Country Life

OSU Sustainable Agriculture Team tours

Those interested in learning more about how sustainable agriculture in Ohio works will have several opportunities as Ohio State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Team hosts tours this summer. The tours will focus on the plasticulture strawberry growing method, hops production, agritourism, organic farming and urban agriculture, as part of the 2013 Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and [...]

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Ground broken for Ag Engineering Building at OARDC

A September 2010 tornado took it away. Now, support from elected officials and the state of Ohio will help bring back an even better version of the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering‘s building on the Wooster campus of Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). A groundbreaking ceremony for the new building was held Friday, May 10. Attending were university [...]

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Nutrient management workshop

Legal issues regarding manure hauling, as well as issues surrounding equipment inspections and highway safety, will be discussed by Ohio State University experts and others during a joint workshop and meeting of the Midwest Professional Nutrient Applicators Association June 11 in Findlay. The workshop is targeted toward livestock producers, growers, professional nutrient applicators, crop consultants [...]

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House Ag Committee approves farm bill

House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act of 2013, by a large, bipartisan vote of 36-10. “I am proud of the Committee’s effort to advance a farm bill with significant savings and reforms. We achieve nearly $40 billion in savings by eliminating outdated government programs and reforming [...]

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Ohio’s forests boost economy

Ohio forests support a $22-billion-a-year industry and more than 100,000 jobs, according to an Ohio State University specialist who is documenting the green that grows in the state’s woods. Eric McConnell, a forest operations and products specialist in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is researching and writing a series of [...]

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Ten things you should know about agriculture in Brazil

Stacie Seger recently traveled to Brazil for a six-week study abroad trip with the Alpha Zeta Partner Honorary at Ohio State University. The trip was focused on Brazil’s agricultural and environmental economy, history, culture, and rural development. On the trip, she studied at Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ) — University of São [...]

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Senate Ag Committee marks up farm bill

The Senate Ag Committee has marked up the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 that include significant reforms from previous farm bills. “The Senate’s bipartisan 2013 Farm Bill represents the most significant reform of American agriculture policy in decades. With the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act, the era of direct payments is over. [...]

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Resurrected: A tale of two cats

By Don “Doc” Sanders Rarely do I write about details of my family, but I believe this incident deserves special mention. This story involves my son David, daughter-in-law Mindy and granddaughters Sydney, 7, and Carly, 5. All of them are quite avid animal lovers. Their menagerie includes an Angus cow herd, dogs, cats, and the [...]

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Farm payments to resume says FSA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced that farm payments, which had been temporarily suspended due to sequestration, are scheduled to resume now. This includes payments for the 2011 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program (NAP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program [...]

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Photo by David Blankenship.

Nothing old about new farm bill

There are many underlying issues that will make getting a new farm bill completed this year a tough task. Aside from structural changes happening in agriculture, there is a need to address new farm policy in the presence of a very large crop insurance program. That is something that cannot be said for previous attempts [...]

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