Matt Reese

By Matt Reese

I can very clearly remember the dietary craze of the days of my youth regarding low fat and fat free food products. It was an oft-touted “scientific fact” back then that the fats in meats and dairy were very detrimental to our existence. Products like whole milk, butter, bacon, and red meats were scorned while highly processed low fat and no fat products flooded the market.

As I grew older I realized the “science” behind the fat free hype was greatly skewed by marketing. As it turns out, I later discovered some of those low fat and no fat products were actually much worse nutritionally than the fatty products they were manufactured to replace. The stuff added to these foods was/is worse than the actual fat it is meant to taste like. Somewhere along the line, the fine farm folks woven throughout my upbringing convinced me of the folly of following food fats.… Continue reading

Yesterday, 100 Christmas trees were packed up and shipped off to military units overseas through a partnership between the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Ohio Christmas Tree Association.

State Christmas tree growers donate the trees, ODA nursery inspectors certify they are free from pests and disease. Both groups come together at ODA to wrap, load up and send the trees to military members stationed overseas. Trees will also include decorations provided by school children, churches and veterans’ groups from around Ohio.

This is the 24^th year for the program that got its start in Ohio.

“This year we are sending the trees overseas to Kuwait. They leave and get to Kuwait in two weeks and then they get dispersed to the bases in the area,” said Valerie Graham with the Ohio Christmas Tree Association. “It is always great to participate in this program. They appreciate what we are doing.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

I love our staff. I am so fortunate to have the chance to work with so many talented, kind caring folks. From the late Ed Johnson to the current Dale Minyo I have had the opportunity to work with (and learn from) some of the very best. What an honor and privilege!

With so many summer events to attend around the state, we are very rarely all in the same place at once. And, with some staff changes this year, I thought the recent Farm Science Review would be a great chance to highlight our current fantastic staff and what they do for the team to keep you up to date.

Bart and Sheryl Johnson

We are like a family and they are kind of like the parents (or in Bart’s case sometimes an ornery big brother). Bart is the son of Ed Johnson who started the company.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

I saw so many sad farm situations this spring in what was, in many cases, the worst planting season in history. But, as it always has, life went on, and I have seen so many farmers rise to the occasion and turn the challenges of 2019 into more positive situations. There was plenty of mud this spring, but also some silver linings, or for 2019 the term mud pie might be more appropriate.

2019 Mud

You had prevented planting acres this spring. This was a tough decision that, after being made, led to many more tough decisions.

2019 Mud pies

The unplanted acres opened up opportunities for tiling, cover cropping (with cost share opportunities), an insurance payment, a potential Market Facilitation Program payment, and a chance to hay or graze those cover crops this fall. There also are opportunities to soil test and set fields up for success in 2020.… Continue reading

Wow! What a fun Farm Science Review! The weather was the best we have had in recent years and we really enjoyed the chance to talk with so many of you who dropped in to see us. We got to lament the challenges of a difficult 2019 but celebrate the bright future of agriculture in Ohio too. We also had the chance to talk with many great guests who will be featured in upcoming broadcasts, podcasts, videos, and OCJ stories.

This year’s late harvest boosted attendance at the farm show, which attracted 114,590 people over three days. Typically at this time of the year, many farmers are driving combines. Instead, some were eyeing brand-new combines and tractors displayed at the show, taking pictures of their children and grandchildren behind the wheel at the Farm Science Review.

Under sunny skies and welcoming mild temperatures, visitors learned about the economics of producing malting barley, legal issues associated with growing hemp, the most common mistakes made by family-run farms, and tactics to reduce the risks of producing corn and soybeans, among other topics.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

There is a line from the 1989 baseball movie Field of Dreams I thought of on a summer tour of the incredible MVP Dairy near Celina in Mercer County: If you build it, they will come.

For all of the folks out there who have been demanding ever-increasing transparency of the processes required to get their favorite foods in convenient packaging to the shelves of their handy grocery store at astonishingly low prices, they built it. Now, will you come see it? Will you appreciate the amazing lengths MVP Dairy (and the food industry in general) has gone to not only provide an incredible level of transparency but also showcase it in an easy to enjoy way? I hope so, but I’m not sure.

In this era of more specific demands of each end of the food supply chain, I am not sure many consumers really know what they are asking.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

For me, the Ohio State Fair is a very busy stretch with my work schedule and two children showing a variety of livestock projects, but those long hours are quickly forgotten when replaced by proud parent moments that will last a lifetime. There were certainly plenty of those for mothers and fathers around the state at this year’s Ohio State Fair.

