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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Spring 2018
  1. Commercialization of fast-growing monosex fish on the way, says Wang

    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, Canada, is one of the largest aquaculture farms in the Great Lakes 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 first try bluegill, since this spieces has a unique market in Toronto and New York, and can be spawned out of season. Bluegill males grow significantly faster and larger than females, and all-male monosex populations are needed by the aquaculture industry. Through production and testing at Piketon’s OCARD, researchers have created a technology that can generate large numbers of fast-growing, all-male bluegill populations.

    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 uniform 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 the growth rate by 30-35% and saving energy expenditure by 20-30% due to increased growth due to having nearly-all-male populations.

    In 2020, OCARD 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 perform research with yellow perch this summer.  We are conditioning perch broodfish for producing all-female populations 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 for supporting this effort.

  2. Workshop held on Growing Organic Crops in Ukraine

    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.
     

  3. South Centers Synergy: OSU South Centers offers MarketReady™ Producer Training in Cuyahoga County

    By Ivory Harlow, Cooperative Development Specialist

    Northern Ohio farmers and foodpreneurs gathered in downtown Cleveland to learn how to sell locally produced products direct to consumers, grocers, restaurants, institutions and wholesalers. The OSUE Direct Food and Agriculture Marketing Team and the CFAES Center for Cooperatives provided MarketReady™ Producer Training in collaboration with OSU Extension Cuyahoga County.

    MarketReady™ teaches farmers and foodpreneurs how to gain access to profitable markets for their products. The MarketReady™ program was developed by Dr. Tim Woods at the University of Kentucky. The Direct Marketing Team at OSU South Centers began offering MarketReady™ training to Ohio farmers in 2010. Today, cooperative extension services across the United States provide the comprehensive training to help food producers get ready for market.

    Direct Marketing Team members Christie Welch and Charissa Gardner kicked off the day-long training with a discussion of current food trends. Christie gave an overview of direct marketing channels, and assisted attendees in identifying target markets for their products. Attendees honed in on specific market segments and created unique customer profiles. Farmers Don and Regenia Lear plan to add a pick-your-own blueberry enterprise to their Hocking County farm. The Lears aim to serve families visiting the acclaimed natural area during summer vacation, which coincides with blueberry season.

    Ivory Harlow is a Cooperative Development Specialist at the CFAES Center for Cooperatives. She shared how cooperative marketing facilitates small farms access to larger markets, such as institutions and intermediaries. A farmer who is currently producing local pork saw how the cooperative model can help her expand business beyond farmers’ markets. Aspiring small ruminant farmers considered joining an established livestock marketing cooperative to achieve their business goals.

    Cuyahoga County Extension educators offered attendees practical tools to price local food products. Attendees learned the average price margins for restaurants and grocers. They calculated food cost profit margins. The group discovered how best practices for order fulfillment and invoicing improve food business operations.

    MarketReady™ Producer Training graduates gained a better understanding of direct marketing opportunities and challenges. A grad commented, “[MarketReady™ is] the best marketing training we’ve ever attended!”

  4. Visit us at the Farm Science Review

    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.

  5. South Centers celebrated 25 years

    In September, the Ohio State University South Centers recently celebrated 25 years of extending knowledge, growing southern Ohio, and enhancing lives. There were around 250 people in attendance that day and they enjoyed seeing our facility. Below are a few images highlighting the day of celebration.

  6. Welcome to OSU South Centers Vinayak Shedekar!

    Vinayak Shedekar recently joined the Soil, Water and BioEnergy program as Research Associate II.  He obtained his undergraduate and Masters’ degree in Agricultural Engineering from India, and is about to complete his doctoral degree from the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at Ohio State University. 
     
    Vinayak’s primary area of work is agricultural soil and water management.  His professional skills involve GPS surveying, GIS-based database management, and field monitoring techniques, as well as programing and modeling of agro-ecosystems.  He has more than 12 years of research experience in water management, hydrologic and water quality modeling, and soil health assessment.  He has also been involved with teaching undergraduate and graduate level classes at OSU, and Extension activities such as the Overholt Drainage School, Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, and several soil health and sustainable agriculture workshops. 
     
    As a Research Associate, Vinayak will be actively involved in the research, education and Extension activities of the Soil, Water and BioEnergy program.  His primary responsibilities will consist of managing the field research and using different techniques to collect, process and analyze soil, water and plant samples related to agroecosystem services.  He will also help manage externally-funded grants, mentor exchange graduate students, and supervise lab and field researchers. 
     
    Vinayak is a diehard Buckeye fan and enjoys watching sports, especially football and basketball! 
  7. OSU South Centers has made some changes and welcomes:

    Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager

    740-289-2071 ext 227

    scott.1220@osu.edu

     

    Sarah Strausbaugh, Program Assistant

    740-289-2071 ext 112

    strausbaugh.54@osu.edu

     

    Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist

    740-289-2071 ext 234

    welch.183@osu.edu

  8. Ohio Marketmaker Receives $4,000 National Award From Farm Credit Services

    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.

  9. Aquaculture team publish two papers in prestigious journals

    Dr. Hanping Wang
    Aquaculture Program Leader 

    Aquaculture team members recently published two papers related to production of monosex fish and sex control in aquaculture in prestigious aquatic and biological journals. The first paper is about the effect of density on sex differentiation, sexual dimorphism, stress, and related gene expression in yellow perch. It was published by PLOS ONE, which is a prestigious journal published by the Public Library of Science. 

    In this paper, researchers state that the stocking density does not have an effect on the sexual determination of yellow perch. However, it was concluded that high density is a chronic stress that has adverse effects on fish wellbeing, sexual size dimorphism, growth, survival, expression of stress-related genes, and mobilization of liver reserve. 

    A stocking density of 1 fish/L or 1,000 fish/m3 is recommended for indoor aquaculture systems to reduce stress, increase survival, and provide a better state of wellbeing and growth performance for rearing management of juvenile yellow perch and, particularly, create a greater advantage for females. The information is important for aquaculture management and practice. 

    For more information, please visit: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267904

    The second paper, which explores the effect of methyltestosterone (MT) on sex differentiation and growth in juvenile yellow perch, was published by Fish Physiology and Biochemistry – one of the top-ranked aquaculture/fish journals. 

    In this study, researchers found that the dosage and time of MT-supplemented feed initiation influence the percentage of sex-reversed males and promote growth. Where using higher dosage MT at 50 mg/kg feed could effectively broaden the efficacy of sex-reversal up to 46 days post-hatching in yellow perch, the higher concentrations of MT have evidenced a negative effect on the gonadal development of fish. Hence, the initiation of low dosage 20 mg/kg feed of MT-supplemented feed at 38 dph for 60 days is suggested to produce all-male fish stocks of yellow perch for sex control purposes, as it had effectively produced 100% sex-reversed males, promoted growth, and reduced the total amount of MT used. 

    The identification of the labile period of sex determination that is manipulated by MT dosage and age of treatment is a valuable progression toward optimizing commercially viable regimes for producing all-female yellow perch, which grow significantly faster and larger than males.

     For more information, please visit: doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-01038-0
     

  10. Aquaculture Research Achievements 2021

    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.
     

  11. Aquaculture wins research, grant, and publication awards

    By Dr. Hanping Wang
    Aquaculture Program Leader

    In 2021, the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at The Ohio State University South Centers won a national competition for aquaculture research grant dollars from the USDA. 

    USDA funds only four aquaculture projects each year in the areas of genetics, nutrition, disease, and aquaculture system. OCARD won the award of $300,000 in the genetics category for 2021. This grant will be used for refining the technology for production of commercial-scale, fast-growing monosex yellow perch, and demonstration of their growth and production vs. mixed sex populations for the aquaculture industry.
    In addition, OCARD completed and submitted five new grant proposals to USDA, National Academy of Science (NAS), NOAA, Ohio Sea Grant, and Soybean Aquaculture Alliance in 2021.

    Three publications win excellence awards
    Three research papers from OCARD won scientific excellence awards from Benha University in 2021. Former aquaculture PhD student at OSU South Centers Dr. Hiam Elabd is the first author of those papers and South Centers aquaculture staff Hong Yao, Paul O’Bryant, and Dean Rapp are co-authors. Dr. Hanping Wang is corresponding author. 
    Three research papers from OCARD and former OCARD PhD student Dr. Hiam Elabd (the 2nd from right)’s dissertation (advised by Dr. Hanping Wang) won scientific excellence awards of Benha University in 2021.

    Aquaculture Genetics Lab on Dean’s List
    The Aquaculture Genetics Laboratory at OSU South Centers received the 2021 Dean’s List Award of Achievement, recognizing the laboratory’s safety research operation and management. This is the second time the laboratory received this honor.  South Centers staff Hong Yao is the manager of the laboratory and has put a lot of effort and hard work into management of the lab research, operations, and equipment.
     

  12. Routine work was not routine in 2020, or now

    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. 
     

  13. Former aquaculture PhD student receives awards, promotion

    Dr. Hanping Wang
    Aquaculture Program Leader

    Former aquaculture PhD student at OSU South Centers, Dr. Hiam Elabd, has recently been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the field of fish diseases and management by Benha University (BU), one of the top universities in Egypt. 

    She has also been awarded three of the university’s 2019-2020 scientific excellence awards for papers from her research work at OSU South Centers. South Centers aquaculture staff Hong Yao, Paul O’Bryant, and Dean Rapp are co-authors of those papers and Dr. Hanping Wang was a corresponding author. 

    Advised by Drs. Hanping Wang (OSU) and Shaheen (BU), Dr. Elabd completed her entire dissertation research at the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) from 2013 through 2015 under a joint PhD training program and received her PhD in 2017. 

    Through the program and partnership, The Ohio State University and Benha University signed a memorandum of understanding in research collaboration in 2018, and then she was nominated for the coordinator of international relationships for faculty of veterinary medicine by her university. Dr. Elabd was back at OCARD for her post-doc research in 2019, sponsored by the U.S.-Egypt Joint Board on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. 

    Through her dissertation and postdoc research in OSU South Centers, she has published six papers on reducing stress and disease in aquaculture using innovative approaches in prestigious international journals. In accordance with the progressive results and papers previously published and the OSU-BU signed MOU, Dr. Wang and Dr. Elabd recently developed a collaborative proposal. If it is funded, she will come to OSU to conduct more collaborative research.
     

  14. Dr. Hanping Wang’s aquaculture book named one of the all-time best by BookAuthority.com

    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.

  15. Dr. Wang’s aquaculture book named one of the all-time best by BookAuthority.com

    By 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. A hardcover copy of the book or downloadable Kindle digital version are both for sale from Amazon.

  16. OCARD partnering with aquafarm giant to commercialize monosex fish

    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).

  17. ­­Dr. Hanping Wang completes four proposals from home isolation

    With the outbreak of coronavirus, most of us are now teleworking from home. In a normal situation, if you were able to work from home for a week, you would typically be feeling happy; but if you have to work at home for a month or longer, that can be a different story. 

    It is difficult to work from home. There is always something else you can do, for example watching television, eating snacks, or doing a home project; however, if you focus, you can get a lot of things done with writing in home isolation. 

    Dr. Hanping Wang, program leader of the South Centers aquaculture program, has completed four grant proposals worth a total of around $3 million since the home isolation. These proposals were submitted to the National Science Foundation, USDA-NIFA, and US Soybean Board.  

    He would like to thank Pam Schlegel and Lori Kaser in the Grant Development Support Unit for their guidance and assistance in budget preparation and submission process for these proposals.

  18. Aquaculture team publishes two papers in top aqua-journals

    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.

  19. Bigger, Faster: Aquaculture Center is transferring fast-growing fish to the aquaculture industry

    By Dr. Hanping Wang
    Program Leader, Aquaculture

    Funded by the USDA and NOAA-Sea Grant, the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at The Ohio State University South Centers has developed technology for the production of commercial-scale, fast-growing monosex yellow perch and bluegill — both top aquaculture species in the Midwest and North Central Region. Now, OCARD is transferring these fast-growing monosex fish to the aquaculture industry.

    Faster-Growing All-Male Bluegill
    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 as 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 by 30-35% and saving energy expenditure of 20-30% for sex growth. In the past few years, the aquaculture team at Piketon has created a large number of all-male producing broodstock of bluegill. We are using the broodstock to produce a commercial-scale of all-male monosex bluegill and disseminating them to the aquaculture industry for demonstration. Large aquaculture farms has been identified for the farm demonstration.

    Faster-Growing All-Female Yellow Perch
    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. a mixed-sex group showed that all-females grew 26.3% faster than the mixed group, and 66.0% faster than males. In the past few years, OCARD has created a large number of neomale broodstock of yellow perch with a female genotype. We are using the large numbers of superior neomale broodstock to produce a commercial-scale of all-female monosex yellow perch and transferring them to aquaculture industry for demonstration. A few aquaculture farms have been identified for the farm demonstration. All-female monosex populations will significantly benefit the aquaculture industry.

  20. Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 successfully completed

    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.

  21. Aquaculture team publishes book, 12 scholarly articles during 2019

    The aquaculture team at The Ohio State University South Centers published a book and 12 scholarly articles in 2019. The book Sex Control in Aquaculture by Drs. Hanping Wang, Francesc Piferrer, and Song-Lin Chen was published by Wiley & Blackwell. Bradford Sherman, Joy Bauman, Sarah Swanson, and Jordan Maxwell assisted in English editing and chapter coordination. 

