:

By Dr. Rafiq Islam
SWBR Program Leader

Rafiq Islam was actively involved, participating in and virtual teaching, in the training program  “Growing organic crops in crop rotation with a focus on technical tomatoes” organized by the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (IWPLR NAAS), together with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). 

The entire training program, in six different modules, was supported by the European Union in the framework of the EU4Business initiative “Ukraine: Training for small and medium agricultural enterprises.”
As part of the training program, Islam and Dr. Nataliia Didenko delivered a two-hour PowerPoint presentation titled “Organic Production - Principles and World Experience.” Around 30 participants, mostly small scale future organic farmers in Ukraine, attended the training course held at Mykolaiv in Ukraine. Dr. Didenko, as the co-presenter, translated the presentation into Ukrainian language and explained the presentation theme and results to the participants.  

During and after their presentation, both Islam and Didenko emphasized Ukraine’s availability of vast areas of fertile lands that could be turned into alternate farming practices, especially organic production, compared to current industrial farming systems. Small-scale farmers could export organic produce to European and North American markets, thus improving farm stability and the livelihood of Ukrainian small and future farmers. There is a high demand for organic tomatoes particularly in the United States and Europe. The economical profitability and nutritionally healthy properties of organic crops can help provide great opportunities for small-scale, poor and new farmers, along with rural job creation and organic export marketing opportunities, can help minimize farming costs with recycling of natural resources, and reduce pollution and improve soil health and water quality. 

Ukraine has the land, water, technology, and motivated people to achieve these objectives, it just needs to remove Soviet-style old administrative roadblocks and create proactive business/marketing opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs.
 

Staff from OSU South Centers will be at the 2017 Farm Science Review representing the various programs of the South Centers. 

Aquaculture (Matthew A. Smith)
Tuesday, September 19 at noon
Basics of Recirculating Aquaculture
Location: Small Farms Center Tent (corner of Corn Ave. and Beef St.)

Wednesday, September 20 at 11:30 a.m. 
Aquaponics
Location: The Gwynne Conservation Area

Wednesday, September 20 at 1:30 p.m.
Water Quality in Aquaculture and Aquaponics
Location: Small Farms Center Building (corner of Equipment Ave. and Beef St.)

Direct Marketing (Chrisitie Welch and Charissa Gardner)
Tuesday, September 19 at 11:00 a.m. 
MarketReady – Best practices for Marketing Your Products Directly to Consumers 
Location: Small Farms Center Tent (corner of Corn Ave. and Beef St.)

Horticulture (Brad Bergefurd)
Tuesday, September 19 at 1:30 p.m.
Hops Production in Ohio: An Industry Update
Location: Small Farms Center Building (corner of Equipment Ave. and Beef St.)

Ohio Cooperative Development Center (Ivory Harlow)
(in collaboration with Ohio Association of Meat Processors)
Thursday, Sept 21 at 10:30 a.m.
Local Meat and the Cooperative Business Model
Location: Small Farm Center 

Soil, Water, and Bioenergy (Rafiq Islam and Vinayak Shedekar)
Tuesday-Thursday, September 19-21
Soil Health and Nutrient Stewardship
Location: Firebaugh building (384 Friday Ave) 

Tuesday-Thursday, September 19-21 
Soil Quality and Cover Crops Demonstrations
Location: Agronomic crops team plots (outside gates B and C as you enter from the parking lot)

Advance sale tickets to the Farm Science Review are available at the OSU South Centers, as well as at Extension offices throughout the state. More infomation about the Farm Science Review is available at: fsr.osu.edu.

By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator

Ohio MarketMaker was named second runner-up at the 2014 Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Awards announced at the National Value Added Agriculture Conference held May 13-15, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. Brad Bergefurd, Charissa McGlothin, and Julie Moose of The Ohio State University accepted the $4,000 award on behalf of the Ohio MarketMaker program, "Expanding MarketMaker Visibility, Value, and Usage by Reaching Local Communities through Local Ohio State University Extension Educators." This honor applauds outstanding efforts to improve state-wide MarketMaker programs and expand MarketMaker’s online database of food industry and market data through the National MarketMaker Partners Network. Gary Matteson, Vice President of Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach, represented Farm Credit at the awards and acknowledged the ingenuity of each program. "We are pleased to support and recognize the worthy efforts of this year’s Innovation Award winners," said Matteson. "It is gratifying to see their good ideas brought to life and spread among other members of the MarketMaker community. Their contributions are helping MarketMaker accomplish their goals to connect producers to markets and improve consumers’ access to fresh, healthy, local foods. " Ohio MarketMaker embarked on a campaign to actively engage and support the efforts of local Extension educators to produce customized marketing resources. Ohio’s marketing campaign successfully linked area growers with countless new markets to pursue, while educating both the producers and consumers about the advantages of the tool.

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Aquaculture Program Leader

In 2021, in collaboration with The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences, Southern Illinois University and several other international institutions, Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) accomplished six research studies and projects resulting in six manuscripts being submitted.
The program published three peer-reviewed journal articles and two proceedings papers, with three research papers from OCARD winning scientific excellence awards from Benha University in 2021. 

“We are halfway through authoring a newbook  a titled ‘Epigenetics in Aquaculture.’ We won a national competition for an aquaculture grant and completed/submitted five new grant proposals,” said Dr. Hanping Wang, who leads the Aquaculture program at South Centers. “Our Aquaculture Genetics Laboratory also received the 2021 Dean’s List Award of achievement, recognizing the lab’s safety research operation and management.”]

Refining monosex technology in yellow perch
Hormonal effect on sex differentiation and growth in juvenile: We completed a study on the effects of methyltestosterone (MT) on sex differentiation and growth in juvenile yellow perch. The identification of the labile period of sex determination that is manipulated by MT dosage and age of treatment in this study would be a valuable progression toward optimizing commercially viable regimes for commercial scale production of all-female yellow perch for the aquaculture industry. This paper was published by Fish Physiology and Biochemistry here: doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-01038-0

The effect of density on sex differentiation, stress, and related gene expression: An experiment was completed to evaluate the effects of density on sex differentiation, sexual dimorphism, stress, and related gene expression. 

In this study, we found that stocking density did not influence the sexual determination of yellow perch. However, high density is a chronic stress that has adverse effects on fish wellbeing, growth, survival, expression of stress-related genes, and mobilization of liver reserve. A stocking density of 1,000 fish/m3 could be recommended to reduce stress, increase survival, and provide a better state of wellbeing and growth performance for rearing management of juvenile yellow perch for farmers. This paper is being published by PLoS One.
Proteomic profile and characteristics of skeletal muscle of the fast‑growing perch: We completed a study on comparing skeletal muscle proteomic profiles, histochemical characteristics, and expression levels of myogenic regulatory factors between fast vs. slow-growing yellow perch and identified the proteins that might play a crucial role in muscle growth. The identified proteins could be useful markers of muscle growth to improve the growth performance in yellow perch. The study was published in Scientific Reports in 2021: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95817-7.

Refining monosex technology in bluegill
We completed an experiment of the effects of high and low temperature on sex ratio and growth of bluegill sunfish. Much interest has been generated concerning the development of monosex male populations of bluegill due to their rapid growth capacity relative to females. In this study, we found the temperature had significant effects on sex ratios in bluegill, suggesting the interesting possibility of selecting thermo-sensitive genotypes in breeding programs for mostly male populations and controlling sex by monitoring temperature in this species. The manuscript is in preparation for these research results.
 

Dr. Hanping Wang
Aquaculture Program Leader

Feeding fish, monitoring oxygen levels, and measuring temperature appears to be routine work, but not in 2020.

The Aquaculture Research Center at OSU South Centers features a 3,000 sq. ft. wet lab/hatchery, a 4,500 sq. ft. broodfish building, and a 90-foot greenhouse that house around 40,000 research fish of multiple species in approximately 270 tanks and 15 ponds. Among them, thousands are genetically improved broodfish that that can produce fast-growing improved perch, all-female perch, and all-male bluegill. Taking care of daily business and keeping those important research fish alive is a huge accomplishment in 2020. 

When almost everybody at South Centers works from home most of the time – or all the time—during this pandemic, Paul O’Bryant and Dean Rapp go to the hatchery daily to take care of the “routine” for the aquaculture center.

They have also been conducting weekend checks for all the non-aqua buildings at OSU South Centers. Their hard work keeps our centers’ facility safe and the fish alive.
In addition to their daily responsibilities, they have completed or assisted with four research or outreach projects: 1) breeding of yellow perch for producing all-female improved populations; 2) out-of-season spawning producing 15,000 all-male bluegill fingerlings for commercialization; 3) effects of hormones and density on sex determination in bluegill, and 4) temperature effects on sex ratio of bluegill.

Big thanks go to research assistants Paul O’Bryant and Dean Rapp for all they do for aquaculture and all of South Centers. 
 

Bradford Sherman
South Centers/CFAES

Dr. Hanping Wang’s latest book, Sex Control In Aquaculture, has been named one of the best aquaculture books of all time by the popular book recommendation and ranking website BookAuthority.com.
The 888-page, two-volume book is a comprehensive resource that covers all aspects of sex control in aquaculture, and was written by internationally-acclaimed scientists. Wang, who serves as the Principal Scientist and Director of the Aquaculture Research Center and Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Laboratory at The Ohio State University South Centers, was the editor of the book alongside Francesc Piferrer and Song-Lin Chen. 

The book’s first edition was published in January 2019 by Wiley-Blackwell.

BookAuthority is one of the world’s leading websites for book recommendations by thought leaders, and aids people in finding the best books on any topic. The site serves millions of book recommendations every month and has been featured on CNN, Forbes, and Inc.

BookAuthority describes its ratings as “objective and unbiased,” as they are calculated based purely on data. A proprietary algorithm uses public mentions, recommendations, ratings, sentiment, and sales history to rate each book.

In addition to Wang, South Centers staff members Zhi-Gang Shen, Hong Yao, Dean Rapp, and Paul O’Bryant also contributed to authoring chapters in the book. Sarah Swanson provided chapter coordination and Bradford Sherman, Joy Bauman, and Jordan Bostic contributed to the book by providing English language editing.

Additionally, Sex Control in Aquaculture also recognized as one of the best new aquaculture eBooks of 2020.

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Aquaculture Program Leader

The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at the Ohio State University South Centers has partnered with Sandplains Aquaculture farm to commercialize all-male bluegill and all-female yellow perch. 
Sandplains Aquaculture, located in Ontario, is one of the largest aquaculture farms in the Great Lake Region. Funded by USDA and NOAA-Sea grants, OCARD has developed technology for the production of commercial-scale, fast-growing monosex yellow perch and bluegill. Both species are the top aquaculture species in the Midwest and the Great Lake Region. 

Sandplains Aquaculture wanted to try bluegill this year, since bluegill has a unique market in Toronto and New York and we can do out-of-season spawning. Bluegill males grow significantly faster and larger than females, and all-male monosex populations are needed by the aquaculture industry. OCARD at Piketon has created a technology that can generate large numbers of fast-growing, all-male bluegill populations. All-male or near-all-male bluegill populations have been successfully produced and tested. 

Results from testing all-male or near-all-male bluegill populations at two locations showed: 1) weight gain and growth rate of all-male stock were 2.1 times that of regular stocks; 2) all-male groups had significantly uniformed size and lower coefficient of variation; and 3) survival of all-male groups was significantly higher than that of mixed sex groups, due to more uniformed size. 

Successful creation of genetically male bluegill strains could have a tremendous impact on the sunfish aquaculture industry by increasing growth rate by 30-35% and saving energy expenditure by 20-30% for sex growth. 
In the past several months, OCARD has produced approximately 15,000 all-male bluegill fingerlings for this commercialization project, and we are waiting for import authorization from the Canadian government for shipping the fingerlings to Sandplains Aquaculture farm.

We will do yellow perch next year, and are conditioning perch broodfish for producing all-females next spring. Yellow perch females grow significantly faster and larger than males. OCARD at Piketon has created a technology that can generate large numbers of fast-growing, all-female yellow perch populations. A growth performance test of the all-females vs. mixed-sex group showed that all-females grew 26.3% faster than the mixed group, and 66.0% faster than males. 

We thank the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and Dr. Gary Pierzynski’s support of this effort and processing of the material transfer agreement (MTA).

Dr. Hanping Wang
Aquaculture Program Leader 

Aquaculture team members at The Ohio State University South Centers recently published two papers in top journals within the aquaculture industry.

The first paper deals with the evaluation of genetic variation and gene expression patterns of different strains related to the utilization of soybean meal (SBM) in largemouth bass (LMB). It was published by AQUACUTURE, the No. 1 journal in aquaculture, in March 2020. 

In that paper, the team found that genetic variation exists for growth and feed efficiency in LMB fed diets containing both SBM and fishmeal, and genetic improvement may be possible for the trait of feed efficiency. In all the three strains they tested, the growth performance of individuals in the S35 (35% fishmeal replaced by SBM) groups declined when compared with the S0 group, and the specific growth rate and weight gain correlated negatively with dietary levels of SBM. 

Genes that were differentially expressed between dietary SBM levels were identified. Transcripts of genes related to insulin-signaling pathway and fatty acid metabolism and biosynthesis were significantly downregulated in the S35 and S50 groups compared to the S0 group. This study provides important information for improving growth and breeding strategies of LBM for the aquaculture industry, which contributes ~0.5 million tons of production globally per year.  
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735214.

The second paper discusses the use of medicinal herb to improve immune responses and stress in Nile tilapia, and was published by Fish and Shellfish Immunology (FSI) in January 2020. FSI is the another of the top-ranked journals in the aquaculture industry. 

In this study, the team found that the medicinal herb they used significantly enhanced lysozyme activity and nitrous oxide activities, as well as improved superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities. Growth performance was also markedly improved. Expression of heat shock protein 70 and interleukin 1 beta genes were significantly upregulated throughout the entire experimental period. 

When challenged with bacterium, the mortality of treated groups was significantly lower than the control. Current results prove that medicinal herb has a synergistic effect on immune and stress responses, growth performance, and disease resistance. The findings are important for reducing stress and disease in tilapia, the No. 1 aquaculture species in the world. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2019.12.025.

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Program Leader, Aquaculture 

The OSU South Centers and the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD), in partnership with the Ohio Aquaculture Association (OAA) and University of Wisconsin–SP (UWSP) and Wisconsin Aquaculture Association (WAA), have successfully completed three years of Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 (ABC-2). 

The ABC-2 offered new and beginning farmers integrated training in aquaculture/aquaponic production and business management strategies with the “3-I” levels: Intensive, an in-depth level involving immersion in a year-long hands-on training and mentoring program; Intermediate, a mid-level involving participation in a variety of learning activities; and Introductory, a general level where sharing of information is the goal. 

The program offered a multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponics and next generation farmers in the Midwest. ABC-2 completed all the goals on all the “3-I” levels, outlined below. 

Intensive
Twenty-four monthly informative educational modules and classes were completed in aquaculture/aquaponics and related business/marketing in Ohio and Wisconsin during the past three years. Each module was designed to coincide with seasonal activities on a typical aquaculture/aquaponic farm, so that a participatory hands-on training events can simultaneously occur each month. 105 highly motivated, new and limited resource fish farmers and aquaponic producers have been trained through the Intensive program, and 35 pilot-scale aquaculture/aquaponics practice projects were completed by the intensive students. Twenty-one new businesses/farms have been created by the 2017 and 2018 ABC-2 Intensive course graduates.

Intermediate 
ABC-2 Intermediate was also offered over the past three years. This less-intensive training allowed participants to choose among the 12 monthly modules and three workshops, one conference and one bus tour in both Ohio and Wisconsin per year. Twelve general workshops in aquaculture and related business and four bus tours of aqua-farms were conducted for both Intermediate and Intensive students. Six conferences were held for all the “3-I” level students; around 900 new and beginning farmers gained knowledge of aquaculture/aquaponic production and new technologies by participating in ABC Intermediate workshops and bus tours.

Introductory
Digital recordings of the ABC-2 Intensive training classes and practices were conducted and edited. An ABC-2 website was developed and has links to aquaculture information, podcasts, and updates of ABC-2 activities. Additionally, ABC-2 Introductory provides training and information through facility tours, individual and group counseling, phone, and email. Other than new farmers trained in Intensive and Intermediate programs, more than 9,000 participants gained new knowledge by accessing ABC Introductory and ABC website tools, and Newsletters, emails and phone system.

Internship
The ABC, OAA, and WAA have established an internship program designed to provide apprentice-type training opportunities for new and beginning aquaculture farmers and give established farmers a chance to mentor newcomers. Twelve in Ohio and Wisconsin received training through ABC/OAA/WAA internship program through the ABC-2 program. 

Mentoring Leadership and Guidance
With the ABC program, the OAA and WAA provided mentoring leadership and guidance for new and small rural farmers. The activities included coordinating the ABC-2 mentoring and internship programs, providing annual conferences and a bus tour of aquaculture farms, facilitating cooperation among new farmers and existing farmers, compiling and distributing information on aquaculture/aquaponics for new and small rural farmers, and creating and maintaining the ABC-OAA/WAA websites. ABC specialists worked together with OAA and UWSP/WAA staff to enhance OAA and WAA’s website, newsletters, and marketing strategies and opportunities. ABC-OAA’s and WAA’s annual conferences were organized, and 24 issues of aquaculture/aquaponics newsletters were published in Ohio and Wisconsin through the ABC-2 program.

Dr. Hanping Wang
Aquaculture Program Leader

Dr. Hiam Elabd, a lecturer in the Department of Aquatic Animal Diseases and Management of the Benha University (BU) in Egypt, is back at the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) for her post-doc research, sponsored by the U.S.- Egypt Joint Board on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. 

Advised by Drs. Hanping Wang (OSU) and Shaheen (BU), Hiam completed her entire dissertation research at OCARD from 2013 to 2015 under a joint PhD training program, then passed defense and received her PhD in 2017 through the joint program. Through the program and partnership, The Ohio State University and Benha University signed a MOU in research collaboration in 2017, and then she was nominated for the Coordinator of International Relationships for Faculty of Veterinary Medicine by her university. 

Through her dissertation research at OSU South Centers, she has published three papers titled: “Feeding Glycyrrhiza glabra and Astragalus membranaceus alters innate immune and physiological responses in yellow perch” (Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 2016); “Astragalus membranaceus enhances growth performance and antioxidant stress profiles in bluegill sunfish” (Fish Physiol Biochem, 2016); and “Anti-oxidative effects of some dietary supplements on Yellow perch exposed to different physical stressors” (Aquaculture Reports, 2017).  In accordance with the progressive results and papers we previously published, and the OSU-BU signed MOU, her current research work is focused on further reducing stress and disease in aquaculture using an innovative approach.

Two research scholars, Dr. Rafidah Binti Othman and Mr. Dingkun Xie (pictured right) recently joined the Ohio Center for Aquaculture and Development (OCARD) for their post-doctoral and PhD dissertation research. 

Rafidah Othman is a new visiting postdoctoral researcher at Dr. Hanping Wang’s Lab inside OSU South Centers. Originally from Malaysia, she is a lecturer and researcher from the Borneo Marine Research Institute a the Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She earned her PhD in Veterinary Sciences from the Universiti Putra Malaysia. 

Her research has been focused on health and disease management in aquaculture and other animals. Currently under the mentorship of Dr. Wang, her research involves the effect of stress on sex determination and sex differentiation in fish. She will explore details of the mechanisms involved in stress response due to high stocking density and chemical stressors in sex determination and sex differentiation during a critical period of early development. 

The findings from this study is important to gain insight into the potential development of new or better techniques for enhancing breeding strategies and sexual manipulation in aquaculture, and in producing monosex fish (either all-female or all-male) for a more sustainable aquaculture production.

Mr. Dingkun Xie, a PhD student, is from Nanchang University in China. He is working on his dissertation in Dr. Wang’s laboratory, focusing on the sex control and the sex differentiation in aquaculture species with marker screening and sex gene interference.

The markers are the specific sequences, and are different between male and the female fish. Because sex specific markers and SNPs can be used in the rapid sex identification for sex control and selective breeding in fish, these markers have high application value in aquaculture. Besides, as we know, overexpression and interference are the usual ways to regulate the gene expression. In sex regulation, hormones are often used to regulate the sex of fish in order to reach the goal of artificial sex-control for aquaculture.

Through this research, we can better understand how some sex control genes play roles in gender regulation with siRNA and miRNA interference.

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Senior Scientist

Yellow perch, bluegill, and largemouth bass are the top three aquaculture species in the Midwest and North Central Region. Funded by a USDA-North Central Region Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) and NOAA-Sea Grant, the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at The Ohio State University South Centers has developed fast-growing strains of these species to meet industry’s needs in the past few years.

Larger, Faster-Growing All-Female Yellow Perch: 
Yellow perch females grow significantly faster and larger than males. All-female monosex populations will significantly benefit the aquaculture industry. OCARD at Piketon has created a technology that can generate large numbers of fast-growing, all-female yellow perch populations. A growth performance test of all-females vs. a mixed-sex group showed that all-females grew 26.3% faster than the mixed group, and 66.0% faster than males. In 2018, OCARD created a large number of neomale broodstock of yellow perch with a female genotype. The large numbers of superior neomale broodstock will enable us to produce a commercial-scale of all-female monosex yellow perch. The all-female monosex strain will be available to aquaculture industry in 2019.

Faster-Growing All-Male Bluegill
Unlike yellow perch, bluegill males grow significantly faster and larger than females. All-male monosex populations are needed by the aquaculture industry. OCARD at Piketon has created a technology that can generate large numbers of fast-growing, all-male bluegill populations. All-male or near-all-male bluegill populations were successfully produced and tested. Results from testing all-male or near-all-male bluegill populations at two locations showed: 1) Weight gain and growth rate of all-male stock were 2.1 times that of regular stocks; 2) All-male groups had significantly uniformed size and lower coefficient of variation; and 3) Survival of all-male groups was significantly higher than that of mixed sex groups due to more uniformed size. 
A successful creation of genetically male bluegill strains would have a tremendous impact on the sunfish aquaculture industry by increasing the growth rate of 30-35% and saving energy expenditure by 20-30% for sex growth. In 2018, the aquaculture team at Piketon created a large number of all-male producing broodstock of bluegill, which will enable us to produce a commercial-scale of all-male monosex bluegill. The all-male monosex strain will be available to the aquaculture industry in 2019. 

Faster-Growing Largemouth Bass
OCARD at Piketon genotyped  approximately 1,250 largemouth bass in total from 28 populations across the United States. Based on the genetic data and in collaboration with Southern Illinois University Carbondale, we identified a fast-growing strain. We conducted an experiment to compare growth performance of the identified strain vs. an Ohio control group and results showed the fish from the identified group grew 89.5% faster than the control group. The results provide a valuable base for developing fast-growing largemouth bass broodstocks for industry.

For more information about those fast-growing strains, please visit cfaes.osu.edu/stories/defying-the-laws-nature.

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Senior Scientist 

The Ohio State University South Centers, in partnership with Ohio Aquaculture Association (OAA) and University of Wisconsin–SP (UWSP) and Wisconsin Aquaculture Association (WAA), have successfully completed the second year of Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 (ABC-2).

ABC-2 offers new and beginning farmers integrated training in aquaculture/aquaponic production and business management strategies with “3-I” levels: Intensive, an in-depth level involving immersion in a year-long hands-on training and mentoring program; Intermediate, a mid-level involving participation in a variety of learning activities; and Introductory, a general level where sharing of information is the goal. 
The program offers a multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponics and next generation farmers in the Midwest. ABC-2 completed 2018 goals on all the “3-I” levels. 

Intensive
Twenty-four monthly informative, educational modules and materials were developed in aquaculture/aquaponics and business/marketing in Ohio and Wisconsin in 2018. 
Each module was designed to coincide with seasonal activities on a typical aquaculture/aquaponic farm so that a participatory hands-on training event can simultaneously occur each month. 
Thirty and 35 new or beginning aquaculture/aquaponic farmers in Ohio and Wisconsin, respectively, were recruited in 2018 to participate in this intensive, hands-on aquaculture production and business training. Twenty-seven new and beginning farmers in Ohio, and 29 in Wisconsin, gained aquaculture/aquaponic production knowledge, business and marketing awareness and understanding, gained new perspectives, learned and practiced skills, and aspired to be more successful after completing the ABC-2 Intensive program. 

Intermediate 
We offered ABC-2 Intermediate level in 2018. This less-intensive training allowed participants to choose among the 12 monthly modules and three workshops, one conference, and one bus tour in both Ohio and Wisconsin. Four hands-on farm-based and classroom-based workshops were conducted by ABC- OAA/WAA. More than 200 additional new/beginning farmers in Ohio, and more than 395 in Wisconsin, were trained and mentored through ABC-2 Intermediate. 
A total of 198 and 108 people attended the OAA-ABC and WAA-ABC Annual Conferences, respectively. Thirty-one people attended the OAA Annual Bus Tour in Ohio. Forty combined students in Ohio and Wisconsin registered for the ABC-2 Intermediate program to participate in the online learning resources.

Introductory
Digital recordings of the ABC-2 Intensive training classes and practices were conducted and edited. An ABC-2 website was developed and has links to aquaculture information, podcasts, and updates of ABC-2 activities. Additionally, ABC-2 Introductory provides training and information through facility tours, individual and group counseling, phone, and email. Other than new farmers trained in Intensive and Intermediate programs, 76 people were trained through field days/farm visits/trips. There were 1,050 people who gained knowledge through visiting the ABC website, 871 people gained knowledge through our emails, and 172 people received support and information through the phone system.

Internship
The ABC, OAA, and WAA have established an internship program designed to provide apprentice-type training opportunities for new and beginning aquaculture farmers, and give established farmers a chance to mentor newcomers. Eight interns in Ohio and Wisconsin received training through ABC/OAA/WAA internship program in 2018. 

Mentoring Leadership and Guidance 
With the ABC program, the OAA and WAA provided mentoring leadership and guidance for new and small rural farmers. The activities included coordinating the ABC-2 mentoring and internship programs, providing an annual conference and bus tour of aquaculture farms, facilitating cooperation among new farmers and existing farmers, compiling and distributing information on aquaculture/aquaponics for new and small rural farmers, and creating and maintaining the ABC and OAA/WAA websites. ABC specialists worked together with OAA and UWSP/WAA staff to enhance OAA and WAA’s website, newsletters, and marketing strategies and opportunities. ABC-OAA’s and WAA’s annual conferences were organized, and eight issues of aquaculture/aquaponics newsletters were published in Ohio and Wisconsin in 2018.

These achievements were from multi-team efforts by OSU, OAA, UWSP, and WAA. Jordan Maxwell, ABC-2 Program Coordinator, coordinated all the ABC-2 activities in 2018. Matthew Smith, Jordan Maxwell, Brad Bergefurd, Chris Smalley, Christie Welch, Hannah Scott, Ivory Harlow, Brad Bapst, Ryan Mapes, Paul O’Bryant, Dean Rapp, and many non-OSU instructors/mentors taught ABC-2 students in 2018. Duane Rigsby and Sarah Swanson completed video recording and editing for all the classes and workshops and uploaded to the ABC website, and captured pictures of each exciting moment. 

