steer Show, which has raised $571,867 to date, is coordinated by CFAES, the Telhio Credit Union, and the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, and is held in partnership with the Ohio Expo Center & State Fair. To learn more about the show, visit deanscharitysteershow.osu.edu.