News & Events

White House supports Senate farm bill; calls for more subsidy cuts

Published May. 22, 2013

“Consistent with the President's budget, the administration looks forward to working with the Congress to achieve crop insurance and commodity program savings that are not contained in S. 954,” the White House statement says.

What is rural? Most Ohio farm counties still don't qualify, despite update

Published May. 22, 2013

It’s official: A Washington bureaucrat could stand amid 1,000 acres of tall corn and still not realize he was in the country.

USDA-certified sheep farm tucked away in Jefferson County

Published May. 20, 2013

From the feed to the table, Barton's Barbados sheep have everything organic. This means they eat organic hay and eventually need to be butchered at a location with organic credentials.

USDA Report Summary

Published May. 13, 2013

The slow start to the corn planting this year has prompted USDA to back off its early projected corn yields, though the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates still project record corn production of 14.1 billion bushels.

U.S. Senate panel approves farm bill that expands crop insurance

Published May. 15, 2013

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill on Tuesday, costing $500 billion over a decade, that would expand the scope of the federally subsidized crop insurance program and modestly trim spending on food stamps for the poor.

U.S. pesticide makers seek answers as bee losses sting agriculture

Published May. 22, 2013

Monsanto Co is hosting a "Bee Summit." Bayer AG is breaking ground on a "Bee Care Center." And Sygenta AG is funding grants for research into the accelerating demise of honeybees in the United States, where the insects pollinate fruits and vegetables that make up roughly a quarter of the American diet.

Tn. Governor vetoes 'ag gag' measure over constitutional issues

Published May. 14, 2013

He also agreed with state Attorney General Robert Cooper’s assessment that the bill is constitutionally suspect. But the governor also called on state lawmakers to revisit the issue. He expressed sympathy for farmers who say they fear “large-scale attacks on their livelihoods” from secret recordings.

Supreme Court favors Monsanto in seed saving case

Published May. 14, 2013

Despite the narrow focus of the ruling, many in the industry see the decision as having wide reaching implications.

Still time to enter ODA’s “Agriculture is Cool!”

Published May. 10, 2013

Ohio children enrolled in school or home schooled during the 2012-2013 academic year are encouraged to capture their personal interpretation of why Ohio agriculture is cool for their chance to win prizes including Ohio State Fair concert tickets. Entries must be postmarked by May 15, 2013.

Senate votes to make small cut to food stamps in farm bill

Published May. 22, 2013

The Senate voted Tuesday to keep a $400 million annual cut — or roughly a half of 1 percent — to the food stamp program as part of a major five-year farm bill.

Senate to debate crop insurance cuts in farm bill

Published May. 22, 2013

The Obama administration said Monday it wants to see more cuts to crop insurance and farm subsidies in the legislation, which would cost almost $100 billion a year over five years and would set policy for farm programs and food aid.

Rain may increase algae in Lake Erie

Published May. 16, 2013

Jeffrey Reutter, director of the Ohio Sea Grant Program, shared the data during an Ohio Senate Finance Subcommittee hearing yesterday. He said it doesn’t guarantee that a record algae bloom will spread across the lake as it did during the summer of 2011.

Proposed farm bills would cut billions from current spending levels

Published May. 20, 2013

Savings from both plans would come in large part from reducing funding for the supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — which provides food credits for the poor — and phasing out the controversial automatic subsidies that go to producers of certain crops such as corn and cotton.

Pesticide ‘drift’ cause of sudden tree devastation

Published May. 20, 2013

The Ohio Department of Agriculture calls the phenomenon “drift.” Agency officials investigate about 40 complaints of unintentional agricultural poisonings each year.

OSU offers legal conference for attorneys working with agriculture

Published May. 23, 2013

The fifth annual Ohio Agricultural Law Symposium will be June 23 and 24 at Cherry Valley Lodge, 2299, Cherry Valley Road SE, Newark. Attorneys who attend will receive Continuing Legal Education credit.

OSU livestock and crop budgets available

Published May. 22, 2013

Newly updated Enterprise Budgets for 2013 have been completed and posted to the Farm Management Website of the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics. Updated Enterprise Budgets can be viewed and downloaded from the following website: ?http://aede.osu.edu/research/osu-farm-management/enterprise-budgets

OSU gets new trustee

Published May. 16, 2013

Porteus, 56, replaces Brian Hicks on the OSU board.
He is a board member of Nationwide and served as president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation from 2008 to 2011.

Old MacDonald had a crowdfunded farm

Published May. 23, 2013

More than anything, Rebecca Bloomfield wants her own organic farm. To accomplish this though, in a social media age — without much capital — she has to be something else first: a crowdfunding guru.

Ohio's farm counties mystified as feds leave them off the map

Published May. 15, 2013

Ohio, for example, has 88 counties. Most methods of counting, including those used by the state, the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies, come up with 48 of them as rural. The CFPB, however, is only counting 20.

Ohio Ag Council announces 2013 Hall of Fame inductees

Published May. 15, 2013

The Ohio Agricultural Council (OAC) will induct Shirley Dunlap Bowser of Williamsport, Louis M. “Mick” Colvin of West Salem, Bernard J. Scott of Tontogeny, and Doug White of Manchester, into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame during a special breakfast ceremony held in the Rhodes Youth Center at the Ohio Expo Center.

OARDC breaks ground on new ag engineering building

Published May. 13, 2013

The 40,000-plus square foot facility will replace the one destroyed by a tornado Sept. 16, 2010. It is expected to be finished in 18-20 months and will house more than 50 employees. All current employees of the facility have been forced to relocate.

Nutrient management workshop

Published May. 17, 2013

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.

Monthly barn dances at Malabar Farm draw spirited crowd

Published May. 23, 2013

Barn dances have been a tradition at Malabar since Louis Bromfield built the farm in 1939. It was a way to entertain guests, get to know neighbors and create a strong sense of community, Sybil Burskey, Malabar Farm program administrator said.

Mid-Ohio Foodbank bristles at food stamp cuts in farm bill

Published May. 22, 2013

Mid-Ohio’s vice president of public affairs, Marilyn Tomasi, called the cuts “reckless, short-sighted and a compromise of our most fundamental American values.”

Livestock rules threatened by HSUS

Published May. 16, 2013

Careful reading of the press release gives the real purpose of HSUS which is: "refining our dietary choices by switching to products that meet higher welfare standards; reducing our consumption of animal products; and replacing animal products in the diet with plant-based options."