Year 3 Perspective
The ABC Ohio Aquaculture, Business, and Marketing team and OAA have planned to foster more additional workshops, a bus tour, internships, and newsletters available to the Intermediate and Introductory ABC-2 students in 2019. ABC students in the future will plan to visit more aquaculture facilities. The ABC Wisconsin team and WAA have planned to continue all the “3-I” level classes workshops, bus tour, internships, and newsletters available to the Intensive, Intermediate, and Introductory ABC-2 students in Wisconsin in 2019. ABC students in the future will plan to visit more aquaculture facilities.

Dr. Hanping Wang’s book “Sex Control in Aquaculture” has been published by Wiley-Blackwell after three years of planning, coordination, writing, and revising. The book consists of two volumes and has a total of 888 pages. 

The Editor-in-Chief is Dr. Hanping Wang, Principal Scientist at the Ohio State University South Centers’ aquaculture research center, in addition to co-editors Dr. Francesc Piferrer of Spain and Dr. Song-Lin Chen of China. Dr. Wang and his aquaculture team also contributes six chapters of the book. Sarah Swanson assisted in chapter coordination and Joy Bauman, Bradford Sherman, and Jordan Maxwell assisted in English editing. 

The first comprehensive book of its kind, Sex Control in Aquaculture covers basic theory for sex control and sex control practice in major aquaculture species worldwide. It consists of 41 chapters and the contributors are internationally recognized scientists from around the globe. Currently, aquaculture, the fastest growing food-producing sector, contributes about 50 percent of the world’s food fish based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent report. 

Sexual dimorphism in growth performance, ultimate size, and gonad value (e.g. Caviar) in a wide spectrum of fish species make the sexes unique from each other for aquaculture production for human consumption. On the other hand, energy expenditure for reproduction related processes and activities, including gonadal development, courtship, chasing, mating, breeding, competition, parental care, etc. are undesired in terms of food production. Therefore, sex control and monosex production knowledge and technologies are extremely important for aquaculture professionals and industries to improve production, reduce energy consumption for reproduction, and eliminate a series of problems caused by mixed sex rearing, and for conservationists to control invasive species using sex control approach.  

This publication provides very useful scientific information for commercial use, biological sciences, and for aquaculture researchers. For more information about the book, please visit: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119127291 

By Dr. Hanping Wang
Senior Scientist 
and Jordan Maxwell
Program Coordinator

The OSU South Centers, in partnership with OAA and University of Wisconsin–SP, have successfully started the second year of Aquaculture Boot Camp-2.

The program offers a multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponics and next generation farmers in the Midwest. In 2018, we are running parallel 3-I level (Intensive, Intermediate and Introductory) ABC Programs in Ohio and Wisconsin.

Ohio:

The ABC-2 2018 Intensive class consists of 35 highly motivated fish farmers and aquaponics producers from across Ohio and West Virginia. The individuals selected consist of educators, business owners, researchers, students, and more – offering a broad spectrum of experience and knowledge. 

The kick-off session and classes were jump-started in February after January classes’ cancellation due to a heavy snow.  The session offered the students and their business collaborators an in-depth look into aquaculture/aquaponics production planning, business plan structures, and market identification. The students toured the OSU South Centers’ newly updated aquaponics system and aquaculture research facility, where they will be actively involved throughout the year. 

In March, ABC-2 students traveled to Fresh Harvest Farm, owned by Doug and Jeni Blackburn, for a tour of their aquaponics facility and a full day of learning. Matthew Smith, aquaculture extension specialist, covered key principals of aquaculture and aquaponics in the morning while guest speaker Brad Bergefurd, horticulture specialist at the OSU South Centers, taught plant selection and considerations in aquaponics. The afternoon breakout sessions focused on harvesting, packaging, legal considerations in aquaponics, and system components and construction, as well as successful fish husbandry practices.

In April, the third session held at the OSU South Centers combined business and biology. Hannah Scott, the CFAES Center For Cooperatives manager, gave an overview of cooperatives and their structure, while Brad Bapst, the Small Business Development Center Director, dove into cash flow. The afternoon breakout sessions offered the students a hands-on opportunity to learn about yellow perch spawning, artificial fertilization, egg ribbon incubation, fry estimation and stocking, and pond fertilization instructed by South Centers aquaculture research staff members Paul O’Bryant and Dean Rapp.   Matthew Smith introduced RAS and Biofiltration to the students and walked through the South Center’s aquaponics system design. 
The OSU South Center ABC-2 team has a plan for future sessions throughout the year and looks forward to bringing the ABC students the most up-to-date industry information and practices. 

Wisconsin: 

An extensive Aquaculture/Aquaponic Boot Camp-2 agenda was developed with 12 workshops to be offered during 2018. Thirty-six applicants, all interested in starting an aquaculture or aquaponics business, were selected to participate in the ABC-2 Intensive program. Attendance at the first four workshops has been around 90% with each participant also developing a pilot project that they discuss at each workshop. Final project presentations are scheduled for January 2019.
Three of the four business and marketing workshops have been scheduled or took place in 2018. At the March 3 ABC-2 Intensive workshop, presentations were given by the WI Small Business Development Center, where assistance by the Center was discussed in addition to an introduction to marketing and how to access publically available marketing research/data. 

On August 13-15, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP), Nelson & Pade, Inc. (NPI), and the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association (WAA) will host a three-day workshop that will focus on the fundamentals of aquaculture/aquaponic business and marketing. Attendees will be introduced to small business concepts and how to navigate the myriad of rules, regulations, permits, business and loan applications, and zoning and marketing approaches. 

Following that event, on August 18, a business and investment opportunities in aquaponics workshop will be hosted and provided by NPI. This will be a one-day course for entrepreneurs, investors and individuals interested in starting an aquaponics business.  The course will focus on the start-up, planning, operation, economics, marketing, profitability, ROI, and business models for commercial aquaponic ventures. 

The WAA, NPI and UWSP Aquaculture/Aquaponic programs selected six interns and paired them with established farms. The established farms have entered into a cost-sharing agreement with UWSP and have developed a rigorous, yet well-defined educational and training program for the interns. Each internship is taking place from May 29 – August 31, 2018 and is allowing the interns to apprentice and learn important aquaculture/aquaponic information provided by the producer, who also serves as the intern’s mentor.

The UWSP aquaculture/aquaponic websites (aquaculture.uwsp.edu and www.uwsp.edu/aquaponics) and Facebook pages are being used to distribute information on aquaculture/aquaponics for new and small rural farmers. Support is being given to the WAA to update their website (www.wisconsinaquaculture.com) and NPI recently updated their website (www.aquaponics.com) to be more user friendly and contain updated information. 

Discussion and initial plans have been developed to update the WAA newsletter, The Creel. ABC-2 intensive training and workshops are being digitally recorded and uploaded to the UWSP ABC-2 website (https://www.uwsp.edu/cols-ap/nadf/Pages/Aquaculture-Boot-Camp.aspx) and will also be made available through the OSU ABC-2 website (https://southcenters.osu.edu/aquaculture/aquaculture-boot-camp). 

On March 2-3, UWSP and WAA co-hosted the Wisconsin Aquaculture Conference in Marshfield, WI with the conference theme of “Aquaculture 2018: Strength in Numbers – Building the Industry with Collaboration, Training and Education.” The focus of the presentations was to combine private and public aquaculture/Aquaponic operations in an effort to share their experiences for new and limited resource farmers. Also, six interns are being mentored at aquaculture/aquaponic facilities in 2018. A bus tour of a variety of aquaculture and aquaponic businesses is scheduled for August 2018.

For more information about ABC-2, please contact Ms. Jordan Maxwell, ABC-2 Program Coordinator, at maxwell.411@osu.edu.

By: Hanping Wang, PhD, Senior Scientist

The first book, Sex Control in Aquaculture, is being published by Wiley and Blackwell in the summer of 2018 after two years of planning, correspondence, coordination, and writing, The book has around 910 pages and 2 volumes. The Editor-in-Chief is Dr. Hanping Wang, Principal Scientist at the Ohio State University South Centers. Co-editors were Dr. Francesc Piferrer of Spain and Dr. Song-Lin Chen of China. Joy Bauman, Sarah Swanson, and Jordan Maxwell assisted in English editing and chapter coordination.

The first comprehensive book of its kind, Sex Control in Aquaculture, covers basic theory for sex control and sex control practice in major aquaculture species worldwide. It consists of forty-one chapters and the contributiors are from internationally recognized scientists from around the globe.

Currently, aquaculture, the fastest growing food-producing sector, contributes about 50 percent of the world’s food fish based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent report. Sexual dimorphism in growth performance, ultimate size, and gonad value (e.g. Caviar) in a wide spectrum of fish species make the sexes unique from each other for aquaculture production for human consumption. On the other hand, energy expenditure for reproduction related processes and activities, including gonadal development, courtship, chasing, mating, breeding, competition, and parental care, etc., are undesired in terms of food production. Therefore, sex control and monosex production knowledge and technologies are extremely important for aquaculture professionals and industries to improve production, reduce energy consumption for reproduction, and eliminate a series of problems caused by mixed sex rearing, and for conservationists to control invasive species using sex control approach.

This publication will provide useful scientific information for commercial use, biological sciences, and for aquaculture researchers. For more information about the book, please visit: https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1119127262

The 2nd book is World Perch and Bass Culture: Innovation and Industrialization, which is written in both English and Chinese and is being published by China Science Press. Perch and bass, belonging to Serranidae, Percidae, Moronidae, and Latidae families of the Perciformes, have worldwide importance as food and recreational fish. Global production of perch and bass is around 1,000,000 tons.

The economic value of perch and bass is comparable to cold water species salmon and trout. Comparing to the globally mature aquaculture industry of salmon and trout production, perch and bass are generally suitable for a wide-range of rearing areas and are well-suited for commercial production because of their fast growth. Aquacultural production of perch and bass is in the early stages of development and expanding rapidly. Therefore, there is much potential for expansion of perch and bass aquaculture. This book covers recent developments and innovations in genetics and breeding, nutrition, and culture technologies in major aquaculture perch and bass species, such as Chinese perch, largemouth bass, yellow perch, European perch, pikeperch, striped bass, and walleye.

By: Matthew A. Smith, Extension Aquaculture Specialist, The Ohio State University; Nicholas Phelps, Assistant Professor and Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center Director, University of Minnesota; Alex Primus, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota

The North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) is one of the five Regional Aquaculture Centers that was established by Congress in 1988. Their primary focus is linking an Industry Advisory Council to University researchers and Extension in the Midwest (12 state region). While aquaculture researchers are not in abundance in the North Central Region (NCR), Extension FTEs who are experienced in aquaculture are extremely limited. In order to disseminate information and improve technology transfer, an Extension Specialist facilitated a NCRAC Aquaculture Webinar Series that was very popular with industry and University alike. However, a lack of a hands-on component is a clear and understandable limitation of the project. The currently funded two-year project (2017-2019) complements the webinar series and enhances learning outcomes for participants by providing multiple hands-on, advanced aquaculture techniques workshops throughout the NCR. Topical areas for these fee-based workshops include culture techniques for important NCR aquaculture species, advanced aquaculture systems design and management, aquaculture business and marketing, water quality maintenance, advanced fish health diagnostics, and aquaculture regulatory issues. Additionally, workshop presentations and materials will be posted on NCRAC’s website and Ohio State University South Center’s website for archival and dissemination. The workshops are being evaluated for quality of content and delivery as well as their effectiveness in improving farmer knowledge, profitability and sustainability. This evaluation data will help refine future NCRAC endeavors optimize the leveraging of funding and learning outcomes and impacts.

The first workshop that this project contributed to was the annual Iowa Aquaculture Conference in 2017 and in February 2018 we contributed a session on aquaponics and recirculating aquaculture systems at the joint event with North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, the Kansas Aquaculture Association, and the Missouri Aquaculture Association. Future events are currently being planned to be held in 2018 and 2019 in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana. With extreme limitations of Extension personnel with aquaculture experience in the Midwest, these types of projects allow us to be more efficient, proactive, and engaged in communities that normally do not have University aquaculture presence.

Forbes Magazine listed sustainably farm-raised fish and shrimp products as the number sixth most popular trend by chefs in 2016. Additionally, in 2017 and 2018 the National Restaurant Association listed sustainably produced seafood at number five in their annual What’s Hot: Top 10 Foods list. In Columbus, Ohio and surrounding sprawling cities in the Midwest, it is becoming more and more evident over time that the “Local Food Movement” is real, growing, and something that’s demanded by millennials and other generations alike. We hope that more hands-on workshops and training exercises will assist farmers in providing for this growing movement and allow for more seafood products used by restaurants to be sourced locally.

References:

Bender, A. 2016. Top 10 food restaurant trends. Forbes Magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2016/11/30/top-10-food-restaurant-trends-of-2016/#68f46c1b76b0. November 30.

National Restaurant Association. 2016. http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/Whats-Hot-Top-10-food-trends-in-2017. December 8.

National Restaurant Association. 2017. What’s hot: top 10 foods for 2018. http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/What%E2%80%99s-Hot-Top-10-foods-for-2018. December 4.

By Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist

After two years of planning, correspondence, coordination, and writing, the book Sex Control in Aquaculture is in the process of being published by Wiley and Blackwell in the summer of 2018. The  Editor-in-Chief is Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist at the Ohio State University South Centers aquaculture research facility, in addition to the co-editors Dr. Francesc Piferrer of Spain and Dr. Song-Lin Chen of China. The first comprehensive book of its kind, Sex Control in Aquaculture, covers basic theory for sex control and sex control practice in major aquaculture species worldwide.

The book contains forty-one chapters and the contributors are internationally recognized scientists from around the globe. Currently, aquaculture, the fastest growing food-producing sector, contributes about 50 percent of the world’s food fish based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent report. Sexual dimorphism in growth performance, ultimate size, and gonad value (e.g. caviar) in a wide spectrum of fish species make the sexes unique from each other for aquaculture production for human consumption. On the other hand, energy expenditure for reproduction related processes and activities, including gonadal development, courtship, chasing, mating, breeding, competition, and parental care, etc., are undesired in terms of food production. Therefore, sex control and monosex production knowledge and technologies are extremely important for aquaculture professionals and industries to improve production, reduce energy consumption for reproduction, and eliminate a series of problems caused by mixed sex rearing, and for conservationists to control invasive species using sex control approach. This publication will provide very useful scientific information for commercial use, biological sciences, and for aquaculture researchers. For more information about the book, please visit: https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1119127262.

By Hanping Wang, Senior Research Scientist

OSU South Centers Aquaculture research team has completed whole genome sequencing of yellow perch and bluegill. These are the first Percidae and Centrarchidae (sunfish) that have been fully sequenced.

Yellow perch belong to the family Percidae, including about 200 species in 10 genera. The perch, darter, and their relatives are in this family and well-known species of great economic value include the three species of perch, walleye, sauger and ruffe.  

The bluegill is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae. The family has 37 species including many well-known species such as largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, rock bass and crappies. All are native to North America only.

Both yellow perch and bluegill are very important aquacultural and recreational fish species. Bluegill display high levels of both intraspecific and intersexual reproductive competition, with males growing significantly faster and bigger than females. Yellow perch display a distinct pattern of sexual size dimorphism versus bluegill, with yellow perch females growing much bigger and faster than males. Monosex culture of these two species has a great advantage for the aquaculture industry. However, their gender regulation and sexual size dimorphism mechanism is unclear. It has great scientific and economic value to identify the sex determining genes and discover sex differentiation and sex determination, and sexual size dimorphism mechanisms.

Information of the whole genome in these two species makes it possible to see how genes interact with each other, and examine the exact gene that governs economically important traits such as fast-growing and disease resistance. In domesticated animals, such as cattle, pig, chickens, and other major aquaculture species (e.g., catfish, salmon, trout, and tilapia), their genomes are being used to improve breeding programs and production. The completion of the genome of yellow perch and bluegill allows the same to be done with these two species. The perch and sunfish genome sequence data provide useful genetic resources and lay an important foundation for discovering the molecular mechanism of growth, sex determination and sex control, reproduction related to aquaculture, and conservation of wild stocks for over 100 economically and environmentally important percid sunfish species.

By: Hanping Wang, PhD, Senior Research Scientist

Summary of Achievements: In 2014, in collaborations with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Molecular and Cellular Imaging Center (MCIC), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Lincoln University of Missouri, the Ohio Soybean Council, Battelle, and several international institutions, we accomplished ten research studies and projects including the 3-year on-farm on-station tests of improved yellow perch vs. local unimproved fish; published four journal articles and eight proceedings abstracts; received two grants; trained eight graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and scholars; completed/submitted seven new grant proposals; and made 8 presentations at international conferences.

O’GIFT (Ohio Genetic Improvement of Farmed-fish Traits) Program: The O’GIFT program is expected to increase aquaculture production of perch, bluegill and largemouth bass by 35-50% through the development of genetically improved broodstocks for producers.

On-farm and on-station tests of improved yellow perch in ponds: The 3-year project of the on-station and on-farm tests of genetically improved yellow perch was completed on three sites in two states using both separate rearing and communal rearing methods. This is an important step for commercialization of genetically improved strains. The testing results showed improved fish exhibited 27.6% - 42.1% higher production, and 25.5% - 37.5% higher growth rates, while having 12.3% - 27.8% higher survival than local strains, on the average, across the three sites.

Performance test of OSU improved perch vs. Bell perch in Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS): Two strains, 500 fish of each, were provided by Bell Aquaculture. OSU provided 500 fish from its genetically improved line. Each strain was tagged with visible implant elastomer color tags, and stocked to each of the two 6’x6’ round recirculating tanks and a 10’ x 5’ round tank with flow-through water, and communally raised in the same density/environment for an accurate comparison. After the 6-month test, OSU genetically improved lines outweighed Bell perch strains by 43.6% on average. This result shows OSU improved perch not only significantly grow faster in pond conditions, but also in recirculating tank systems. The 43.6% improvement can potentially save perch farmers as much as 43.6% of the grow-out time in both pond and recirculating tank systems.

Genomic sequence and tool development: In collaboration with OARDC MCIC, we completed restriction-site associated (RAD)/DNA sequencing of five strains of yellow perch to develop single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and identify genomic diversity of those strains for further improved perch growth. We also completed RNA sequencing of males and females in yellow perch to identify genes associated with sex dimorphism and sex determination, and developed a all-female yellow perch population using improved fish. The all-female population should be able to grow 50% faster than unimproved regular mixed populations. In addition, we completed RAD/DNA sequencing of white and black crappie to develop SNPs and identify genomic diversity of those species for a future crappie breeding program.

Improvement of egg hatching rate for industry: In 2014, we completed a project on determining efficacy of formalin, iodine, and sodium chloride in improvement of egg hatching rate and fry survival prior to the onset of exogenous feeding in yellow perch. The study revealed that formalin was a more effective disinfectant to improve the hatching rate and survival to first feeding fry of yellow perch than iodine and sodium chloride. To improve the hatching rate ,a concentration of 150 to 250 mg L-1 for 30 min is recommended to disinfect the eggs of yellow perch daily from the beginning to the eyed stage. The results have been published in Aquaculture Research and will be used by fish farmers to improve the egg hatching rate and fry production of yellow perch.

Yellow Perch Breeding: Multiple improved lines of yellow perch have been developed, and over one-million genetically improved fish have been distributed to fish farms. Three male populations with a female genotype have been created, which could produce fast-growing all-female populations for the aquaculture industry. Three projects related to sex-control and breeding were completed and three manuscripts on these projects are in preparation or in revision.

Bluegill Breeding: Three experiments related to sex-control and genotypes by environment interaction on sex ratio were completed. The findings on effects of temperature and genotype on sex determination and sexual size dimorphism of bluegill sunfish have been published in Aquaculture, a prestigious international journal. The results from these experiments provide a valuable base for developing all-male broodstock for bluegill, which could grow 35-50% faster than mixed populations.

Soy-Aqua Research Initiative:

In collaboration with the Ohio Soybean Council and Battelle, two projects have been completed in 2014. The first study, comprised of five major experimental phases, was conducted to develop indirect criteria to improve residual feed intake (RFI) of soybean diets (SBD) in yellow perch for selective breeding. With the high cost of feed for animal production, genetic selection for animals that metabolize feed more efficiently could result in substantial cost savings for fish producers. The current study showed that the weight loss during the feed deprivation period and the weight gain during a subsequent period of re-feeding are linked to variations in RFI in yellow perch. Such traits could be used as indirect criteria for improving RFI in fish through selective breeding.

In the second study, a modified soybean meal (MSBM) containing high protein and lower levels of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) relative to regular soybean meal was evaluated as an alternative for fishmeal in the diet of yellow perch with significant success. Higher growth performance and feed utilization was observed for 50% replacement of fish meal (FM) by MSBM fed groups compared to 100% replacement of FM by soybean meal and MSBM fed groups. Modified soybean meal with high protein and low ANFs has considerable potential as an alternative to fishmeal in aquafeed.

Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Laboratory:

This is the first lab of its type in the Midwest and is crucial to the success of the O’GIFT program and the improvement of farmed-fish traits. In this lab, genetic relatedness charts and genetic pedigrees of selected broodfish have been constructed for breeding programs for the past years. Family identification technology using DNA for selective breeding in yellow perch and bluegill has been established. Genotyping 900 fish from the breeding center for constructing genetic relatedness charts for the breeding program was finished in 2014. The data generated from the lab in 2014 has contributed to fourteen papers in prestigious international journals and proceedings, including twelve published in 2014.

International training program:

Leading research in aquaculture genetics and breeding at OSU South Centers has attracted more than twenty scientists and international scholars to work in the aquaculture research center and genetics lab at Piketon. In 2014, the lab trained eight visiting Ph.D. students, post-doctorial researchers and international scholars from four countries. These individuals significantly contributed to the aquaculture program’s success at the OSU South Centers.

By: Laura Tiu, PhD, Director of Ohio Aquaculture Extension and Brad Bergefurd, Horticulture Specialist

Introduction

Aquaponics is a growing area of interest for Ohio citizens in both urban and rural areas driven by the demand for locally grown food. The OSU Aquaculture and Horticulture Programs have received multiple requests for information each week. Seventy-five percent of current Aquaculture Boot Camp participants, new and beginning farmers, expressed interest in aquaponics. Additionally, multiple internal requests for information have been received from the College of Agriculture Engineering, the OSU College of Medicine, Ohio Sea Grant, and the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Unfortunately, unbiased Ohio research-based data to share with the interested clients has been limited. To address this, an OSU Extension Innovation grant was received to develop and construct a research/demonstration-scale aquaponics system at the OSU South Centers. The system, in operation since October 2013, was used for training and available for touring to the over 300 visitors that visited the OSU South Centers in 2014.

Methodology

In June 2013, a demonstration-scale system was constructed in a glass greenhouse at the OSU South Centers. The system consisted of a 500-gallon tank for rearing the fish, a biofilter for solids removal and nitrification, and three shallow water rafts, 3’ x 5’ x 6", for supporting floating raft culture (Figure 1). Rafts were made from 1 inch Styrofoam board. Holes were drilled in the Styrofoam to support small net pots for germination and growth of various plant species. Water flowed from the fish tank, through the biofilter and rafts, and was collected in a sump where a small pump returned the water to the fish tank. One small air pump also provided oxygen to the fish tank. A small amount of water (approximately 10 gallons) was added daily to accommodate for evaporation, leaks and plant uptake.

Water parameters were measured throughout the trials. Dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH were measured daily, while ammonia, nitrate, hardness and alkalinity were measured weekly. The system was operational on July 13, 2013 and a three week break-in period was initiated. Twelve 4-5 inch tilapia and one bluegill were stocked into the system on July 13, 2013. Fish are fed to satiation daily, approximately 1 oz. of fish food (approximately 1% bw). Three fish jumped out of the tank before seeds were planted.

Results

Phase I – Fall 2013

Phase one was designed to compare the effect of three commonly used growing media (Figure 2), expanded clay pellets, expanded shale, and potting soil, on production of two leafy greens, mizuna and red leaf lettuce, in a six-week growing trial. Nine tilapia and one bluegill were stocked into a 500 gallon tank and fed to satiation on a daily basis.

Seeds were placed directly on the media in net pots on August 22, 2013. The majority of the seeds germinated on day two. By week three, plant growth had slowed (Figure 3). It was hypothesized that this may be due to not enough nitrates being generated by the small number of fish in the system, given the nitrate level remained at zero. Because of the lack of nutrients, the plants were small and discolored.

Water quality tests showed a system pH of around 8. While this is fine for fish, plants prefer a pH under 7 and had difficulty synthesizing what nutrients were there. Plants were harvested on October 3, 2013 after 6 weeks of growth.

Additionally, weaknesses in the system were identified. Water levels need to be constantly maintained so that gravity could move the water. There were several locations where this could break down. The system design needed to be upgraded to reduce the chance of overflow, back-up, etc. The Styrofoam rafts also needed modifying with smaller holes so that the net pots stop dropping through and the plants are at a more appropriate water level.

Phase II – Winter 2013/2014

With a system redesign complete, the same experiment was repeated for phase two. On October 12, 2013, approximately twenty-five pounds of small yellow perch (2-3 inch) were stocked into the 500-gallon tank and fed to satiation. Net pots were seeded with red leaf lettuce and mizuna on November 1, 2013. Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic acid) was added as needed to the water to control pH. Plants germinated and were

growing slowly, when a fish kill occurred on November 22, 2013. It was determined that high ammonia levels were the cause of the fish kill. Plants continued to grow in the system and were harvested December 12, 2013.

Phase III – Spring 2014

The experiment was repeated for a third time in the spring. The system was restocked with approximately forty pounds of yellow perch (3-6 inch) on March 25, 2014. On April 3, 2014 float trays with the three media were seeded with mizuna and red leaf lettuce. Plants were harvested May 1st. In this trial, the plants failed to germinate or grow well due to the salt and mineral build-up on the media.

Production Results (combined from all phases)

Media                                          Species                                           Production (ounces/sq.ft.)

Styrofoam float tray                    Mizuna                                             19.11

Styrofoam float tray                     Red leaf lettuce                               11.44

Expanded Shale                          Mizuna                                             1.15

Expanded Shale                         Red leaf lettuce                                 8.15

Hydrocorn                                  Mizuna                                               1.21

Hydrocorn                                  Red leaf lettuce                                   7.44

Discussion

In this demonstration-scale system, the Styrofoam float trays filled with soilless potting mix performed the best in all the trials. The expanded shale and Hydrocorn both accumulated minerals and salts that inhibited the germination of seed and slowed growth. Red leaf lettuce performed most consistently in the system with mizuna performing well only in the Styrofoam float trays. The Styrofoam float trays with soilless potting mix are a good option for these small hobby-scale systems as they are inexpensive and readily available.