    The first comprehensive book of its kind, with two volumes and forty-one chapters, Sex Control in Aquaculture covers basic theory for sex control and sex control practice in major aquaculture species worldwide. In addition to the book, the aquaculture team published 12 scholarly articles in 2019 in high impact journals such as Frontier Genetics, Frontier Physiology, Scientific Reports and Fish, Shellfish Immunology, and Aquaculture nutrition. Bradford Sherman contributed to all the publications through language editing work. The following is a list of the 12 published articles:

    • Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals potential evolutionary differences in adaptation of temperature and body shape among four Percidae species. 2019.  PLoS ONE 14(5): e0215933.
    • Global diversity and genetic landscape of natural populations and hatchery stocks of largemouth bass micropterus salmoides across American and Asian regions. Scientific Reports. 9, 2019. 
    • Sex Determination, Differentiation, and Control in Bluegill. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2019. 
    • Development of a Genomic Resource and Identification of Nucleotide Diversity of Yellow Perch by RAD Sequencing. Front. Genet. 2019.
    • Sex determination and monosex female production in yellow perch. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2019. 
    • Processed soybean meal as an alternative protein source for yellow perch (Perca flavescens) feed. Aquacult Nutr. 2019; 25:917–931.
    • Sex Control in Aquaculture: Concept and Practice. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2019. 
    • Processed soybean meal as an alternative protein source for yellow perch (Perca flavescens) feed. Aquacult Nutr. 2019; 25:917–931.
    • Sexual dimorphism in body size and form in yellow perch. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2019.
    • Environmental Sex Determination and Sex Differentiation in Teleosts – How Sex Is Established. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2019.
    • Hybridization and its application in Centrarchids. In: Sex Control in Aquaculture (Wang, H.P., F. Piferrer & S.L. Chen Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.  2019.
    • Diet Supplemented With Synthetic Carotenoids: Effects on Growth Performance and Biochemical and Immunological Parameters of Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens). Front. Physiol. 2019
    • Astragalus membranaceus nanoparticles markedly improve immune and antioxidative responses; and protection against Aeromonas veronii in Nile tilapia. Fish and Shellfish Immunology 2019, 97: 248–256.
  22. Hiam Elabd’s Aquaculture Passion

    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.

  23. Aquaculture team publishes two papers in high impact journals

    Dr. Hanping Wang
    Aquaculture Program Leader

    Aquaculture team members recently published two papers in high impact journals with Frontier, the fifth most-cited publisher among the 20 largest publishers in 2019. The first paper is about development of a Genomic Resource and Identification of Nucleotide Diversity of Yellow Perch by RAD (Restriction site Associated DNA) Sequencing, published by Frontier in Genetics in October 2019. 

    In this study, we combined the advantage of longer sequence length in the MiSeq platform and higher throughput of the HiSeq platform to assemble the RAD-Seq contigs.  We applied the RAD-Seq for development of polymorphic Microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The genetic markers we developed will benefit the yellow perch conservation, aquaculture genomics research, and breeding programs. 

    The second paper is titled “Diet Supplemented With Synthetic Carotenoids: Effects on Growth Performance and Biochemical and Immunological Parameters of Yellow Perch,” published by Frontier in Physiology in August 2019. 

    In this study, we found that growth and feed utilization are not affected by dietary supplementation of canthaxanthin. However, lycopene-supplemented diets revealed a positive effect on digestive enzymes activity and growth of yellow perch. Both carotenoids have a protective effect by its antioxidant activity, and enhance yellow perch immunity through upregulation of the immune-related gene. The findings are important for reducing stress in the yellow perch aquaculture industry.

  24. OCARD welcomes two new scholars

    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.

  25. Faster-growing, all-female yellow perch available for industry

    By Dr. Hanping Wang
    Senior Scientist

    Yellow perch is one of the top three aquaculture species in the Midwest and North Central Region of the United States. Funded by a NOAA-Sea Grant, the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at OSU South Centers has developed technology that enables us to produce commercial-scale, faster-growing, all-female yellow perch for the aquaculture industry.

    This spring, OCARD produced around 70,000 all-female fry, and the monosex fingerling will be delivered to the aquaculture industry in early this summer for commercial use, demonstration, or technology transfer.

    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 large number of neomale broodstock of yellow perch with a female genotype. 

    A growth performance test of the all-females vs. a mixed-sex group showed that all-females grew around 30% faster than the mixed group, and 66.0% faster than males. The large numbers of superior neo-male broodstock will enable us to produce commercial-scale, all-female monosex yellow perch for commercialization of the monosex production technology. 

    For more information about this fast-growing strain, you can contact Dr. Hanping Wang at wang.900@osu.edu.

  26. OCARD develops 3 superior strains for aqua-industry

    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.

    BluegillFaster-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.

  27. Fish Tales: Aquaculture team publishes two books during 2018 with prestigious publishers

    Dr. Hanping Wang and his team published two aquaculture books in 2018. The first book is Sex Control in Aquaculture, which was published in 2018 by Wiley-Blackwell after three years of planning, coordination, writing, and revising. The second book is World Perch and Bass Culture: Innovation and Industrialization, which was written in both English and Chinese and published by China Science Press in 2018. The two books cover principle and practice in sex control and aquaculture of 42 major aquaculture species and provide very useful scientific information for commercial industry, biological sciences, and for aquaculture researchers.

    Sex Control in Aquaculture has two volumes covering 888 pages. Dr. Hanping Wang, Principal Scientist at the Ohio State University South Centers’ aquaculture research center, is the Editor-in-Chief and contributed six chapters to the book. Sarah Swanson assisted in chapter coordination and Bradford Sherman, Joy Bauman, 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. 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 a sex control approach.  For more information about the book, please visit: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119127291 

    World Perch and Bass Culture: Innovation and Industrialization 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, pike perch, striped bass, and walleye. Perch and bass, belonging to Serranidae, Percidae, Moronidae, and Latidae families of the Perciformes, have worldwide importance as a food and recreational fish. Global production of perch and bass is around one million tons. The economic value of perch and bass is comparable to cold water species salmons 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 the expansion of perch and bass aquaculture. 

  28. A successful 2nd year of aquaculture boot camp

    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.

  29. RECENT PUBLICATIONS

    Effects of Temperature on the Expression of Two Ovarian Differentiation-Related Genes foxl2 and cyp19a1a
    Zhi-Gang Shen, Nour Eissa, Hong Yao, Zhi-Gang Xie, and Han-Ping Wang*

    FrontiersExposure to stress induces a series of responses and influences a wide range of biological processes including sex differentiation in fish. The present work investigated the molecular and physiological response to thermal stress throughout the early development stage covering the whole period of sex differentiation of bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus. Larvae were treated using three temperatures, 17, 24, and 32C from 6 to 90 days posthatching (dph) in 30-L round tanks. There is no significant difference of the sex ratio and survival among the three temperature groups in the geographic population used in this study. Two ovarian differentiation-related genes foxl2 and cyp19a1a were detected at 7 dph suggesting that these genes have already played a role prior to sex differentiation. The expression of foxl2 reached the peak and was thermosensitive just prior to the onset of ovarian differentiation at 27 dph. Histological examination displayed that the proliferation of germ cells and ovarian differentiation were delayed at the low-temperature treatment (17C) at 97 dph compared with higher temperatures. In conclusion, the water temperature regulates the sex differentiation of bluegill through modulation of the expression of foxl2 and cyp19a1a. A comparative study of the expression profile of sex differentiation-related genes in species will shed light on the evolution of sex-determination mechanisms and the impact of stress on sex differentiation.

    Frontier in Physiology, 2018

    Mixed Bacillus Species Enhance the Innate Immune Response and Stress Tolerance in Yellow Perch Subjected to Hypoxia and Air Exposure Stress 
    Nour Eissa, Han-Ping Wang*, Hong Yao, and ElSayed Abou-ElGheit 

    Scientific ReportsStress enhances the disease susceptibility in fish by altering the innate immune responses, which are essential defense mechanisms. The use of probiotics is increasingly popular in the aquaculture industry. Yellow perch is a promising candidate for aquaculture. We investigated the efciency of a mixed Bacillus species in minimizing the potential problems resulting from husbandry practices such as hypoxia and exposure to air in yellow perch. We showed that hypoxia and air exposure conditions induced a signifcant reduction in the early innate immune response (lysozyme activity, interferon-induced-GTP binding protein-Mx1 [mx], interleukin-1β [il1β], serum amyloid-A [saa]), and a substantial increase in cortisol, heat shock protein (Hsp70), glutathione peroxidase (Gpx), superoxide dismutase (Sod1) that associated with a decline in insulin-like growth factor-1 (Igf1). Mixed Bacillus species administration improved the early innate responses, reduced cortisol, Hsp70, Gpx and Sod1, and elevated Igf1 levels. Bacillus species treated group showed faster recovery to reach the baseline levels during 24h compared to untreated group. Therefore, mixed Bacillus species may enhance yellow perch welfare by improving the stress tolerance and early innate immune response to counterbalance the various husbandry stressors. Further studies are warranted to investigate the correlations between the aquaculture practices and disease resistance in yellow perch.

    Scientific Reports, 2018

  30. Dr. Hanping Wang’s new book published by Wiley-Blackwell

    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. 

    Dr. Hanping WangThe 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 

  31. Defying the Laws of Nature

    By Alayna DeMartini

    PIKETON — Inside cool water-filled fish tanks in southern Ohio, the laws of nature are being defied: Female yellow perch mate with other female yellow perch; male bluegills with other male bluegills.

    This might make you wonder, unless, of course, your profession is selective breeding of fish, and your goal is to get them to grow faster. Hanping Wang, who manages The Ohio State University’s Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development, has succeeded in raising faster-growing fish by artificially mating them in a not so typical way.

    On average, the resulting offspring reach market size six months faster than bluegills or yellow perch bred out of standard male-female mating. That’s because among yellow perch, females grow quicker than males; among bluegills, males faster than females.

    For an Ohio fish farmer, having fish that mature faster than average could be a significant savings in fish food and in time waiting to sell them, said Wang, whose center in Piketon is part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). The aim of the center is to spur the state’s aquaculture industry, in part through research on two of the state’s most common fish: yellow perch and bluegill.

    Aquaculture, the practice of raising fish in a controlled environment of indoor tanks or outdoor ponds, is slowly growing, but still a relatively small Ohio industry. In 2017, 227 people in the state had permits allowing them to sell seafood. Any advances in farming that make it faster or easier to raise fish or shellfish could prove useful and profitable.

    “We’re using the animals’ maximum potential to make them grow faster for human benefit,” Wang said. “We have to do it this way to meet the growing need for food, specifically protein. You need to have a process to produce more animals – more chickens, cows, pigs and fish.”

    Creating Larger, Faster-Growing Yellow Perch

    Among yellow perch, the females grow 60 to 70 percent faster than the males, and they grow larger than the males. As a result, it makes sense that a breeder would want to produce the fastest-growing female yellow perch. So Wang did exactly that. He mated females to females with the help of grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state-based Ohio Sea Grant program, which funds research in the Great Lakes and aquaculture.

    While they remained females at the chromosome level — possessing the XX chromosome pair as opposed to the XY chromosome pair that typical males have — they still were able to produce sperm. That allowed the females to mate with other female yellow perch. It might sound odd, perhaps, but it worked. The results were “neo-males,” or “pseudo-males,” as Wang calls them.

    The offspring produced by the mating of a neo-male with a standard female yellow perch were all females, since there was no Y chromosome in the mix. And the female offspring grew as expected, 60 to 70 percent faster than any female offspring born out of the standard arrangement of a male and female mating with each other.

    On average, it takes a farmer 16 months to raise a yellow perch to reach market size. Now it can take as little as 10 months if neo-males are mated with typical female yellow perch, Wang said.

    “The farmer saves on labor, saves on feed and saves on space,” he said.

    Speeding up bluegill Growth 

    With bluegills, the males grow faster and bigger than the females. So, Wang took males and mated them with males through a process similar to what was done with the yellow perch, so they became what Wang calls “neo-females.” The offspring of a neo-female bluegill and a male bluegill were all male fish that could grow to 1 pound, the size needed to sell them, in about a year, cutting three to five months off the typical time needed for them to mature.
    Whether bluegills and yellow perch can be made to grow even faster is uncertain.
    “We don’t know,” Wang said. “We’re working on that.”

    Standard Mating 

    Along with mating females with females and males with males, Wang and his colleagues have conducted standard mating with yellow perch to generate the fastest-growing males and the fastest-growing females.
    They began with 800 yellow perch, 100 taken from eight states in the Midwest and Northeast, including Ohio. The DNA of the fish was analyzed, then the fish that were related were put in different tanks to prevent the possibility of them mating. Each fish was placed in one of a series of tanks with males and females, and they were allowed to mate as usual, males with females.

    From the first round of babies, the scientists selected the 200 fastest-growing male and female fish from each cohort – then those pairs mated, and the same process occured over and over to get genetically improved fish.
    Across the three sites, and on average, the improved fish grew 35 percent faster than the unimproved fish, meaning the ones whose parents came together naturally without any special mating arrangements.
    Not only do they grow 35 percent faster, they have a higher survival rate, 20 percent higher.

