Ohio Farm News by Brad Bergefurd Want to explore options that can open doors to your small farm success? Then the Southwest Ohio Small Farm Conference may be just for you. The new USDA farm bill provides many opportunities for small-acreage farms including environmental quality incentives such as irrigation installation, crop insurance options and enhanced marketing options for fruit and vegetable growers and organic farming options. With the new farm bill, this will provide small farm operators, especially organic farms, options for growth. According to Tony Nye, an Ohio State University extension educator who coordinates extension’s Small Farm Program, he continues to see “a huge interest” in small farm production, particularly among farmers who are new to agriculture. “Whether they are small farmers wanting to make their farms work better or landowners who are new to agriculture and are looking for ways to utilize acreage,” Nye said, “there is a strong interest in learning more about methods for diversifying their opportunities into successful new enterprises and new markets, as a way to improve economic growth and development on their farms.” If you would like to learn more about small farm options that may apply to your farm acreage, OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will offer “Opening Doors to Success,” a two-day conference and trade show March 13-14 at Wilmington College’s Boyd Cultural Arts Center. This conference, which will feature multiple workshops and a trade show for landowners and small-scale farmers, is designed to help landowners and producers learn techniques to make their small farm operations more successful. Researchers and educators with OSU extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), as well as industry experts, will conduct the workshops. Extension and OARDC are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college. Those attending the conference will gain a better understanding of production practices, economics of land-use choices, assessment of personal and natural resources, marketing alternatives and identifying sources of assistance. The March 13 session is from 2-5 p.m. at the Wilmington College Academic Farm, 1590 Fife Ave. in Wilmington. The event features hands-on workshops focusing on: pastures and fence; specialty crop production techniques, including hoop house management, irrigation and grafting; and woodlands management. The March 14 session is from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Wilmington College’s Boyd Cultural Arts Center, 1870 Quaker Way. This session will feature workshops by OSU and industry experts, and a trade show. Topics to be addressed during the March 14 session include: farm management; livestock production; foods business and marketing; forages and pastures; vegetable and fruit production; and organics. Registration for the conference is $20 for the March 13 session and $60 for the March 14 session, or $70 for both days. The deadline to register is March 5. For more information on the Small Farm conference or to register, go to http://agnr.osu.edu/small-farm-programs or contact Nye at 937-382-0901 or nye.1@osu.edu For information on commercial hops, fruit and vegetable production, visit http://southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture or to be added to the Ohio commercial horticulture listserve to receive Ohio fruit and vegetable crop updates, contact Brad Bergefurd by email at Bergefurd.1@osu.edu or call the OSU South Centers at 800-860-7232 or 740-289-2071, ext. 132. |