There were quite a few steep learning curves associated with this system, including system design, construction, operation and water quality balance. A lot was learned and shared with numerous clientele. The interest in aquaponics continues to grow and The Ohio State University should be prepared to offer research-based information to the public. Continued investment into the industry is warranted.

Future Plans

Two new varieties of mini-head lettuce, Dragoon and Rhazes, will be produced on a rotational basis with one float bed being harvested every two to three weeks. Data will continue to be collected from the system and educational tours will continue. For future trials, we will no longer utilize the rock media because of salt mineral buildup but continue to use the Styrofoam float trays with soilless potting mix. We are considering getting some backup power as a recent power outage resulted in a fish kill. Options for water treatment, such as a reverse osmosis system, are being explored.

By Bradford Sherman
CFAES/South Centers

Pursue new opportunities. Do not be afraid to try something new and fail.

Not only is this the parting message that retiring Extension educator Brad Bergefurd wishes to share with new generations of Buckeyes, but it is also the philosophy that defined his outstanding 30-plus year career with The Ohio State University.

“If you aren’t doing anything, then you won’t make mistakes or fail, but then you will not accomplish anything either,” Bergefurd said.

Some of the new opportunities pursued by Bergefurd over the years have included the introduction of Ohio produce auctions, research and development of the plasticulture strawberry industry in Ohio and the Midwest, and the reintroduction and continued development of the Ohio hop-growing industry. There are many more examples of new crops, production methods, and markets that Bergefurd and his team have researched and proved to work in Ohio and have been adopted by farmers over the years.

“I am especially thankful to Brad for his willingness to take on new projects, new challenges, and always do it with a smile on his face,” said Ag and Natural Resources Assistant Director, and Bergefurd’s direct supervisor, Sam Custer. “Brad has a way of working with people from all walks of life, they tend to gather round to listen to what he has to say and share.”

Bergefurd has been affiliated with Ohio State since the age of 16. He started working at the OARDC Vegetable Research Station in Fremont as a teen, attended classes at the university as a Horticulture Science major beginning in 1985, then began his professional career as a Research Assistant in 1990. He became an Extension Educator in 1992, and the rest is history.

“It will be hard to imagine you being anywhere but Ohio State,” Extension Director Dr. Jackie Wilkins said in a pre-recorded message that was played at a farewell party for Bergefurd held at South Centers in May. “We cannot be upset that you are going, we have benefitted from your expertise and your friendship for three decades and must not be selfish and hold you back now.”

“You have been a resource, colleague, and friend to growers, marketers, researchers, and industry organizations, as well as all of us here in your Extension family,” Wilkins continued. “Whichever role you have been in over the years, your willingness to help, when and where you were needed; your trusted and approachable teaching style; and your ability to connect with and aid all clientele, most notably your success with Amish farmers, has been the linchpin of your legacy and an inspiration to us all.”

Bergefurd has now moved on to the next phase of his professional career as a Technical Agronomist with Brandt Agriculture. He will be conducting a research program focused on agronomic and specialty crops and teaching and consulting farmers in Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan.

Bergefurd admits that the most difficult part of leaving The Ohio State University will be saying farewell to the “great people and network of folks at OSU, and especially the hard working and dedicated co-workers at South Centers.”

One of those is Thom Harker, who has worked side-by-side with Bergefurd for over half his life. The duo started working together 26 years ago at The Alternative Agriculture Enterprise Center in Hillsboro. It was eventually merged with the Piketon Research and Extension Center in Piketon to form the South Centers we know today.

“He took me under his wing and mentored me, teaching and guiding over the years.  I have learned so much, from crop production to research, under Brad’s guidance,” said Harker, who was a fresh-faced college graduate when Bergefurd hired him. “I have been given numerous opportunities because of Brad and his support. I have been asked about Brad’s retirement and how it will affect me, my answer is simple – no worries, because everything Brad has done for me set me up for future success.”

Another longtime co-worker who feels that Bergefurd set her up for the success she is having now is Charissa Gardner. She served as Bergefurd’s Program Coordinator for eight of her total 11 years so far at South Centers. She believes his management style gave her the experience needed to advance her career, as she is now a Program Specialist with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

“When I came here (to South Centers), he was very good about letting me learn things, take the reins myself. He allowed me grow,” Gardner recalled. “He always trusted in me that I would get the job done, even if it was something I had never done before. I learned so much from him, and because of him. He was always supportive of my professional development by encouraging me to attend trainings and take classes.”

Bergefurd hopes this new career path will be less of a “farewell” and more of a “see you later.” He explained that he is hopeful his new role and responsibilities will allow him to stay in touch with the friends and colleagues he has made over the years. 

“In my new role it is encouraged to work closely with universities and Extension, so I hope our paths will continue to cross in the future,” he stated.

And so, just like he did time and time again as a Buckeye, Bergefurd is at it again – taking a chance, not being afraid to fail, pursuing a new opportunity.
 

By Bradford Sherman 
South Centers/CFAES

South Centers celebrated three decades of responsive research, education, entrepreneurial application, and collaborative partnerships in Southern Ohio with an impressive roster of honored guests as part of a special celebration event held in September 2021.

Ohio State University President Dr. Kristina Johnson headlined a list of speakers that also included Dr. Cathann Kress, Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and OSU Extension Director Jackie Wilkins. The goal of the event was to heighten the profile of The Ohio State University in this region of the state through interacting with an audience consisting of local stakeholders, legislators, organizational leaders, staff, and community members.

Held primarily outdoors under a 1,600 square foot tent to comply with COVID protocols, the event also included a banquet catered by Mike Allering of All Seasons Catering, program updates, tours of the facilities, and a special presentation honoring four employees who have been at South Centers since it opened in 1991. 

“We greatly enjoyed our guests, representing many partnerships with many organizations across the region and state, and especially appreciated the president of our university, as well as the dean of our college and associate deans being with us all at the same time,” said South Centers Director Dr. Tom Worley.

“This was a great opportunity for all of our guests to learn more about the depth of our programs, as well as meet our excellent staff members who lead these programs.”
During her speech, CFAES Dean Kress spoke about the 1,400 staff, 3,500 students, 47,000 animals, and 12,000 acres across 88 counties that help comprise the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

“We are one college across 3 campuses, with our faculty research, teaching, and Extension all dedicated to one single purpose – we sustain life,” Kress said.

“CFAES is literally both the cornerstone college of our university and it is also the cornerstone of sustaining human life on Earth because of our disciplines. Today I am so happy to be here at the South Centers as we celebrate an important milestone for our college – 30 years of success, impact, innovation and partnership – living our land grant mission as an important part of our statewide campus.”

President Johnson expanded on the Dean’s message, calling South Centers a “perfect example of that cornerstone.”

“The Ohio State University South Centers is that perfect example of that cornerstone because of all the service to Ohioans that you do, using research to enhance the quality of life of Ohioans and equipping people with knowledge and skills they need to thrive and providing economic development tools and collaborative partnerships to our communities,” Johnson said.

“We solve problems – that is what Ohio State University has done for 150 years. Land grant universities like ours are uniquely positioned to solve the major challenges facing our society. 

“I believe that with the help of CFAES, South Centers, Extension, and external partners – we can be that absolute model of what a 21st century land grant university is, and that is by committing to excellence in academics, research, entrepreneurships, partnerships, and most importantly, service.”

The event provided an ideal opportunity to recognize the longest serving members of the South Centers staff – Marsha Amlin, Wayne Lewis, Dean Rapp, and Duane Rigsby. Each were presented with an Ohio State football jersey with the number 30, along with their name printed across the back.

“At the heart of our center is a dynamic team of employees who demonstrate and develop leadership, facilitate technology advancement, educate and expand businesses, and help people to be the best that they can be while conveying an image of respect, helpfulness, responsiveness and the ability to assist in solving problems,” said Worley.

“This group of folks, they are the originals, they were here from the beginning. We wanted to make special recognition of all the contributions they have made over the many, many years.”

Among the others in attendance were several elected state and federal officials or their representatives, county commissioners, economic development professionals, OSU Extension leadership, college and university leadership, leadership from other nearby higher educational institutions; South Centers Liaison Committee members; local small business owners and partners; OSU South Centers Staff; and community leaders and members.

The Ohio State University South Centers enhance southern Ohio by assisting people with informed decision-making through responsive research, education, entrepreneurial application, and collaborative partnerships. We are a leading, respected contributor to the land grant mission of The Ohio State University.

Our research and extension programs are designed to promote, develop, and support innovative and profitable enterprises though integrating research and education. Agricultural Programs include: Aquaculture Research and Development; Commercial Horticultural and Specialty Crops; Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources.

The Business Development Network offers innovative research, learning opportunities, technical assistance, and a network of resources for business owners and managers, entrepreneurs, youth, community leaders and educators, and elected officials. Business Programs include: Endeavor Center Business Incubator; Small Business Development Center; Manufacturing Extension Partnership; CFAES Center for Cooperatives; Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting Ohio State University South Centers Staff members)

Bradford Sherman
CFAES/South Centers

When Dawn Coleman accepted a part-time position with The Ohio State University at her local Extension office in December 2018 – little did she know it would be the first step toward a brand-new career.

“I didn’t accept that position expecting it to eventually lead to other opportunities down the road, but I was hopeful,” Coleman admitted.
Then hope became reality. From a half time Office Assistant to her new role as a Growth Advisor for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Coleman has been on a meteoric rise at OSU over the past two years. 

She began her ascent by being hired as a Program Assistant for the MEP program at South Centers in 2019 and earned a promotion to her current post just 13 months later.
“It is great to know that when you put hard work and dedication into something, that you can be rewarded for it. The Ohio State University definitely promotes professional development and career growth, and I am so thankful to be part of it,” she said.

The new gig appears to fit her well. In the relatively short time in her new job, she has already secured the largest ever project for MEP at South Centers by assisting Stirling Ultracold with a launch of ultra-low temperature freezers designed to transport doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. She has also brought in several new clients, closed first-time projects with existing contacts, and was appointed to serve on the Ohio MEP Board for its popular internship program.

“Dawn is outstanding,” explained MEP Program Manager Doug Anderson. “She has brought the biggest wins to our program since South Centers has owned the MEP region for Southeastern Ohio. She models a level of excellence that keeps me sharp daily. The Ohio MEP Director, Susan Foltz has even recognized her accomplishments in the last four months - calling her a ‘super star.’”
“I feel like I have found my calling,” Coleman added.

The former fiscal officer for the Village of Coalton certainly knows the value of partnerships, as she worked closely with other state and local entities on a regular basis while in that role. She saw firsthand how partnerships with other entities could help a small business prosper, valuable experience on which she relies regularly for MEP.

“The manufacturing field has always sparked my interest. So, when the opportunity arose to become a part of the MEP team, I thought my experience with Coalton and with state and federal agencies could really help manufacturers in our area.”

While now she is best known by her colleges for helping businesses, those who know her well can tell you that she is as adept at helping people. She can fly your aircraft, rescue you from a burning building, or save you from drowning. She is a pretty handy gal to have around.

Coleman once had her pilot’s license and can still fly a single-engine aircraft to this day. She also has certifications for firefighting and swift water rescue. Though not as exciting, she can also help balance your budget thanks to nine years’ worth of attending the Local Government Conference and training sessions.

If you ever find yourself in the Village of Coalton, be sure to swing by the pollinator park, a project that Coleman spearheaded in partnership with the Soil and Water Conservation District and was awarded with a Cooperator of the Year award in 2017.

Coleman is the mother of three grown children and currently resides in Wellston with her golden doodle, Murphy. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor adventures such as camping and kayaking, and loves to travel and to paint Victorian era-inspired artwork.
 

The video production team at The Ohio State University South Centers has been working on several videos (using zoom) on relevant topics that address some of the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus.  We have been video conferencing with some special guests who look at some of the social aspects individuals may have concerns about during this unique time.  We are also progressing with training programs that affect all of Ohio. 

One of our programs features OSU Extension Interim Director Jackie Wilkins, who along with South Centers Director Tom Worley, discusses how OSU Extension programs are continuing to function throughout Ohio. These include the OSU Extension, Ohio 4-H Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Sciences, Community Development, Learning and Organizational Development Resources, and Knowledge Resources.

We are also focusing on special training programs in the areas of agriculture, horticultural, aquaculture and business development. Visit youtube.com/user/southcenters/videos for a list of videos and playlists.  Make sure to click the subscribe button and the bell icon so you will be notified whenever we post new videos.

Feel free to contact any member of the video production staff (Patrick Dengel – dengel.3@osu.edu; Duane Rigsby – rigsby.11@osu.edu; or Sarah Swanson – swanson.345@osu.edu) for additional information.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting Ohio State University South Centers Staff members)
By Bradford Sherman
South Centers/CFAES

As he was preparing to sit down for this interview, Dr. Dan Remley made a conscious decision to pass up the Styrofoam coffee cup in favor of a glass mug.

“It is kind of a New Year’s goal of mine,” he revealed. “I think we can all do our little part.”

For 17 years, Remley, an associate professor and field specialist for food, nutrition, and wellness, has led programming at The Ohio State University that has revolved around that same premise – helping people make mindful choices and inspiring internal motivation.

Through programs like Dining with Diabetes, Voices for Food, and HEALth MAPPS, Remley uses those same principles to help educate people on how to manage their chronic illnesses and for disseminating knowledge to help build healthier communities.

“You have to be motivated in order to take care of yourself,” said Remley, who identified “motivation” as a common thread between his programs. “In Extension, we are in a position where we can help people apply information to their lives, and realize why they need to make a change. I think it is really important to help people discover these internal motivations, and answer the question, ‘why would I want to make these changes in my life?’”

Although his appointment is statewide, Remley is based at the South Centers in Piketon, which puts him at ground-zero for one of the unhealthiest areas of the entire state. Pike County ranked as the 87th out of 88 counties in health outcomes (length and quality of life) and was in the bottom 10 for health factors, according to the 2019 report published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.
It is a region-wide problem with neighboring counties Adams, Jackson, Scioto, Ross, and Highland all landing in the bottom quarter of the overall health rankings. Why is this particular area so unhealthy? Some of it is cultural, such as the popularity of fried foods, but there are larger issues at play as well, according to Remley, such as joblessness leading to a sense of hopelessness, poverty, and rampant drug use.

“Education is really important (to combat these problems), people need to have the skills and the motivation, but they also need to live in environments where they can make healthy choices,” explained Remley. “You have to work at both levels in order to make significant change.”

Two of the programs Remley leads that are specifically aimed at bringing about change in communities are HEALth MAPPS and Voices for Food.

HEALth MAPPS is a community-based research process that makes use of modern technology to help community members become aware of how the features within their community can be helpful or detrimental to residents’ ability to eat healthy and be active. 

The process that uses photography, mobile device technology, and residents’ voiced perceptions to address food access, healthy eating, and physical activity. Coordination involves working with community partners, local extension offices, and campus faculty to plan, implement, and evaluate the program.

In Voices For Food, considered by Remley to be his signature program, communities are aided in starting food councils. These councils look at their communities’ food systems, as a whole, and work to bring together partners to make healthy food more accessible and fight food insecurity.

A great example of the work done by food councils is in the area of food pantries. They work with pantries to promote the “choice” method of food distribution, the benefits of nutrition, and encourage the inclusion of offerings suitable to people with chronic illnesses or food allergies.

“About a third of the people who come into food pantries have diabetes or some kind of chronic illness, where they have to watch their diets and try to eat healthy,” said Remley.
“We want to see choice, also because it is a more dignified experience,” Remley stated. “Letting people choose food based on what they need and what they want, instead of just giving them boxes or bags of food they can’t use or don’t want, is a far more efficient way of distributing food.”

Food choice is no more important than in the Dining with Diabetes program, one in which Remley, himself, can relate as a Type 1 diabetic. He has been living with diabetes since the age of 20, and he uses the knowledge he has gained, both personally and professionally, to help other learn to live with the disease.

“I was interested in working with it because of my own experiences. Since I have been living with it, I have a pretty good understanding and can help people make sense of all the overwhelming information they get, especially when they are first diagnosed.”

Dining with Diabetes is a national program spanning 38 states, including Ohio, where there are projected to be 15-20 counties holding classes in 2020. Remley serves as the chairperson of the national group; in this role, he helps develop the curriculum, develop evaluations, and train educators to deliver the programming.

"Many of the people in our classes have just recently been diagnosed with diabetes, so they really don’t know how to manage their blood sugar,” he explained. “When they come to our classes, we give them a basic understanding of diabetes, and also show them healthy ways to prepare main dishes, sides, and desserts that are low carb, low sodium, and low fat.

“We try to help them understand the idea of meal planning, carb counting, and how food affects their blood sugars. Four sessions long. A lot of social learning going on, they learn from each other.

The long-term complications of unmanaged blood sugar are serious and can include eye diseases, kidney problems, stroke, heart disease, and problems with the nervous system.

In addition to eating properly, staying active is also a key component of proper diabetes management. In his free time, Remley practices what he preaches by staying fit through activities like hiking, and playing tennis and pickle ball.

And much like his programs aim to accomplish, Remley wants to do his part to make his community a little healthier and a better place to live. Every journey begins with a single step, or in this case, the passing up of a single Styrofoam cup.

“I am also interested in sustainability and helping people think about how we can lessen our footprint. Going back to the Styrofoam cup – that is something I am trying to do,” he said.

“If we can we lessen our footprint, we can ensure that our kids and grandkids inherit a world where they can have a higher quality of life.”

Remley earned a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Miami (OH) University and received his master’s in Science and Public Health from Alabama Birmingham. He earned his PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Kentucky. He worked at the University of Missouri before coming to The Ohio State University in 2002.

Remley resides in Chillicothe with his wife, Heather, and their two youngest children, Allison and Matthew. Their oldest daughter Katie is attending Ohio University.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting The Ohio State University South Centers Staff)
Bradford Sherman
South Centers/CFAES

There is nothing else in our area quite like the Endeavor Center, a unique gathering place for business-minded people to meet, learn, and even house their start up.

With the bevy of people coming through the door every day, it takes a special person to make sure those guests have everything they need so that important meeting, training session, or event goes off without a hitch. For the Endeavor Center, that person is Jennifer Warfe-Dunn.

Dunn has filled this role, and picked up other duties along the way, since beginning her career at South Centers in 2011. Her working title is Program Assistant, but it does not begin to describe all of the different roles she fills on a daily basis. She might be best known for handling the booking of all meeting rooms for the Piketon and Jackson facilities, but also performs administrative duties for partners housed at the Endeavor Center and the South Centers business team, as well as coordinates meetings, events, catering services, deliveries, and more.

Moreover, just as important as all of that – she is the first point of contact for anyone visiting in person or calling by phone. Anyone who has business at the facility on a regular basis knows that hers is the face of the Endeavor Center.

“It is the different people we get to serve here,” Dunn said, when asked about what she enjoys most about her job. “You get to meet someone new from the area, or traveling from afar. We have individuals who come from all over the United States and internationally.”

“You have the same core set of responsibilities including customer service, coordinating meetings, and taking care of logistics, but it is like a different job every day, in that there is always a different face.”

Dunn certainly carries a reputation for being professional, meticulous and for her top-notch organization – all while juggling many various responsibilities. So, what is her secret? It is all in the planning and being ready for anything.

“You have to have a Plan B if Plan A fails,” she explained. “When you deal with unpredictable things on a daily basis, you had better have a backup plan. If the electricity goes out, or if the first network for Wi-Fi goes down, you need a backup ready for those things.”

When Dunn, a self-admitted tomboy, is not taking care of clientele at work, she is probably busy at home taking care of her beloved goats, Chet, Cherry, and Peaches on her little home farm, or one of her many cats or dogs. She also enjoys cars, gardening/canning, and attending flea markets in search of one of her favorite collectables, Fiesta dinnerware.

However, her favorite and most unusual hobby also deals with collecting; she owns over 100 pieces of Pepsi memorabilia. The collection includes bottles, advertisements, matchbook covers, bills of sale, and more.

To collect that much Pepsi, she must really love the drink, right? Not necessarily.

“My husband and I like to travel, and one day we purchased a Pepsi sign at an antique store – that is how it got started,” explained Dunn, who rarely drinks sodas at all. “But If I do drink a soda, it is going to be Pepsi.”

She earned a degree in business management and merchandising from Antonelli College (formerly Antonelli Institute) and prior to joining OSU, she worked primarily in retail, but also sold advertising and built visual displays in specialty stores. 

Born and raised in Adams County, Dunn currently resides in Peebles with her husband, Denver, and youngest son, Cade. She has two other sons, David and Zane, who are already grown and out on their own.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting The Ohio State University South Centers Staff)
By Bradford Sherman
CFAES/OSU South Centers

If your computer won’t start, or the running water won’t stop; if the temperature is too hot, or too cold; or if the phones are down, or anything else is up … there is one man who everyone calls first.

His name is Duane Rigsby. His official title is Systems Developer/Engineer, and he most famously wears the hat of a technology coordinator at The Ohio State University South Centers, but he is anything but your typical IT guy. 

“Not many IT people wear work boots,” he said jokingly, as he motioned his hand down toward his rugged footwear.

You will be hard-pressed to find him just sitting around in front of a monitor, the natural habitat for many of his contemporaries. Instead, he is usually out-and-about the South Centers campus doing what he does best – solving problems. In fact, it’s the variety of tasks he performs here that he says is his favorite part of the job.

“When you walk in each day, you never know what you are going to actually be doing,” Rigsby explained. “You could be mopping up a water spill from where a water pipe busted overnight, or you could come in with no power, or you can come in with a computer that won’t start up, or you could come in and one of our business partners in the Endeavor Center maybe has an issue.”

Rigsby, who interestingly always wanted to be a forest ranger, earned a degree in natural resources from Hocking College. He worked in a lumber yard and for a construction company before joining South Centers as one of its original employees in 1991.

Now in his 28th year here, he has held several titles over that span. He began as a Research Assistant, and then around the turn of the millennium, moved over to the role similar to the one performs today, Systems Manager.
“When we first started, we all did everything as a team versus as individuals,’ he explained.

“As for the IT, our first director noticed that I was interested in it, I would be looking over his shoulder at lunch time, and one day he said, ‘you seem to be interested in computers.’”

And with those words, he was set on a path toward managing the phones, as well as one IBM computer and five black and white computers running NeXT software (which for our younger readership was a project headed up by Apple founder Steve Jobs during his exile from the company in the mid 80’s, and would eventually morph into today’s MacOS and iOS). Of course, he still worked out in the field during this time as well.

“I would be out in the field, and Marsha would have a problem, so she called me – of course, we didn’t have cell phones back then. We carried two-way radios. I would come in and fix whatever needed fixing, and then I would go back out to the field and resume whatever it was I was working on.”

As the technology needs kept growing, and then during a hiatus of a former maintenance coordinator, Rigsby’s role transformed to the one we know him in today.

“During that time frame, someone had to fill the void. There was still things breaking, and things that need to get done. So I stepped up and took care of all of that.” Soon thereafter, Rigsby was given the permanent gig.

“Tom (Worley) was our director by then and said, ‘well, you are already doing half of it, you may as well do the other half,’” Rigsby recalled.

Now today, in addition to overseeing all of the technology needs of South Centers, Rigsby serves as the facilities manager, which encompasses pretty much everything else he does – maintenance and upkeep of HVAC systems, water lines, building repairs, phone system, and more.

That is a resume that covers pretty much any problems that could arise at South Centers. So if you ever encounter a problem here, there is a simple solution … just call Duane.

Rigsby and his wife, Linda, reside in Scioto County with their daughter Katie. He also has a step-daughter and a granddaughter.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting The Ohio State University South Centers Staff)
By Bradford Sherman
CFAES/OSU South Centers

Change can be one of life’s wonderful blessings, in that it keeps things fresh and exciting.

Perhaps no one at The Ohio State University South Centers has been going through more exciting life changes lately than Jordan Maxwell. Within the past year, the 24-year-old became a first-time mom, changed jobs, moved into a new home, and now is preparing to welcome a second child into the world.

We’ve all gotten to know Jordan as the Program Coordinator of Aquaculture Boot Camp II (ABC), a position she is still fulfilling through the end of the year, since joining South Centers in 2016. But now, amid all the changes going on in her personal life, she is learning the ropes of a new position as a Research Assistant in the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Program. 

All of that is fine with Maxwell, who, in fact, credits her employment with OSU as a major catalyst for all the blessings she is experiencing right now.

“Becoming a member of The Ohio State University family here at South Centers has led to many great opportunities,” she said. “It has allowed me to settle down here in the area, start a family, and now I’m blessed to be able to continue my career here in this new position.”

Maxwell interviewed for her new position in July and accepted the job offer in August. This new role came along at just the right time for her, as her temporary appointment with ABC was set to expire in December.
Like the last, her new job is also a term position that will keep her with South Centers for at least another three years. She says she loves the work, the atmosphere, and the people at South Centers, and that she would someday love to move into a permanent role and someday retire as an OSU employee. 

“Working here has allowed me to expand and grow, and the people that you work with really make a difference in how much you love your job. Even though my drive to work is about an hour, it doesn’t seem like it at all, because I enjoy coming here and working so much.”

Before joining OSU, she worked as a fisheries technician at Apple Grove Fish Hatchery in West Virginia.
Maxwell is originally from Beavercreek, which is located near Dayton. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors and engaging in related activities such as hunting, fishing and hiking. It was these interests that led her to pursue an education in natural resources. She earned an associate’s degree from Hocking College and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rio Grande in Fish and Wildlife Management and Conservation.

It was at Rio Grande that Maxwell met her husband, Coleton, and they now reside in Cadmus at the family farm he recently inherited. They plan on raising cattle and a few crops, alongside their growing family. The couple welcomed their first child, Emersyn, in February of 2018 and are expecting a second daughter who is due to be born in February of 2019.

(Editor’s Note: The following is the latest in a series of feature stories highlighting The Ohio State University South Centers Staff)

By Bradford Sherman
OSU South Centers

Whether it’s the UPS man, fellow employees, familiar faces, or complete strangers, they all have one thing in common when visiting the Research and Extension Building at The Ohio State University South Centers – they are always greeted with a smile and a friendly “hello.”

That is thanks to Sarah Swanson, a Program Assistant who every day staffs the front office as its first point of contact, and greets all comers with a friendly demeanor and helpful disposition.

Swanson has been the smiling face of South Centers, having always been stationed at her familiar spot next to the sliding glass windows, since joining the staff in November 2014. She provides support services to the aquaculture and soil and water teams, assists with running the equipment for the center’s weekly telecasts, updates many parts of the South Centers website, and provides graphics support for all program areas.

Swanson says she enjoys her job at South Centers because of the variety of people she gets to work with, and because every day is a unique challenge.

“The work is different every day,” she explained. “It never gets boring. One day it may be general administrative work, and the next I might get to tap into my creative side through working on video production and graphic design.

“It is also exciting that I get the opportunity to work alongside so many different kinds of talented people. Here at South Centers, we have people representing many different age groups, ethnicities, and are versed in many different professional disciplines.”
Swanson, who is originally from Chillicothe, earned Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio University – Chillicothe in 2012 and an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2014.

