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Even though women have been working in agribusiness for decades, there are particular challenges that face women in professional agribusiness roles. Through small group discussions and input from members, OABA is pleased to offer a forum for women who are looking for resources from experts and peers alike to face these challenges. To meet this need, the Ohio AgriBusiness Association is launching the Women Leading in Ohio Agribusiness program.

“Through the Women Leading in Ohio Agribusiness program, Ohio’s female leaders will have a dedicated environment to discuss with their peers the challenges unique to women in agriculture,” said Chris Henney, OABA president and CEO. 

The new program will offer professional development, networking opportunities and more to OABA’s female leaders. Women new or seasoned in the industry are invited and encouraged to participate and share with one another. To kick off the program, OABA is hosting a three-session webinar series this fall:

• Developing a mindset of career confidence
• Working through uncomfortable/offensive situations
• When “he” doesn’t want to work with a woman

Sessions are $75 each or $150 for the series.… Continue reading

The September 2020 Miami East-MVCTC FFA Member of the Month is Dottie Everett. She is a sophomore and second year member of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter. Her parents are Tom and Christa Everett of Fletcher.

Dottie had a successful 2020 Miami County Fair where she exhibited the Reserve Champion Horticulture entry with her green beans. Additionally, she competed in the State FFA Meats Evaluation Career Development Event. Dottie’s Supervised Agricultural Experience program is vegetable production. She operates Dot’s Fresh Produce, a roadside produce stand and markets through social media. 

Every month of the school year the Miami East-MVCTC FFA will select a student to be the FFA Member of the Month.  The officer team will nominate one member that has been actively involved in the FFA chapter, school and community activities.  If selected, the member will be recognized at the monthly FFA meeting, have their picture displayed in the Miami East Ag Room, and will receive a special accolade in celebration of their accomplishment.… Continue reading

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating a new team that will lead a department-wide effort focused on serving beginning farmers and ranchers.

To institutionalize support for beginning farmers and ranchers and to build upon prior agency work, the 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create a national coordinator position in the agency and state-level coordinators for four of its agencies — Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Rural Development (RD).

Doug Deardorff was selected as the NRCS USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher state coordinator in Ohio. Doug has spent over 35 years serving farmers with land stewardship and conservation assistance. He and his brother are co-owners of a farm and working with their tenant farmer to protect soil, water and related resources is important to them. Doug is very aware of the challenges and risks that young farmers face to get started and achieve some stability in their farming careers.… Continue reading

The Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation recently created the 16th seat on its board, dedicated to a YAP member. This new position will allow an active Young Ag Professional the opportunity to serve on the foundation board for a one-year term.

Eligible members are active in their county, state or national Farm Bureau and should have a passion for philanthropic fundraising. To learn more, please see the online application form.

Applications will be accepted through Sept. 11, 2020.

For questions please contact Kelsey Turner at kturner@ofbf.org.… Continue reading

By: Katerina Sharp

Two Amanda-Clearcreek FFA graduates have received their $500 scholarships from A-C FFA Alumni for the 2019-2020 school year after successfully completing their first semesters of college.

These outstanding recipients are Noah Smith and Jalynn Fausnaugh.

Noah completed his first year of college at The Ohio State University at the Columbus campus where he is pursuing a degree in Agribusiness and Applied Economics with an Agronomy minor. In addition to his classes, he is involved in the OSU Crops and Soils club, the OSU Agribusiness Club, and with the Ohio FFA Association where he recently completed a year as a State FFA Officer. After obtaining his degree, he plans to work in the world of corporate agriculture. His scholarship money was used for tuition, books, school supplies, housing, and other academic fees.

Jalynn is currently attending Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma. She is working on a degree in Biology and Chemistry, and after college hopes to work in veterinary sciences.… Continue reading

More of Ohio’s localized dry conditions showed up in some of today’s reports. There were fields of corn firing, some suffering soybeans and later-planted fields showing up in today’s reports as well. A tough Union County field has a sub-130-bushel yield potential after being planted wet and then enduring some very dry conditions. Gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight started showing up in more of today’s reports too. The high for corn today was from Putnam County with a nice 234-bushel estimate. The average for Day 2 is 192.5 bushels. The two-day corn yield average is 192 bushels.

