COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Team will host seven tours this spring and summer, including on new cover crop methods, specialty small grains and certified organic soybeans, as part of the 2011 Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series.
Organizers say the series is a unique opportunity “to see, taste, feel and learn what alternative production systems are all about from the real experts -- the farmers themselves.” Organic and ecological farms are the focus.
Get complete details and a list of all 36 tours in the series at http://go.osu.edu/DR3.
The Ohio State team’s tours in the series, all of which are free:
• June 15, Freshwater Fish Production at Urbana’s Freshwater Farms of Ohio, a vertically integrated hatchery, grow-out, processing, marketing and retail operation. It’s the state’s largest indoor fish hatchery. 6:30-8:30 p.m., 2624 U.S. 68N. For more information: 937-652-3701, drdave@fwfarms.com.
• June 25, Urban Agriculture featuring Dayton’s Vacant to Vibrant Urban Agriculture and Nutrition Project. The city of Dayton and Ohio State University Extension started the project two years ago in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood. Drip irrigation and season extension are new this year. 10:30 a.m.-noon, 40 S. Edwin C. Moses Blvd., 937-224-9654, mills-wasniak.1@cfaes.osu.edu.
• Aug. 2, Melon Research at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Frye Farm near Wooster. The farm conducts field tests on managing melon pests. Featured will be trials using row crops and trap crops to manage bacterial wilt and cucumber beetle. 4-6 p.m., located on Dover Road (U.S. 250) about 1 mile east of OARDC’s main entrance, 1680 Madison Ave., 614-292-2803, welty.1@osu.edu
• Aug. 13, Chestnut Production and Marketing at the Route 9 Cooperative in Carrollton, the largest chestnut packing facility in the United States. Included will be a tour of the chestnut orchards and an inside look at chestnut production and sales. Fruit and vegetable processing, poultry harvest, and produce auctions are being considered. 2-4 p.m., 4300 Germano Rd. SE, 330-627-3541.
• Aug. 17, Organic Soybean Pest Management Research at the John Hirzel Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Site located at the Agricultural Incubator Foundation near Bowling Green. Learn about certified organic soybean production. Organic methods of insect pest control will be featured, including demonstrations on how planting date affects insect populations and on no-till rotations of rye and soybeans for optimal insect control. Noon-3 p.m., lunch included, 13737 Middleton Pike/State Route 582, 419-354-9050, sundermeier.5@osu.edu.
• Aug. 27, Cover Crop Management at Rasawehr Farms near Celina, a fourth-generation, 2,100-acre grain and seed operation. The farm credits its rich soils to incorporated cover crops and interseeding of clover into grain crops. Soybean yields have been revived by incorporating rye to improve tilth while reducing weeds and soybean pests. 2-4 p.m., 8820 Kuck Rd., 419-305-0187, pjrasawehr@watchtv.net.
• Sept. 1, Organic Research and Marketing at OARDC’s West Badger Farm near Apple Creek. Featured will be research reports on specialty small grains, cover crops for organic vegetables, polyculture fruits and vegetables, the environmental impacts of organic farming, organic marketing research results, research on managing uterine diseases in organic dairy cows, and a new sheep and goat grazing project. 1:30-5 p.m., located on Apple Creek Road (County Road 44) north of Apple Creek, 330-202-3528, bielek.4@osu.edu.
Ohio State’s Sustainable Agriculture Team has members from OARDC, OSU Extension and other organizations. It works to promote economically feasible and ecologically sustainable agriculture. The team’s website is at http://sustainableag.osu.edu/.
Also presenting parts of the wider 2011 series are the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, the 30 Mile Meal Project of the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Innovative Farmers of Ohio, and the Tecumseh Land Trust.
OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
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