    “It doesn’t matter if it’s a fish or a tomato or a soybean, if you can shorten the amount of time it takes to grow the item to market size while still maintaining the same nutritional quality, that will just improve the farmer’s profit margin,” said Matthew Smith, an OSU Extension aquaculture specialist. Smith’s main priority is expanding sustainable, profitable fish farms in Ohio. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of CFAES.

    Aquaculture can play a critical role as our oceans and Great Lakes are overfished, Smith said. “It’s a way to provide a balance,” he said.

    It seems there might be a downside to unnaturally mating fish, but Wang says that’s not the case. The practice of mating females together or males together might be unusual but does not produce problem fish – that is, assuming no relatives are mated with each other, Wang said.

    And the good news for fish farmers or aspiring fish farmers is that the neo-male yellow perch, the neo-female bluegill and the yellow perch that were improved to grow faster will eventually be put on the market for fish farmers and for stocking in ponds.
    Hanping Wang and his team of researchers completed the genome sequencing of yellow perch and bluegill.(Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)
    Cracking the Genetic Code of Bluegill and Yellow Perch

    Critical to the selective fish breeding program is a key accomplishment of Wang’s research team: Completing genome sequencing of both yellow perch and bluegills.

    That may not sound like a huge feat to someone outside the aquaculture world. After all, fish have far fewer genes than humans. But knowing the genetic makeup of these two species makes it possible to see how genes interact with each other and to examine the exact gene that controls economically important traits in the fish, such as the pace of growth and disease resistance.

    By changing the genetic makeup of the fish, researchers can select for high disease resistance and larger, faster-growing fish, Wang said.

    “We know long term it will have a huge impact.”

    Wang has also authored a book on selective fish breeding that will be available this summer.

  32. Year 2 of Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 is off to a strong start in Ohio, Wisconsin

    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.

  33. Aquaculture Research Achievements

    By: Hanping Wang, PhD, Senior Scientist

    Yellow Perch Breeding: A large numbers of neo-male broodstock of yellow perch with a female genotype have been created, using the superior neomale broodstock, fast-growing all-female yellow perch populations have been produced. The large numbers of superior neomale broodstock from this project enable us to produce commercial-scale of all-female monosex yellow perch. Growth performance test of the all-females vs. mixed-sex group in tank system was conducted in Piketon Research Station. By the end of the experiment, all-females grew 26.3% faster than mixed group, and 66.0% faster than males. Larger scale growth performance test of the all-females vs. mixed-sex group will be conducted in 2017.

    Bluegill Breeding: A large numbers of neo-female broodstock of bluegill with a male genotype have been created. All-Male or near-all-male bluegill populations have been successfully produced. 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 as 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 significant 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 growth rate of 30- 35% and saving energy expenditure of 20-30% for sex growth.

    Identify the best genetically distinct largemouth bass populations for industry: In 2016-2017, we genotyped 280 additional largemouth bass from 28 wild populations across the United States using eight microsatellite loci. We are conducting experiment to compare growth performance of the identified group vs. Ohio control group in indoor system. The fish were stocked and are being cultured communally in two replicate tanks. As of November, fish from the identified group grew 126.6% faster than control group. An experiment on evaluation of soybean meal as protein source for northern and southern largemouth bass was completed. The results indicated that northern subspecies had superior growth compared to Florida subspecies in current experimental setup. The results provide a valuable base for developing fast-growing largemouth bass broodstocks for industry.

    Genetic improvement of SMD utilization rate of Largemouth bass (LMB) : A study on evaluation of growth response of Northern and Southern subspecies to SMD and fishmeal-based diet (FMD) was completed. Four diets were formulated with varying levels of dietary soybean meal 0 (control), 12, 25, and 40%, respectively. The feeding trial with 4 replicates lasted for 12 weeks. Results showed that 1) Northern subspecies grew significantly faster and gained significantly higher body weight than Southern subspecies across the four levels of soybean meal diets; 2) Northern subspecies utilized SMD significantly better than Southern subspecies; 3) Based on the feed efficiency, 12% dietary soybean meal inclusion is optimal for Southern largemouth bass. 25% soybean meal can be used in diet for Northern largemouth bass; 4) The growth of largemouth bass decreased with increasing dietary soybean meal level and no significant differences were observed among the treatments for two subspecies. Diet with 40% soybean meal inclusion is acceptable for juveniles.

    Genomic sequence and tool development:  We have completed whole genome sequencing of yellow perch and bluegill. It is 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. 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. The perch and  sunfish genome sequence data provide useful genetic resource and lay important foundation for discovering 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 and sunfish species. We also completed whole genome sequencing of two strains of bluegill to develop SNPs and investigate genomic base of sex determination for developing mono-sex population, and results have been published by a high impact journals SCIENTIFIC REPORT and PLOS ONE.

    Promotion of international training and collaborations: Research in aquaculture genetics and breeding at OSU South Centers has produced international impacts and attracted about thirty scientists and international scholars to work in the Aquaculture Research Center and Genetics Lab at Piketon. In 2016-2017, the lab trained three visiting Ph.D. students and post-doctoral researchers, and two new ones are coming this year. They also significantly contributed to the aquaculture program’s success at the OSU South Centers. We organized the 2nd international conference on perch and bass.

     

  34. Two aquaculture books completed in 2017

    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.

  35. Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 (ABC-2) Achievements and Impacts 2017

    By: Hanping Wang, PhD, ABC Program Director/Senior Scientist and Jordan Maxwell, ABC Program Coordinator

    The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at the OSU South Centers received its second project funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop and operate Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC).  This ABC-2 is a program for training new and beginning aquaculture farmers in production techniques and business development skills in Ohio and adjacent states. OSU is the first aquaculture program to receive this type of project funding from USDA in the country.

    Based on ABC-1 students’ feedback, aquaculture team, in collaboration with business team and horticulture team at the OSU South Centers, and in partnership with Ohio Aqauculture Association and University of Wisconsin –Stevens Point, developed the ABC-2 program. The ABC-2 program utilizes a “3-I” (Intensive, Intermediate, Introductory) training and multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponic farmers in the Midwest. A key addition to ABC-2 is the inclusion of aquaponics. This expansion is a direct result of strong interest within Ohio and the North Central Region. Upon completion, participants will have the knowledge and hands-on experience to successfully operate a sustainable aquaculture or aquaponics business. OSU looks forward to seeing the expansion of aquaculture and aquaponics as a result of this program.

    Listed below are highlights of ABC-2 accomplishments in the past year:
    a) 12 monthly informative educational modules and materials were developed and posted on the ABC-2 website based on 12 Intensive classes.
    b) 4 Aquaculture workshops were offered for both the intensive and intermediate ABC students.
    c) 1 Aquaculture Bus Tour was offered for introductory, intermediate and intensive ABC students.
    d) 2 OAA-ABC Conferences were organized.
    e) Several aquaculture/aquaponics newsletters and factsheets were published.
    f) An informative ABC-2 website developed.
    g) 2 students interested in aquaculture/aquaponics received an ABC-OAA internship and training.
    h)  A 6-month and 12-month evaluation data was collected using Wufoo (www.wufoo.com).
    i) 27 new farmer students from ABC Intensive class graduated.
    j) 200+ additional new/beginning farmers were trained and mentored through ABC Intermediate.
    k) 949 additional new and beginning farmers were trained and mentored through ABC Introductory.

    We have just started ABC-2 2018 Year-Class with 35 new students recruited for the Intensive class. The group consists of multiple educators, farmers, students, and community leaders. Our staff looks forward to working with this group throughout the year to prepare them for graduation in December of 2018.

    For more information about the ABC Program, please contact Dr. Hanping Wang, ABC Program Director/Senior Scientist at wang.900@osu.edu, or Ms. Jordan Maxwell, ABC Program Coordinator at maxwell.411@osu.edu.

  36. Comprehensive Outreach and Training Program to Expand Development of North Central Region Aquaculture

    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.

  37. Industry and Researcher Round Table on the Future of Food Fish/Shrimp Production in Ohio

    By: Matthew A. Smith, Extension Aquaculture Specialist

    Approximately 40 people joined Ohio State University’s (OSU) round table to discuss aquaculture in Ohio the Thursday night before the OAA/OCAFS annual meeting in late January 2018. OSU asked several southern region researchers to be present to offer a different perspective to Ohio farmers on aquaculture production in the U.S. over the last few decades. Production experts, Dr. Les Torrans (USDA ARS) and Dr. Craig Tucker (USDA ARS), and aquaculture economist Dr. Carole Engle (Engle-Stone Aquatic$) were active in the conversation. Between these three researchers, they have a combined aquaculture experience of approximately 100 years. With their rich catfish history, the group conversation quickly turned to marketing, perseverance, and cooperatives. Over the last few decades, the United States (US) catfish industry has certainly constricted and is due in part to a substantial increase in feed prices, lower fillet prices, and overall lower demand as a result of cheaper importers. The advice and respect shown by the researchers for those catfish farmers who are actively involved in their marketing plans by going out and talking to their customers and creating a strong bond was evident. They encouraged any fish/shrimp producer seeking to develop or expand their food market to continually to be active marketers by selling themselves, their farm, and their product to their customers to ensure they stand out from the competition. By having a more intimate relationship with their customer base, it was discussed that many are capable of receiving a higher price for their product.

    Examples were given of farmers who were able to stay financially stable during economic hardships due to their strong customer base and loyalty to these businesses. In particular, one farm was mentioned for their dedication to their customers and also their customer’s loyalty to that particular farm. This farmer has continually held himself to standards that enable not only the restaurant owner to know who he is but anyone who comes into the establishment. If a restaurant purchases fillets from him, the restaurant is given a framed portrait of the farmer/farm and plaque to hang up in their restaurant. This reveals that the farmer believes in their product and is willing to be potentially criticized (hopefully praised) by the chefs, customers, and anyone else who visits the restaurant and consumes their product. There is no red tape involved. I strongly believe that if Ohio is to develop a strong food fish/shrimp market that farmers will need to develop more active marketing plans that involve improving the general public’s perspective on farming and will occur over time through active communication, high-quality products, and consistent supply. OSU Extension and the OSU CFAES Center for Cooperatives are involved in a recently established Ohio aquaculture steering committee; which is investigating the feasibility of a purchasing cooperative. The OSU South Centers programs are here to help and look forward to seeing aquaculture prosper in Ohio over time.

  38. Sex Control in Aquaculture featured on Google books

    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.

  39. Dr. Hanping Wang honored by Fisheries Advance Magazine of China

    Dr. Hanping Wang, principal scientist and director of aquaculture research and development at Ohio State University South Centers was recently honored by Fisheries Advance Magazine, an aquatic time magazine of China, for his influential activities and significant contributions in establishing an international platform for perch and bass research and development collaboration. This publication is a monthly circulated magazine featuring Chinese and global aquaculture and fisheries news and influential people in aqua-related fields. The magazine selects an individual to be featured on the cover of the magazine monthly. Dr. Wang was selected to be on the cover of the first issue of 2017 (In the thumbnail image, Dr. Wang is featured on the magazine cover to the far right). The issue included an article highlighting Dr. Wang’s contributions and achievements on establishing an international platform of research and development collaboration in perch and bass, and the development superior yellow perch. 

    Perch and bass have worldwide importance as food and recreational fish. Global production of perch and bass is around 1,000,000 ton, with 70% produced in China. The economic value of perch and bass is comparable to cold water species salmons and trout. 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.  In perch and bass aquaculture, global collaboration is still in an infant stage when compared to salmons and trout. Particularly, collaboration between China and developed countries, e.g., U.S.A, Europe, and Australia, is insufficient. Even though China ranks first globally in perch and bass production, their aquaculture outreach with research results and information has been mostly limited to Chinese publications.

    In order to speed up the advancement of the perch and bass aquaculture industry, establishing an international platform of research and development collaboration is necessary. For this purpose, Dr. Wang in collaboration with Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), an official partner of OSU, organized the first International Symposium of Perch and Bass at HZAU in Wuhan, China, in September 2013, focusing on the industry development of perch and bass in China and the U.S. In October 2016, Dr. Wang organized the 2nd International Symposium of Perch and Bass at HZAU. Scholars from the United States, China, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Australia attended the Symposium.  As the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Wang with his colleagues completed a bilingual book “World Perch and Bass Culture: Innovation and Industrialization” based on these two symposiums. The book manuscript has been submitted to a publisher and will be published by the end of 2017.

  40. Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) achievements and impacts 2016

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist and Jordan Maxwell, Program Coordinator
     
    After the successful completion of Aquaculture Boot Camp-1 (ABC-1), the South Centers aquaculture team, in collaboration with the business development and horticulture teams, and in partnership with the Ohio Aquaculture Association and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, submitted an ABC-2 proposal in early 2016 and received an award of ~$600,000 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture in August 2016 to continue the ABC program. We are the first aquaculture unit in the U.S. to receive funding for this type of project from USDA. The ABC-2 program will utilize a “3-I” (Intensive, Intermediate, Introductory) training and multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponic and next generation farmers in the Midwest. A key addition to ABC-2 is the inclusion of aquaponics. This expansion is a direct result of strong interest from Ohio and the North Central Region. Upon completion, participants will have the knowledge and hands-on experience to successfully operate a sustainable aquaculture or aquaponics business. The members of the OSU aquaculture team look forward to seeing the expansion of aquaculture and aquaponics in the region as a result of this program.
     