At an event bursting with proud parents, auctioneer Kevin Wendt had to be right up there as the proudest papa in the building as he watched his daughter Riley parade her Reserve Champion Market Barrow around the ring in the Sale of Champions. For the last several years, Kevin has been the Sale of Champions auctioneer for the cheese, turkey and goat sales that kick off the event. This year, though, Kevin stayed off the auction block to focus on just being a dad. Seeing the look of the purest joy as he stood ringside and watched his daughter’s barrow sell for a record-setting $35,000 in the Sale of Champions made it apparent his decision was the correct one.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Last year I hopped on the boat and made the trek to the fantastic Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie for the announcement about the predictions regarding the 2018 algal bloom.

The boat ride was quite pleasant, the presentations at the event were very sciencey and impressive, the folks doing the research being presented were extremely intelligent — and the forecast was totally wrong.

In July of 2018, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its research partners predicted western Lake Erie would experience a harmful algal bloom (HAB) of cyanobacteria of a 6 on the severity index, with a range between 5 and 7.5. In late fall, NOAA reported back that the actual harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie for 2018 had a severity index of 3.6, indicating a relatively mild bloom far short of the predicted severity.

Now, I don’t know what the total budget is for this forecasting system, but I would guess it is not a small price tag over the years of developing models, conducting extensive research, paying numerous staff members and researchers at various agencies and entities, and hauling curious farm reporters to the island on boats.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

It was an early June wedding in central Ohio. The brother of the beautiful bride was, of course, in attendance, though his troubled mind was a couple of hours away. He was thinking about his still unplanted farm fields at home.

He had been fortunate last fall that he and his parents had been able to get the crop out of the fields in a fairly timely manner. Since then, though, the precipitation had been relentless. The window to plant will always come, his father had said. This year, though, it hadn’t. Other than a few test passes with soybeans in early April (none of which emerged) no crops had been planted. No hay had been baled. No fieldwork had been done in his northwest Ohio fields of his family’s farm. He had waited. He had hoped, prayed, prepared, planned, and re-planned. None of it had worked out.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

OCJ publisher Bart Johnson once asked the staff during an office lunch: if you could only drink one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? His answer: root beer. I think mine would be water. This led to a long debate of the merits of root beer versus water.

The discussion then turned to food. I think I could eat pizza just about every day. I am guessing that most of you (other than Dale Minyo who really does not care for pizza) may feel the same way. Now, if you just had one pizza ingredient to eat every day, what would that be? For me I think it would have to be the cheese (it is dairy month, after all).

Christine Jones, who served as the keynote speaker at this spring’s Conservation Tillage Conference in Ada, is a retired soil ecologist from the University of New England in Australia.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Whether they are specifically written down or not, most farms and agribusinesses operate on the foundation of a code of ethics or principles. The core values of one of the nation’s top agritourism destinations recently came under intense scrutiny when an undercover video was released.

Indiana-based Fair Oaks Farms has been all over the news after Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) released a video depicting animal abuse on the large dairy farm. In the aftermath of the video release retailers pulled Fair Oaks’ Fairlife products from their shelves, three people from the video were charged with animal cruelty and Fair Oaks temporarily suspended delivery service to protect delivery service drivers who have been harassed. Fair Oaks Farms is also being sued for fraud citing the Fairlife milk labels promoting “extraordinary care and comfort” of the cows.

Going into this, Fair Oaks had clear standards for animal care, but employees featured in the video did not adhere to those standards.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

I recently had a rare couple of free hours and some jobs to do around the house. I got my laptop out and clicked on my music list to enjoy some tunes while I worked. Things were going great. I was rocking out and getting stuff done for about three songs before it happened.

I am not especially tech savvy, and a few weeks prior I had plugged my phone into my computer to transfer a file and I unknowingly transferred many of the audio interviews I have done in my career over to my laptop. They intermingled with my music. As a result, my randomly selected mix of songs now includes randomly selected interviews I had conducted with countless farmers and agribusiness professionals from years gone by.

The first interview started playing over my laptop speaker and I sort of groaned. I stopped what I was doing (I think it was caulking the shower) and went to skip to the next song so I could resume rocking out and tackling more chores.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

On these wild weather spring days we’ve had, if I see the western sky darkening and the winds start picking up, I’ll run out and close the west-facing barn door, secure anything that might be prone to blowing away and put items under cover that I do not want to get wet. The coming storm is out of my control, but I can be proactive by taking measures to try to mitigate the damage it may cause.

The same strategy should be used with an impending public relations storm.

Animal agriculture is once again bracing for a storm in the form of possible fallout from an undercover video effort seeking to portray livestock production in a negative way. This time, the deceptive work of animal rights activists recently took place at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana, one of the top agritourism destinations in the country. The working farm was designed with transparency in mind to showcase modern dairy production to curious consumers.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Albert Belmont Graham, known as the founder of 4-H, was born March 13, 1868  and went on to help change the lives of countless young people by starting the now internationally known program in Clark County near Springfield. As the home of 4-H, Ohio has been well represented during the previous years of the National 4-H Raise Your Hand Campaign, winning both years.