In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, especially hiking, and engaging in activities related to the arts such as listening to music and photography.

Swanson and her husband, Justin, reside in Chillicothe.

By Patrick Dengel
Business Development Specialist

Tamara Kissinger, owner of TK Fitness, has a public fitness training studio located at The Ohio State University Endeavor Center in Piketon. This fitness studio offers multiple services for individuals that are 15 years old and older. Services include personal training, conditioning programs, and fitness classes.  

Kissinger is one of two certified personal trainers who provide programs tailored to the individual’s needs. “Here at TK Fitness Training Studio, our goal is to offer a supportive environment for you to feel comfortable to explore your goals, evolving them as necessary, and making room for personal fitness while taking consideration for the rest of your life,” said Kissinger.

Recently, she teamed up with Brad Bapst, Small Business Development Center Director, to offer a monthly video series Let’s Be Fit. The video series offers fitness tips for clientele.
“The video series we are currently working on enables her to reach out to both her existing and potential clientele to keep them updated on current topics and tips related to a healthy living lifestyle,” Bapst said of his co-hosting duties.

“It has been so rewarding working with Tamara and helping be a small part of turning her dream of owning a business into reality.”

You can find these videos at go.osu.edu/OSUSC under the playlist Let’s Be Fit. 

“We are excited to have TK Fitness as a start-up business in the Endeavor Center.  Kudos to Tamara for starting a gym during the pandemic as this was a difficult time for many businesses and especially those in the fitness and health industry,” said Endeavor Center manager Ryan Mapes.
“Her perseverance paid off, and the gym membership is growing. Having a fitness business on site is unique to the Endeavor Center and provides many healthy lifestyle opportunities to the community.”

Kissinger and her staff can be reached at (740) 222-1492 for a confidential discussion of how TK Fitness can provide a personalized training service for you. TK Fitness can be found on Facebook and at tkfitness.business.site.
 

Patrick Dengel
Business Development Specialist

Informational videos produced by The Ohio State University South Centers have provided an excellent avenue for various educational programs to serve clientele, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team of Duane Rigsby, Sarah Swanson, and Patrick Dengel produce a variety of educational and promotional videos on topics related to agriculture, business, and community programs. 
These videos range from 1-6 minutes, 10-15 minutes, and TV programming of 27-29 minutes.  Several public educational television stations re-air these videos as well.

The South Centers YouTube channel can be viewed at youtube.com/southcenters
A variety of different programs throughout the year were completed on many College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences topics (CFAES). Some of the main topical telecasts undertaken monthly and semi-monthly include:

• Healthy Living Resources – topics on healthy living, financial and social topics
• Food, Nutrition and Wellness – maintaining proper diets and exercise
• Marketing Matters – assisting farmers markets with promotional content and sustainability
• Healthy Aging Network – ways to increase security and productivity of elderly
• Specialty Crops with Brad Bergefurd – hops farming and other vegetables
• Horticulture – Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter on fruits, and South Centers’ research farming topics
• Forage Focus – informational videos on pastureland
• Tree Talk – educational videos on trees, woodlands, and forestry
• Southern Ohio Matters – community topics relating to COVID-19 and community planning
• Health Warriors Series – topical areas on keeping physically fit via dietary and quality exercise
• Culture Cast – 4-H CFAES agricultural students visiting other countries
• Pike County Extension News Update - topical Extension programs geared toward communities
• Other topical areas on community and educational formats

In other areas, the video services completed six success stories: Rio Healthcare, Tree Care Specialist, Autostyz LLC, Clagg’s Waste Disposal, Health and Wellness Bootcamp, and Kirchhoff Automotive.
Programming also included a number of educational “virtual ag day” telecasts in cooperation with the Pickaway County Farm Bureau and the Pickaway Soil and Water Conservation District. Some of the featured virtual ag day visits featured the Miedima Dairy Farm and the Wippel Family Berkshire Farm, a series on bees at Honeyrun Farm, and trips to the Ruff and Lamb Farms to learn about corn and soybean production.

Video Content is created both at the South Centers’ Studio, located inside the Endeavor Center, and at home studios.  Because of the COVID-19 Restrictions, many videos were created using the ZOOM platform with guests and hosts.

The Appalachian Export Development Program is an initiative for eligible businesses in the Appalachian region of Ohio that are looking to start or grow their exports of products and services.
The program will pair accepted companies with trained export advisors in their area to develop an export plan. Grant funds will be available to help implement the export plan.

Which companies are eligible to apply?
To be eligible, companies must:

• Be located in an Appalachian county as defined by the Appalachia Regional Commission.
• Not exceed size standards as established by the Small Business Administration.
• Not have been a recipient of the International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE).
• Have a product or service that can be exported.
• Be willing to be counseled by the Ohio Export Assistance Network.

How to apply?
Companies can apply by completing an application here. The program is seeking five to 10 companies. Companies that are selected will be contacted regarding next steps.
For more information, visit development.ohio.gov/bs/bs_aedp.htm.
 

By Brad Bapst
SBDC Director

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers is continuing to serve the needs of businesses in our region.  The safety and well-being of our clients, training attendees, and staff are of utmost importance to us. We are continuing to monitor the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and with the information and guidance provided by the university, state, and federal government officials, we are taking all necessary precautions to reduce the spread of the virus.  As a result, we are cancelling all in-person events and will be conducting one-on-one advising remotely until further notice. 

We know that the COVID-19 pandemic will present obstacles and challenges to you and your business in the days and weeks ahead, and we want you to know that we remain operational to ensure you receive the business management and technical assistance you have come to expect from us.  We have been continuing to work with clients remotely through telecommuting practices.  We utilize telephone, e-mail, social media, and most recently video conferencing through the Zoom communications platform.

Zoom meetings have enabled our SBDC team to share current updates concerning the CARES Act SBA loan programs to southern Ohio businesses.  Our team is currently participating in several weekly Zoom meetings with various chambers of commerce in our service area.  We provide the latest information on the SBA programs and resources to help companies survive this challenging economic situation.  We also continue to update businesses with the latest information through our Facebook page.

Our team of certified business advisors are here to support you and your business. Your health, well-being, and business success are our top priorities. Moving forward, the SBDC is preparing to provide additional resources in the coming months in an effort to assist businesses in the recovery process from the pandemic-induced economic disaster.  

To reach us please call 740-289-2071 or visit us online at southcenters.osu.edu/business.

Story and photos by Bradford Sherman
South Centers/CFAES

Nestled in the rolling hills of southern Ohio, around an hour and a half drive from The Ohio State University Columbus campus, is a unique gathering place where business-minded people of the predominantly rural community can meet, learn, and even house their start-up.

Some staff members there call it “one of the state’s best-kept secrets.” That may indeed be the case for many parts of Ohio, but residents of Pike County and the surrounding area know the Endeavor Center well as a vital meeting hub, the go-to for all of their business questions, and an integral part of their healthy, vibrant community.

As a 27,000 square foot business incubator located on the campus of the OSU South Centers in Piketon, the Endeavor Center is home to a variety of new and emerging companies looking to gain a foothold in the marketplace. Its primary mission is to provide these businesses with the resources and expertise they need to grow in a rapid and sustainable way, and in turn, increase the economic vitality of the region.

“Our Endeavor Center melds business assistance resources and staff expertise to foster a climate of entrepreneurship to southern Ohio,” said Dr. Thomas Worley, OSU South Centers Director. “The business incubator’s very name, Endeavor,  is meant to convey a spirit of ‘whatever it takes’ approach toward making a venture successful.”

Built in 2005, the facility consists of a wide variety of professionally furnished office spaces with multiple classroom and conference spaces available to host meetings, workshops, and seminars. The center’s services, some free and others paid, are available to any professional organization for various business-related purposes.

“We provide resources for existing and start-up businesses to thrive, including office space, office equipment, and networking opportunities. These components are all important to help a community grow both educationally and financially,” added Endeavor Center Manager Ryan Mapes.

Mapes expanded by breaking down the assistance the Endeavor Center offers to clientele into four primary forms: 1) access to professional, flexible office space; 2) access to expert, free business counseling (SBDC); 3) access to advanced communications technology and professional office equipment; and 4) opportunities to network and learn from other successful small businesses.

Within the last five years, the Endeavor Center and its business partners, which includes the SBDC, have created more than 600 high-skill, high-wage jobs, adding more than $75 million of direct economic activity to the local community. 

The center’s small business development counselors have helped more than 80 businesses overcome obstacles to growth by supplying strategic and space resources required for expansion. This resulted in the graduation of more than a dozen partners to build their own facilities or expand into larger facilities.

One such partner is Innovative Solutions (InSolves). It was one of the center’s first tenants and an anchor business for many years that, during the height of its residency, occupied eight office spaces and three manufacturing bays. InSolves graduated from the center in 2018 by purchasing nearby real estate and moving its operations into its own 20,000 square foot facility along U.S. Highway 23 in Piketon.

“The program worked, we graduated from the Endeavor Center and moved into our place – that is the mission of the Endeavor Center,” said InSolves Vice President Steve Barbarits, whose company first chose the Endeavor Center partly due to its convenient location near its clientele as well as for the facilities and support offered by its staff.

“It made sense for us to be close by where we could on-board employees, and also, for the manufacturing space. We utilized three of those high bay manufacturing areas. That allowed our customers at the Piketon site to easily come over and look at work in progress, or discuss changes to a particular manufacturing project.”

Barbarits also praised the low overhead that allowed his company to stay lean and be competitive with other companies, and especially the convenience of having certified business counselors located on the premises.

“The small business services just being a couple of doors down the hall really helped anytime we needed advice or mentoring,” he added. “As a small business, you have to rely on people who understand what it is like to run a small business. All the folks from Tom Worley to Ryan Mapes, and every one of their staff, were willing to go above and beyond to help us.”

The Endeavor Center’s long and prosperous relationship with InSolves led to a current partner, Probatum Technologies, also taking up residence in the incubator. Probatum President Rick Warner was a former manager at InSolves who still does consulting work for the firm, but in 2009, he decided to rent space for his own technology company.

Since 1999, Warner’s Probatum Technologies has been part of the fight against the well-publicized prescription and non-prescription drug abuse epidemic plaguing southern Ohio by providing case management solutions to community corrections agencies.

As technology has evolved, so has the company. It has been moving away from the local machine-based PC program and is now developing a cloud-based, mobile app called Casano. It is a mobile phone application that takes the form of a game aimed at the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.

“We deliver challenges to the person on a daily basis that address thinking patterns, behaviors, and circumstances that contribute to elevated risks or needs that contribute to the likelihood of them re-offending,” Warner explained.

“These come in the form of a quest. They start out in a dark cave and they end the quest over a period of months or years, in some cases, on a mountaintop. There is compelling gameplay that happens based on the completion of the challenges.”

Casano is currently being tested by around 100 people in a pilot program, with hopes of deploying commercially within the next year.

In addition to InSolves and Probatum, the list of the different types of businesses that have partnered with the Endeavor Center over the years has been wide-ranging. Those partners who have called it home included an orthodontist, woodworkers, manufacturers, financial consultants, insurance agents, and the Endeavor Center has housed unique activities such as laboratory testing, and soon, a fitness center.
“I think that just goes to show the flexibility our center has, in its ability to meet the small business needs of the community,” said Mapes. “The center also hosts training events and workshops on a wide variety of topics by partnering with other program areas at the South Centers and many community organizations.”

While its primary function is as a business incubator, many locals simply know the Endeavor Center as a place to meet and learn. The classroom and conference spaces are used constantly by area business entities, even those not housed inside the center.

It is because of this, the Endeavor Center always seems to be buzzing. With the bevy of people coming through the door every day, it takes a special person to make sure those guests have everything they need and everything goes off without a hitch. For the Endeavor Center, that person is Jennifer Dunn.

Dunn has become synonymous with the Endeavor Center, having filled her important role since beginning her career at South Centers in 2011. Her working title is Program Assistant, but it does not begin to describe all of the different roles she fills on a daily basis. 

She might be best known for handling the booking of all meeting rooms for the facilities, but also performs administrative duties for partners housed at the Endeavor Center and the South Centers business team, as well as coordinates meetings, events, catering services, deliveries, and more. Moreover, just as important as all of that – she is the first point of contact for anyone visiting in person or calling by phone. 

“It is the different people we get to serve here,” Dunn said, when asked about what she enjoys most about working at the Endeavor Center. “You get to meet someone new from the area, or traveling from afar. We have individuals who come from all over the United States and internationally.”

“You have the same core set of responsibilities including customer service, coordinating meetings, and taking care of logistics, but it is like a different job every day, in that there is always a different face.”

Like the Endeavor Center she serves, Dunn certainly carries a reputation for being professional and for top-notch organization. She believes in proper planning and being ready for anything.
“You have to have a Plan B if Plan A fails,” she explained. “When you deal with unpredictable things on a daily basis, you had better have a backup plan. If the electricity goes out, or if the first network for Wi-Fi goes down, you need a backup ready for those things.”

Employees like Dunn are an integral part of the center’s second mission, of operating as a true, successful small business – providing customers (our business partners housed in the facility) with top rate service while maintaining the facilities in a sustainable, profitable manner. The center’s knowledgeable and accommodating staff, who strive to provide businesses with all the resources needed to be successful, are aimed at this second mission.

“Our business counselors are all very committed to the communities we serve and place a high priority on helping clients achieve their dreams of operating a successful business and thereby strengthening the local community and economy,” added Worley.

Mapes also pointed out that, in addition to the small business development counselors, the Endeavor Center also provides businesses support through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Export Assistance Program, and Center for Cooperatives, which focuses on the cooperative business model. These associated programs are well connected in the business community and can act as a gateway to many statewide resources.

A full directory of Endeavor Center staff, including counselors who can help realize the dream of starting or growing a business, is available on the south Centers website at southcenters.osu.edu.

Room rental inquiries should be directed to Dunn by calling 740-289-1605 or emailing dunn.595@osu.edu. Those who are interested in renting a space inside the Endeavor Center, or becoming a virtual partner, should contact Mapes at 740-289-2071 ext. 231 or email mapes.281@osu.edu. 

Duane Rigsby, Sarah Swanson, and Patrick Dengel have been concentrating on producing many different South Centers, Extension, and Ohio Agriculture video programs. Not only are they undertaking 28-minute telecast that are shown on PEG TV stations, but are also doing 2-3 minute, 5-6 minute, and 10-12 minutes telecasts. These shows are are housed on the South Centers YouTube channel. You can watch all of these agriculture programs, as well as business and community telecasts, by typing in go.osu.edu/sclive and go.osu.edu/friendsofsouthcenters.

By Ryan Mapes
Endeavor Center Manager

The Endeavor Center operated at a 100% occupancy rate for most of 2018, however the new year brings some challenges and opportunities as the Endeavor Center is going through a period of slight transition. 

During 2018, we had three partners graduate, but were fortunate to have new partners ready to come on board to fill the vacated offices.  Recent partners that have joined the Endeavor Center include:  

State Street Laboratories LLC – SSL operates as an independent diagnostic testing lab and a forensic toxicology testing lab in Piketon and Athens.

Health and Wellness Bootcamp – this company helps people connect the dots between food, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. 

Foster’s Creative Capital Inc. has changed status from a virtual partner to obtaining a physical office.  This company is focused on assisting local business owners in finding alternative sources of capital.  
Hoy insurance Group joined as virtual partner. Virtual partners do not occupy a physical office, but can utilize shared work areas and office equipment in the Endeavor Center.

InSolves, the center’s largest partner, has purchased a manufacturing facility in Piketon and is in process of moving operations to that location.  Over the next year, an office suite and the large manufacturing high bay areas will become available. Congratulations and thank you to InSolves for being a large contributor to the Endeavor Center’s success.

The Endeavor Center applied for, and received, a grant from the Economic Development Administration to hire a consultant to complete an expansion feasibility study.  One of the outcomes from the study will be to help management understand what types of incubator space are in demand.  

Co-working space and maker space are types of spaces that have become increasingly popular in the incubation industry.  Co-working space is a self-directed, collaborative, flexible, and voluntary work style that is based on mutual trust and the sharing of common core values between its participants. Co-working involves a shared workplace, often an office, and independent activity. Unlike in a typical office, those co-working are usually not employed by the same organization. 

A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a facility for making, learning, exploring, and sharing that uses high-tech to no-tech tools.  These spaces are open to entrepreneurs and could have a variety of maker equipment ranging from 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, soldering irons, or even sewing machines.

As of January 2019, there are 18 partner companies that occupy 25 office and light industrial bay spaces.  We also have four virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis but do not occupy an office.  The Endeavor Center training rooms and studio are being utilized frequently by OSU programs, our partners, and outside organizations.  Fluor continues to hold many off site meetings at our facility and our SBDC continues to strengthen partnerships by jointly hosting training events with local business development partners.

By Ryan Mapes
Business Program Leader

The Ohio State University South Centers is currently serving as the Southeast Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) lead affiliate through September 30, 2019. 

Our team recently submitted a proposal to continue serving as the lead MEP affiliate for Subregion 1, plus several contingent counties for the years 2020 and 2021. Counties requested to service are as follows: Adams, Athens, Gallia, Guernsey, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington. 

The primary goal of the program is to accelerate the growth of over 500 regional manufacturers identified as small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) within the region. In addition to providing growth advisory services, MEP at OSU South Centers will leverage Ohio State’s resources and relationships to create a robust support network.

The MEP at South Centers has identified the five largest manufacturing clusters within the Southeast region: food, wood products, polymer and chemical, primary metals, and automotive supply chain. The MEP at South Centers will develop targeted services by data gained directly from regional companies to address NIST’s Next Generation Strategy Initiatives of continuous improvement, technology acceleration, supply chain optimization, sustainability, and workforce development. 
The program will also will work closely with the other five Ohio MEP organizations to provide SMMEs with access to numerous resources and facilities throughout the region and state, as well being a conduit to such resources as The Ohio Manufacturing Institute, the Robert C. Byrd Institute, Shawnee State University, and third-party consultants. The program will create a regional network of resources for client companies that is closely integrated with economic development organizations and business service providers, as well as academic institutions, in order to exponentially increase impact in providing resources to SMMEs.

The MEP at South Centers will employ growth advisers to work with manufacturing leaders across the region to solve businesses’ issues and improve the economic competitiveness of the small and mid-sized manufacturing base. These growth advisers will provide one-on-one consultation for clients, get to know and understand the client’s business and needs, and serve as conduits to relevant and qualified resources and providers to meet those needs. 

By Bradford Sherman
CFAES/OSU South Centers

For a glimpse of what the future of our educational programming might look like – watch this.

Use of video as a medium for transmitting information has been expanding at The Ohio State University South Centers. Following its largest ever period of growth in 2018, and with ambitious plans in the works, 2019 looks poised to be the best year yet for video.

What’s more, utilizing video technology is a key part of the South Centers strategic plan for how programming will be delivered to stakeholders, partners, and residents – and thus an even greater emphasis will be placed on it moving forward.
“Our future is in multi-channel programming,” stated Dr. Thomas Worley, Director at OSU South Centers. “Whether it be through local access cable networks, YouTube, webinars, or what have you – all are viable means of broadening the reach of our programs.”

South Centers, along with the University of Rio Grande, for years now, have collaborated in the production of educational videos, but clearly the best days for video still lie ahead. New shows, formats, and use cases are all under development, and you will begin to see the medium being used more prolifically as the year progresses.

Currently, most of the video content produced by the two educational partners take the form of a talk format with a host(s) and guests, covering a variety of topics including scientific research, community, Extension, education, business, and spirituality.
“We try to provide a variety of different content for those individuals who specifically have a need for them,” said Executive Producer Patrick Dengel, who heads up the collaboration between the two entities and has his hand in pretty much every aspect of the operation – he hosts, produces, promotes, and anything else that needs done.

Some of the most popular programs include those with an agriculture and natural resources-based theme like John Grimes’ Ag News, a show focused on issues facing the beef industry, and Natural Resources Specialist Dave Apsley’s Tree Talk. Another popular show, however, is hosted by Dustin Homan and titled Culture Cast. Homan’s work with international youth development takes center stage on the show, where he interviews college students about their adventures studying abroad.

“The reason we have so many categories of shows is … not everyone is interested in agriculture, and not everyone is interested in Extension work, but they may be interested in something like our dog training program or our arts and culture shows,” Dengel explained.

Dengel’s team includes Program Managers Duane Rigsby and Mike Thompson, of South Centers and Rio Grande, respectively, and South Centers Production Director Sarah Swanson. The number of different monthly shows the team churns out has grown to around 38 over the years, and there are currently around 46 hosts who appear either on a regular or part-time basis. 

These various programs are streamed live on Wednesdays (Rio Grande) and Thursdays (South Centers), and are always available on demand on YouTube. Additionally, all shows are also carried on PTV (Perkins Telecommunications), a public educational access channel located in the Youngstown area, and select shows also air on Rio Grande Cable Access and Hillsboro public access television.

The South Centers YouTube channel, which had 147 public uploads in 2018, saw massive gains in nearly every measurable. The channel nearly doubled in the major categories of subscribers gained, total views, and minutes watched. 
The channel also grew in the sense that hosts from outside the South Centers campus are getting on board, such as CFAES Dean Dr. Cathann Kress, Melissa Vince with the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation, and various Extension educators like Christine Gelley, who hosts one of the most popular new shows, Forage Focus.

“I think it is fantastic. Bringing in outside talent also brings South Centers recognition in the fact that we are doing something very positive that they can incorporate,” stated Dengel.

In 2018, video production at South Centers also got a new home, moving from “BOB” (a colloquialism for the building out back) to a larger space on the second floor of the Endeavor Center.

“We have a lot more space to move around, and work with our equipment,” said Production Director Sarah Swanson, whose penchant for fine details like proper lighting, audio, and content framing helps give the content a high-quality look and feel. “It is better for sound and lighting, and everyone and everything looks far more realistic because we are not right on top of the green screen now.”

Looking ahead to 2019, Dengel says he is looking at diversifying the content you will see on the channel. The approximate half hour talk formats are not going anywhere, but plans call for the inclusion of shorter videos that focus on more specific topics.
“We’re going to do more 5-10 minute shows, and also two minute shows,” explained Dengel. “The two-minute shows would touch one topic very quickly, kind of a bird’s eye view of the topic. The slightly longer 5 to 10-minute format will take a specific item and really explore it. This is about getting away, a little bit, from the talk format and into more of an instructional-type thing.”

The use of video, particularly through a platform as immensely popular as YouTube, will also help South Centers and Rio Grande reach a younger demographic, according to Rigsby, who in addition to a program manager for video projects, also serves as Technology Coordinator at South Centers.

“Video really gives us the ability to expand our programming to the younger generations, your millennials, Generation Z, and younger,” he said. “It is the only way we are going to reach that demographic, video is easily the most popular way they look for content.”

So in addition to what is already being done, what is the next step in growing the footprint of video content? Dr. Worley is encouraging all programs at South Centers to embrace the medium and find ways to utilize it. “I encourage all of our program specialist and staff to engage in applying these delivery methods,” he said.

Dengel also says he would love to see one of the shows be picked up and aired on an NPR station, and to gain even more traction on more public education television stations.
Anyone interested in either hosting a show, or if you are affiliated with a television station that is interested in carrying educational shows from OSU South Centers and the University of Rio Grande, contact Dengel by calling 740-708-7810 or email him at dengel.3@osu.edu.

Endeavor Center

2018 is off to a good start for the OSU Endeavor Center business incubator. The center operated at nearly a 100% occupancy rate in the first two quarters, having only one space available for lease.  A new partner application was recently approved and a start-up health coaching business will take possession of that office next month.  

There has also been much activity and many visitors through the doors.  We have hosted many training events and business meetings while continuing to receive requests to schedule meeting space at later dates.  In summary, there are 18 (soon to be 19) partner companies that occupy 26 office and light industrial bay spaces.  We also have four virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis, but do not occupy an office.

Small Business Development Center

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) continues to grow with its successes in assisting businesses achieve their goals.  The SBDC provides business counseling and assistance to individuals who are either starting or growing their business. The Piketon center is staffed with highly trained, Certified Business Advisors® (CBA) to help small businesses and entrepreneurs with development and growth to increase sales and create jobs in their local communities.

Regional partnerships are the primary source of referrals for SBDC at the OSU South Centers.  Collaborative efforts with local chambers of commerce and economic development offices serve as the primary conduit to connect entrepreneurs with the services of the SBDC. The South Centers also maintains formal agreements with local universities for regional economic development collaboration. Pike County Community Action and the Minority Business Assistance Center are also key partners with the SBDC. These relationships help the region’s entrepreneurs, business owners, and small manufacturers with technical assistance and training.
Services Include:

•    Business assessment evaluation                            
•    Cash flow analysis                                                  
•    Financial projections development                          
•    Strategic business planning                                    
•    One-on-One business counseling               
•   Identifying sources of capital
•   Workshops and training programs
•   Marketing strategy development 
•   Market feasibility and research
•   Export Assistance

To schedule an appointment to meet with one of our highly trained counselors, contact Brad Bapst, SBDC Center Director, at 740-289-2071 ext.230, or email bapst.4@osu.edu. 

Lumber Grading Training

In 2011, Ohio’s forest products industry, encompassing forestry and logging, wood products manufacturing, paper manufacturing, and wood furniture manufacturing, employed approximately 47,200 people, created $4 billion of labor income, and produced outputs of approximately $13.6 billion (Coronado et al 2015).  

The Southeast region, which encompasses many of Ohio’s Appalachian counties, contains the most intensive primary processing of forest products in the state and the highest concentration of sawmills producing greater than 5 million board feet of lumber annually (Coronado 2015). According to an analysis by Michaud and Jolley (2016), the Appalachian region of Ohio is home to over 60% of the state’s sawmill employees, which contributed approximately $711 million to the region’s economy.

The importance of the forest and wood products industry to the region prompted the OSU South Centers Business Development Network, in conjunction with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA), to host a Lumber Grading Short Course in April. 

Fourteen participants in the NHLA-taught courses learned the basics of hardwood lumber inspection and received hands-on grading training; skills that will help them as they pursue opportunities across the forest and wood products industry, or work to improve their company’s processes and valuations in order to become more profitable. 

Most of the course participants were current employees of local lumber businesses; however, a few of the attendees were local high school students and support organizations interested in the forest and wood products industry as a career opportunity or knowledge enrichment.  Participants who successfully completed the course received the NHLA lumber grading certification; a certification that is highly regarded in the lumber industry.  

The success of the course has prompted the OSU South Centers Business Development Network to make plans to continue to offer the course annually. 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

The Ohio State University Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership affiliate in southern and southeast Ohio, partnered with OSU South Centers to host a Lean Training event in the Endeavor Center on April 17. Scioto Productivity Solutions provided the training and there were 12 attendees who participated.
During the day-long event, the trainer covered topics such as introduction to Lean, basics of TPS, history of TPS, tools, how-to implement, keys for small business, leadership, and Six Sigma, as well as incorporating several hands-on activities to bring the training to life.