    This past fall, we selected 33 highly motivated new (less than 5 years of farming experience) and beginning fish farmers and aquaponic producers from across Ohio and the Midwest, out of nearly 70 applicants for the ABC-2 Intensive Program. The year-long program consists of twelve monthly informative educational modules and materials in aquaculture production, and twelve monthly educational modules and materials in business and marketing.  The ABC-2 kickoff class was successfully held at OSU South Centers on January 14, 2017. The Ohio Aquaculture Association-Aquaculture Boot Camp Annual Aquaculture conference was held in Columbus on January 27-28, 2017. Approximately 140 aquaculture farmers attended the conference including 28 ABC-2 Intensive students. The ABC-2 students are being actively involved in aquaculture/aquaponics and are seriously dedicated to developing skills for entry into the industry.
     
    Jordan Maxwell is the program coordinator for the ABC-2 program. She is coordinating, developing the training materials, and providing one-on-one support for ABC-2 participants. She will also be collecting data and writing project progress reports, publications, and news articles.
     
    Ms. Maxwell received a B.S. in Wildlife and Fish Management from The University of Rio Grande, and also holds an Associate’s Degree in Wildlife Resources Management from Hocking College. She has teaching and coordination experience at Hocking College, and has aquaculture/hatchery experience at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Applegrove fish hatchery and the Hocking College fish hatchery. This experience is beneficial to her as she works to develop the ABC-2 programs and training activities.

     

  41. Aquaculture research achievements and impacts 2016

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist
     
    Summary of Achievements: In 2016, in collaborations with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Lincoln University of Missouri, the Oregon State University, and several other international institutions, we accomplished goals of ten research studies and projects resulting in several manuscripts being prepared and submitted; published four peer-reviewed journal articles and two proceedings abstracts; received two grants for $670,000; trained three graduate students and post-doctoral fellows; and submitted nine new grant proposals. An international conference on perch and bass was organized. Two books entitled “Sex-Control in Aquaculture” and “Culture and Breeding of Perch and Bass” which are being edited by Dr. Hanping Wang, have made great progress. A fast-growing all-female perch strain and a fast-growing all-male bluegill strain have been developed.
     
    Yellow Perch Breeding: Funded by Ohio Sea Grant, neo-male populations of yellow perch with a female genotype have been created, and a fast-growing all-female strain has been developed by crossing neo-males with regular females for the aquaculture industry. The all-female population should be able to grow 50% faster than unimproved regular mixed populations, and will be available to industry in 2017. A fifth generation of fast-growing lines of yellow perch was created for the aquaculture industry through marker-assisted cohort selection. So far, more than approximately 2,000,000 genetically improved seeds have been distributed to farms for testing and demonstration.
     
    Bluegill Breeding: A technique for producing all-male Bluegill populations has been developed. Testing all-male or near-all-male bluegill populations at two locations is in progress, and preliminary data showed: 1) Weight gain and growth rate of all-male stock were 2.1 times as that of regular Northern and Coppernose stocks; 2) Growth advantage of all-male group starts as early as 5 grams; 3) All-male groups had significantly more uniform size and lower coefficient of variation; and survival of all-male groups was significantly higher than that of mixed sex groups due to the more uniform size.
     
    Temperature effects on sex ratio and sex-determination have been found in bluegill populations. The findings were published in the journals, Aquaculture and The Biological Bulletin. The results from two experiments provide a valuable base for developing all-male broodstocks for bluegill, which could grow 35-50% faster than mixed populations.
     
    Identify the best genetically distinct largemouth bass populations for industry: In 2016, we genotyped 280 additional largemouth bass from 28 wild populations across the United States using eight microsatellite loci, which are standard genetic markers for population genetic analysis. The data are being analyzed together with previous data to confirm the major findings resulting from previous data. The information provides a valuable basis for development of aquaculture genetic breeding programs in largemouth bass. 
     
    An experiment evaluating soybean meal as a protein source for northern and southern largemouth bass was completed. The results indicated that northern subspecies had superior growth compared to Florida subspecies in the current experimental setup. The results provide a valuable base for developing fast-growing largemouth bass broodstocks for the industry.
     
    Genomic sequence and tool development: We have 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, including the three species of perch, walleye, sauger and ruffe. Knowledge 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. 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 and sunfish species. We also completed whole genome sequencing of two strains of bluegill to develop SNPs and investigate the genomic base of sex determination for developing a mono-sex population, and results have been published by the high impact journal, PLOS ONE.
     
    Improvement of perch fry survival rate for industry: Six feeding regimes were tested in 2016. An effective marine rotifer production and feeding system was developed. Effective feeding regimes and protocols were identified for improving survival rate of perch fry. We found mouth gape is the key determinant of larvae survival, which can be selected as a quantitative trait, and concluded that developing yellow perch broodstock with larger mouth gape and larger size of egg, using improved fish to increase indoor survival of larvae and fry is critical to the YP industry development.
     
    Promotion of international training and collaborations: Leading research in aquaculture genetics and breeding at OSU South Centers has produced international impacts and attracted about thirty scientists and international scholars to work in the Aquaculture Research Center and Genetics Lab at Piketon over the past ten years. In 2016, the lab trained three visiting Ph.D. students and post-doctoral researchers. They also significantly contributed to the aquaculture program’s success at OSU South Centers. In October 2016, we organized an international conference on Perch and Bass in China. We initiated and promoted a partnership between Ohio State University and Huazhong Agricultural University and an MOU between the two universities was signed at OSU in Bricker Hall in May 2016.

     

  42. Extension aquaculture highlights

    By Matthew A. Smith, Extension Aquaculture Specialist 
     
    2016 was a big year for the Extension Aquaculture Program as a new face took the reins. Matthew Smith, who started in March of 2016, is charged with leading all Extension activities related to aquaculture and aquaponics in Ohio. Especially in the world of Extension, a new employer and a new state requires an acclimation period. However, establishing a productive Extension program that will facilitate the expansion of aquaculture in Ohio in a timely manner is priority number one.
     
    Extension and Outreach Activities 
     
    Talks were fairly plentiful for the first nine months. Two pond-side talks were given in May to recreational pond owners in Wyandot County at the request of the Soil and Water Conservation District. The first PowerPoint presentation given in Ohio by the new specialist was to OSU ANR Extension Educators at their annual retreat at the Hueston Woods Lodge and Conference Center in June. As a “one man band”, it’s necessary to coordinate with and teach other Educators in Ohio about the importance of aquaculture in the broad sense, as well as the specific considerations for Ohio. In-service or train-the-trainer workshops are imperative in this type of agriculture to help increase the rate of information dissemination to the general public. In-service trainings on pond management are already in the works for 2017.
     
    Thanks to the coordination and assistance from Teresa Funk, the Aquaculture Extension Program was present with a quality and functioning aquaponics display in the Firebaugh building at Farm Science Review. Lettuce, kale, and goldfish were the center of attention. At least one person who stopped by the aquaponics system ended up becoming a 2017 OSU Aquaculture Boot Camp 2 student. Some much-appreciated assistance from aquaponic farmers allowed our specialist to get away long enough to present three fish related talks on behalf of the Extension program. This will likely become an annual occurrence whenever possible. 
     
    Aquaculture Extension Program Leader, Matthew Smith, was present several days during the Ohio State Fair and answered fairgoers’ questions about aquaculture and aquaponics in Ohio for a few days. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy holds an annual Science Alliance (all things STEM related) in Piketon, Ohio for over 1,500 high school students from southern Ohio. Fourteen talks were given over three days in October to all of the students present, increasing the outreach arm of the program in southern Ohio.  
     
    The Ohio Aquaculture Association also coordinated with the OSU South Centers to offer a fall beginner workshop to those interested in learning about aquaculture in Piketon. Two beginner talks were offered by Matthew Smith and have since been added to the Extension Aquaculture website. Attendees were from Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, and West Virginia. 
     
    In addition to presentations, the Extension program has been busy developing and establishing Buckeye Aquafarming, an aquaculture newsletter that is released three times a year by the OSU South Centers. Topics have been wide and diverse, although everything is geared towards educating our fish farmers and policy makers on pertinent matters. Some topics include, marketing your aquaculture product, water quality considerations, principles of biofloc systems, the Lacey Act as relevant to aquaculture, and co-ops. Smith’s contributed articles to Buckeye Aquafarming include the Lacey Act, water quality considerations, and a solicitation article for farmer participation in an upcoming survey. Other articles written by Smith can be found in Arkansas Aquafarming, Ohio Aquaculture Association Summer Newsletter, and the Ohio Aquaculture Association Journal.
     
    OSU Extension Aquaculture Program Led Workshops
     
    Matthew Smith held his first workshop at the OSU South Centers in August and focused on water quality management for fish farmers in Ohio. Previous research conducted by Dr. Laura Tiu showed knowledge on water quality management is a top priority for fish farmers in Ohio. Since proper management is necessary for a successful operation, it only seemed fitting to have this as the focus of the first workshop. Allen Pattillo, a fisheries/aquaculture specialist with Iowa State University, was brought in for this workshop to offer his expertise on aquaponic systems. Both seasoned and beginner farmers attended the workshop, including two farms from Indiana. Hands-on experience and facility tours were offered in addition to the numerous PowerPoint presentations. 
     
    Professional Service
     
    Extension Program Specialist Matthew Smith was nominated to the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center’s (NCRAC) Executive Committee and Technical Committee. His roles include general Extension representation, review and recommendation of proposals for funding, development of problem statements, and review annual progress reports. Professional service includes being appointed to the National Aquaculture Association’s Aquatic Nuisance Species Committee, presence as an ex-officio member on the Ohio Aquaculture Association’s Board of Directors, and an Ohio Fish Health Group member. He was also appointed to the Aquaculture Advisory Board for Hocking College. 
     
    Research
     
    A first for the specialist, his master’s research entitled Split Ponds Effectively Overwinter Baitfish was accepted for publication by the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society and is currently available online for early viewing. A high summer temperature research publication left over from Arkansas is currently in preparation. Funded research projects include assessing the status of state aquaculture associations in the north central region, as well as updating older NCRAC Extension publications. Other proposals have been submitted and we are waiting on the results to come in early 2017. He has worked diligently to ensure that multiple OSU program areas work together for the better of the aquaculture industry. 

     

  43. Dr. Hanping Wang co-organizes and co-chairs 2nd International Symposium on Perch and Bass

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist
     

    Dr. Hanping Wang from Ohio State University South Centers and Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) co-organize and co-chair the 2nd International Symposium on Perch and Bass, held in HZAU, Wuhan, China, from October 27-30, 2016. The conference is a continuation of the first conference of its kind held in 2013. The International Symposium on Perch and Bass is designed to provide a forum on recent developments and future directions in perch and bass research, development, and production. With many invited speakers, the conference is an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and applications in these internationally important aquaculture species. Invited scholars, who are engaged in the perch and bass research and development from America, China, Australia, Spain, Belgium, and Singapore, will be giving the speeches. A bilanguage (English and Chinese) book, “Culture and Breeding of Perch and Bass” based on the two conferences will be published. Dr. Hanping Wang is the Co-Chair and Co-Editor for the conferences and book. He also speaks as a keynote speaker at the conference. For more information, visit the symposium homepage.

    Initiated by OSU South Centers, OSU and HZAU signed a partnership MOU earlier this year. In the past many years, OSU South Centers and HZAU have jointly trained three PhD students and four postdocs/scholars at the OSU South Centers, and co-published eight papers. This conference is another fruit of the partnership. 

     

  44. Welcome Jordan Maxwell - New ABC-2 Coordinator

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist
     
    Jordan Maxwell was hired in October 2016 to be the program coordinator for the Aquaculture Boot Camp-2 (ABC-2) program.  She assists Dr. Hanping Wang and the ABC-2 team to execute the educational and research activities for the aquaculture programs at OSU South Centers. She will be helping to plan, coordinate, and implement educational activities, including development of training materials, coordination of aquaculture training projects, providing one-on-one support for training and teaching aquaculture production. She will also be collecting data and writing project progress reports, publications, and news articles. ABC-2 is funded through the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
     
    Ms. Maxwell received a B.S. in Wildlife and Fish Management from The University of Rio Grande, and also holds an Associate’s Degree in Wildlife Resources Management from Hocking College. She has teaching and coordination experience at Hocking College, and has aquaculture/hatchery experience at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Applegrove fish hatchery and the Hocking College fish hatchery. Ms. Maxwell has a passion for aquaculture and is eager to join our team We believe her prior experience and academic preparation will highlight the ABC-2 Program and its initiatives at The Ohio State University South Centers.
  45. OCARD receives award to host 2nd Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC-2)

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist and Matthew A. Smith, Extension Aquaculture Specialist
     
    The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) at the Ohio State University (OSU) South Centers, in partnership with Ohio Aquaculture Association (OAA),  University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP), and other partners have received an award of ~$600,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) to develop and operate the 2nd Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC-2). The USDA Secretary announced our funded project, along with  26 other awards in August. The ABC-2 program willutilize a “3-I” (Intensive, Intermediate, Introductory) training and multi-faceted approach, including classroom and hands-on training, paired with industry mentoring to enhance the sustainability of new and beginning aquaculture/aquaponic and next generation farmers in the Midwest. OCARD was the first aquaculture unit to  receive this type of project from the USDA. The specific goals of the ABC-2 program will be achieved through collaborations among aquaculture, horticulture, and business teams at the South Centers, and partnerships with four nongovernmental and community-based organizations, two agricultural colleges, and six aqua-farms.
     
