Crawford County Farm Bureau is taking a bus tour of the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network Sept. 9, departing from Bucyrus at 8:30 a.m. The tour will take you to three Hardin and Hancock County farms to see a wide variety…
Blanchard Demonstration Farms
The Blanchard River Demonstration Farm Network is a $1 million, five-year project and the first of its kind in Ohio. Three demonstration farms showcase innovative and standard agricultural practices that help reduce and prevent nutrient runoff. Participating farms are Kellogg Farms, Hardin County; Kurt Farms, Hardin County; and Stateler Family Farms, Hancock County. An Advisory Committee provides guidance to the project using their expertise is their given fields. Learn more at the network’s website.
Amy Beth Graves - June 14
Demonstration farms project hits halfway mark
The cornerstone project of Ohio Farm Bureau’s $2.6 million Water Quality Action Plan is now halfway done. The Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network is a unique five-year partnership between OFBF and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service….
Amy Beth Graves - April 16, 2018
FFA agriculture careers, conservation day
More than 125 FFA students gathered April 13 in Hancock County for a day of learning about agricultural careers on and off the farm. During the hands-on event, students learned about the financial and environmental challenges farmers face every year as well as the strong demand for workers in the agricultural industry.
Amy Beth Graves - March 27, 2018
Schedule a tour at the demo farms
In April, more than 170 FFA students learned about the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network, kicking off the start of tour season of the three northwestern Ohio farms. The farms in the Western Lake Erie Basin have been testing both…
2017 in Review: Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network
In 2015, Ohio Farm Bureau and USDA-NRCS launched a five- year, $1 million partnership to demonstrate on-farm conservation practices to help improve water and nutrient conservation. Over the course of 2017, the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network has hosted over 700…
Amy Beth Graves - Nov. 22, 2017Demo Farms focus on education
During tours of the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms, project manager Aaron Heilers likes to bring along a mason jar filled with white pellets of commercial fertilizer. It represents the amount of phosphorus — 1 pound — that scientists estimate is…
Conservation efforts working in Western Lake Erie Basin
Ohio farmers are making positive impacts to water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin, according to a new report from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The report shows applied conservation practices reduce sediment losses from fields by an estimated…
Ohio media learn of conservation practices, tour demo farms
Ten members of Ohio media toured the three farms participating in the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network during a Farm Bureau sponsored media tour May 11. The group learned details about the conservation practices being tested in an effort to…
Amy Beth Graves - May 5, 2017
Water Quality Status Report, 4th edition
Addressing the challenges that threaten Ohio’s clean water resources is an important priority for the agriculture community. The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) has released its fourth report detailing its efforts to ensure safe and healthy water for the state. The…
Amy Beth Graves - April 17, 2017
Researchers focusing on four conservation strategies at demo farms
Researchers studying different conservation practices at the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms are narrowing their focus to four practices that appear to help reduce nutrient and sediment loss. “It’s too early to say what the results of our demonstration farms’ edge-of-field…