WOOSTER, Ohio — The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council will host its annual meeting March 3 at the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Bromfield Administration Building in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. with registration and visits with trade show exhibitors and concludes at 3:30 p.m.

Kit Pharo, a Cheyenne Falls, Colo. cow/calf producer will be the keynote speaker. Since establishing a ranch in the early 1980s, Pharo and his wife, Deanna, have worked to create an efficient and profitable operation. Their goal is to increase profits while improving the land and their lifestyle.

Pharo will share his unique and innovative management ideas and philosophies that differ from traditional ways of thinking. He shares these ideas in a newsletter mailed out to more than 20,000 cow/calf producers.

Also on the agenda is Terri Hawbaker of Pawamo, Mich., winner of the 2005 American Forage and Grasslands Council Spokesperson Contest. Hawbaker and her husband, Rick, operate a 160-acre, grass-based seasonal dairy near Pawamo.

A Michigan State University graduate, Hawbaker is active in the Michigan Forage Council, Michigan Farm Bureau and her local United Methodist Church. She has been a speaker at several Michigan grazing conferences, the Family Farm Conference and the family has hosted tours for students from MSU and proGrassitnators.

The afternoon session includes a panel featuring dairy producer Scott Stoller, beef producer Scott Pfeiffer and sheep producer Jim Anderson. Concurrent sessions include: Mark Sulc, Unraveling The Mysteries of Ryegrass - Will The Real Ryegrass Please Stand Up; Clif Little, Pasture Management Strategies for Dealing With Internal Parasites of Sheep and Goats; Pharo, Three Keys to Increasing Cow/Calf Profits; David Barker, Forage Research Update: Max Q Fescue, Rotational versus Continuous Grazing and Allen Gaehler, Extending The Grazing Season With Annual Forages.

The walk-in registration cost of the conference is $30 for members and $40 for nonmembers. Checks should be made to OFGC.

Registration information is also available online at http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/OFGCmtg.pdf

This farm news was published in the March 1, 2006 issue of Farm World.