    The 3-year ABC-2 project will serve the following Target Audience in Ohio and the Midwest:
    • Beginning and new aquaculture/aquaponic farmers with less than 10 years of farming experience.
    • Limited-resource beginning aqua-farmers: most aqua-farmers have low levels of farm sales and low household income, as most of them are new and located in rural areas. 
    • Next generation farmers: students and those without a family farming history. 
    • Other new farmers attempting to diversify their existing farming enterprise.
     
    ABC-2 will utilize a modified model of the successful Phase 1 Aquaculture Boot Camp developed and delivered over the past three years by our team. During ABC-2, we will offer new and next generation farmers  three levels of involvement, three topic areas and three types of integrated training in aquaculture/aquaponic production and business management strategies. The  three levels of participation are: Intensive, an in-depth level involving immersion in a year-long hands-on training and classroom/mentoring program; Intermediate, a mid-level involving participation in a variety of learning activities and workshops; and Introductory, a general or entry level where sharing of information is the goal, and involving participation in the ABC-2 online education and webinars. The three areas which will be covered are general/traditional aquaculture, recirculating aquaculture/aquaponics, and related business and marketing. The three types of instruction are hands-on, classroom/mentoring, and internet/webinar. 
     
    Up to 30 highly motivated new (less than 10 years of farming experience) and beginning fish farmers and aquaponic producers from across Ohio and the Midwest will be enlisted in the Intensive Boot Camp program. Recruits will be individuals actively involved in aquaculture/aquaponics or seriously dedicated to developing skills for entry into the industry. 
     
    Applications for participation in the program will be accepted until the close of business on November 4th and applications can be found at go.osu.edu/abc2. For more information about the ABC-2 program, please contact Sarah Strausbaugh at strausbaugh.54@osu.edu. After October 30th, our new ABC-2 Program Coordinator Jordan Maxwell will be available to field your questions at 740.289.2071 x124.
  46. Aquaculture Education Update

    By Matthew A. Smith, Aquaculture Extension Specialist
     
    It’s been a busy few months for the Extension Aquaculture Program since the last Ohio State University South Centers Connections Newsletter was released. Our first big education moment of the quarter came during the annual Ohio State University Farm Science Review (FSR) in London, Ohio from September 20-22. I presented three presentations on September 21; Aquaculture Opportunities in Ohio, Sustainable Aquaponics, and Aquaponics: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The last presentation was certainly the most popular with over 70 attendees, and total presentation attendees were over 120 for the day. In addition to the presentations, we had a mobile barrelponics display in the Firebaugh building. The running display consisted of kale, red-leaf lettuce, and goldfish. Fresh Harvest Farm allowed OSU to borrow the display and assisted in education on the second day. FSR total attendance was over 125,000 and at least 500 people passed by the display and talked to someone about aquaculture, aquaponics, the Ohio Aquaculture Association, and the Aquaculture Boot Camp 2 program. Needless to say, OSU South Centers will have their own mobile aquaponics system for education purposes in the near future. 
     
    The next large education moment of the quarter took place right here in Piketon, Ohio. Science Alliance is an annual high school education event that was developed and coordinated by the Department of Energy and Fluor-BWXT. It is held at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site and was established to educate high school students about STEM opportunities throughout the country. This year over 1,400 junior and senior students from Pike, Ross, and Scioto County learned about aquaculture, aquaponics, conservation, and agriculture education possibilities through the barrelponics presentation. It was quite an event with 10 talks a day for 3 days and 30 – 40 students per talk.
     
    Lastly, the OSU South Centers 25th anniversary celebration was a huge success and a few families in the area submitted an application for ABC-2 following tours of the educational aquaponics system. E-mails and phone calls are frequent as we approach the beginner aquaculture and aquaponic farmer workshop that will be held at the OSU South Centers on October 29th. We encourage those interested to contact us or the Ohio Aquaculture Association.
  47. Overview of Aquaculture Extension’s last 5 months

    By Matthew A. Smith, Aquaculture Extension Specialist 

    As mentioned in the last Connections Newsletter, Matthew Smith (myself), recently joined Ohio State University as an Aquaculture Program Specialist. After only a few days in my office, I headed off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center’s (NCRAC) conference and the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association’s annual conference. Since starting with Ohio State, I have had the opportunity to join many committees, advisory councils, panels, and groups which all influence aquaculture production in Ohio. I look forward to representing Ohio State University at these meetings.

    One of my favorite successes so far has been the development of Buckeye Aquafarming, a newsletter developed to inform fish farmers, Extension Educators, recreational pond owners, administrators, and legislators about timely aquaculture matters that pertain to Ohio. The first issue featured sustainable aquaponics, aquaculture marketing, and water quality, to name a few. The winter newsletter will include multiple agencies and universities to give Ohio a view of big-picture U.S. aquaculture!

    Water quality management is one of the most important concepts to understand as a fish farmer and that is why on August 6th, 2016 the South Centers will be hosting a water quality workshop to teach those interested. The day will be long but worth it. Topics are diverse and include pond, aquaponic, and recirculating aquaculture system considerations. Limiting stress and fish losses to poor water quality helps put farmers in a better financial position through successful culture to the market date.

    Understanding all aspects of an agriculture business is crucial to success, and that’s why I will be discussing a few topics at Farm Science Review this year. Topics include “Sustainable Aquaponics for the Hobbyist” at the Gwynn Conservation Center, “Aquaponics: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” at the Small Farm Center Tent, and “Aquaculture Opportunities for Ohio” at the Small Farm Center Building. for aquaponics education, we will also have a hobby-scale aquaponics display available throughout the Farm Science Review. With aquaponics being a “buzzword” it’s imperative to get out non-biased information to those interested in starting this type of venture.

    Education and outreach both to potential and current farmers, as well as the general public has already been successful. Education during tours to administrators, 4-H members, Boy Scouts, middle schools, high schools, and other organizations is proving highly beneficial for the success of our program. Starting in September, the South Centers will be offering free tours of the aquaponics greenhouse and Ohio Center for Aquaculture and Research Development on the last Friday of every month. Interested parties can sign up on our website at http://southcenters.osu.edu/aquaculture/extension.

     

     

  48. Big Genomic Data for fast-growing aquaculture

    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.

  49. Dr. Hanping Wang was an invited speaker on aqua genomics/genetics/breeding at National Strategic Planning Workshop

    OSU South Centers Senior Scientist, Dr. Hanping Wang, was invited by the USDA Aqua Genomics/Genetics Coordinator to speak on “Genomics, genetics, and breeding programs in the Midwest” at The National Strategic Planning Workshop for Aquaculture Genomics, Genetics and Breeding,” which was held March 24-25, 2016 in Auburn, Alabama. The workshop brought researchers, government officials and industry leaders together to review the current status in aquaculture genomics, genetics, and breeding and discuss existing problems, future goals, gaps, and application of genome-based strategies for breeding. The topics included traditional selective breeding, genome-based breeding strategies such as marker-assisted selection, genome selection, genome editing, and analysis of associations of phenotypes and genotypes.  A strategic whitepaper is being prepared and will be published based on the workshop.

  50. Welcome to South Centers Matthew Smith

    Matthew joined the aquaculture South Centers team as an Extension Aquaculture Specialist in March 2016.  For the last year, Matthew worked in Extension in a fish health laboratory in Lonoke, Arkansas.  He received his Master’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in Aquaculture and Fisheries in 2015 and his Bachelor’s from Auburn University in 2012. 
     
    His Master’s research focused on comparing traditional golden shiner (baitfish) culture methods to an alternative production system that has already been commercially accepted on catfish farms.  With Arkansas being such a large and diverse aquaculture industry, Matthew was exposed to a wide variety of species that are applicable to the Ohio industry.  His primary interests include pond culture and management, alternative production technologies, water quality, fish health, and overcoming hobby to commercialization barriers. 
     
    As Extension Aquaculture Specialist, his number one priority is to work toward expanding sustainable and profitable fish farms in the state of Ohio.  Primary responsibilities include visiting fish farms to understand the industry’s needs, develop Extension fact sheets and workshops that will help address the needs found, conducting applied (farmer-friendly) research when necessary, and assisting those who are interested in becoming an aquaculturist.  To expedite the dissemination of information to current and potential farmers, Matthew and Sarah Strausbaugh are updating the Ohio State University South Centers Aquaculture Extension website to make it easier to navigate for those who are brand new to aquaculture.  Additionally, Matthew is working to develope extension workshops geared toward exposing OSU Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educators to the world of aquaculture so that they will be prepared when tasked with fish farming questions in the future. 
  51. Aquaculture Boot Camp achievements and impacts

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist
     
    In the past three years, we successfully developed and delivered the Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) program.  The ABC program offered integrated training in aquaculture 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 was the goal. 
     
    For the ABC Intensive, a classroom/online-based course was developed based on the Aquaculture DACUM in 2013.  Twelve monthly informative educational modules and materials in aquaculture production, and twelve monthly educational modules and materials in business and marketing were designed/developed and delivered in 2013.  These modules were modified/replicated and delivered in 2014 based on the needs of the new participants.  The ABC intensive level met the original goal by recruiting and training 50 potential new and beginning aquaculture farmers in Ohio.  Each graduate student prepared a PowerPoint presentation describing who they are, why they joined ABC, what they learned and what they plan to do upon the course completion.  A total of thirty-nine participants from both classes completed the training program and were awarded with certificates of completion.  After participation in two ABC intensive classes in 2013 and 2014, students, on a scale of 1 being strongly disagree and 4 being strongly agree, reported an average of 3.5 when asked if the program met their expectations.  Students indicated they would recommend this program to their business partners or relatives, and that they were clear on how to apply what they learned on the job or in their businesses.  In addition, ABC intensive students self-assessed their knowledge prior to and after the delivery of the monthly content.  On a scale with 1 being low and 5 being high, the overall pre-test mean in 2013 was 2.48 and 1.88 in 2014.  The post-test mean in 2013 was 3.97 and 3.80 in 2014.  These results indicate that ABC students significantly increased their level of knowledge of the content addressed in the program.  By the end of the ABC 1 project, twenty-four new businesses/farms were created by the 2013 and 2014 ABC Intensive class graduates. 
     
    For both the Intensive and Intermediate ABC students, nine aquaculture workshops were offered in 2013, 2014, and 2015.  Two Aquaculture Bus Tours were offered for Introductory, Intermediate and Intensive ABC students each year in 2013, and 2014.  An ABC website was created to sustainably support the target audience.  Podcasts of ABC Intensive training classes and practices were developed, and posted on the ABC website and distributed to new aquaculture farmers.  Several brochures/pamphlets, fact sheets and worksheets were designed as part of the learning materials from October 2012 to August 2015.  Three annual conferences geared toward mostly new fish farmers were organized.  Twenty-three newsletters and three magazines were published and delivered to new and beginning farmers.  As a result, the ABC Intermediate program surpassed the projected number of participants by 186.87%, and the Introductory program surpassed the participation goal by 557.10%.  That means that 287 new and beginning farmers gained knowledge of aquaculture production and new technologies by participating in ABC Intermediate workshops and bus tours, and more than 5,000 participants gained new knowledge by accessing ABC Introductory, ABC website tools and information, ABC/OAA Newsletter and magazines.
     
    In addition, some participants or potential new farmers who are interested in aquaculture training experience received ABC and OAA internships and mentoring. The ABC network was developed to broaden and sustain support services to new and beginning fish farmers.
  52. Aquaculture research achievements and impacts 2015

    By Dr. Hanping Wang, Senior Scientist
     
    Summary of Achievements: In 2015, in collaborations with the Oregon State University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Lincoln University of Missouri, University of Benha University, and several other international institutions, we accomplished twelve research studies and projects resulting in 12 manuscripts being submitted; we finished the 3-year on-farm on-station tests of improved yellow perch vs. local unimproved fish, and finalized the report; we published five peer-reviewed journal articles and six proceedings abstracts; received two grants; trained five graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and scholars; completed/submitted seven new grant proposals; and made eight presentations at international conferences.  A book titled Sex-Control in Aquaculture is in the progress.
     
    Yellow Perch Breeding: The fifth generation of fast-growing lines of yellow perch was created for the aquaculture industry through marker-assisted cohort selection.  Approximately 1,000,000 genetically improved seeds were delivered to the aquaculture industry in 2015 and so far over 2,000,000 genetically improved seeds have been distributed to farms for test and demonstration.  Neo-male male populations of yellow perch with a female genotype have been created, and a fast-growing all-female strain has been developed for the aquaculture industry by crossing neo-males with regular females.   The all-female population should be able to grow 50% faster than unimproved regular mixed populations.  Four projects related to sex-control and breeding were completed and four manuscripts on these projects are in preparation or in revision.
     