Attendees will be able to return to their companies with a tremendous conceptual understanding of Lean, begin basic implementation, and also be in a great situation to receive additional training at their company site for a more in-depth, comprehensive Lean program. This additional implementation can also be provided by CDME/MEP as a service to the company.

Aquaculture Boot Camp 2018

Due to adverse weather in January, Aquaculture Boot Camp II was postponed until February, when we met our 34 recruits and went over the yearlong agenda on which they were about to embark.  Throughout the year we plan to continually work with these attendees in, not only the technical side of an aquaculture/aquaponics operation, but also the business side. 

It is our mission to help them reach their business goals by assisting with development of business and marketing plans, as well as financial projections they can take from the session and determine if this is a viable business for them.  Like with any other business in which we work, we hope to better educate and help form a plan prior to jumping in and not realizing what all may or may not be involved.  Each month we will have a business session focusing on important aspects that come with starting and successfully running a business.  We also will meet with clients on a one-to-one basis in order to dig deeper into their business ideas and answer questions that pertain to their differing situations.  

OSU South Centers and University of Rio Grande Telecasts

Mr. Joe Perkins, owner of Perkins Community TV in Youngstown, Ohio and Shane Reinhert of Anderson Community TV in Cincinnati, Ohio are now replaying OSU / URG Telecasts that are aired each week on Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. These telecasts encompass 28 - 30 different half hour broadcasts each month, are live-streamed, and are saved on OSU South Centers and University of Rio Grande YouTube channels.  Many Telecasts are also aired on Rio Grande Cable Access TV.  There are 6-9 different telecasts each week.

Viewers can easily see the telecasts by visiting  go.osu.edu/osusc and go.osu.edu/riogrande.
Formats of the telecast follow a Public Access TV format, providing educational programming geared to persons in the fields of agriculture, banking and economics, arts, museum, community, tourism, sports, health, technology, business, and organizations.

By Ryan Mapes, Endeavor Center Manager and Business Development Network Program Leader

At the statewide SBDC conference, two of our team members won Peer Awards. Congratulations to Chris Smalley for winning the Innovation Award for his work with Aquaculture Boot Camp by teaching business principles to participants each month. Congratulations also to Melissa Carter for winning the Marketing Award for her work assisting Southern Ohio businesses with digital marketing and website development. Both awards are well deserved!

Aquaculture Boot Camp has been developed to assist new and emerging aquaculture farmers understand the technical aspects of establishing and raising various species of fish at their farms to diversify their enterprises. This program is a yearlong intensive course that meets at the OSU South Centers monthly for a day of training. Time has been set aside at each class for the attendees to learn the business aspects of these new operations. Chris Smalley develops and teaches business courses that provide general business information to these farmers. He has created financial projections, marketing ideas, and sample business plans with specific assumptions for the Aquaculture industry, individual fish species, and various systems that can be put in place. He also recruits key resource individuals to speak in class about financial options to explore starting aquaculture facilities, how to market the product direct to consumer or wholesale, and ways to increase profitability. This partnership with the Aquaculture Program at the OSU South Centers has led to a new client base and attendees have benefited from not only learning the aquaculture for diversification opportunities but also understanding the business related principles to start this new venture.

Melissa Carter has created a niche offering to SBDC clients in Southern Ohio by developing and enhancing online marketing potential. Many clients are recognizing the need for online presence and diversifying how and where they sell their goods and services. Melissa works with clients to develop and/or enhance informational/basic websites, Etsy stores, and social media platforms. Through Wix and Weebly template based website creation pages, Melissa has created or enhanced over 15 different websites in the past year. This includes building a template from information gathered from the client, teaching the client how to utilize the site, and managing the site’s analytics and SEO. Additionally, she works to increase visibility on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and through Google Business, Yelp, and Trip Advisor. By offering these marketing services to the SBDC clients, an increased awareness and visibility of the SBDC offerings as a whole has been established. Clients are referred to Melissa for marketing assistance and then are established as long term through the continual growth of online presence. Melissa speaks at local and regional events about online marketing which allows business to also learn the various services the SBDC offers. A recent highlight for Melissa is that she presented an online marketing class in September at the 2017 America’s Small Business Development Center National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

By Ryan Mapes, Business Development Network Program Leader and Endeavor Center Manager

The Endeavor Center continues to operate at near 100% capacity.  We currently have 17 partner companies that occupy 25 office and light industrial bay spaces.  We also have three virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis but do not have a physical office space.  At present time, we have a 200 sq. ft. office and a 400 sq. ft. office available, however in the last 3 weeks, have had three inquiries to lease those spaces.

One of the unique assets of the Endeavor Center is the composition of training, classroom and computer lab space.  These rooms are set up to accommodate meetings of up to 72 participants.  During the last quarter, our meeting rooms were rented 165 times.  You can view individual room set-up and capacity at the following link:  southcenters.osu.edu/endeavor-center

The Small Business Development Center also had a very active first quarter.  Our counselors have been working with many clients and have assisted with more than twenty new business starts since October.  We celebrated the first ever National SBDC Day along with SBDCs from around the country by promoting the OSU South Centers SBDC via use of social media.  Jim Laipply, the State SBDC Director shared, “This was a great opportunity for us to come together as a statewide network and as a national program to share the impact and reach of SBDC.  Additionally, Ohio was represented incredibly well across social media platforms with nearly a dozen Ohio SBDCs or SBDC host organizations posting on #SBDCDay. This was a great opportunity to see the power that social media can have in providing exposure to our program.”

The SBDC partnered with Community Action of Pike County Business Development to host a “Starting Your Business from Dream to Reality” course at the Endeavor Center.  This class met twice a week for five weeks.  Counselors for the SBDC taught segments in the areas of cash flow, financing, marketing, and social media.  There were 13 individuals who completed the class.

A Gap Lending Roundtable was held in February to link lenders with potential gap lending resources.  The audience consisted of area lenders and the program featured speakers from a dozen gap lending or alternative lending resources available in our region.  The intent of this workshop was to make introductions, network, and develop relationships between the lenders and lending resources in the area.

OSU South Centers SBDC counselors partnered with Ohio University and participated in a series of entrepreneurial promotion events in Scioto, Ross, Jackson and Pike counties.  The PORTSFUTURE Entrepreneurship Roundtable series events were held at the Shawnee State University, Ohio University Chillicothe, the Ohio State University Extension office in Jackson and at the Endeavor Center.

The Ohio Export Assistance Network program was recently recognized nationally for utilization of the IMAGE Grant.  Kelly O’Bryant, the Export Assistance Network counselor at the OSU South Centers was recognized for this award along with other export counselors from around the state at the NASBITE conference in Spokane, Washington.  The following paragraphs from the Ohio SBDC Newsletter describe the IMAGE Grant, it’s successes and export metrics obtained as a result.

“The Ohio Development Services Agency’s International Marketing Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program was recently honored with the 2017 Advancing International Trade State Award by the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE) at its annual conference in Spokane, Washington.

The Ohio Export Assistance Network program was recently recognized nationally for utilization of the IMAGE Grant.  Kelly O’Bryant, the Export Assistance Network counselor at the OSU South Centers was recognized for this award along with other export counselors from around the state at the NASBITE conference in Spokane, Washington.  The following paragraphs from the Ohio SBDC Newsletter describe the IMAGE Grant, it’s successes and export metrics obtained as a result.

“The Ohio Development Services Agency’s International Marketing Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program was recently honored with the 2017 Advancing International Trade State Award by the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE) at its annual conference in Spokane, Washington. 

In 2016, Ohio exported nearly $50 billion worth of goods and services worldwide. The IMAGE program, a state and federal grant, helps marketing internationally more affordable to Ohio small businesses.

“Ohio consistently ranks as one of the top ten exporting states in the U.S.,” said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency. “By helping small businesses market internationally, Ohio remains competitive in a global marketplace.” 

For the last four years of the program, IMAGE has provided a total of 441 grants to Ohio small businesses to assist with international marketing activities. Participating companies reported a total of $188.4 million in expected global sales generated from the activities supported by the IMAGE program.

Also, to increase the rate of success for Ohio small businesses in the global economy, the State of Ohio also offers programs to help small businesses hire an export intern, conduct market research and improve export processes. For more information, visit: www.exportassistance.development.ohio.gov 

The IMAGE program supported by the Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) offers financial assistance to small businesses to promote their products and services into international markets. 

For information about the IMAGE program, visit: www.image.development.ohio.gov” 

Two new faces have joined the CFAES Center for Cooperatives team in recent months. Joining Program Director Hannah Scott are new Program Coordinator Samantha (Sam) Black and most recently new Program Specialist Melissa Whitt.

Melissa Whitt 

Melissa Whitt is excited to join the OSU South Centers team and is a southern Ohio native.  She brings over 15 years of leadership experience in communications, marketing, community engagement, and business development to the Center for Cooperatives.  
She earned a B.A. in Organizational Communications and an A.A.S. in Electronic Media, with a concentration in video production, from Ohio University Southern Campus, as well as a Marketing Program Certificate from OUS.  

Melissa has a talent for building successful relationships with diverse organizations to facilitate cooperation and help bridge gaps in communication and program development in the Appalachian region. Her previous leadership roles include business development, strategic planning, and human resources for a plastics recycling startup, where she helped develop the operations team, develop and manage onsite business operations for the entire manufacturing facility, coordinate, develop and manage company and community events, engagements and dinners; community relations and development for a regional FQHC behavioral health center, where she worked on public relations and marketing projects, including chairing major fundraisers for youth outreach and prevention programs and setting record breaking numbers for awareness, net profits and engagement.  Melissa also successfully managed a University of Kentucky Research Lab pilot project, focusing on tobacco cessation for teens in Appalachia.  

She resides in Wheelersburg with her husband Jason, and their two children.

Samantha (Sam) Black

Samantha Black is the new program coordinator for the CFAES Center for Cooperatives. 

She is a graduate of Lindsey Wilson College with her B.A. in Human Services and Counseling. Sam has over 14 years of experience working with state and county agencies, and assisting farmers, businesses, and individuals in acquiring grants, program assistance, and scholarships. Previous roles have included overseeing employee management, chief financial officer, office manager, conducting annual audits, creating and implementing policy and procedures, and communications. She enjoys working with the different entities to help accomplish their mission and assisting individuals in meeting their goals. 

Samantha lives in southern Ohio with her husband and helps manage her family’s generational farm, which raises row crops and livestock. When not working, she enjoys working outside on the farm, reading, and cooking.
 

By Joy Bauman
Co-ops Program Specialist

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives is pleased to announce that prior to the sunsetting of the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation (SOACDF) at the end of 2021, the Foundation awarded the Center for Cooperatives a $75,000 grant to fund five iterations of the Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience (YCLE), with one Experience per academic year from 2022 through 2026. As part of the CFAES Center for Cooperatives mission to integrate teaching, research, and Extension programs to create and extend knowledge relevant to the cooperative business model, Center staff conduct public education about cooperative business throughout Ohio and West Virginia, including high school students.

The Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience is an immersive learning program for Appalachian high school students in the primary counties served by SOACDF. The goal of the YCLE is to help students learn about agricultural careers and achievable paths to higher education through the cooperative business model. YCLE participants engage in classroom and hands-on learning, business, lab and farm tours, professional networking opportunities, and team building. These opportunities are particularly vital in Ohio’s Appalachian region, where educational attainment is lower than other regions and where residents have historically experienced economic challenges.   

Since FY 2010, the Foundation’s grant programs and operating expenses were supported by an endowment fund that was not subject to the General Assembly’s appropriation process.  Until then, the Foundation had been appropriated funding based on the stream of revenue derived from the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) between the states and major tobacco manufacturers. Most of Ohio’s share of those proceeds was set aside for public school and higher education facilities construction. Since SOACDF was formed in 2002, the Foundation has awarded more than $120.7 million to farm families and rural communities in the form of grants distributed to farmers, businesses, and youth in the 22 burley tobacco-producing counties in southern Ohio. 

Grants were distributed for agricultural diversification, economic development, young farmer assistance, research and development, livestock systems, livestock genetic improvement, grain handling, general ag improvement, and education. In the later years, the Foundation also funded grants for capital improvements for numerous county fairgrounds.
During the Foundation’s timespan, Business Development Network team members also provided consulting and guidance to hundreds of farmers and businesses throughout the region at no cost to the client. 

“These projects not only put money in the pockets of farmers and businesses who were grant awardees, but those recipients, in turn, spent most of their grant dollars locally to build infrastructure and make purchases of equipment and livestock, keeping those dollars circulating in Southern Ohio for years to come,” said Joy Bauman, program specialist for the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, “Not forgetting the increased farm and business productivity and revenue that grew as a result of the SOACDF-funded projects.”

Bauman spent countless hours providing assistance to SOACDF applicants over the phone and through email in her previous role at the South Centers, before beginning work full-time with the Center for Cooperatives. For the final round of SOACDF funding before the Foundation’s closure at the end of 2021, the board of directors chose to offer grants to Youth Development programs in the nine primary tobacco producing counties that were most impacted by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. For this final grant opportunity, Bauman assisted the Ohio Valley CTC FFA and the Peebles FFA with their successful grant applications which will benefit the schools’ student-led cooperatives that the Center has helped to start or are in the process of starting. 

“We have always emphasized the importance of youth in our industry and communities,” said Eric Wolfer, chair of the SOACDF board of directors, “beginning with college scholarships and progressing into multiple successful programs over the years.” 

Bauman and Hannah Scott, program manager for the Center for Cooperatives, also developed a $75,000 proposal for the Foundation to fund the successful Youth Cooperative Leadership Program for five years. “We are grateful that the SOACDF board selected our YCLE project as one of the benefactors of this final round of funding,” said Scott. 
The YCLE is expected to engage approximately 50 high school agriculture students and 5 adult chaperones annually. The goal of the YCLE is to help students learn about agricultural careers and achievable paths to higher education from a cooperative perspective. Cooperative Program Specialist Joy Bauman explained that students will be educated on the cooperative business model as a sustainable marketing and management model for agricultural enterprises, including farms and agribusinesses. “They will be introduced to agricultural careers through tours of cooperative businesses and co-op member farms, as well as have the opportunity to engage and make connections with individuals in the agriculture industry, as well as participate in college-style learning experiences,” Bauman said.

Plans for the autumn 2022 Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience are underway. Watch for details soon about the participant selection process.

Ryan Kline is the new Cooperative Development Specialist for the CFAES Center for Cooperatives. Born and raised on a fifth-generation family farm in Ross County, Appalachian agriculture deeply impacted his personal and professional life. In college, his passion for agriculture and history joined. In 2018, he received his BA in History at Ohio University, and this past spring, Kline received his Master’s degree in History at Auburn University, focusing on the history of agriculture, labor, and race. Kline’s previous experience working with county extension offices, private foundations, and museums, helped him to develop a passion for research, youth, and economic development. He hopes to utilize his research knowledge to explore the long history of cooperation in the region. Kline is excited to join a dynamic team that strives for the development and support of cooperatives.

By Ryan Kline
Cooperative Development Specialist

October is National Co-op Month, a celebration of cooperatives that started in 1964. The month is a time for allied organizations and co-ops to promote cooperative values and advantages. This year’s theme is “Co-ops Commit: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” which supports an important conversation about change and action in the cooperative community.
One step toward making diversity and racial equity not just an intention, but a reality, is forming an inclusive cooperative history. Including African American, Latinx, and Appalachian co-ops in U.S. cooperative history highlights the long tradition of cooperation among BIPOC and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and creates an accurate understanding of the movement.
Highlighting the importance of including these histories, I selected three case studies from Appalachia, African American, and Latinx cooperatives, each of which show just the fraction of the communities’ cooperative impact.

Appalachian Cooperative Networks Before Rural Electrification
The growth of rural electric cooperatives in the 1930s and 40s brought electricity and technological advancements, such as water pumps and agricultural machines, to much of rural America. Though these coops created an electrical transformation, cooperation was familiar to many rural areas, including Appalachia. From community care to unions, Appalachians had utilized community networks to cooperate for generations.

Before the rural electrification efforts, community members and farmers in the South and Appalachia, according to the Southern Oral History Program, kept telephone networks up and running for rural areas, which was only possible through cooperation. Dema Lyall, a native Appalachian from North Carolina, born in 1918, said, “I don’t remember when we just didn’t have a telephone.” Farmers and residents worked together to provide telephones to local communities, typically working in networks of 8-10.

In some cases, telephone lines were widely available to areas that would not see any electrification efforts until the early 1940s. The community networks that supported these local telephone lines may have supported cooperatives’ growth over corporations during the Rural Electric Administration’s campaign the 30s and 40s. The cooperative networks established before rural electric coops highlight a much longer history of cooperation in the Appalachia.

The Freedom Quilting Bee, Alabama 1960s
By 1967, generations of Black men and women struggled under the sharecropping economic system, where white plantation owners often bonded people to the land through debt and labor. With the Civil Rights Movement, a group of Black craftswomen in Alabama sought to leave sharecropping and generate independent income with an increasingly popular commodity: quilts.

Started by a group of Black women near Selma, Alabama, the Freedom Quilting Bee collectively quilted cloth scraps into usable blankets. They hoped to generate individual income for their sharecropper spouses, families, and themselves. However, as Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard found, these women not only supported their families, but also promoted community economic stability. The Freedom Quilting Bee bought 23 acres of land, provided housing for evicted farmers, formed childcare cooperatives, and supported community solidarity, fostering growing support from within the cooperative and the community.

The Freedom Quilting Bee Coop highlights how Black women regained economic control through cooperation. When the traditional socioeconomic parameters oppressed these craftswomen, they mobilized collective power for themselves and the community. By including the quilting bee cooperative in the American cooperative movement’s history, the real economic advantage and community stability that cooperation offers to members becomes clearer.

Exploring Latinx Cooperatives
In a recent study, the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives explored the growing cooperative movement in Latinx communities. In Latinx Co-op Power in the U.S., Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard and Esther West reveal a rich and expansive network of 180 Latinx cooperatives. Though Latinx cooperative history has not been studied in the American movement, Latin American communities across North America have a strong tradition of cooperation. 

In their sample survey, Nembhard and West uncovered that most Latinx coops are urban and suburban, with nearly 89% located in urban areas. From credit unions to agriculture and food co-ops, there were Latinx cooperatives in every sector. The results also revealed that most coops were younger businesses, with only two Latinx co-ops formed before 2000. Between 2004 and 2020, Latinx cooperative numbers skyrocketed, with 14 developing within the last five years. Though the 180 cooperatives surveyed does not depict the entire Latinx co-op community, the study makes important strides in Latinx co-op development and efforts to integrate them into the national cooperative movement history.

The diversity of cooperatives in the United States has expanded tenfold with recent studies; however, these cooperators are often overlooked in history. Though many are familiar with the Rochdale pioneers, perhaps a more inclusive history of American cooperation should begin with indigenous networks of cooperation, such as John Curl’s For All The People. With the addition of BIPOC and underserved communities, the history of the U.S. cooperative movement becomes both more inclusive and accurate.
 

By Joy Bauman
Program Specialist, Center for Cooperatives

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives staff is excited to have started a new project funded by North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE). 
The project incorporates teaching sustainable production and marketing using the cooperative model for the student-managed school farm cooperative at the Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center (OVCTC).  

In November, the project team met at OVCTC near West Union, in Adams County, Ohio to make plans for the three-year project, which formally kicked off with the students on January 8.  The project team, led by Hannah Scott and Joy Bauman from the Center for Cooperatives, includes OSU Extension Direct Ag Marketing Specialist Christie Welch, retired co-op executive and consultant Dennis Bolling, Bill Wickerham, Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District Conservation Specialist and Adams County farmer marketing grass-fed beef, as well as OVCTC Agriculture Business Management Instructor and FFA Advisor Luke Rhonemus.

Since 2016, the CFAES Center for Cooperatives team has worked with Mr. Rhonemus and his 11th and 12th grade students to restructure the management of the school farm. The Center staff taught students the basics of the cooperative business model, met with students to learn about their farm, and helped students explore the ways their farm could be operated as a co-op. The team worked directly with a small group of students to develop the co-op’s bylaws and board structure. In October 2018, students began operating the 300-acre farm under a cooperative structure. Students contribute an initial membership fee of $20 or six hours of labor on the farm to become members of the co-op. Their membership makes them eligible to vote, run for the co-op board, and receive patronage refunds from the co-op. Student members are expected to contribute labor to the farm, which they track in the FFA’s Agriculture Experience Tracker project management system.

Currently, the students produce beef cattle, market hogs, meat goats, corn, soybeans, hay, firewood, maple syrup, and honey. Major decisions for the farm are made through the co-op board. Mr. Rhonemus is a memberof the board and helps guide the students in their decision-making. Income from the farm will ensure that the farm is economically viable. When surplus is generated, the board can choose to return the surplus to student members based on the labor they have contributed to the operation.

The purpose of the NCR-SARE project is to enhance and examine the impacts of a student cooperative learning program. The Center for Cooperatives will educate OVCTC students on the cooperative business model and best practices in co-op management.  Collaborating with retired cooperative executive Dennis Bolling will provide real-world perspectives on co-op management.  “With many co-op managers nearing retirement, training the next generation of co-op leaders is critical to the cooperative community,” said Bolling.

Agricultural marketing specialist Christie Welch is teaching students about marketing concepts like pricing, packaging, and customer demographics using MarketReady® training. Welch has conducted two learning sessions with the students and they have begun developing and implementing a marketing plan for the numerous products produced on the school farm.  “After the very first session the students began putting what they learned into action in order to market freezer pork from 20 market hogs they will send for processing in February and March,” said Welch.

The Center will also collaborate with local farmers and agricultural leaders to share their experiences using innovative marketing and environmentally sustainable production practices.  Farmer and SWCD Conservation Specialist Bill Wickerham will lead and coordinate the education around those topics, collaborating with other area farmers and ag and conservation specialists.  Wickerham explained that his goal is to expose students to innovative approaches and develop their agricultural knowledge. He will be guiding the students as they develop environmental management plans for the school farm. 

“By assisting the students in developing the marketing and environmental plans for their enterprise, it will help develop the students’ planning and business management skills, while hopefully increasing farm profitability,” said Joy Bauman who will be working closely with the students throughout the project.  She explained that students will then implement these plans on their cooperatively managed school farm using seed funding from this project. 

Center staff will collaborate with students to monitor project activities and outcomes to determine successful strategies for teaching young people about the cooperative model and fostering entrepreneurship in rural communities. Team members will assess the success of these strategies on the school farm by tracking activities and examining the farm cooperative’s financial health. Changes in students’ knowledge and attitudes will be examined and feedback will be gathered on the education techniques. Using this information, the team plans to develop a digital toolkit for cooperative developers, educators, and Extension professionals to create similar cooperative learning programs for youth farms, greenhouses, and gardens.

With the OVCTC farm in its infancy as a student cooperative, Mr. Rhonemus and his students are interested in increasing their knowledge about best practices in cooperative management, developing their understanding of agricultural marketing.  The cooperative business model is a promising opportunity for school farms because of the stable nature of the model and the possibilities it affords students. Cooperatives are owned and controlled by their users and provide benefits to their users, often by returning financial surplus to user-owners. Co-ops can be avenues for reaching new markets and realizing efficiencies.

Bauman concluded, “Enhancing students’ knowledge of cooperative best practices and providing them with real-world experiences in cooperative management will help them to better understand the agricultural supply chain, prepare them for career opportunities in agribusiness, develop their practical business skills, and to expose them to an innovative business model.

“As members of a cooperative, students have a personal interest in doing what is best for their farm co-op,” Bauman said. If the farm is productive and profitable, the students personally benefit through patronage refunds that they receive based on the hours of labor they contribute to the farm, but only after they ensure the financial viability of the operation. Not only do students have the opportunity to earn some money for college or other expenses, students who may not have an agricultural background can develop practical agricultural knowledge and skills. All of these experiences are valuable in a rural, Appalachian community where opportunities for students can be limited.

Two familiar faces are filling new positions within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Center for Cooperatives. Long-time South Centers employees Joy Bauman, now the Cooperative Development Specialist, and Charissa Gardner, the new Program Coordinator, have taken on new roles in the program.
 
Bauman began her new role on June 3, while Gardner’s first official day with the program was July 22. Both are very familiar with the Center, however, as Bauman previously served as the Program Coordinator, while Gardner has worked with the co-ops team on various projects throughout her career at South Centers.

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives comprehensively integrates the teaching, research and Extension programs of the College. The Center creates and extends knowledge to emerging and existing cooperatives in Ohio and beyond.

Joy Bauman has worked at the Ohio State University South Centers since 2006 and has been involved with the cooperative development efforts at the South Centers since that time, most recently serving as the Program Coordinator for the Center for Cooperatives. On June 3, Joy transitioned to the Cooperative Development Specialist role, where she collaborates with staff at OSU South Centers, Ohio State University Extension, West Virginia University Extension Services, USDA Rural Development and other rural economic development organizations to create and deploy programming to support the mission, goals, and priorities of the Center. Joy provides technical assistance to new and emerging cooperatives and rural businesses, develops and deploys educational programming on small business development, and communicates with the Center’s network of stakeholders internal and external to the University. She works to foster cooperative development, strengthen existing cooperatives, and educate the next generation of cooperative leaders.

She has facilitated the planning, organization, and delivery of cooperative development trainings and disseminating information about the Center throughout Ohio and West Virginia. She helped to form the successful Southern Ohio Grower’s Cooperative at market pumpkins and other produce. Joy is currently leading a North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (NCR-SARE) project–the Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience–an immersive cooperative educational program for high school students in the Appalachian region.

Joy holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, majoring in Agricultural Communication and Animal Science. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education. She is long-experienced in farm and agricultural business planning as a co-owner of Turkey Run Angus Farm in Adams County. Joy will help lead the Center’s work to develop worker-owned and agricultural cooperatives in rural communities.

Charissa Gardner began her career at The Ohio State University South Centers in 2011. She has served as the Program Coordinator/Assistant for the Specialty Crops program for the past seven years, and as Program Coordinator for the Direct Marketing program for the past five years.

For Specialty Crops, she managed the news and event publications, website, social media, listservs, and served as the event coordinator. Gardner was also Co-Editor of the VegNet and Hops Newsletters.

With Direct Marketing, she served as the Program Coordinator and managed the Ohio MarketMaker program, was the news and event publications coordinator, website, social media, and listserv manager, and was the event coordinator.

Gardner also served as the OSU South Centers Campus Campaign Ambassador from 2014 through 2018, and is currently a member of Chi Epsilon Sigma and JCEP.
Prior to joining OSU, she was an English teacher for Adams County Christian school for 3 years, and worked as a Business Manager for the Peebles Monument Company for 12 years. 
Gardner is a graduate of Peebles High School. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and English Humanities from Shawnee State University.

Her hobbies include gardening, raising market goats and rabbits, traveling, and keeps busy with 4-H, FFA, school, and sports activities with her teenage daughter, Carrington.
Gardner and her daughter currently reside in Peebles, Ohio.

