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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has many divisions to assist the just as many important aspects of American agriculture. Conservation is one of the most valuable attributes of farming, as it keeps farms viable for the long term, which allows farm families to continue the tradition of raising products used for food, fuel and fiber generation after generation. This week, learn more about the agency that provides farmers with financial and technical assistance to use conservation to help the environment and agriculture succeed as we visit with Ohio’s chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

00:00 – Newly appointed Ohio NRCS Chief John Wilson talks about stepping into his new role and some of the challenges and goals he has for his agency moving forward.

23:50 – On this week’s “To the Beat of Agriculture,” hear from Ohio Farm Bureau President Bill Patterson, as he shares his story of diving into agritourism and how Farm Bureau truly begins in your community with the local farmer.

32:20 – Jay Martin, an ecological engineering professor with the CFAES Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, talks about how Ohio State will be the lead partner on a new five-year, multimillion-dollar pilot watershed project in northwestern Ohio designed to demonstrate that agricultural conservation practices—if used on 70% of the farmland in a watershed, and evaluated on a watershed scale—can help meet Lake Erie’s water quality goals.

42:20 – Jana Mussard was recently named ExploreAg and ag literacy program specialist for Ohio Farm Bureau. She talks about her new duties to oversee planning, marketing and implementation of the ExploreAg program, as well as create a comprehensive ag literacy program that aligns with the ExploreAg workforce development program.