The lowest soybean yields reported so far are from Hardin County where conditions have been really challenging due to very limited rainfall. There was some pod feeding, frogeye and increasing amount of Japanese beetle feeding reported today. There were a couple of 60+ yield potential fields reported, but also more 40- to 50-bushel range fields reported today.… Continue reading

The 9 a.m. kickoff session for the Southwest Ohio Corn Growers Agronomy Field Day features  Keynote Speaker Aaron Wilson,from Ohio State University with a Climate and Weather Update and Sakthi Subburayalu from Central State University talking about Water Quality and Edge of Field Research. Ryan LeGrand, the CEO of the U.S. Grains Council is another featured speaker for the field day and the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a “Business After Hours” event as well.

The event is at the Fayette County Airport and Demonstration Farm at 2770 Route 38 Washington C.H. Admission is free and lunch is included. There will be large equipment and table top displays.

For more information, contact Ken Ford, Ohio State University Extension, Fayette County at 937-335-1150 or ford.70@osu.edu.… Continue reading

July 15, 2020 -- Sunny and dry for today, with another bump up in temps over yesterday. We should be about 5-6 degrees warmer today than yesterday. Clouds will start to build late afternoon in tfar western and especially NW Ohio. That will be the precursor to rain, which develops for evening and overnight, continuing through tomorrow...

Amid the immense uncertainty of 2020 the entire staff of Ohio’s Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net, please take time to enjoy the Fourth of July and the independence we enjoy in this country.… Continue reading

The Pickaway County Fair had a different packer bidding on the steers at the Pickaway County Junior Fair Sale this year. The Pickaway County Community Foundation and Pickaway County Farm Bureau joined forces to purchase all of the steers from the 4-H and FFA youth that participated in the Pickaway County Fair.

Pickaway County Community Foundation Executive Director Jan Shannon noted that the partnership accomplished two important goals. First, it recognized the work and effort of the youth that raised the steers by paying a generous $1.15 per pound. Second, beef processed at the Orient Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction meat packing plant will be distributed by Farm Bureau and the Foundation to local food pantries to feed those in need.

“Rarely do you see such a collaboration that benefits not only the youth that worked hard raising the animals but then, in exchange, those in need in our county” Shannon said.… Continue reading

By James J. Hoorman, Hoorman Soil Health Services

Every farmer loves to see earthworms in their soil because it indicates good soil health and productivity. Earthworms, cover crops, and no-till together are a great way to improve your soil. After a 3- to 4-inch rain (more or less) last week, farmers should observe where water is standing and where it is not ponding. In healthy fields that had no-till, cover crops, and earthworms, there should be less standing water due to better soil tilth and cleaner water coming off the fields in the surface water or tile. Cover crop roots increase macro and micro-pores and the earthworms decompose and move the organic residue to form soil organic matter (SOM), to keep nutrients and soil in place.

Here are just a few things the earthworms do to improve our soil. They alter soil structure, improving water movement, enhancing nutrient dynamics and plant growth.… Continue reading

By Leisa Boley Hellwarth, a dairy farmer and attorney near Celina

Doctors shouldn’t practice law. Lawyers shouldn’t practice medicine. And politicians shouldn’t practice medicine either, but I digress. Some of the most practical and timely legal information I’ve read recently came from a physician practicing in a COVID-19 Unit in Detroit, who shared what she wished her patients had completed prior to their coronavirus diagnosis, advance directives. These legal documents are a set of instructions someone prepares in advance of ill health that determines his healthcare wishes. End of life is a topic none of us likes to contemplate, but according to the doc, not dealing with the inevitable can make the inevitable even more problematic and painful for the patient and the family.

She shared the anguish of the next of kin of a 30-year old patient whose body was unable to fight the coronavirus. He had not executed any legal documents nor had he ever discussed the issues with his family.… Continue reading

By Matt Reese

Baling hay and straw is a labor of love for brothers Miles and Caleb von Stein that requires a love of labor they’ve had since high school.

“Growing up, Caleb and I loved baling. We did it for our FFA SAE project. We started with 20 or 40 acres of straw. Dad and my uncle said we’d never get it all baled,” Miles said. “That was in 2010 and it almost was a personal challenge and we tried to do more every year. Then they didn’t think we could do 50 or 60 acres and now we are doing 600 or 700 acres. The fact that they thought we couldn’t do it almost fueled us even more to grow.”

Small square bales of hay and straw have paved the way for the von Steins to take their Hancock County family farm in a new and innovative direction focused on soil health, high quality products and meeting unique customer demands.… Continue reading