By Hannah Scott
Center for Cooperatives Program Manager

What do a small group of fish and shrimp farmers purchasing feed together have in common with a classroom full of high school students who share the work of a successful 200+ acre livestock and grain farm? What do a group of small-scale vegetable growers collectively marketing produce have in common with a barista-owned coffee shop?

They’re all cooperators.

At the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, we like to say, “If you’ve seen one co-op, you’ve seen one co-op,” a mantra that certainly seems to describe our work in 2018.  Over the last year, the Center’s team supported cooperative development efforts across Ohio and West Virginia in a variety of areas. Team members helped aquaculture producers develop a business plan for cooperative purchasing, an effort to make their farms more efficient and sustainable. They helped growers in Mansfield and Moorefield – Ohio and West Virginia, respectively – learn about the cooperative business model and develop market assessment tools to evaluate how they could use a co-op to access new market channels. They led the completion of a multi-organizational feasibility study for a cooperative in the forest and wood products industry. And they helped link veterans developing a farmer-veteran training program to resources in OSU Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

These efforts were made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant program, which will continue in 2019, supporting the Center’s efforts to strengthen rural economies through cooperative development. The Center will focus on cooperative development in food and agriculture, forestry, rural connectivity, and worker-ownership in 2019. 
The Center will also continue efforts to educate various audiences about the cooperative business model, building on successes launched in 2018. 

In June 2018, the Center launched Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101, an innovative online training course and companion workbook designed to educate cooperative members, boards, management, employees, and students. Co-op Mastery’s curriculum focuses on mid-level knowledge about the cooperative business model, providing an in-depth look at governance, finance, taxation, and other areas. Ivory Harlow, a program specialist with the Center, received the OSU CFAES Staff Advisory Council’s 2018 Key Values Award in the area of Innovation for her work developing Co-op Mastery. 

The Center also brought cooperative education to a variety of stakeholders through workshops and seminars in 2018, sponsoring the seminar, “Agricultural Data Coalition: Putting Farmers in the Driver’s Seat,” and co-sponsoring, “Co-op Law & Practice CLE,” in partnership with the University of Dayton School of Law and Advocates for Basic Legal Equity, Inc. (ABLE). 

Center team members taught cooperative workshops at conferences around the region and nationally, including the 2018 Association of Cooperative Educators Annual Institute and Building Wealth through Worker-Ownership in partnership with the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University and the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet). 

Center team members are looking forward to leading sessions at the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives 2019 Annual Meeting, the 15th Annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference, and the Ohio Small Farm Conference in 2019, among many others. 

Connect with the Center for Cooperatives on Facebook (@OhioStateCooperatives), Twitter (@OSUCooperatives), and the Collaboration Nation blog (u.osu.edu/osucooperatives).  

Visit the Center’s website at go.osu.edu/cooperatives and contact the Center at osucooperatives@osu.edu or 740-289-2071 ext. 111.

By Joy Bauman
Center for Cooperatives Program Coordinator

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives team has been working with the Agriculture Business Management students at the Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center in Adams County, Ohio to form a student-operated cooperative to manage the school’s 300-acre farm. The farm is a learning laboratory, providing valuable opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience managing and operating a farm. 

The students and Mr. Luke Rhonemus, the Farm Business Management program instructor and FFA advisor, have developed a relationship with the OSU South Centers staff over the past few years, starting with Joy Bauman who is currently a program coordinator with the Center for Cooperatives. Joy assisted the program in developing a working business plan for the school farm when Mr. Rhonemus first became the OVCTC Agriculture Business Management instructor in August 2016. Joy conducted farm business planning workshops and provided guidance to the students as they developed their farm business plan, which enabled the school farm to receive a $25,000 agriculture development grant from the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation for infrastructure improvements and equipment purchases. At that time, the school farm comprised just over 100 acres. 

Recently, the district purchased an additional 200 acres to allow the students to expand the farm operation. Presently, the students raise beef cattle, meat goats, market hogs, corn, soybeans, and hay. For many years, tobacco was raised on the school farm, but presently, the students only raise tobacco seedlings in the program’s greenhouse to be sold as transplants. In addition, the students manage 300 taps for maple syrup production. The students sell the syrup, as well as freezer pork and hay. Mr. Rhonemus, who is in his 17th year of teaching high school agriculture and is a lifelong farmer himself, wanted the students to get as much practical experience as possible, including making management decisions, hands-on production, and marketing. 

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives staff members have been working with the students to develop a student-operated farm cooperative using the worker-owner cooperative model. The students learned about agricultural cooperatives and cooperative principles through lessons taught by Hannah Scott, Joy Bauman, and Ivory Harlow. Staff members used Co-op Mastery, the Center’s online cooperative educational platform, along with its companion workbook to help the students develop their cooperative’s bylaws and to begin the business planning for the cooperative.

Students can become members of the farm cooperative by paying a membership fee or by working six hours on the farm. The cooperative members can choose to be affiliated with one or more of the farm production and management committee areas, including livestock, crops, specialty products, and ag mechanics. Each committee recently elected two representatives to the cooperative board of directors to make business and management decisions for the farm. 

“This will give the students hands-on experience with running a business, particularly a cooperative, and serving on a board of directors,” said Bauman. Meanwhile, all of the student co-op members have the potential to earn money and/or receive farm products based on their personal share of the work contributed to the co-op.

Bauman explained that being a farm co-op member and working on the school farm can be part of a student’s FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience project and help them meet the qualifications to earn their State and American FFA Degrees. The student members of the cooperative keep track of their hours spent working for the farm cooperative in the FFA’s online record-keeping system. At the end of the fiscal year, if the farm makes any profit and the board decides to return a portion of the profit to the members, patronage (surplus profit) can be returned to cooperative members to share in the profits or products from the farm, based proportionally on the time invested by individual members. But first, the student-managers must make sure that adequate resources remain to keep the operation going.

“Much like real-life farming, there is no guaranteed profit,” Mr. Rhonemus told his students. There is a chance that no patronage will be returned if the board determines that there are insufficient resources to do so at the end of the cooperative’s fiscal year. As with any farm or business operation, there is risk involved. “For our students, that primary risk is their time investment,” Mr. Rhonemus explained.

The students in the Agriculture Business Management and Ag Mechanics programs at the OVCTC have always worked on the school farm, caring for livestock and crops as well as working on equipment and performing routine maintenance. By forming a student cooperative to operate the farm, the students get to be involved on a new level. “We really do care about the management decisions we make and how that relates to the farm’s profitability, because that will determine how much each of our members financially benefit,” said junior, Kamden Crum, one of the co-op members. “It’s helping us to really see how important it is to operate our farm efficiently,” said senior, Jaycee Baldwin, another student member.

Bauman has enjoyed working with the OVCTC students and instructors. “Having students learn about the cooperative business structure, along with hands-on management of an agricultural cooperative just adds to the vast amount of practical experience the students receive in the OVCTC ag programs,” she concluded.

By Ivory Harlow
Program Specialist, CFAES Center for Cooperatives

On June 1st, 2018, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Center for Cooperatives, based at the OSU South Centers, launched Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101.

Co-op Mastery is an engaging, online cooperative course for a variety of co-op stakeholders, including steering committee members of new and emerging co-ops, students of co-ops, and new co-op board members or employees. 

“Co-op Mastery curriculum focuses on mid-level knowledge about the cooperative business model,” said Center for Cooperatives Program Manager, Hannah Scott.  “Training modules build on existing fundamental materials by providing an in-depth look at governance, finance, taxation and other areas not typically covered by courses in fundamentals, yet challenging topics for stakeholders.”

The training features eight modules which include video interviews with numerous leaders in the cooperative movement: 
•    Logan County Electric Cooperative General Manager Rick Petty discusses cooperative principles and various functions of cooperatives. 
•    Dennis Bolling, retired President and CEO of United Producers, Inc., shares the benefits that cooperatives provide to members. 
•    Mid-America Cooperative Counsel Executive Director Rod Kelsay discusses effective education and training for a co-op’s Board of Directors.
•    Ohio State University Extension Educator Dr. Chris Bruynis gives insight to key factors that contribute to a cooperative’s success.
•    Nationwide’s VP of Sponsor Relations Devin Fuhrman shares the story of Nationwide’s history as a mutual cooperative company.
•    Agricultural attorney Carolyn Eselgroth of Barrett, Easterday, Cunningham and Eselgroth, LLP addresses legal considerations when forming a cooperative business.
•    Co-Bank Senior Relationship Manager Gary Weidenborner leads users through an interactive financial document exercise. 
•    Dr. David Hahn, Professor Emeritus at the Ohio State University, explains cooperative taxation.

During the first 30 days the program was live and available to the public, Co-op Mastery directly impacted 268 individuals, through website visitors and cooperative education workshops taught by Center staff in Ohio and West Virginia. Workshop participants also received Co-op Mastery workbooks, a 48-page compilation of activities and examples, to supplement their online learning.
Co-op Mastery is a valuable digital tool for cooperative education. Microfarmers in northwest Ohio have used Co-op Mastery to learn about co-op governance. Co-op Mastery workbook business and financial worksheets help simplify the business planning process for farmers exploring the formation of a co-op. 

In July 2018, Program Manager Hannah Scott and Specialist Ivory Harlow presented Co-op Mastery as a tool for cooperative developers and educators at the 2018 Association of Cooperative Educators Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Attendees from across North America learned how to utilize Co-op Mastery as a digital tool for cooperative education and development.

Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101 was made possible by a Cooperative Education Grant from the CHS Foundation. The training is free and can be accessed online at 
go.osu.edu/coopmastery.

To request a workshop or more information, visit go.osu.edu/cooperatives or contact the Center for Cooperatives at osucooperatives@osu.edu or 740-289-2071 ext. 111.

By: Ivory Harlow Cooperative Development Specialist, CFAES Center for Cooperatives

Among draft horses, Belgians are reputed to be the strongest and most capable. A single Belgian draft horse can tow 8,000 pounds. More impressive is what two can do together; a team of two draft horses doesn’t just double- but triples pulling power to 24,000 lbs!

Like a team of draft horses, The CFAES Center for Cooperatives combined forces with industry, government and association partners to achieve great things in 2017. Collaboration created greater impact through cooperative education, technical and development assistance for stakeholders and students of cooperatives.

The Center teamed up with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank to share best practices with the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network. Director of Food Resource Development, Mike Frank, led network participants on a tour, describing how the Foodbank has overcome challenges associated with the aggregation, storage and distribution of fresh food. The Network left with practical actions to improve their food hubs’ operational efficiency.

Collaboration between the Center for Cooperatives and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development provided valuable information to local ag producers looking to diversify or enhance their operations.   A Value-Added Producer Grant informational session with key speakers from the USDA was hosted at the OSU South Centers, offering local producers an opportunity to ask questions and get answers from USDA grant experts.

The Center for Cooperatives worked closely with the Central Appalachia Cooperative Development Group to start Unity Coffee and Teahouse, the first worker-owned cooperative business in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Five Baristas and a coffee roaster created the co-op with a shared vision to foster a commUnity that supports workers, customers and local residents. Unity Coffee and Teahouse opened for business in January 2018.

The Mid-America Cooperative Council (MACC) brought together cooperative developers from across the Midwest to facilitate communication and coordination of co-op educational resources. The Center met with counterparts from Kentucky, Indiana and northeast Ohio at United Producers, Inc. headquarters in Columbus for a two-day roundtable. Developers discussed programming, goals and alignment. The Center identified opportunities to boost educational programming and technical assistance in the region by sharing knowledge and pooling resources.

The Center facilitated cooperative education for visiting scholars in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics over their stay in the United States, including an educational tour of agricultural cooperatives at the Farm Science Review. Scholars visited with representatives from Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, Farm Credit, Heritage Cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America and COBA/Select Sires. The scholars returned to Ukraine motivated to share their newfound knowledge of agricultural cooperatives with students at their respective universities.

The Center connected with local vocational schools and FFA to build students’ awareness of careers in agricultural cooperatives. The Center hosted students at OSU South Centers, visited Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center FFA and served on an Ag Career panel in Ross County.

The Center worked with the Ohio State University CFAES Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics instructors to facilitate an undergraduate class project. Students interviewed cooperative leaders and created multimedia presentations sharing what they learned about the cooperative model.

Collaboration with partners created a great impact in 2017. The CFAES Center for Cooperatives intends to increase our horse power in 2018. We look forward to partnering with the Ohio Farm Bureau to provide cooperative education to the next generation of leaders at the AgriPOWER Institute and the Young Agricultural Professionals Winter Leadership Experience. The Center will forge new relationships with growers, producers and marketers at the annual Ohio Produce Network conference, the Ohio Association of Meat Processors conference, and the 14^th Annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference. Together, the Center and partners are resolved to drive forward the cooperative movement in the region and beyond.

By Ivory Harlow, Ohio Cooperative Development Center Program Specialist

Pumpkins are the third largest fresh market vegetable produced in Ohio. More than 7,000 acres across the state are dedicated to pumpkin production. According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, consumer demand for specialty pumpkins has grown steadily in recent years, and future growth is forecasted. The thriving market for pumpkins provides Ohio growers an opportunity to sell locally grown pumpkins at a premium price. 

Brad Bergefurd, horticulture specialist at the Ohio State University (OSU) South Centers, has conducted pumpkin research since 1998. His research identifies top-performing pumpkin cultivars with highly marketable traits and tolerance to plant diseases and pests. His reputation for helping farmers grow superior vegetables means Bergefurd often fields questions – from growers and buyers alike – about pumpkins, produce and fresh vegetable marketing.

In 2015, Brad received calls from regional buyers seeking pumpkins. “I was being contacted by larger buyers. I talked to local growers who I have consulted with for years and who had shared their interest in expanding to wholesale markets; but they did not have large enough acreage to do it on their own. I pitched the idea of a marketing co-op, and invited them to OSU South Centers to meet with Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) Program Manager Hannah Scott.”

A group of eight growers attended the meeting to explore how cooperatives benefit members. OCDC provided co-op education, assisted with business and financial planning, and guided the group through federal and state business filing procedures to legally form the Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative.

OSU South Centers provides comprehensive resources

The development and success of the Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative was a team effort. Several departments: horticulture, cooperatives, business and marketing, contributed to the project during start-up and continue to provide ongoing assistance.

Brad Bergefurd, whose horticulture research and connections initially brought the group together, continues to serve members with relevant pumpkin research. This year his research focuses on powdery mildew, a persistent problem for pumpkin growers in Ohio. Brad lends a helping hand to co-op members with cultivar selection, pest and disease problems control, and production questions.

The Ohio Cooperative Development Center provides ongoing technical assistance to the co-op. OCDC delivered board of director training, and helped members put a marketing agreement in place for the 2017 season. Hannah Scott assisted Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative members to develop end-of-year financial statements. “One of my proudest moments was seeing the co-op share first-year profits back with members,” Hannah Scott says. “That revenue would not have happened without the co-op.”

Chris Smalley, Small Business Development Specialist, helped the group forecast finances and production costs. Program Manager of Direct Marketing Christie Welch assisted members with their initial marketing plan, and to identify additional markets for expansion.

In 2016, Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative delivered over 500 bins of pumpkins to regional retailers. The co-op’s goals for the future include building a reputation for quality, increasing the volume of pumpkins and adding additional fresh produce offerings. OSU South Centers is here to help the Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative achieve their goals by providing comprehensive resources through collaborative partnerships.

By Ryan Mapes
Endeavor Center Manager

Hope this note finds everyone safe and healthy.  While the Endeavor Center remains closed to the public, it is open on a very limited basis to our tenants. Tenants continue to have access to their offices but most, if not all, are choosing to telework.  

All meeting room rentals have been canceled through at least April 30  with the high probability of an extended cancellation period.  Our goal is to provide at least a two-week notice of cancellation to those who have reserved space in the Endeavor Center.  We will continue to evaluate the situation and schedule as we receive additional guidance from University leadership. As always, we are here to help and look forward to business returning to normal.  Do not hesitate to contact the South Centers if you have any questions regarding facility usage. 

Below are some teleworking tips for employers and employees:

Employers

• Have infrastructure in place.  Make sure that employees have access to things such as internet, computers, phones, printers, and instant messaging platforms.
• Establish company policies for working from home.
• Communication is key.  Frequently check in with employees to ensure that progress toward goals is made.
• Be flexible.  Often things arise at home that are not present in the workplace.  Be considerate and understanding of employee needs as they arise.
• Support wellness.  Encourage employees to take breaks for exercise, to go outside or simply relax for a few minutes to regain focus.

Employees

• Maintain regular work hours and a normal schedule
• Schedule breaks and lunch away from your work periodically throughout the day.
• Establish a workspace that is comfortable and set ground rules for others who are home.
• Stay in touch with your co-workers.  Set up a Zoom meeting, make phone calls or text each other throughout the day.  Stay in contact as much as possible.
• Frequently communicate with company leadership. This is new to them as well and we are all in this together.

Submitted by Ryan Mapes
Endeavor Center Manager

The Endeavor Center operated at a 100 percent occupancy rate for most of the year.  During the year we had partners graduate, but were fortunate to have new partners ready to come on board to fill the vacated offices.  
Partners that have joined the Endeavor Center this year include:  

State Street Laboratories LLC – SSL operates as an independent diagnostic testing lab and a forensic toxicology testing lab in Piketon and Athens, Ohio.

Health and Wellness Bootcamp – this company helps people connect the dots between food, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. 

Jenergy Consulting – Jenergy provides grant writing, proposal development, environmental consulting, project management, and master planning to local governments, non-profits, and the federal government in Appalachian regions in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. 

Hoy insurance Group and Foster’s Creative Capital Inc. have also joined as virtual partners. Virtual partners do not occupy a physical office, but can utilize shared work areas and the office equipment in the Endeavor Center.
There are 19 partner companies that occupy 26 office and light industrial bay spaces.  We also have five virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis, but do not occupy an office.  Also, the training rooms are being utilized frequently by OSU programs, our partners, and outside organizations.  Fluor continues to hold many off site meetings at our facility and our SBDC continues to strengthen partnerships by jointly hosting training events with local business development partners.

By Gary Gao, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

I am very happy to introduce Dr. Lijing Zhou, who joined the fruit research and Extension team as a research associate at OSU South Centers in Piketon on July 3, 2017. Dr. Zhou worked at Western Carolina University before she came to The Ohio State University. She also worked at North Carolina State University as a research program postdoctoral scholar. Dr. Zhou received her M.S. and Ph.D. from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. She also received an MBA from the Western Carolina University College of Business, in Asheville, NC.

Dr. Zhou brings skills in field and greenhouse experiments, plant propagation, selection and evaluation, as well as strong laboratory skills and statistical analysis. As a student, she received numerous scholarships and honors.

Dr. Zhou’s position is funded by several of our specialty crop block grants from the USDA through Ohio Department of Agriculture. She will work under Dr. Gary Gao and will work with research assistant, Ryan Slaughter. Dr. Zhou will be involved in all of our small fruit research projects and Extension programs at OSU South Centers. We are very excited to have Dr. Zhou on our team and look forward to working with her.

Dr. Gary Gao, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor

Fruit production is very popular in China due to consumers’ demand for a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Gary Gao got to work with a few fruit growers and researchers in two provinces in China from late September to early October, 2016. He shared his expertise on small fruit production with them and also learned a lot about fruit production in northern China.

By: Gary Gao, PhD, Small Fruit Extension Specialist and Associate Professor

Polar vortexes in 2014 wreaked havoc on fruit production in many parts of the United States. Ohio was no exception. Our fruit research and Extension programs at OSU South Centers have been set up to deal with many challenges that growers face every day. From trials of cold hardy Polish blackberry cultivars; to high tunnel production of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries; to blackberry production on rotatable cross trellis; to primocane bearing blackberries; and to super cold hardy wine grape cultivars, we are doing what we can to help fruit growers in Ohio. With ever-changing weather conditions in Ohio and beyond, the production of high value crops, such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and even wine grapes, will need to be placed under protected structures so that a consistent crop can be produced and harvested every year. We also started exploring new "super berries" for Ohio growers.

High Tunnel Production of Blackberry and Raspberries:

With the support of a specialty crop block grant from Ohio Department of Agriculture and excellent craftsmanship of our research support staff at OSU South Centers, we built two demonstration high tunnels. One was for blackberry production while other one was for raspberry production. Both tunnels are designed to take snow load and are classified as four-season tunnels.

There has been quite bit of work done on high tunnel raspberry production by Dr. Eric Hanson, professor and Extension specialist at Michigan State University. Season extension, yield increases, and fruit quality improvements have resulted from protection of high tunnels. Preliminary results from our own high tunnel demonstration work have been quite positive. We will continue this research for several years. There is also an excellent free publication from Cornell University. More information: http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/pdfs/hightunnelsrasp2012.pdf

Blackberry high tunnel production also deserves a serious look. Four-season high tunnels can provide much needed winter protection that blackberry floricanes need to produce a crop year after year. Our preliminary results are quite encouraging. Earlier fruit production, consistent production, and fuller berries are some of the main benefits of high tunnel blackberry production. We have seen successful commercial production of blackberries under high tunnel in Ohio. Growers are encouraged to try blackberry high tunnel production on a small scale since high tunnels, though less costly than greenhouses, can be quite expensive.

A "Super Berry" Grant:

We are very pleased to have received a specialty crop grant from Ohio Department of Agriculture to work on "super berries." Some of the new super berries are Aronia berries, Chinese goji berries and elderberries. Blackberries, blueberries and raspberries are also classified as super berries. It is worth noting that there are approximately 1,000 acres of Aronia berries planted in Iowa. There is even a Midwest Aronia Growers Association. Aronia berry juice seems to be getting quite popular as a health drink. It is consumed in small quantities, more like a nutrient supplement vs. fruit juice.

Elderberries are getting very popular, especially in Missouri. About 100 acres of elderberries have been planted there. I tried elderberry jam for the first time when I attended the Great Lakes Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December 2014. It was very tasty! Elderberries can also be used in baked goods. I was told that elderberries make excellent red wine. It is too early to tell what the marketing potential is for elderberry wines or elderberries yet. Do not go out and plant hundreds of acres of elderberries yet.

We will also test Chinese goji berries for their viability in Ohio as a cash crop. I have tasted dried Chinese goji berries and really like them. I drank goji berry tea and liked it as well. Goji berry tea is more Chinese than American though. Dried Chinese goji berries can be purchased from Chinese grocery stores. The Chinese Goji berries I tasted are really sweet. When I visited a new blueberry farm last year, one grower had me taste a few goji berries on her farm. I was surprised that it had more of a peppery taste. There might be a huge variation in taste and growth characteristics. Stay tuned for more information.

Wine Grape Research and Extension: With many thanks to the Ohio Grape Industries Committee (OGIC), we get to continue our wine grape research and Extension program at OSU South Centers. Dave Scurlock and Gary Gao also oversee the grape insect research and Extension for Ohio.

 Out of a few wine grape cultivars we tested at OSU South Centers in Piketon, ‘Regent,’ a red wine grape cultivar, survived the polar vortexes the best. We planted this cultivar under two different training systems. ‘Regent,’ a European and American hybrid, has more European ancestry than American, and makes an excellent red wine. Some growers have planted this cultivar on a small scale. We hope to see more of this cultivar in Ohio! 

We Went Global!

Dr. Tom Worley and Dr. Gary Gao applied for and were awarded a USDA Scientific Cooperation Exchange Grant with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture under the leadership of Dr. Mark Erbaugh. Other project members were Pam Bennett, Mike Hogan, and Dave Scurlock. We toured many urban farms in Beijing, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, and Shanghai in August 2014 in China. Tom and Gary also made presentations and provided technical advice to Extension professionals, university professors and farmers in China.

      Gary Gao 740-289-2071 ext. 123 | gao.2@osu.edu

Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant

     740-289-2071 ext. 144 | slaughter.71@osu.edu           

Guess who just got back today? Them honey bees that’d been away. It has been a few years since South Centers has been home to managed hives of honey bees, but with the acquisition of the long-cane raspberry production grant from the Ohio Department of Agricultural Specialty Crop Block Grant Program by Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter (see article by Dr. Gao for details), the necessity for supplemental pollination by honey bees is required again at our research facility.  Research Assistants Paul O’Bryant and Ryan Slaughter picked up the bees from a local supplier and successfully installed them on June 7.  With a little supplemental food to get them going, they appear to have taken nicely to their new home here at South Centers. 
 

By Bradford Sherman and Brad Bergefurd
South Centers/CFAES

Amish and Mennonite farmers overwhelmingly prefer face-to-face communication, as opposed to the modern methods commonly used by Extension personnel, a recent study has revealed.

Because more than 80 percent of Amish and Mennonite farmers have used or benefitted from Ohio State University Extension services, it is important to remember and respect their preferred communication methods, says Specialty Crops Specialist, and one of the authors of the study, Brad Bergefurd.

“As an Extension educator who has worked closely with Amish and Mennonite produce farmers for 20 years, I always remain cognizant of the communication methods I use in my Extension programming,” he said. “The results of this survey research confirmed the principles that I have been adhering to when providing unbiased research-based information to Amish and Mennonite produce farmers”

Data were collected through use of a mail survey questionnaire that was sent to all 345 Amish and Mennonite produce farmers who grew for Ohio produce auctions in 2011. The study achieved an overall 41% response rate with 138 surveys included in the final data analysis. 

Bergefurd explained that Extension has increasingly adopted less personal, face-to-face types of teaching and learning methods. Due to budget and time constraints, more communication with clientele is accomplished through email or online instruction.

However, survey results indicated that internet, websites, and webinars were not used by 97.7% of respondents, and 99.2% of the farmers indicated they have never used social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter or web-based content like blogs as information sources.

“For Extension professionals or any organization that communicates and provides information to Anabaptist communities, it is important to recognize that these clientele prefer communication methods that may not be commonly used by the majority of their clientele,” added Bergefurd.

Face-to-face communication was reported to be the most-used method of communicating with other farmers within the community by 95.7% of respondents. Office visits and farm visits were used by respondents for sources of information 1-to-3 times per year by 32% and 55.4% of respondents, respectively, while 56.5% indicated they used field days and field demonstrations as sources of information 1-to-3 times per year.

Study results also indicated that Ohio Amish and Mennonite produce auction farmers obtain their farming information from a variety of sources. The top three sources of information used 10 or more times per year are university bulletins, newsletters, and newspaper and magazine articles. University bulletins such as the Ohio Vegetable Production Guide and the Midwest Small Fruit and Grape Spray Guide were used 10 or more times in an average year by 40.3% of respondents. Newsletters such as the Truck Patch News, OSU Vegnet, and the Ohio Fruit ICM newsletter were the second most popular source of information with 36.1% of respondents using this source 10 or more times per year.

Because resources such as Extension-produced newsletters and factsheets are popular with Amish and Mennonite communities, Bergefurd began making hard copies of these publications and distributed them to produce auction managers, who in turn made them available to these clientele.