    Bluegill Breeding: Twenty-four selected and improved females and 24 selected males were pair-mated, and 12 batches of expected all-males were produced.  Once the sex is confirmed, the fish will be distributed to two locations and to compare sex ratios and production characteristics.  Temperature effects on sex ratio have been found in some geographic populations, producing more males in high temperatures, more females in low temperatures.  The findings were published in Aquaculture.  Follow-up investigation using four different geographic populations strongly suggests that both temperature-dependent sex determination and genetic sex determination exist in bluegill.
     
    This paper is in the revising phase and being considered by The Biological Bulletin for publication. The results from these two experiments provide a valuable base for developing all-male broodstock for bluegill, which could grow 35-50% faster than mixed populations.
     
    Identify the best genetically distinct largemouth bass populations for the industry: We investigated the genetic structure of largemouth bass from 20 wild populations and five cultured stocks across the United States and China using eight microsatellite loci.  Our major findings are as follows: (1) Allelic richness was lower among cultured populations than among wild populations; (2) Effective population size in hatcheries could promote high levels of genetic variation among individuals and minimize loss of genetic diversity; (3) The majority of largemouth bass populations had a significant heterozygosity excess, which is likely to indicate a previous population bottleneck; (4) The phylogeny based on eight microsatellites revealed a clear distinction between northern and southern populations.  The information provides a valuable basis for development of aquaculture genetic breeding programs in largemouth bass.
     
    On-farm and on-station tests of improved yellow perch in ponds:  A 3-year project of the on-station and on-farm tests of genetically improved yellow perch on three sites and in two states was finished, data analyzed, and report submitted. 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.
     
    Genomic sequence and tool development: In collaboration with Oregon State University, we completed RAD/DNA sequencing of five strains, and whole genome sequencing of two strains in yellow perch to develop SNPs and identify genomic diversity of those strains for further improve perch growth and other economic traits; we completed RNA sequencing of regular males, regular females and neo-males, and different growth phases of yellow perch to identify genes associated with sexual size dimorphism and sex determination, and to develop an all-female population using improved fish; a total of 41,479 microsatellite markers were identified from 18,210 unigene sequences for breeding programs; we also completed whole genome sequencing of two strains of bluegill to develop SNPs and investigate genomic base of sex determination for developing mono-sex population.  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 and sunfish breeding program. 
     
    Improvement of egg hatching rate for industry: We completed a project on determining efficacy of formalin, iodine, and sodium chloride for the 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 were published in Aquaculture Research and will be used by fish farmers to improve the egg hatching rate and fry production of yellow perch.
     
    Improvement of perch fry survival rate for industry: Seven feeding regimes were tested in 2015, with each having two replicates, via combination of mouth-opening prey, initial age of weaning, duration of weaning, duration of co-feeding, and different larvae formula feed.  Several related studies were completed: 1) By monitoring egg size produced by different strains/families, we have identified some strains/families that produced significantly larger-mouth gape progeny and larger eggs than others; 2) Variation of egg size is dramatically different among strains of our genetically improved fish, indicating there is a large range of selection for large eggs; 3) We found predation and ingestion of prey at the beginning of feeding is limited by the mouth gape in fish larvae which determine larvae survival.  Survival varied considerably between replicates and among feeding regimes.  Massive mortality was observed at two stages for all feeding regimes/tanks. 
     
    The first massive mortality was observed right after stocking from the hatching tank to nursing tank.  About 30-75% larvae died the next day after stocking due to handling. The second massive mortality was observed from 10- to 30-days post-hatch (DPH) of fry.  No mortality was found after 45 DPH and all fish could ingest commercial starter feed (>0.8 mm) for larvae.
     
    International training program: Leading research in aquaculture genetics and breeding at the OSU South Centers has attracted more than twenty-five scientists and international scholars to work in the Aquaculture Research Center and Genetics Lab at Piketon.  In 2015, the lab trained five visiting Ph.D. students, post-doctorial researchers and international scholars, and one of them received their Ph.D in 2015.  They also significantly contributed to the aquaculture program’s success at The Ohio State University South Centers.
     
  53. OSU South Centers Academic Editor received recognition from PLOS ONE

    By: Sarah Strausbaugh, Program Assistant
     
    Recently, OSU South Centers Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Hanping Wang received recognition from PLOS ONE for his contributions to the journal as an Academic Editor. PLOS ONE has a high impact, being the world’s largest peer-reviewed science and medical journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS). 
     
    In 2013, Dr. Hanping Wang was selected and appointed to be the journal’s Academic Editor and board member for the section of Biology and Genetics of Aquatic Animals. Dr. Wang has handled thirty-five manuscripts for the journal in the past two-and-a-half years. During this term, Ms. Joy Bauman has played an important role in assisting Dr. Wang with completion of editing the manuscripts. In addition, Dr. Tom Worley and Ms. Marsha Amlin have been very supportive to this academic service by Dr. Wang and Ms. Bauman.
     
    Dr. Wang was invited to a recognition reception held in Baltimore, Maryland on October 7, 2015.  Congratulations, Dr. Wang!
  54. Sustainable aquaponic vegetable and fish co-production in Ohio

    By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator
     
    Producing vegetables and fish in a linked hydroponic plant and aquaculture fish co-production system is called aquaponics. Plants can use the water and nutrients from the aquaculture tank, thus reducing water and fertilizer requirements and significantly reducing waste discharges from the aquaculture system. Producing plants hydroponically and farming fish using aquaculture have their own special requirements in order to properly manage each system. When combining the two, it adds a layer of complexity for the commercial grower when systems are maintained at plant and fish population levels recommended for maximum yields. This article provides some basic aquaponic guidelines that have been developed from research conducted by the Ohio State University Piketon Research & Extension Center. 
     
    Aquaponic Systems
    The most common aquaponic systems currently in use employ either a media-filled plant bed, nutrient-film technique (NFT), or a floating raft system for the plant growing area integrated with a recirculating aquaculture tank system (RAS) for the fish production area. Almost any type of vegetable production system can be linked to an aquaculture system, including open field production, if recycling water back to the aquaculture unit is not required. This technology is young and trialing is recommended, especially for untested systems.
     
    Crop and Fish Choices
    Any plant commonly grown in hydroponic systems will adapt to aquaponics including the most common types – leafy salad crops, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. The most common aquaponic fish is tilapia, which grow well under a wide range of water quality conditions. Other fish adapted to aquaponics but requiring more stringent water conditions than tilapia are rainbow trout, largemouth bass, yellow perch, bluegill, and koi. Catfish can be grown in aquaponics but would not compete economically with commercial pond culture. Barramundi is a common aquaponic fish species in Australia and gaining in popularity in the Midwest. Barramundi grow under a wide range of conditions but are still being researched for aquaponics production.
     
    If you are interested in learning more about aquaponics and research that is being conducted, if you would like to join our Ohio Aquaponics or Horticulture email listserv, or for more information, visit the OSU South Centers website: http://southcenters.osu.edu/aquaculture/boot-camp/introductory or contact Horticulture Specialist Brad Bergefurd, bergefurd.1@osu.edu or call the OSU South Centers 1-800-860-7232 or 740-289-2071 ext. 132.
     

     

  55. Aquaponics workshop… What a thumbs-up experience!

    By: Estefania James, MS, Program Assistant
     
    The OSU South Centers was the venue of the last Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) program event. This workshop brought together around 50 new and advanced aquaponics farmers from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey. 
     
    According to previous surveys conducted in 2014, aquaponics was the top topic requested among ABC intermediate and intensive students, and the Ohio Aquaculture Association (OAA) members. As a result, the OAA and the ABC program worked dedicatedly to offer a technical and hands-on aquaponics training workshop July 10-11, 2015.
     
    The main purpose of this workshop was to offer the opportunity to network with local farmers to hear about their business experiences, and to learn from their challenges and obstacles. Furthermore, this workshop attempted to answer technical questions such as construction considerations, business aspects, economics, and the selection of plants and fish. 
     
    Successful aquaponics growers were invited to be part of this event. Ryan Chatterson from Chatterson Farms located in Clermont, Florida was one of the speakers. He described the technical considerations to build recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), equipment and tools selections, as well as fish and plant production dynamics. Another collaborator was Allen Patillo from Iowa State University. Allen explained several experiments conducted to collect data from different production systems by using different growing media and lighting sources, among others. Jeni and Doug Blackburn, owners of Fresh Harvest Farms were also invited. They shared their strategies to successfully manage an aquaponics farm. They also spoke about several marketing approaches to build strong relationships with direct customers. Lori Klintworth and Mark Zody debuted for the first time as presenters. They own Local Sprouts Aquaponics from Apple Creek, Ohio.
     
    They shared their adventure of building their aquaponics farm while attending the ABC intensive class. 
     
    Participant evaluations of the workshop were very favorable, with 100% agreeing they would strongly recommend the aquaponics workshop to a colleague.  New lessons were learned related to aquaponics crops and systems. Although there may be more questions to be answered, that was the purpose of this workshop…“to promote a higher and deeper interest in aquaponics farming.” Make sure to visit our website: southcenters.osu.edu/aquaculture/aquaculture-extension/boot-camp/intensive/aquaponics-workshop-2015 to revisit the presentations and pictures from the workshop. Please contact us with any further questions.

     

  56. Is the Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC)Program Over?

    By: Estefania James, MS, Program Assistant
     
    The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development at The Ohio State University South Centers has recently received many phone calls and emails requesting information how to register for the aquaculture boot camp program. One of the farmers said, “My friend told me about your program and that’s exactly what I need to move forward in my aquaculture business…is the boot camp over?” The answer is yes and no. The ABC program was funded for three years through a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Even though this is year three and the source of funding is over, the aquaculture Extension staff will continue offering support to the Ohio aquaculture industry. 
    Any new, beginning, or expert farmer will have access to the online resources available in the extension website (http://southcenters.osu.edu/). More workshops, hands-on training courses, fact sheets, and bus tours are planned for the coming months.
     
    This is a joint effort of the OSU South Centers and the Ohio Aquaculture Association. The boot camp program has been a good source of collecting and assessing the needs of the fish farmers. As a result, two main topics were highly requested: Marketing/Processing and Aquaponics. 
    The first workshop was held at the OSU South Centers in May.   According to our workshop evaluation, 92% of the participants will recommend this workshop to other farmers and they believe that the instructors were good communicators and knowledgeable on the topics. 70% of the participants strongly agreed that this workshop was applicable to their jobs. We like to thank our speakers: Traci and Craig Bell, Kelly O’Bryant, Kory Groetsch, and Dr. Dave Smith. Also, a huge applause goes to our special speakers and hands-on trainers: Dr. Stephen Reichley and Angela Caporelli. We are also proud to announce that one of our ABC 2014 graduates, Craig Bell and his wife Traci Bell, were recently notified that they received the USDA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant. This grant will definitely improve the great efforts the Bells have made at Ripple Rock Fish Farms.  
     
    The next workshop scheduled is the Aquaponics workshop July 10-11, 2015. For more information and to register, please visit the following link: http://southcenters.osu.edu/about-us/events/aquaculture.  We are proud to announce our special speaker and hands-on trainer, Ryan Chatterson. He is the owner and operator of Chatterson Farms, a commercial aquaponics farm located on five acres in the beautiful hills of Clermont, FL and has been growing with aquaponics for over a decade. He spent ten years working at Aquatic Eco-Systems where he assisted in thousands of aquaponics projects ranging from backyard systems to large commercial design. While there, he also managed Green Sky Growers rooftop aquaponics greenhouse, built and managed two large outdoor aquaponics demonstration systems and helped to design the company’s workshop curriculum, in which he taught over 150 students alongside Dr James Rakocy, Dr. Wilson Lennard, and others.
     
    In early 2013, Ryan left the company to run his own commercial aquaponics farm, Chatterson Farms, and in 2014 started Aquaponic Engineering & Design, providing design, engineering and educational services to the commercial aquaponics industry. Estefania James, the ABC program coordinator, attended his workshop in April. She established a good connection with Ryan and admired his teaching skills. We look forward to having a great workshop with Ryan here in Ohio. We certainly invite all Ohio Aquaponics growers who are ready to expand their aquaponics farms and learn more about the technical aspects of designing their systems to attend this workshop. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Estefania James, james.742@osu.edu, 740-289-2071 ext. 127

     

  57. Dr. Hanping Wang Visited Benha University and WorldFish Center in Egypt

    By: Hanping Wang, PhD, Senior Research Scientist

    Invited by the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC, Dr. Hanping Wang recently visited Benha University in Cairo to discuss and enhance future scientific collaboration, and advise Ms Hiam S. Desouky’s dissertation and defense. During the visit, Dr. Wang met with Dr. Ali Shame EI Din, the President of Benha University, Dr. Mohamed, the Dean of School of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Adel Shaheen, the Chair of Department of Fish Management, and discussed further research collaboration in aquaculture and related areas. Benha University ranks third in Egypt. In the past four years, OSU South Centers and Benha University have jointly trained two Ph.D. students and one visiting scholar. 
    During the visit, Dr. Wang also visited WorldFish Center. WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization that harnesses the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. Dr. Wang met Dr. Gamal Nagar, the center director, Dr. Malcolm Dickson, the project leader, and other researchers, and discussed potential collaboration with them in aquaculture. In addition, Dr. Wang visited the Egyptian Center for Aquaculture Research, and three fish farms.
  58. Ms. Hiam S. Desouky Passed Her Defense and Received Her Ph.D.