Through its “Raise Your Hand” campaign, National 4-H wants members, advisors and alumni to sign up for their state. The state with the most weighted votes by May 15 will bring home $20,000 to use towards 4-H programming.

I remember watching in awe as something I built as a nine-year-old launched into the heavens. One of my first 4-H projects was rocketry and I still remember the euphoria as I gazed skyward at my rocket soaring over the Hancock County corn fields. That project was by no means the most influential part of 4-H for me, but a fond early memory from the program that was a part of my life for many years.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. That is the very clear message from Proverbs 3:27.

It can’t be certain this verse is top of mind for the many in Ohio’s agricultural community who are dropping what they are doing to donate, travel, work, and serve their fellow farmers across the country, but they certainly are demonstrating it.

Terrible flooding in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri has left farms swamped and devastated generations of work on the land in recent weeks. One Ohio group of six tractor-trailers and 11 trucks and trailers filled with food, clothes, hay, feed, and hygiene products donated from farmers, businesses and church leaders from the Norwalk, Monroeville, Ashland, and Mansfield areas left earlier this week for Verdigre, Neb. An additional group from Ohio plans to leave next week. Another group leaves March 29 in an effort being organized by Greg and Rose Hartschuh in Crawford County through Ohio’s Rural America Relief.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

A few weeks back I got nominated to do this “farming family challenge.” I groaned out loud at the thought of it. Basically, the challenge required that I post an image on Facebook every day for 10 days showcasing farm life without any explanation.

This challenge was posed during the very busy stretch of mid- to late-winter meetings. A 10-day picture posting challenge on social media was not a welcome addition to the already heavy work load that time of year. I issued forth another audible groan later that night when I opened up the “Reese” file on my laptop and began sorting through many family and farm pictures. I surely didn’t have time for this.

About an hour later, though, my mood had changed. I’d gone from sort of grumpy to a bit misty-eyed as I scrolled through pictures highlighting generations of my family, many showcasing work on the farm.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

There is no doubt the people of Toledo care about Lake Erie — and they should — though it could be argued that some of this caring is misguided and counterproductive. This is certainly the case with the recently Toledo-voter approved, and fairly bizarre, Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR). I do believe that no small amount of genuine caring went into the effort to get LEBOR passed, but I am also pretty certain that Lake Erie itself most definitely does not care.

Now with a Bill of Rights like a person, Lake Erie (whether it cares or not) can take legal action against parties who could damage it.

“[The lake] now has legal rights, but they would say that the lake is an indefensible entity, so therefore it needs help defending itself. Help is granted to the lake by passing the LEBOR law and allowing the citizens of Toledo to come to the lake’s defense as a legal entity,” said John Torres, with the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Ohio is so blessed to have incredible advocates in every sector of agriculture and I’m very lucky to get the opportunity to work with many of them as a part of my job. I recently got to emcee the Ohio Pork Congress luncheon and had the chance to help highlight some of these fantastic Ohio Pork Rock Stars (and there are plenty to pick from).

There were few bigger Ohio Pork Rock Stars in recent months than the now world-famous Bacon Vending Machine on the Ohio State University campus. It went international and was featured in USA Today, on ESPN and Fox News Network (among many other media outlets, including the prestigious Ohio Ag Net podcast). The incredible success of the Bacon Vending Machine was a group effort that included Meghann Winters, who had just started working at the Ohio Pork Council a couple of weeks before meteoric rise of world-renown for the Bacon Vending Machine.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Looking back on the previous year, I think I spent more time in 2018 outside in the precipitation than any year I can remember, probably more than the last 5 years combined. Remember those wild April snows? I do. Then, of course, there were steady rains with occasional deluges throughout the growing season and the soggiest autumn harvest in recent memory that kept combines out of the fields and the crops in them for much longer than usual. In 2018, there was not really a spring or a fall. It just went from long, cold, snowy winter to wet, muggy summer to soggy, muddy winter.

Vowing to avoid more time spent in the rain, I waited until fairly late in the day on Dec. 31 to go for one last 2018 4-mile run. The rain had finally stopped around 3:30 or so and it looked like the skies cleared a bit by around 4 p.m.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

There is definitely something special about Christmas on a farm, but Ohio’s small towns and cities know how to spread a little holiday cheer as well. Here are some fun (and quirky) Christmas happenings in small towns around Ohio worth celebrating.

Portsmouth

This Scioto County seat has had its share of struggles in recent years, but efforts are underway to turn the city around in a positive direction. Those efforts include spreading some Christmas cheer in 2018 with a month-long Winterfest. The Market Square in the city’s Boneyfiddle District has been transformed into a winter wonderland with outdoor ice skating, thousands of lights, and a modern take on an old-fashioned, downtown Christmas. On Dec. 15, Portsmouth is looking to break the world record for the most people simultaneously caroling. The current record is 1,822 held by Waukesha, Wis. The folks in Portsmouth are looking for 2,000 carolers at 7 p.m.… Continue reading