Another hurdle for communication and contact with Amish and Mennonite produce farmers was the global health crisis that began in 2020.  Extension programs nationwide relied heavily upon the use of online communication, as most Extension professionals received work-from-home orders from their universities and were not permitted to travel to individual farms and businesses.

“Alternative Extension programming and communication methods should be considered by Extension professionals to effectively communicate and assist Amish and Mennonite stakeholders when disruptions in traditional face-to-face teaching and programming occur, such as personal interaction restrictions of the 2020 pandemic,” Bergefurd concluded.
To read the full research study report, including full survey results, visit go.osu.edu/amishstudy.
 

By Brad Bergefurd
Specialty Crops Specialist

Thirty years ago, I began my Extension career as the Horticulture Extension Agent for Geauga County. Geauga county is home to a large cheese plant and up until 1992, the county’s Amish farmers produced grade-B milk for the cheese plant. In 1992, they were told that the cheese plant would no longer purchase grade B milk from the farms unless they converted their farms to grade A farms which would include the use of refrigeration and coolers in the milking parlors.

Due to religious beliefs, the Amish farmers were unable to change their dairy operations, therefore the dairy farmers decided to change occupations, and many became produce growers. In addition to teaching a community of dairy farmers how to grow produce, I was also asked to assist with the planning and building of a wholesale produce auction to develop a wholesale market for their new produce acreage. This nearby, central to the farm produce auction was a first for Ohio. So, this fresh-out-of-college Extension Agent took on a big undertaking and assisted with the development and has continued for the past 30 years.

Produce auctions are local aggregation points that facilitate small-scale fruit, flower, and vegetable farmer access to wholesale buyers from a broader geography. They are generally shareholder-owned corporations that charge a commission to the farmer to conduct the mediated transaction. Produce auctions have historically been an important market channel for fruits and  vegetables in Europe and North America. The first produce auction of this type was developed by Amish and Mennonite farmers in Lancaster County Pennsylvania in 1984 and is still operating today.

In-season produce auction sales are held multiple times per week to create a consistent supply for buyers and regular market for the farmers. Buyers purchase lots from multiple farmers to fulfill wholesale demand, and then re-wholesale or retail product. Buyers make payment to the auction, which issues a single weekly payment to farmers based on combined sales minus commission. The main emphasis is on the wholesale marketing principal rather than retail, though most auctions offer small retail lots.

For Ohio, the first Ohio auction began in 1992 in Middlefield. Farmers Produce Auction in Mount Hope was the second Ohio produce auction and was established in 1994. The first auction to be built south of I-70 was the Bainbridge Produce auction in Pike County and was built in 1999. In 2022, there will be 15 wholesale produce auctions in Ohio with the new auction facility in Beaver (Pike County). In 2021, an estimated 2,000 produce farmers and buyers marketed more than $30 million dollars in locally grown produce through Ohio produce auctions, generating additional economic activity in these rural areas.

If you are interested in buying or selling produce at any of Ohio’s five produce auctions or would like more information on the Ohio produce auction industry, contact Brad Bergefurd at bergefurd.1@osu.edu or southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing/produce-auctions.

Brad Bergefurd 
 

By Brad Bergefurd, Dr. Ye Xia, Dr. Rattan Lal, and Dr. Richard Dick
The Ohio State University

New and emerging pathogens, nutrient disorders, and soil health issues have been reducing yield and quality for many Ohio tomato farmers. Thankfully, new three quarters of a million dollars in grant funding will aid researchers in finding answers. 

New and emerging tomato production research will help farmers improve soil and plant health by integrating different agricultural practices and design a prescription Rx tomato fertility program for their specific tomato fields. 

As of 2017, Ohio ranks 3rd in tomato production in the United States and has some of the largest processing and fresh market tomato acreage in the Midwest with 8,700 acres per USDA-NASS. A large percentage of this processing tomato acreage is organic which makes soil health that much more important to produce a high quality and profitable crop.  

While the tomato industry is one of the important agriculture sectors contributing to Ohio’s farm economy, some tomatoes are susceptible to diverse pathogens; and some tomato fields are susceptible and have been susceptible to flooding, drought and soil erosion, which lead to an associated decrease in soil health, tomato health and quality, and economic crop productivity. The effects of current farming practices together with climate change have affected soil and plant health which can impact the food and processing quality and production of tomatoes.  

The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon has been researching and refining tomato crop fertility and nutrition as well as disease controls for the past 20 years. Now, thanks to this new round of funding, applied research and demonstrative trials will be established beginning in the 2022 season to:
1. collect unbiased research-based information on tomato and associated soil management techniques;
2. develop hands-on training programs including workshops and field days; 
3. raise awareness of the correlation between soil and tomato plant health; 
4. identify and utilize soil and tomato plant associated microbiome, and plant resilience through targeted surveys; and 
5. showcase and provide tomato farmers unbiased research-based information on new soil and tomato management techniques.  

The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is providing grant support for this research.

To stay up to date on the progress of this tomato soil health project and to receive notifications when tomato field days, workshops, and programs will be conducted over the next three years, subscribe to the South Centers horticulture list serve at southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/join-our-listserv/horticulture-listserv and follow on Facebook at facebook.com/OSUSouthCentersHorticulture.

For more information on these projects contact project Investigators Brad Bergefurd at bergefurd.1@osu.edu, or Dr. Ye Xia at xia.374@osu.edu. 

By Brad Bergefurd
Assistant Professor and Specialty Crops Specialist

Locally produced strawberries have outstanding market potential, however the number of farms growing strawberries and strawberry production acreage are decreasing in many areas of Midwest United States. 

High production risk is the main reason causing the decrease of strawberry production in the region. In the past three years, extreme weather conditions across Midwest in spring (late frost, excessive precipitation, drought) have made the traditional mattered-row strawberry production even more challenging. 

A quarter-million-dollar North Central Sustainable Agriculture and Education (SARE) grant will make it possible for Ohio State University and Purdue University strawberry researchers and farmers to develop and modify strawberry production systems that may reduce this risk and increase profit and market potential.   

Many Ohio farms have doubled their harvest and marketing season through adoption of the modified annual plasticulture strawberry production method that was developed by OSU South Centers for Ohio and Midwest cool climate growing conditions. However, growers continue to express more interest in alternative strawberry production systems that have potential to increase yields and harvest seasons, as well as provide increased protection from harsh winter weather and temperature extremes. 

Preliminary research on soil-based high tunnel and low tunnel strawberry production achieved promising results that attracted great attention from farmers throughout Ohio and the Midwest, encouraged South Centers researchers to continue optimizing production practices of using these systems in the lower north-central United States.  Encouraged by previous promising results and tremendous grower interest, this project will enhance strawberry production in the north-central region by optimizing soil-based strawberry production practices under three tunnel systems.

The tunnel systems to be researched include: 1) four-season high tunnel; 2) hay grove high tunnel; and 3) low tunnels. Each tunnel system will have a unique research focus: Ultimate crop growth in fall and winter, as well as fertility management to target fast crop growth are focus of the four-season high tunnel system; winter protection materials and suitable cultivars will be evaluated for the hay grove high tunnel system; and suitable cultivars and different timing of install and removal of plastic to maximize crop growth and minimize spring frost damage comprise the research focus of the low tunnel systems. 

An integrated research approach including using cultural practices, fertility management, biological pesticides, and bio-control agents will be established to facilitate success of the tunnel strawberry production system. Economic feasibility of the three tunnel systems will be evaluated in the context of different production scales. Project information will be delivered through multiple outreach channels, upcoming field days, conferences and workshops, and a Midwest strawberry production guide under tunnel systems will be developed through the project. 
The future of increased strawberry production in Ohio looks great as we continue to research profitable new season extension methods that can be adopted by Ohio farms.

To see research results and production methods on proven season extension strawberry production practices developed by the OSU South Centers visit: southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/fruits/strawberries or contact Brad Bergefurd. at bergefurd.1@osu.edu.

Dr. Gary Gao
Professor and Small Fruit Extension Specialist

Ryan Slaughter
Research Assistant

Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “change is the only constant.”

Extension professionals have seen many changes over the years and have managed to adapt to meet these challenges. However, this pandemic has been quite a bit different. When the last global pandemic of this magnitude occurred, most all of us (if not all) were not alive. 

Thanks to the quick action of our administration at all levels at The Ohio State University, faculty and staff were able to respond quickly by learning new methods and technologies to meet the needs of Ohioans in research and Extension.

Indeed 2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fruit research projects and Extension programs at OSU South Centers were no exception. The following is a look back at our small fruit program in 2020, as told by Dr. Gary Gao and Research Assistant Ryan Slaughter.

Research
We managed to complete all the proposed objectives of our three funded projects in 2020. Our bramble, hardy fig, and hardy kiwi specialty crop block grant project was quite rewarding. The block grant was funded by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. We were able to produce delicious Chicago Hardy and Brown Turkey variety figs in the field and high tunnel. It is even more fulfilling that some of the growers were able to grow hardy figs and market them to consumers in Ohio. Some of the new bramble cultivars trialed in our project also showed a lot of potential. With the help of our grant funds, we were able to create a learning lab of these fruit crops to help us conduct more dynamic Extension programs for growers and gardeners in the years to come.
Our multistate project on intelligent sprayer technology through the USDA was also highly successful. Dr. Heping Zhu (USDA, the overall Principle Investigator for the project) and Dr. Peter Lin (OSU Project Investigator, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering) provided excellent leadership to this project. We conducted the validation studies at the blueberry patch near Lexington, Ohio, and the Klingshirn Winery near Avon Lake. Many growers across the country have adopted the technology for their orchards (apple, citrus, peach, and pecan), vineyards, blueberry plantings, nurseries, and greenhouses. According to a report online by Sue Kendall, USDA ARS Office of Communications: 

“Field tests demonstrated that this new technology can provide pest and disease control that is equivalent to conventional spray systems while reducing spray drift by up to 87 percent, ground loss by up to 90 percent, and pesticide use between 30 percent and 85 percent, thereby resulting in annual chemical savings of $56 to $812 per acre, depending on crop types. This cost saving does not include labor and fuel. Smart Guided Systems, LLC, in Indianapolis, IN, commercialized the intelligent spray-control system in 2019 under the name “Smart-Apply.” Citrus, apple, grape, pecan, and nursery growers in the United States and other countries are now upgrading their sprayers with the commercial product. The pesticide-waste reduction made possible by the intelligent sprayer system is better for ecosystems and saves growers money, thus offering a sustainable and environmentally responsible approach to protecting crops.” 

Visit this URL for the full article: ars.usda.gov/oc/dof/precision-sprayer-benefits-growers-and-the-environment. Growers are also encouraged to check out smartapply.com for information on purchasing kits to retrofit their sprayer or purchasing a new fully fitted sprayer.  

Our third funded project was a Viticulture Extension project through the Ohio Grape Industries Committee (OGIC). Our project members provided timely information to grape growers throughout Ohio (ohiograpeweb.cfaes.ohio-state.edu). We also offered workshops in various formats. One of our biggest accomplishments was the 2020 Ohio Grape and Wine Conference. This pre-pandemic, two-day conference drew several hundred attendees with many presentations, a large trade show, and tastings of Ohio wines. Dr. Gary Gao served on the planning committee for this conference while Ryan Slaughter served as a moderator for viticulture sessions. Dr. Gao also conducted quite a few virtual vineyard visits as a part of the 2020 Ohio Vineyard Expansion Program. It was good to see that the grape and wine industry is alive and well. For more information on the Ohio grape and wine industry, check out findohiowines.com. You will be amazed by how much our industry contributes to Ohio’s economy and how many jobs it generates.   

Extension Programs at South Centers and Beyond
We offered the 2020 Fruit Pruning Workshop on March 12, 2020. It was our last in-person workshop before COVID-19 restrictions kicked in. We were able to put our demonstration research plots to full use as a part of our hands-on pruning demonstration. We also brought in a few plants and tree branches as a part of our “show and tell.” Little did we know that would be our last in-person program for the year. 

Our annual Fruit Field Night was revamped and turned into “2020 Fall Fruit Research Updates with Q&A.” This program was offered on September 9, 2020. The program drew nearly 100 registrants, with a large percentage of them attended the program live on Zoom, while others watched the recorded program later at their leisure. The program featured pre-recorded videos, live presentations, and a question and answer segment. 

Dr. Gao gave two talks on brambles and grapes as a part of the virtual “Ag. Madness” through OSU Extension’s Ag. Natural Resources program area. He also gave talks to gardeners and master gardeners in several counties through Zoom. Dr. Gao and Slaughter also gave a presentation each for the 2020 Virtual Farm Science Review (FSR) presented by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. Over the years, FSR has drawn hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. The Virtual FSR was well attended as well. We are just very glad that we made our contributions to this program. 

Extension and Research Publications
We have put quite a bit of effort into developing our website, fact sheets, and videos. You can check out our fruit web pages at southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/fruits. Bradford Sherman, Slaughter, and Gao have spent a lot of time over the years to make them look good. Quite a few growers and gardeners have found us online through our website. It is also interesting to note that our web pages on gooseberries and currants, and blackberries received the most hits among all web pages, excluding the home page, at South Centers.

Two new OSU Extension fact sheets on figs and kiwis were developed and published in 2020.

The “Growing Hardy Figs in Ohio” fact sheet can be found online at ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1439 The “Kiwifruit and Hardy Kiwi (Kiwiberries)” fact sheet can be found online at ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1426 We certainly hope these fact sheets are useful to you.   

Dr. Gao is very happy to report that he co-authored a paper titled “Accumulation of Anthocyanins and Other Phytochemicals in American Elderberry Cultivars during Fruit Ripening and its Impact on Color Expression” in Plants 2020, 9(12), 1721; (doi.org/10.3390/plants9121721). He was a co-correspondence author with Dr. Monica Giusti of the Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University. Ms. Yucheng Zhou is the lead author and a Ph.D. student of Food Science and Technology at OSU.  

We recorded a few videos before COVID-19 hit. You can Google Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter to view our YouTube videos on fruit growing. With the help of our grant dollars, we were able to get a few more pieces of video recording equipment. Hopefully, we will get to record more in the field when the pandemic is over.

A lot of growers have also emailed us or talked to us over the phone or Zoom. We were able to provide timely advice to growers about the spring freezes and frosts, cultivar selection, fertilization, fruit harvest, grafting techniques, irrigation, nuisance wildlife management, trellising, and other fruit crop management techniques. It is also great to see that a few growers planted blackberries and blueberries. We are certainly grateful for the grants from Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Grape Industries Committee, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is very rewarding for us to see that the fruit industry in Ohio is diverse and resilient. We are glad to be able help it grow.
 

By Dr. Gary Gao
Professor and Extension Specialist

This year has been quite challenging in many ways; COVID-19, obviously, is one of those. As you read this article, I hope it finds you healthy and that conditions are improving where you live. COVID-19 is an invisible enemy and we need to work together to defeat it. 

Another challenge in 2020 was the crazy weather. Fruit production can be quite dependent on weather conditions and spring frost and freezes did hurt some of the fruit crops. Fortunately, some crops came through well, considering what has happened this year. As we try to put the 2020 in rearview mirror, here are some things we have learned and done.

• Remote Learning can be quite effective. Admittedly, I was not that excited about using this tool known as Zoom initially, but quickly realized that remote learning would be around for a while. With some serious training, I learned how to use it effectively. We hosted a Fruit Research Update with Live Q&A. More than 90 people had registered for the class. A few of them attended the program live while others watched at their leisure as an “on-demand” option. Overall, it was a success. We will keep tweaking our programs to make our future programs more engaging. Our upcoming programs will include the annual Fruit Pruning Workshop, as well as a Blueberry School and Bramble School.
• OSU’s Farm Science Review went virtual this year as well. I gave a presentation on blackberry production that went very well. I heard the entire program was quite successful. I, like all of you, do miss the interactions with growers, gardeners, colleagues, and friends.
• OSU Master Gardener State Conference was offered online too. I gave a presentation on raspberry production in the home gardens. Master Gardener volunteers have a special place in my heart; they are very eager to learn and help.

On a more personal front, I have been serving as a University Senator for about two years now. It has been very interesting to attend the senate meetings to learn about the operation of The Ohio State University. As a part of my university senator duties, I served on the Committee for Evaluation of Central Administration. We evaluated Kris Devine and her office last year. Ms. Devine is the Vice President of Operations and Deputy Chief Financial Officer. Here is her website: busfin.osu.edu/people/kristine-devine.

I was quite impressed by their achievements and all of the work that went into what they do. Our committee also made a few suggestions in a committee report on behalf of the faculty council and the university senate. For the year 2020-2021, we will be evaluating Ms. Stacy Rastauskas, Vice President for Government Affairs. Here is her website: oaa.osu.edu/rastauskas-stacy. I am chairing this panel and looking forward to this important task.
If you need to reach me, e-mail is the best way, as I check it regularly. My address is gao.2@osu.edu. With questions through e-mail, I can give you a more detailed and educated answer. Cell phone works well too. I can always give you a call the conventional way. Another way to connect is to schedule a virtual farm visit using Zoom. I have done quite a few of these already, and they have been fun and informative. Call or email me if you would like to schedule one.

In the meantime, stay healthy and safe!

By Brad Bergefurd
Horticulture Extension Specialist

One of the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was the wildly popular NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, simply referred to by many as March Madness. In the spirit of that event, “Agriculture and Natural Resources Madness: A Tournament of Education” (Ag Madness) was born.

Faced with the challenge of continuing to deliver programming in the midst of travel restrictions and Governor Mike DeWine’s stay at home order, Ohio State University South Centers specialists moved quickly to modify how they teach and assist clientele.  Specialists began making themselves available electronically via social media, teleconferences, email, postal mail, phone calls and texting. Virtual farm and business visits, client counseling, and plant diagnostics have become the norm over the past 30 days.

One of the largest and most successful ways specialists have been delivering programming has been Ag Madness. It is a virtual training platform organized by OSU Extension that includes 64 educational events broken into daily brackets. Each day, a virtual educational session is held at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. The education tournament is provided free of charge and will likely continue until mid-May. 

South Centers specialists Christie Welch, Gary Gao, and Brad Bergefurd taught topics on direct marketing, online marketing, drive-thru farmers markets, selling food to schools, strawberry, blackberry, apple, and hemp production, plasticulture and drip irrigation to help train and prepare farmers for the upcoming growing and marketing season. The hemp training has been one of the largest attended trainings to date with 1,115 participants.  

If you missed these virtual trainings, recordings can be viewed by going to https://agnr.osu.edu/events/agriculture-and-natural-resources-madness/fu... and clicking on watch replay button. 

By Dr. Gary Gao
Professor and Extension Specialist

The year 2019, the 25th at The Ohio State University for Dr. Gary Gao, has been a fruitful one for the newly-minted professor and his small fruits program at South Centers in Piketon in the areas of Extension, research, international collaboration, and professional service.

“Our Extension programs and presentations reached more than 900 people though direct contacts and thousands more through newspaper articles, online videos, and Facebook updates,” said Gao.

“Our research efforts led to several promising blueberry rootstocks for Ohio and beyond. We identified at least 10 highly promising cultivars for Ohio growers to expand their acreage and diversify their farming operations through our cultivar trails. Both of their Extension and research efforts help create and/or retain jobs, mitigate risks, and improve profitability of a fruit industry that faces many challenges in Ohio. “
Dr. Gao’s international collaboration has brought four visiting scholars, one from Brazil and three from China.  

Gao has served as a University senator at The Ohio State University and a national Vice Chair for the National Association of County Agricultural Agents.

More information of these highlights from the past year and outlined below.

Extension
Gao and his fruit Extension and research team members conducted three major outreach programs: the Blueberry, Bramble, and Wine Grape Pruning School on March 14; Fall Fruit Field Night on October 10; and the Grape and Wine Analysis Workshop on December 5, 2019 at OSU South Centers in Piketon. 

Dr. Gao served as a planning committee member for the Ohio Grape and Wine Conference and the OPGMA Produce Network (Congress) that were heled in Dublin.  Dr. Gao also gave presentations at a few programs across the state including the Columbus Dispatch Home and Garden Show (February 9), Fruit and Vegetable Program for GreenStar Coop (February 28), Fruit Pruning and Training (March 9), Small Farm College (March 30), Southwest Ohio Perennial Flower School (April 11), Extension Sustainable Ag. Tour (June 26), and the Butler County MG Fruit Training (October 30). 

Ryan Slaughter, a member of the fruit extension and research team, gave a presentation on container fruit production at the 2019 Farm Science Review. Dr. Gao also wrote two trade magazine articles for the American Fruit Grower magazine and contributed more than 10 YouTube videos with the help of Duane Rigsby and Sarah Swanson at South Centers. 

Research
Several funded projects were carried out in southern Ohio (Piketon), central Ohio (Columbus), and northern Ohio (Avon Lake and Mansfield) over the course of the past year.  Gao submitted the final report for his grafted blueberry rootstock project, four quarterly reports and an annual report for the viticulture Extension project, an annual report for the bramble and hardy fig and kiwi project, and an annual report for the intelligent sprayer project.  

Through their research efforts, they were able to identify some promising rootstock selections and cultivars, cold hardy fig and hardy kiwi cultivars, and several new bramble cultivars.  Gao has several manuscripts in preparation as the senior author and had one paper published in the February issue of Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38230-x) as a co-author.

International Collaboration
Dr. Gao welcomed Dr. Jiuxing Lu, a faculty member of the Forest College of Henan Agricultural University, to South Centers in May 2019.  Dr. Lu has been actively involved in all small fruit research projects and several

Extension programs.  
Three of Gao’s visiting scholars, Yanliang Chu (Jiangsu University of Science and Technology in China), Ricardo Bordignon Medina (ESALQ/USP in Brazil), and Dr. Pengfei Wang (Shanxi Agricultural University in China) have completed a highly successful one-year training at The Ohio State University and returned their respective home countries in 2019.  

Gao also gave several Extension presentations, guest lectures, and research updates as a part of his international collaboration with faculty members of Henan Agricultural University and Shanxi Agricultural University in China.

Professional Service
Dr. Gao started his three year term as a university senator and served on the Evaluation of Central Administration Committee as a member of Faculty Council for The Ohio State University.  He also served on the SEEDs panel for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.  

As a graduate faculty with PhD advising status, Gao served as a graduate faculty representative for a PhD final exam on April 29, and attended a committee meeting on December 5 as a member of Piao Yang’s PhD committee. 

Dr. Gao also delivered gave a guest lecture for a HCS class on November 20 in Columbus. 

Lastly, Gao served as the National Vice Chair of the Professional Excellence for the North Central Region for the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. He also reviewed manuscripts for the Journal of Extension, Agronomy Journal (MDPI), and Atmosphere (MDPI). 

Dr. Gary Gao
Professor and Extension Specialist

Dr. Jiuxing “Lulu” Lu, an instructor of Horticulture from Henan Agricultural University in Zhengzhou, China, joined Dr. Gary Gao’s extension and research team in May.
 
Dr. Lu teaches botany courses and conducts research on Chinese tree peony in the College of Landscape Horticulture of Henan Agricultural University.  She will participate in Dr. Gao’s fruit extension and research projects across the state of Ohio, attend programs at the Chadwick Arboretum in Columbus, be involved in some of the activities of the Ohio Master gardener volunteer program, and learn about American culture, history, and language.

When you see Dr. Lu, please introduce yourself to her. She goes by Lulu. The entire team is enjoying Lulu’s enthusiasm for just about everything; she always has a smile on her face. Lulu is actively involved in the intelligent sprayer project in Mansfield, Ohio and blueberry projects at OSU South Centers in Piketon.

She received her PhD from Beijing Forestry University, and earned her master’s and bachelor’s degree from Henan Agricultural University. She is originally from Henan Province, which is located in central China.

Lulu enjoys interacting with our staff and summer interns. She will stay in the United States for one year.  “I am very excited to have her on our team, and look forward to a very productive year,” Gao said of his newest visiting scholar.

By Dr. Gary Gao
Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

Growing blueberries in Ohio has been a challenging proposition for both commercial growers and backyard gardeners.  This is because blueberries require an acidic pH of 4.5, high organic matter of 4-7%, and excellent drainage.  Idea blueberry soils look like a sandy beach with high organic matter content and readily available water.  Only a few selected places, such as northern Indiana, northwest Michigan, Hammonton in New Jersey, northeast North Carolina, and Willemette Valley in Oregon, have ideal conditions for blueberries.  We are still trying very hard to mimic those ideal blueberry grounds with acidifying soil by applying elemental sulfur, increasing soil organic matter content through addition of peat moss or aged sawduct, and by building raised beds.

If you are thinking about growing blueberries commercially, you may want to get a copy of the Midwest Blueberry Production Guide available online: www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id210/id210.pdf  

If you want to purchase a hardy copy of the bulletin, visit: southcenters.osu.edu/news/midwest-blueberry-production-guide for more information.  A limited number of copies are available.

If you want to grow blueberry in a home garden, you may want to check out this fact sheet at OSU Extension’s OhioLine: ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-1422 or check the OSU South Centers blueberry page: southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/fruits/blueberries.

Grafting Blueberries
We are working on cold hardy and alkaline soil tolerant blueberry rootstocks.  We are seeing some promising selections, but we still need a lot of patience.  Our team members Ricardo Medina, Ryan Slaughter, and Pengfei Wang gathered together in April to work on blueberry grafting.  Our team is certainly looking forward to grafted blueberry trees from our research project, and is very grateful for the financial support of a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Growing Blueberries in Containers – More of a Reality than Fiction
It is so exciting to see the beautiful blooms on blueberry bushes in containers.  After three years of trials and tribulations, we are getting really good at growing blueberries in pots.  The container size is 10 gallons.  Blueberry production is not terribly hard, after all.  If you are thinking about doing this commercially, feel free to visit our trial plots at OSU South Centers in Piketon.  Either Ryan Slaughter or Dr. Gary Gao can give a demonstration or we can compare notes.  
Some of the suggested blueberry cultivars for container production include Blue Gold, Draper, Legacy, Nelson, and Sweetheart.  Each of these flowers should turn into a blueberry, as long as honeybees or bumble bees do their part.

Recording, Editing, and Publishing Videos
Gao and Slaughter, along with video producers Duane Rigsby and Sarah Swanson, have been working on recording videos on fruit production.  Gao says his program has a great team in place to produce this kind of education content, and hopes to produce quite a few videos.

“I jokingly told our folks that one of my career goals is to star in at least one fruit production video that draws one million views,” Gao said. “ A few days ago, my research assistant Ryan Slaughter took my message to heart and recorded one fun and educational videos with Duane.  He told me that the video on total blueberry renovation with a chainsaw drew more than 500 hundred views in one day.”  

Follow this link for the video on the South Centers’ YouTube Page at youtube.com/watch?v=Sxpn29w0TZE 

“It is a lot of fun to watch,” Gao continued. “I shared Ryan’s video on Facebook myself – I wonder if this video will go viral?  

“I will be happy and jealous at the same time.  It is very possible that Ryan’s video will reach the one million mark before mine,” he exclaimed.