    By: Hanping Wang, PhD, Senior Research Scientist
    Ms. Hiam S. Desouky, who was trained through a joint Ph.D. training program between the OSU South Centers and Benha University in Cairo, passed her defense and received her Ph.D. recently in the School of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University. Dr. Hiam S. Desouky completed her Ph.D. dissertation research under Dr. Hanping Wang’s supervision at the OSU South Centers aquaculture genetics lab from April 2013 to March 2015, after finishing her course work at Benha University. Her dissertation entitled “Developing biomarkers to detect stressors in fish using molecular biological tools” received an excellent evaluation from her committee. The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) has established an international joint Ph.D. training program with several countries since 2005. The program has attracted more than twenty international scholars and Ph.D. students to work under Dr. Hanping Wang’s advisement in the aquaculture breeding and genetics lab at Piketon.
  59. Ohio Aquaculture Extension Program Highlights

    By: Laura Tiu, PhD, Director Ohio Aquaculture Extension Program

     

    2014 was a banner year for the Aquaculture Extension Program (AEP) as it was the second year of our Aquaculture Boot Camp Project (see accompanying article). The team spent much of the year serving the needs of our Intensive, Intermediate and Introductory aquaculture clients with personal consultation, conferences, workshops, tours, and email and phone support.

     

    In addition to Aquaculture Boot Camp, the Extension Team coordinated three well-attended workshops in 2014. The first, a workshop in Toledo, Ohio, was a collaborative effort with the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and the Ohio Aquaculture Association. Many of the presentations from that workshop are available here. In April, we partnered with Kentucky State University and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to conduct an Aquaponics Workshop with a trip to Food Chain in Lexington, KY. In October, the team organized a Recirculation Aquaculture Workshop at the OSU Newark Campus which included a tour of a local RAS system in Frazeysburg, Ohio. The year finished off with an October Bus Tour of Farms to four farms in Ohio and an ethnic market that sells live fish in Columbus, OH.

     

    Aquaculture Specialists presented information at multiple workshops throughout the year including Aquaculture America in Seattle, Washington; Washington, D.C.; and the Farm Science Review. Specialists also traveled to China with the Ohio Soybean Council and the Soy Aquaculture Association, and to Germany with the Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center to explore their aquaculture industries and explore opportunities for collaboration.

     

    Multiple groups, both local and international (Pakistan, Israel, and Albania), enjoyed tours of the Aquaculture Research Center. Over forty individuals participated in our First Friday Aquaculture Tour program where on the first Friday of each month, participants register to tour the Aquaculture Center and learn first-hand about our research and Extension programs. Two local schools participated in tours and several K-12 teachers attended STEM training on using aquaculture and aquaponics in the classroom.

     

    Aquaponics continues to be a hot topic this year and an aquaponics list serve was created to enhance the flow of information. Additionally, aquaculture and horticulture specialists at the South Centers teamed up to build the Center’s first aquaponics system. So far, we have successfully produced Russian kale, red lettuce and mizuna in the system using both tilapia and yellow perch. Additional research will be conducted in 2015 to further refine the project. Webinars are becoming a growing method of sharing information. We conducted two webinars in 2014 on aquaponics marketing and species selection for aquaponics.

     

    Finally, a series of aquaculture videos was produced and is available on our website, southcenters.osu.edu. For additional information on any of our programs, feel free to visit our website or contact us directly.

     

  60. Aquaculture Research Achievements and Impacts 2014

    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.

     

  61. Recapping the Best of the Aquaculture Boot Camp Program in 2014

    By: Estefania James, MS, Program Assistant

    After twelve months of hard work and commitment, nineeen Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) recruits graduated on December 13, 2014. The Ohio State University South Centers served as the main venue for the training sessions.

    The aquaculture boot camp program offered an integrated training 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.

    These participants punctually attended ABC sessions the second Saturday of each month to learn the fundamental concepts of aquaculture and business planning to successfully run an aquaculture business.

    One of the unique features of this program was learning by doing with the technical guidance of the OSU aquaculture instructors and the Ohio Aquaculture Association mentors. There were many topics covered in the ABC program: species selection, systems selections, species biology, site selection, water quality, fish and fresh water prawn stocking and harvesting, processing, recirculating aquaculture systems, and fish health, among others.

    Each training session was followed by an evaluation in order to identify their pre- and post-perceptions of learning. These evaluations helped the instructors to improve and adjust the content for the future classes.

    In addition to the monthly session evaluations, mid and final evaluations were conducted to assess the overall performance of the program. The results and the findings of the data collected from the classes of 2013 and 2014 will be published in mid-2015.

    Piketon, the ABC headquarters, was not the only training location. These students had the opportunity to visit and meet experienced fish farmers. There were three off-campus training sessions. The first was at Kentucky State University in the Division of Aquaculture. Charlie Shultz was a special instructor for the Aquaponics workshop in April 2014.

    In August, the ABC intensive class met Dr. Dave Smith at his aquaculture operation, Freshwater Farms of Ohio, in Urbana to learn about marketing and processing with the collaboration of Angela Caporelli from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

    And finally, in October, boot campers met Steve Van Gorder from Fresh-Culture Systems, Inc. who taught the Recirculating Aquaculture Systems workshop in Newark, Ohio.

    One of the greatest lessons learned in boot camp was that both instructors and students learned from each other and sharing was the key element to succeed in the development of their business plans.

    Even though we are not offering the ABC intensive class in 2015, there will be three workshops available: The OAA annual meeting in January, an Aquaponics workshop, and a Marketing and Processing workshop. We would like to encourage new and beginning fish farmers who want to learn about the program to visit our website at http://go.osu.edu/abc and sign up in the ABC intermediate program to be informed of new training opportunities and industry updates.

    The ABC program was a marvelous success thanks to the teamwork of the Aquaculture, Business Development and OSU South Centers teams, along with the Ohio Aquaculture Association. We also look forward to reapplying for new funds through the USDA to continue working to increase the numbers of new and beginning fish farmers in the State of Ohio.

    We appreciate everyone’s effort and dedication. Because of your help, Aquaculture Boot Camp has been an extremely successful program.

  62. Aquaculture and Horticulture Programs Conduct First Ohio Aquaponics Research

    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.

  63. In memory of Duane Rigsby

    By Bradford Sherman 
    CFAES/South Centers

    The Ohio State University South Centers, the College, and The Ohio State University lost a beloved friend and colleague in April with the passing of Duane Rigsby. Duane was one of the first staff members hired at CFAES South Centers when it first opened in 1991.  Duane was nearing his 31st anniversary of service with the university as a most loyal and faithful Buckeye.

    MENTOR, HISTORIAN, FRIEND

    His importance to South Centers cannot be overstated. It seemed he was ever-present and always the first person anyone thought to call whenever there was a problem. Duane kept all the computer and phone systems working, took lots of pictures and recorded videos, kept the water flowing, and made sure everyone felt safe and comfortable with his knowledge of security and HVAC systems.

    Duane at the start of his OSU career.He was a historian of our center with a deep knowledge and appreciation of the history of South Centers, especially keeping up with former staff members. He had collected a treasure trove of photos and memories over his 30-plus years in Piketon and loved to impart his knowledge and experiences to newer generations of employees.  

    He was always there to help anyone, no matter what the need.  Perhaps Duane’s co-workers will most remember him for his willingness to help anyone with anything, and always with a smile and patience.  He once jokingly said, “not many IT guys wear work boots,” which perfectly encapsulated his “not afraid to get his hands dirty” attitude. He would happily plow snow, unclog a toilet, or dig a ditch, just the same as if he were fixing a printer. If it needed doing, he was always there to get it done. 

    VIDEO STUDIO FOUNDER

    Duane, along with Patrick Dengel and Sarah Swanson, was also a founding member of the South Centers Telecast/Video team. The videos have skyrocketed in popularity and importance in recent years.

    “Duane was a true believer in providing educational material to not only our subscribers, but to individuals throughout the region and in Ohio,” said Dengel.
    The studio has grown to surpass 1,500 subscribers on YouTube and South Centers educational programming can be seen on several television stations throughout Ohio.

    OBITUARY

    Duane Lee Rigsby, 52, of Portsmouth, passed away on April 27, 2022, at Hospice of Central Ohio at Ohio State University Medical Center after a long battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  He was a member of St. Mary ‘s Catholic Church. Duane was born to LeRoy and Mary Jones Rigsby. He was a graduate of Eastern High School in the class of 1988. He graduated with his Associate Degree in Forestry Management from Hocking Technical College in 1990 along with his best friend since the 5 th grade, Dean Rapp. They started their careers with The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon, Ohio after graduation. He worked in the agricultural field before rewriting his own job description after teaching himself to work on computers. He worked his way up at OSU South Centers to become their IT Support and later Systems Specialist. He taught formal classes, and many individuals, the basics of using computer technology. He was also instrumental in running the OSU South Centers Studio with dear friends Patrick Dengel and Sarah Swanson. Duane was awarded the OSU Distinguished Staff award in 2010 and the OSU South Centers Outstanding Staff Award. He was a long-time member of the Lone Eagle Archery Club for many years with his good friends Darrell, Dwayne, and Wayne Risner, among many others.

    Duane and his daughter Katie.He married the love of his life, Linda L. Kielmar Gray, on February 21, 1997. He was an amazing step-father to Rebecca Gray and later to his beloved daughter Katelyn Rigsby. Duane was preceded in death by his father, LeRoy Rigsby, his grandparents, Lundy & Mirta Rigsby and Cinnet & Maxine Jones, his father and mother-in-law, Richard & Saundra Kielmar, several aunts and uncles, as well as a very special uncle, Dave Jones, whom he loved and admired.

    Survived by his loving wife of 25 years, Linda, daughters Rebecca Gray and Katie Rigsby, his dear mother, Mary Rigsby, and his honorary second mother-in-law, Mary Gray, and one granddaughter Saffron Cecilia Cassidy, brother & sister-in-law’s David & Teri Kielmar, Randy & Kathy Nelson, Tim & Carolyn Paul, Richard & Kelly Kielmar, Jim & Katrina Kielmar, and by many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and his dear friend, Dean (Stephanie) Rapp, his special Aunt Kay, and cousin David Aaron (Heather) Jones, as well as his beloved dog, Buddha.

    Calling hours for friends and family were held at the Melcher-Hammer Funeral Home in Portsmouth, Ohio on May 3, 2022, A Mass of Christian Burial took place on May 4, 2022 at St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church, with burial following at Greenlawn Cemetery. 

  64. After all these years...Bergefurd still pursuing new opportunities

    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.

    Bergefurd and Thom HarkerSome 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 working abroad.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.

    Bergefurd at his retirement party.“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.
     

  65. ‘Market’ Research: How a field trip helped transform the Pike Outreach Food Pantry

    By Bradford Sherman
    CFAES/South Centers

    When Extension educator and Pike County Local Foods Group (PCLFG) organizer Tammy Jones visited the Reeb Avenue Center in Columbus as part of a series of field trips to learn about how other counties provide local foods to residents, she was left with one overwhelming conclusion…

    “I can’t believe this is a food pantry,” she thought, “this is a market.”

    Six years, one Voices for Food grant, and a lot of project planning and hard work later, the vision she saw that day has finally made its way to southeastern Ohio in the form of a revamped Pike Outreach Food Pantry. It was formally unveiled to the public April 5.

    coolers at the pantryResidents of Pike County, historically one of the unhealthiest areas in all of Ohio, are now benefitting from a healthier and more helpful and dignified experience at their local food pantry. It truly does look and feel like a market since moving to its new location on Bridge Street in Waverly, and thanks to a facelift made possible through USDA grant dollars.
    “The whole idea that it looks like a market now,” explained Jones. “For example, they did not have coolers that you could see what was inside, it was a refrigerator. Now these new coolers have the nice glass fronts.”

    The public shopping space is around three times larger than the old 2nd Street location. The entirety of the new facility, the former Heritage Nazarene Church, is around 10 times the size when factoring in storage space, receiving area, and other spaces.

    “There is also a nutrition component now that wasn’t there before,” Jones continued. She explained that new signage and educational materials now adorn the brand-new shelves and coolers, and pantry staff have received training so they can function as shopping assistants who promote nutrition as they are helping people.

    “These trainings that Dan (Remley) and I did with them will allow them to assist clients in making healthier choices and understanding that they need to be eating from different food groups,” she added.

    The pantry had also been operating as non-choice, meaning visitors had to make do with what items they were given, for the past few years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to this project, visitors to the pantry can once again select their own food.

    Not only does a choice system cut down on food waste, as with non-choice systems people would often be given items they do not like or cannot eat, but it also benefits those living with chronic conditions that require certain dietary needs, pointed out Dr. Dan Remley.

    “Research shows that around a third of people who use food pantries have someone in their household with diabetes, and around two thirds have someone in their household with some other kind of chronic disease like hypertension or heart disease,” said Remley, a nutrition and wellness specialist who acts as a “coach” for the PCLFG membership.

    “It is important that they have access to healthier choices and a variety of food to select from that will meet their needs. They can choose – that is one of the advantages of this system, it is promoting healthy choices and distributing useful foods.”

