MOUNT GILEAD — Ohio State University (OSU) Extension and Morrow Soil and Water Conservation District sponsored the 2018 Morrow Agronomy Field Day August 21st at Headwaters Outdoor Education Center.
The all-day program attended by 20 participants covered a wide range of topics. Laura Akgerman of Ohio AgrAbility opened the program with the topic of farming with arthritis and disabilities.
Akgerman gave information about adaptive tools, worksite modification and other services and resources provided by the agency. She showed photos of equipment and examples of people who had benefited from the program.
The purpose of the program is to promote independence in people who want to continue to farm after they have experience a disabling condition. The goal is to provide education and technical assistance so farmers and their families can continue to be successful in agriculture.
Speaker Dave Grum, Farm Business Analysis Technician from Licking County, spoke about farm profitability, which is the goal of the farm business analysis program. He works with farmers to understand the numbers behind their profit and loss. The goal is to improve the business decisions based on the farm’s analysis.
The Farm Business Analysis program looks at every size of farm as well as crops, livestock, machinery. There are reports with cost of production per acre, bushel, ton, head of livestock and machinery cost.
Kendra Miller and Angie Altizer gave the group information about USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Loans. The FSA loans are primarily for beginning farmers who are unable to obtain loans from other lenders. They also had information about the Natural Resources Conservation Program to help reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.
The program had a break for lunch before the seminar resumed with a Tri-State fertilizer overview and OSU nitrogen studies with Harold Watters. Watters’ specialties include crop production, nutrient management and pest management. He is Associate Professor in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at OSU.
The program wrapped up with a tour of the corn plots beside the Headwaters Center. Soil and Water Morrow County District Technician, Matt Stooksbury said the group looked at which cover crops were most successful in the test plots.
Stooksbury gave the results that the most successful cover crop was the mix of radish and Austrian pea cover. It had a high rating of 29.6. The second highest rating went to sorghum Sudan grass with a 29.3 rating followed closely by oats and rapeseed both with a 29.0 rating.