By Brad Bergefurd, Thom Harker, Charissa Gardner, Wayne Lewis, Ryan Slaughter, Zach Zientek, and Becky Colon

Since The Ohio State University South Centers began hops research and educational programming in 2012, more than 100 farmers have become attracted to hop growing due to the continued demand for Ohio-grown hops from the craft brewing industry, and the high value crop opportunity hops offer to small acreage landowners.

Decades after disease and prohibition wiped out hops production in the Midwestern United States, Ohio’s hop acreage is making a comeback, rising to 200 acres from roughly 10 acres in 2012, according to Brad Bergefurd, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator and Horticulture Specialist with the OSU Extension in Scioto County and at South Centers in Piketon. 

Hops can cost $10,000 or $20,000 per acre to plant, according to university crop production budgets and research. An Ohio brewer, consumer, and hop farmer survey – conducted by the Ohio Hops Growers Guild and partially funded through a grant by the South Centers USDA Cooperative Development Center – indicated over recent years that breweries in Ohio want to buy local. Just as with all local direct agricultural marketing opportunities in Ohio, brewers want to put a face with the farmer growing their hops, which is a big selling point for Ohio brewers. The hop farmers survey results indicated that nearly every hop grower in the state intends to plant more hops in the near future. 

To advocate for, and educate, the state’s hop farmers, roughly 70 growers have joined the Ohio Hops Growers Guild, which released a set of standards for a seal of quality for hop growers to help guarantee high quality and food safe hops continue to be produced for Ohio craft breweries. If a brewer has a bad experience with poor quality hops because the farmer does not manage their crop properly, it hurts hop growers in general, just like someone who makes lousy beer taints the entire industry.
Hops production is no get-rich-quick endeavor, according to research conducted by Bergefurd and the OSU Hops Research and Education team. It costs more than $10,000, and more than $20,000 for some farms, per acre to plant and the crop doesn’t produce a full crop until year three.

Bergefurd and the other members of the OSU Hops Research and Education team have been conducting the development program since 2013 when they received USDA grant funding from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and planted the first hop research trials on record at The Ohio State University. According to Bergefurd, “as with any type of farming, if there’s a market to be had, we want to teach our farmers to be aware of the opportunity and see if it fits their farming operations.
“There’s a lot of infrastructure and upfront costs before you get the first dollar back,” Bergefurd added. “I always warn those interested – do not underestimate the hand and stoop labor that is required.”

Hops cannot be harvested with a tractor. They grow on large 20-foot-tall trellises made of aircraft cable and poles similar to telephone poles, so the plants must be harvested by hand, removed from the hop yard, and then a large picker is used to mechanically remove the hop cones form the plant. Plus, hops require precisely timed harvesting. “They’ll go from not being ready to too far gone within a matter of three or four days, weather-dependent,” Bergefurd explained. “Farmers get caught off guard by not having the labor to get it done in a timely manner.”

Hops quality is normally verified using laboratory wet chemistry methods that require reagents such as toluene, but these methods can be time-consuming and affect the cycle time of a facility. Due to the importance of harvest timing, and to ensure a high quality crop for brewers, in 2018 the South Centers began a research partnership with an international, Ohio-based company, Eurofins QTA, a subsidiary of Eurofins Scientific located near Cincinnati that has developed technology that provides a method of hop analysis which allows for hops to be tested for multiple parameters, such as alpha and beta acids, in 60 seconds using the latest in infrared technology – compared to three days to collect, mail, and test hops in a laboratory setting currently.

 This enhanced hop quality analytics equipment and procedures will allow farmers to determine prime harvest times quicker, and that can lead to increased hop quality for brewers. This new hop analysis technology was installed in the recently built hop and small fruit quality analysis lab at OSU South Centers in 2018. Preliminary test data from quality analytics of hops harvested from the OSU hop research yards and from farmer-cooperator hop yards indicates that this new technology can provide similar results to the current laboratory hop testing procedures, but within minutes instead of days. 

“By all accounts, the demand for hops is expected to continue to grow. So long as the brewing industry keeps pouring, bottling, and canning more craft ale, there should be a market for Ohio-grown hops,” says Bergefurd.

By Dr. Gary Gao
Ph.D., Associate Professor and Extension Specialist OSU South Centers 
and Ricardo Medina
Visiting Scholar OSU South Centers and Ph.D. Student, University of São Paulo

If you have time to stop by the greenhouses behind Howlett Hall on the CFAES campus of The Ohio State University, you will likely see a compartment of raspberry plants under some pink/purple LED lights.  The project is being conducted by the visiting scholar Ricardo Medina of Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, and is a joint project of Dr. Gary Gao’s fruit production systems research and Dr. Chieri Kubota’s controlled environment research.

Below is the brief summary of Medina’s Research Project:

Low temperatures and limited amounts of sunlight during autumn and winter time can be limiting factors for raspberry production in higher latitudes, especially inside greenhouses where the transmittance of light can be very low. 
Usually, plants in the field lose their leaves and go through dormancy; since many chilling hours are necessary for the buds to overcome dormancy, their harvest period is concentrated in summer, when the prices paid for the fruit are the lowest. 
The experiment consists of growing raspberries in greenhouse conditions, using containers with substrates and intercanopy LED lights as supplemental lighting. With the warm temperature inside the greenhouse and the supplemental light provided by LED light bars, it is expected that the plants will not go through dormancy. 

The experiment has three different treatments considering the light intensity including: two layers of LED interlighting bars, a single layer of LED interlighting bar, and no artificial light. In addition, two cultivars with different fruiting habits are being tested. Plants will be tested for growth rate, harvest period, yield, and fruit quality in terms of marketable parameters, but also nutritional quality such as phenolic compounds content and antioxidant activities.

Medina got a chance to sit in on Dr. Chieri Kubota’s Lecture on Controlled Environment.  He also showcased his research project to the students of HCS 3200.  

Here is the summary by Medina:

The lecture presented by Dr. Chieri Kubota was addressed to the HCS 3200 – Horticultural Science class. Dr. Kubota was introduced to the students by Dr. Wendy Klooster at 10 a.m. and started her presentation focusing on controlled environment production systems, such as greenhouse (GH) and indoor production. She brought the key components required for each system and did some comparisons between those systems and the open field method for lettuce production, with data on spacing, yield, energy spent, total cost, and cost per unit produced – ending in a conclusion that indoor farming and greenhouse production can have an initial cost higher than open field, but due to a higher yield (units of lettuce head per area), the final cost per unit represents no more than 15% of increase compared to the open field system. This small increase in the cost may be overcome by a higher selling price when well-advertised that the product comes from controlled environment production, being a pesticide-free product (when that is the case).

The manipulation of the environment was presented by Dr. Kubota in many aspects including hydroponics systems, management of light quantity and quality, and CO2 concentration. The light quality can be manipulated using LED lights, where you can deliver to plants the exact wavelengths combination you want, once LED lights are a monochromatic source of light. Combinations of red and blue lights have been studied for many leafy greens, and more recently, for tomatoes and other crops. Other advantages of LED lights include less heat emission and the higher light use efficiency, with a better conversion of energy consumption to energy use in photosynthesis. Also, the CO2 can be manipulated to enhance tomato production up to 20% and leafy greens up to 50% when increasing CO2 content from 400 ppm (current air concentration) to 800 – 1,000 ppm.

Dr. Kubota gave some examples of successful greenhouse and indoor farming in Ohio, New ork City, Boston, and Tokyo. She also discussed future applications in controlled environment production with the use of drones and image recognition for real-time data collection in terms of the nutritional, pathological, and physiological status of the crop. She concluded her presentation willing a better interaction in between companies as well as academia, and suggests an open communication platform to share knowledge and technologies for indoor and greenhouse controlled environment production.

Following the presentation, a tour with students was conducted by Dr. Kubota, Mark Kroggel, and Medina at the Howlett greenhouse facilities. The tour began with strawberry production in a soilless system, where Kroggel explained how they grow strawberries using trophy and substrate, with supplemental LED lights over the canopy of the plants. The students asked questions about cultivars, sunlight radiation, disposition, and spacing of the trophies. 
The tour continued to the greenhouse where a raspberry production system is being tested. There, Medina explained to the students his project, consisting of growing raspberries in containers using intercanopy LED lights to make plants avoid dormancy, and the effects of the system in the plant growth, harvest period, yield, and fruit quality in terms of marketable parameters and nutritional quality. Students asked questions about plant dormancy, light treatments applied, and comparison to the traditional raspberry production system. This project is part of Dr. Gary Gao’s small fruit projects in collaboration with Dr. Kubota. 

The last greenhouse visited was the teaching greenhouse, where undergrad students can learn how to grow leafy greens, vining crops, and have the opportunity to understand different hydroponics systems. 

Acknowledgements:  We would like to than Dr. Abhay Thosar, a senior Plant Specialist of Horticulture LED for Signify (signify.com/en-us) in United States and Canada for the generous donation of LED lights used in the study.  Their global brands are Philips (lighting.philips.com/main/products/horticulture/language-selector) and Interact (interact-lighting.com/global) Stay tuned for more exciting results from this project! Please visit southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/fruits for more information on Dr. Gary Gao’s research projects and extensive activities.

By Gary Gao, PhD
Extension Specialist and Associate Professor OSU South Centers

Dr. Gary Gao, co-leader of the Center for Specialty Crops at OSU South Centers, is very happy to announce that Dr. Pengfei Wang and Mr. Ricardo Bordignon Medina have joined the fruit research and extension team.

Dr. Wang is an associate professor of pomology at the College of Horticulture of Shanxi Agricultural University in Taigu, Shanxi, China, where he has been conducting breeding research on Chinese dwarf cherries and also teaches pomology classes.
He received his PhD, MS, and BS from Shanxi Agricultural University and has many years of knowledge and experience working in fruit science.  

Dr. Wang will be involved in all of the fruit research projects at South Centers with a focus on on blueberries, elderberries, and wine grapes.
Medina is currently a PhD candidate of Plant Physiology and biochemistry at University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. 

He also brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in fruit science to the fruit program.  Medina received a MS in Horticulture, working on blueberries for his MS research.  He also received his BS in agronomic engineering and studied citrus at the University of Florida.  

Medina will conduct several research projects on raspberries while he is at The Ohio State University.  He first found Gao while searching for raspberry research and extension programs in the United States.  He has also done quite a bit of extension work in Brazil.  He organized workshops for commercial growers and students.

“I am very excited to have both as members of our team,” said Gao. “Both Dr. Wang and Mr. Medina will be staying with us for one year.”

Medina was borne in Campinas, São Paulo. He likes many sports including basketball, football (soccer), and volleyball.  He also likes plants, fruits, and travel and has two brothers and two sisters.

Dr. Wang is married and has two daughters. 

By Brad Bergefurd
Horticulture Specialist

Ohio hops growers experienced continued strong market demand in 2017 for locally grown hops, with many reporting being sold out before the end of 2017, and the demand is not likely to decline soon with almost 300 breweries operating (or soon to be) in Ohio.

The Ohio State University South Centers, in cooperation with the Ohio Hop Growers Guild for the fifth year in a row, held another sold-out Ohio Hops Conference and Trade Show at the OSU South Centers at Piketon on March 23 and 24. The goal of the event was to help new and experienced growers learn the newest hop production techniques, and network with over 200 hop growers in attendance, as well as 20 hop industry vendors and exhibitors, who showcased the latest in hop technology and innovations.

This year’s Conference included an Ohio brewers panel, whose members either currently are, or are interested in, purchasing Ohio-grown hops.  These brewers included A Butcher and a Brewer from Cleveland and the Portsmouth Brewing Company from Portsmouth. The panel included a tasting of Ohio beers brewed with state-grown ingredients.  

For the first time, we incorporated a bus tour to southern Ohio hop farms, which included the only certified organic hop farm in Ohio and a tour of a newly constructed and operating hop processing, drying, pelletizing, and packaging operation in Georgetown.  Attendees were able to tour the hop fields of these growers and gain knowledge from them on various techniques for growing this specialty crop.  

The event also featured hop experts with Ohio State University Extension, OARDC and OSU South Centers, University of Kentucky, Michigan, and other agriculture industry professionals.  Attendees also participated in hands-on field training and activities in the hop yards at the South Centers. These trainings included drip irrigation design, trellis construction, mobile drying, mechanical harvesting, and fertigation techniques. 

For more information on the Ohio Hops program and the 2019 Ohio Hop Conference, contact Brad Bergefurd at 740-289-2071, ext.136 or bergefurd.1@osu.edu, or Charissa Gardner at 740-289-2071, ext. 132 gardner.1148@osu.edu.

By: Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist

Ohio Craft Brewers asked Brad Bergefurd if farmers in Ohio grew hops as they were seeking local suppliers of fresh hops to expand the diversity of locally produced brews using Ohio hops. These new brews include high value Wet-hopped harvest ales never produced in the past. Seeing this agriculture opportunity for Ohio, as a project PI and co-PI, Horticulture Extension Specialist Brad Bergefurd acquired Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA Specialty Crop Block grant funding partnering with faculty in the Departments of Entomology and Plant Pathology to develop an Ohio hops education and research program, “Hop Production to Enhance Economic Opportunities for Ohio Farmers & Brewers”. The project allowed the OSU South Centers Specialty Crops Team to conduct field research and educational programming and three locations throughout Ohio.

Partnering with 14 County Ag/NR Educators, Bergefurd and the Specialty Crops Team have taught over 2,000 landowners at regional programs and authored 5 technical reports and fact sheets on the potential of growing hops as a specialty crop for Ohio’s $13.2 billion craft brewing industry. Working with the USDA Cooperative Development Center to form a hop growers association (Ohio Hop Growers Guild, OHGG.org).

As of fall 2017, 72 Ohio farmers report having planted about200 acres of hops, up from 4 acres in 2011, with an estimated annual farm gate crop sales value of $10 million. With this new local Ohio hop supply, Ohio breweries have begun using Ohio grown hops to produce a high-valued seasonal Wet-hopped Harvest Ale using wet hop cones delivered to Ohio breweries within hours of being picked by local hop growers. Harvest ales are an impossibly aromatic and bright IPA brew bursting with fresh pine, melon and citrus notes. Fresh hops are a high value specialty crop which demands a price premium 4x dried hop market value. Ohio brewers are now producing fresh-hopped Ohio ales using locally grown hops with an annual estimated retail value of over $5 million.

By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources

Thanks to support from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant, and the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program that funded research exploring season extension production techniques, Ohio strawberry growers are profiting from adopting strawberry production technology based on research at the OSU South Centers.

Southern Ohio strawberry growers, south of I-70 and down to the Ohio River reported some of the best harvests in 2017 they can recall, achieving yields of almost 2 quarts per plant on some farms.

Strawberry market demand continues to grow and be strong in Ohio. Consumer demand at local farmers markets and farm markets continues to out-pace production. Consumer interest in “Pick-Your-Own” also continues to grow with most of this market demand peaking on weekends, for this is a form of “Agritainment” that families are wanting to experience. This weekend-only interest does make it necessary to have alternative weekday options to market strawberries. Demand is also strong for Ohio-grown strawberries at Ohio produce auctions and direct marketing to Ohio wholesaler buyers with many wholesale markets establishing “Buy Local” marketing campaigns to fulfill demand for local produce. Retail prices for the 2017 season ranged from $4 to $6 a quart pre-picked and $2.20 to $2.50 a pound for pick-your-own berries. The reported wholesale prices ranged from $2.25 to $3.85 a quart. Retail and wholesale prices are up from 2016, but growers report no consumer complaints.

Season extension production techniques continue to be explored and adopted to fulfill individual farm market demands. Though matted row production continues to be the main method, plasticulture production has been widely adopted to compliment the matted row system by providing a 3- to 4-week earlier harvest, which then leads into the later matted row harvest allowing farms to capture the consumer demand and a longer season with up to 12 weeks of cash flow. Ohio research continues and some farms are adopting greenhouse, high tunnel and/or summer day-neutral production to capture even more of the strong market demand. Growers that are harvesting and marketing day-neutral varieties through the summer and fall months are reporting great market demand and retail prices of $5 to $6 a pint. This summer production has complimented diversified farms that also produce and market summer-time fruit and vegetables. Growers who have adopted greenhouse and tunnel production for later harvest report the biggest issue being management of the Spotted Wing Drosophila and achieving economically feasible yields to cover the increased costs and management of these protected production systems. University and on-farm research is being performed to continue to refine these potential production systems for Ohio.

Weather was either the Ohio strawberry grower’s friend or foe in 2017. The very mild winter resulted in very little to no reported winter damage to plasticulture strawberry plants, that never go 100% dormant and are more prone to freeze damage than matted row. Weather was the southern Ohio grower’s friend when the spring warmed up earlier than normal, resulting in earlier bloom and harvest beginning the last two weeks in April, some of the earliest reported harvest dates ever. Spring frosts and freezing temperatures had to be managed some with row covers and sprinkler irrigation, but there were not many sleepless nights. Throughout harvest, rainfall was heavy in some areas resulting in some flooding making it difficult to get timely and frequent fungicide applications made. Some southern farms reported Botrytis outbreaks toward the tail end of harvest, due to rains during late bloom, or they would have picked even longer. There were also isolated reports of Leather Rot especially in northern areas where rainfall amounts were much heavier during initial bloom and lasted throughout the bloom period, resulting in field flooding and ponding and major crop damage and loss for some farms, especially in Northeast Ohio.    

Mechanical harvest aids are being adopted by more and more Ohio farms to increase harvest labor efficiency and increase the speed of harvest. Those that have adopted these harvest aids are reporting major savings in labor costs, as they are able to perform timely harvests with less labor. There also is continued research in mechanical harvesting techniques by Ohio engineering companies who showcased prototypes of mechanical harvesting robots at this year’s Strawberry Field Night held at the OSU Piketon Research & Extension Center in May and at several strawberry farms throughout Ohio. To keep up with market demand, mechanical harvesting options will need to be explored as seasonal labor becomes harder to find.  

The 2018 harvest season is looking good so far with high quality strawberry tips arriving from Canada and Nova Scotia the end of July showing no reported signs of disease or quality issues at this point. There were some 7- to 10-day delays in shipments from these northern Canada and Nova Scotia nurseries due to cool temperatures that delayed harvest of runner tips. The weather throughout August was great for on-farm and plug plant propagation by nurseries that have started growing plug plants for this growing market. There was not an overabundance of plug plants, because most nurseries plant on a pre-order basis, which made it difficult for growers that had not pre-ordered plants to find the plants they needed, resulting in them having to decrease acreage. Plant propagation nurseries reported an increase in plant orders. September weather allowed for timely planting of plasticulture strawberries with great plant stands and growth being reported. So far September and October weather has been a “Carolina” type of fall so flower bud initiation and branch crown development has been good so far.

A tri-state strawberry growers cooperative, including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia farms continues to be researched with a core group of growers forming a steering committee in 2016 to explore the feasibility of forming a cooperative and/or association. This committee meets several times a year in conjunction with strawberry field days or conferences. If you are interested in what this cooperative may be able to do for your operation, contact founding member Danny VanMeter at VanMeter Family Farm 164 Old Peonia Loop Rd., Clarkson, KY 42726, Phone: 270-963-2320 or Brad Bergefurd at 740-289-2071 Ext. 136 or Dr. John Strang at University of Kentucky Dept. of Horticulture, N-318 Ag. Sci. Bldg. North, Lexington, KY 40546-0091 Phone: 859-257-5685 or Email: jstrang@uky.edu.

By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist

In 1994 the Piketon Research & Extension Center began high tunnel research on tomato and berry crops. Since that time over 3,000 high tunnels have been adopted by fruit and vegetable growers as a way to extend the harvest season. However, continuous cropping of high tunnels with specialty crops is resulting in reduced yields and quality of tomato crops. Partnering with Dr. Sally Miller of the OSU/OARDC Plant Pathology Department and her Vegetable Pathology Lab, USDA funding was received in 2016 to conduct on-farm research that explores soil-borne disease control methods.

Partnering with the Zimmerman family who owns Spring Valley Farm in Cynthiana, Ohio, this on-farm research trial was established in 2016 to conduct research and outreach programs to reduce the impact of soilborne diseases on production of locally grown, high-value vegetable crops. Two disease management strategies, anaerobic soil disinfestation and grafting, are being  optimized for Ohio farms and farmers are being educated on these technologies through specially designed workshops and trainings. Data being collected form this study is being used to develop a new soil diagnostic testing service to identify key soilborne diseases.

By Gary Gao, Ph.D., Extension Small Fruit Specialist and Associate Professor, OSU South Centers

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science

Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant, OSU South Centers

2016 was a busy and productive year for our specialty fruit crops horticulture program area. We conducted Extension and outreach programs for commercial fruit growers, revised fact sheets for consumers, conducted applied research projects, received new grants, and participated in international activities.

Extension Outreach:

Three key educational programs were offered at OSU South Centers in Piketon. They were the Ohio Super Berry and Wine Grape Workshop in March, Ohio Super Berry, Container Fruit Production and Wine Grape Field Night in July, and Wine Grape Analysis Work in December. Our research and demonstration plots were featured at all of these programs in addition to classroom presentations and field demonstrations by Gary Gao, Patrick Pierquet, Dong Qin, Ryan Slaughter, and Todd Steiner.

We also offered numerous tours of our research plots to students, new and existing growers, our colleagues at The Ohio State University and several other universities. Our group also participated in the 25^th year celebration of OSU South Centers in Piketon.

Dr. Gary Gao served on the planning committee for the 2016 Ohio Grape and Wine Conference in Dublin.  The program drew an excellent attendance in 2016 and evaluations were very positive.         

Dr. Gary Gao spoke at the OPGMA Congress, OEFFA Conference, Beech Creek Garden Symposium, Southwest Ohio Specialty Fruit and Vegetable School, Master Gardener volunteer training schools, and Farm Science Review in 2016. He also made several presentations in Chinawhich are highlighted in the International activities section.     

Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter also updated and revised Extension fact sheets. 

The following revised fact sheets are now available on Ohioline:

Growing Apples in the Home Orchard - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1401

Growing Peaches and Nectarines in the Home Landscape - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1406

Raspberries for the Home Fruit Planting - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1421

Growing Grapes in the Home Fruit Planting - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1423

Growing Strawberries in the Home Garden - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1424

Pruning Blueberry Bushes in the Home Garden - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1430

Pruning Erect Blackberries in the Home Garden - http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1431

Research Projects:

Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter had several on-going research projects at OSU South Centers in Piketon in 2016.  They were: Super Berry for Farm Diversification and Season Extension, Wine Cultivar Trial and Winter Protection, Container Fruit Production, and Chemigation for Pest Management.  Dr. Gao is also a Co-Principle Investigator of a multimillion dollar national USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) project with Dr. Heping Zhu of USDA in Wooster and Dr. Peter Ling of OARDC/OSU, along with other faculty members at The Ohio State University and several land grant universities in the U.S.  

In 2016, Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter received a new specialty crop block grant from USDA through ODA to work on grafted blueberry “trees,” new processing blueberry cultivars and fertility management of blueberries.  The project started in November, 2016.  Stay tuned for more information.

Dr. Gary Gao along with several researchers at OSU South Centers received an OARDC equipment grant in 2016. With the help of several cooperators, supporters, and our director Dr. Tom Worley, we were able to purchase a ThermoFisher Ultimate 3000 UHPLC ultra high performance liquid chromatography system and a MSQ single quadrupole mass spectrometer. This new system will greatly enhance the research capacity of all research areas at OSU South Centers.

By: Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator Horticulture /Agriculture and Natural Resources 

Statewide interest purchasing local malting barley and hops by Ohio brewers has Ohio State University moving ahead with research and educational programming on these crops. Ohio commercial beer manufacturers and craft brewers send an estimated $36 million out of Ohio annually by purchasing hops and malting barley from west coast farmers. To help keep some of that economic activity within the state, the Ohio State University has developed a hop and malting barley research and education program focused on production and marketing. Dr. Mary Gardiner of the OSU Entomology Department, Brad Bergefurd of OSU South Centers and OSU Extension Scioto County, and Dr. Sally Miller of the OSU Department of Plant Pathology are the Principle Investigators of the Ohio hops research and industry development program.

Agricultural statistics records indicate that in 1871, barley was planted on 81,000 acres in Ohio, producing approximately two million bushels total. Today, barley production ranks well below other small grains in Ohio with only 6,000 acres planted in 2014 compared to 620,000 acres of wheat. Most of the barley grain cultivated today is a six-row feed winter barley variety used for livestock feed on-farm or sold at local elevators. Of the 6,000 acres of barley, less than 50 acres in 2015 were estimated to be of the malting barley variety in demand by craft brewers.

Dr. Eric Stockinger of the Ohio State University Horticulture and Crop Science Department began growing and testing  malting barley in the 2008–2009 growing season cultivation of malting type barleys at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster and throughout northern Ohio. In 2013, Bergefurd and Gardiner partnered with Stockinger to expand this malting barley research into southern Ohio and began evaluating malting barley in southern Ohio at the Piketon Research and Extension Center, exploring both fall and spring planted varieties.  

The hop and malting barley projects are allowing Ohio State researchers and educators to develop sustainable production practices directly related to Ohio growing conditions that will develop these Ohio industries. Data collected from the field research trials allows us to educate growers about production, pest management practices, and marketing strategies to help them generate farm profits from these highly sought after crops. The research is evaluating new cultivars, innovative production techniques, insect and disease control methods, harvesting, processing, and marketing techniques that can be adopted by Ohio farmers.  The research will allow Ohio's beer manufacturers to spend their money in Ohio by purchasing Ohio-grown hops and malting barley and ultimately help create Ohio jobs, allowing Ohio growers to diversify into a high-value specialty crop. Preliminary research results indicate hops and malting barley can be successfully grown and marketed  throughout Ohio and are adaptable to most Ohio soil types.

The OSU South Centers Horticulture program conducted several hops and malting barley educational programs and field days in 2015, reaching over 2,000 people interested in learning more about the hop and malting barley research that is being conducted by the Ohio State University. These events included monthly first Friday educational tours at both the Piketon and Wooster research locations, three Hops Field Days held at the Wooster, Piketon and Bowling Green research sites and the 2^nd annual Hops and Craftbrewers Conference in Wooster with over 350 in attendance.  An Ohio Hop Farm tour was conducted in partnership with the Ohio Hop Growers Guild, OHGG.org, where over 500 people participated in all-day tours of ten commercial hop farms throughout Ohio. Hops workshop were also taught in two of Ohio’s Extension EERA regions in partnership with Extension Educators in those areas for new and interested hop farmers. 

For more information on the Ohio Hops and malting barley research and industry development program, visit our Ohio Hops Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OhioHops or the OSU South Centers website http://southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/other-specialties/hops for more information. If you would like to be added to the Ohio Hops email list serve to  receive Ohio hop updates and information, contact Brad Bergefurd, Bergefurd.1@osu.edu or call the OSU South Centers 1-800-860-7232 or 740-289-2071 extension #132.