    The Pike Outreach Food Pantry is available to residents who meet certain economic guidelines. They can visit the pantry once every seven days and the amount of food distributed is based on household size.

    Jones revealed additional plans that Pike County Extension has in conjunction with the pantry. Plans have been discussed for an “Extension Day at the Pantry,” perhaps once a month, where she and other members of the office will provide food demonstrations, educational sessions, etc.

    Originally awarded in 2019, but delayed because of the pandemic, six counties in Ohio received funding from this Voices for Food grant; Pike was the only county south of Columbus to be selected. The grant dollars totaling around $14,000 paid for education and training, shelving, and other supplies. The new building was secured using separate funds.

    The Pike Council Outreach Council of Churches has operated a food pantry to assist needy Pike County residents since 1968.  Anyone interested in becoming involved as a volunteer or donating to their community work, can call the Pike County Outreach Council at (740) 947-7151.
     

  66. South Centers Turns 30

    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. 

    OSU President Kristina Johnson, CFAES Dean Cathann Kress, and South Centers Director Tom Worley.“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.

    Dr. Kristina Johnson speaking at the 30-year celebration of South Centers.“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.

    Honoring the 30-year staff members of South Centers.“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.
    Tours of the South Centers campus.

  67. Family First: Marsha Amlin retires after 30 years at South Centers

    By Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    Family comes first for Marsha Amlin.

    It was that way on her first day with The Ohio State University way back on November 25, 1991. It remains that way through her final day on January 31, 2022, as Amlin retires after 30 years with the university at South Centers in Piketon.

    “I’m ready to retire, but I feel like I probably would have hung on a little longer if I wasn’t in the position I am in right now,” said Amlin. 

    More important duties call now for Amlin, who is raising her two older granddaughters following the passing of her son, Chad, last year. Calling it a career now will allow her to spend more time with Harmony and Lilly as they enter their formative teenage years, and more time with her younger grandchildren as well.

    Amlin in 1991, her first year at South Centers.It is no surprise that Amlin would choose to put the needs and wellbeing of her family ahead of her own desires to continue working. She has put family first her entire life and encouraged her staff to do the same. Amlin explained that very early on in her working days, she had a supervisor who did not share the same values, and that experience helped shape her.

    “I once had a supervisor who wasn’t quite as understanding, and just didn’t see things the way I saw them,” Amlin recalled. “My family came first.”

    Amlin vowed to never be like that in the event she ever became a supervisor, which she did in 1996, when she began managing the South Centers support staff. One of her longest-serving staff members is Beth Rigsby, who has worked for, and alongside, Amlin for 16 years.

    “Marsha’s philosophy is all about faith, family, and friends.  She treats everyone like family, and she took me under her wing,” said Rigsby.

    “Whenever I needed to leave work at a moment’s notice, she always said, ‘go, don’t worry about this place, I will be praying for you.  Take care of your family.’  Marsha really is the heart of the South Centers.” 

    Amlin joined South Centers as a secretary in 1991 after holding similar positions at the Vern Riffe Vocational School and a local sawmill. She was one of a group of around eight employees who helped start South Centers, and she still remembers how she felt walking through those doors for the first time.

    Amlin with former OSU President Dr. Gordon Gee.“As I walked into these doors on my first day, I’m thinking, ‘why did I come here?’ I felt like a duck out of water,” she said with a chuckle. 

    She can vividly remember the early days of South Centers when all official documents had to be prepared on triplicate paper using a typewriter, then sent to Columbus by U.S. postal mail. Thirty years later, those papers have been replaced by PDFs; typewriters displaced by computers; and snail mail outpaced by email, Microsoft Teams, and Workday.
    Just like triplicate forms and typewriters, her uneasy feelings did not last. 

    “Thankfully, those feelings didn’t last for long. I got to know everyone, and soon started feeling like I was part of the family,” she said.

    On that note, Amlin says what she will miss most about South Centers is its people. To her, family extends beyond her own flesh and blood – it also includes the many co-workers she has had the pleasure to work alongside for all these years. The feeling is mutual, especially from those like Dean Rapp, Duane Rigsby, and Wayne Lewis, who have all worked with her since day one.

    “I started working here at the age of 21, just a kid,” said the now 52-year-old Rapp. “A great deal of that time, Marsha has been our work mother. Thank you, Mother, you will be greatly missed here!”

    “Marsha is the one who you can go to for anything, whether its work related, or you just need someone to talk to about family matters. She is always there to listen and give advice, if need be,” added Duane Rigsby. “She is one everyone goes to for work-related questions, especially the ones that you don’t want to deal with.”

    What Lewis will remember most about Amlin is that she always makes time for everyone, no matter how busy she is. “Whenever you go into her office needing help, she will stop what she is doing and get it taken care of for you,” he said. “She can be up to her eyeballs in what she is doing, and she will take the time to help – and makes it look easy.”

    Amlin and BrutusAmlin was never one who sought out attention or awards but did gain several accolades over the course of her career at South Centers. She was a two-time South Centers employee of the year award winner and also received the prestigious Buckeye Wellness Leadership Award in 2020 for supporting a culture of wellness.

    As for Amlin’s post-retirement plans, she says she has no desire to travel the world like so many others do. She is a self-proclaimed homebody. She has a to-do list, however, raising a pair of teenage granddaughters means that may have to wait. One thing is for sure, she plans to still stay in touch with her “second family.”

    “I’m not going to forget about this place. It has been a part of my life for too long to forget about it,” commented Amlin.

    When asked about what she hopes everyone at South Centers will remember most about her, she said she hopes they remember that she worked hard and did her best at everything she was asked to do.

    “Looking back, I hope that I gained respect from my co-workers. I hope they felt I was dependable, they could come to me whether it was something work-related or they just needed to talk,” she said. “I wasn’t just here to fill an office and do work – I could also be a friend who understands and listens, and could even cry with you, if needed.”

    Just talk to those who know her best, and who have worked with her the longest – she undeniably has their respect. Duane Rigsby called Amlin a “rock-solid, steady person.”

    “If there was ever a rock to lean on at the South Centers, it would be Marsha. She is a person that started in the front office doing the day-to-day office duties, but quickly became that person that really holds the entire office together,” said Duane Rigsby.

    “She is the type of person who works in the shadows, working very hard and keeping things moving, but not doing it in a way that causes issues or makes a lot of noise, but you know things are done and done to the best that they can be.

    “She cared for her staff, the employees she worked with, and I would go as far to say, she never considered them employees but more like family members.”

    Whether it be her first family at home, or her second family at work, family always comes first for Marsha Amlin.
     

  68. Dawn of a New Career

    (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.

    Dawn and MurphyThe 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.
     

  69. Mission: Possible

    By Bradford Sherman & Thomas Worley
    CFAES/South Centers

    Even during this time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, the critical mission of enhancing southern Ohio and assisting people with informed decision-making through responsive research, education, entrepreneurial application, and collaborative partnerships continues to be the guiding priority for all programs at the College’s Piketon campus.

    Work across all program areas continues at The Ohio State University South Centers, either with on-site personnel to insure that all facilities and farm operations remain functional and secure or through telecommuting from home, as Ohio and the nation rides out the COVID-19 pandemic.

    South Centers began a temporary closure to the public on March 17 in compliance with the guidance provided by university leadership. With only the most critical staff permitted on the premises for keeping fish fed, maintaining perennial crops, and performing facility walk-throughs, it meant that South Centers needed to adapt and change the way it serves clientele.

    “In normal times we rely heavily upon delivering our information, training, and counseling through direct, in-person meetings and workshops,” explained South Centers Director Dr. Tom Worley. “These ‘stay at home and work from home’ times have challenged us to be creative and innovative in our methods of delivery and our staff have all risen to the occasion to continue our work in all programs including aquaculture, business development, soil and water, and specialty crops.”

    In this issue, you will read several stories outlining how those various programs are working to meet the challenge. Some of our specialists are involved in Ag Madness, a creative virtual Extension workshop teaching platform that invokes the spirit of the NCAA basketball tournament; others are using similar digital tools to either disseminate their knowledge to the public; and our support staff makes certain that it all runs smoothly. Some are continuing to apply for grants to fund current and future research, or helping farmers and food producers continue their critical operations, while our business team members are counseling regional banks, businesses, and industries through the numerous financial assistance programs being rolled out via new federal legislation during this crucial time.

    “Video conferences, teleconferences, email, instant messaging and newsletters, blogs and social media posts have kept staff in touch with our clientele, added Worley. “Although business owners and managers have been hard hit by the restrictions placed on them, our counselors have done their best to keep abreast of the economic assistance programs that have been put in place to keep paychecks coming for employees and forgivable loans provided to small and medium size businesses to meet other operating expenses in the short run.”   

    Of course, not all work can be performed remotely and a limited number of staff continue to come to the South Centers campus as necessary to perform certain critical tasks. 
    For example, the aquaculture staff have maintained all of the yellow perch, bluegill, and largemouth bass that are the primary focus of the aquaculture research and Extension program at South Centers.

    Thousands of fish in our 16 ponds as well as fish held in around 260 indoor water-recirculating or flow-thru tanks continue to be fed and their water quality maintained on a daily basis by our research assistants coming on site for a few hours each day. 

    “Our field support staff members have also been engaged on-site to the extent necessary to conduct essential spring activity in our plots and field trials of wine grapes, several kinds of berries, hops, and bioenergy crops,” Worley explained.

    These are all perennial crops that take several years to establish and thus it is critical that they be maintained during this critical spring period.  All routine operations including fungicide, herbicide and insecticide applications, and pruning and mulching are being performed by our field research assistants in a timely manner.

    OSU South Centers staff members look forward to when our operations can return to a more normal, although certainly to be different, way of operating. Until that time comes, we will continue to strive toward delivering on our mission by serving the needs of people within the many communities touched by our programs in any way we can. 

    As you will read in the following pages, this experience has taught us new and innovative ways to serve you, which we will be able to carry forward and implement into future programming. Most likely, we will never be the same, but we certainly intend to make the new ways of serving our widely scattered clients a most positive outcome.

  70. South Centers video team producing special educational programs amid COVID-19 pandemic

    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.

  71. Anna Adams joins front office team

    By Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    Anna Adams has joined The Ohio State University South Centers staff as a Program Assistant and as part of the front office team.

    Her educational background and experience in the agricultural sector, which includes being the founder and manager of the Adams County Farmers Market as well as assisting her family farm at home, made her an ideal candidate for joining the research and Extension side of South Centers.

    Fittingly, she will be working closely with Brad Bergefurd and Christie Welch, both of whom have programming suited to her particular skill set. She will take the lead on organizing the various events held at South Centers and at partner sites around the state. 

    “I’m very excited for the opportunity to be a part of South Centers,” said Adams. “I think my background in agriculture will certainly aide me in my new role, but I know I also have room to grow and am looking forward to learning as much as I can from Brad, Christie and all of my new co-workers.”  

    Adams comes to South Centers by way of the SNAP-Ed program, for which she worked as a Program Assistant since 2014 in Adams and Clermont counties. Through SNAP-Ed, Adams helped participants lead healthier lives by teaching them about good nutrition, how to make their food dollars stretch further, and encouraged them to be more physically active.

    Adams earned her Bachelor of Science degree in food and nutrition services from Ohio University, and a master’s degree in Agriculture and Extension Education from The Ohio State University.
    In her new role as part of the front office staff, Adams is already learning what many who have come before her already know, that every day is a new challenge.

    “I think that is what I am going to love the most about my new job, that every day there is something new. It helps keep things interesting,” she said.
    Adams and her husband, John, reside in West Union.

  72. A Cup of Coffee with Dr. Dan

    (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.

  73. A Change In Direction

    Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    Highway access for The Ohio State University South Centers will see significant changes come next year, following the completion of a radically new (at least for Ohio) highway safety project planned by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

    Known as an RCUT (an acronym for restricted crossing U-turn), this new type of intersection, with its combination of u-turns and right turns, aims to fix a dangerous intersection of State Route 32 and Shyville Road that has seen more than 39 crashes since 2008 including numerous injuries and fatalities.

    The main difference will be how drivers on Shyville Road will interact with the intersection. Drivers wishing to turn left, or continue straight across, instead will be forced to turn right and then will have an opportunity to use a newly constructed U-turn lane. Following completion of the U-turn, the motorist either will be facing in his or her intended direction on the highway, or can simply make a right hand turn to access the other side of Shyville. Because of these changes, the traffic signal will also be removed. Of the 39 crashes reported there between 2008 and 2018, 12 of those were a result of a vehicle running a red light.

    ODOT and project design firm Stantec held a public meeting Tuesday, October 22 at the Pike County Career Technology Center. The meeting gave members of the public an opportunity to review the plans, ask questions, and submit written comments/concerns. There was also a driver simulation set up, so that attendees could preview the changes and practice the turns.

    Project Manager Corey Cottrell says that educating the community, through public meetings such as these, is an important step in the process.

    “This is not a common thing here in Ohio,” said Cottrell, who confirmed that this RCUT intersection in Piketon will be among the first in the state. “We feel like the more information we can make available to the public, than the more successful this project will be.”

    Paul Durham, a transportation engineer at Stantec, said he knew of around three such intersections in Butler County, but none others in Ohio. Nationwide, however, this relatively new intersection design is gaining popularity and statistics show that it is a safer alternative to traditional four-lane intersections.

    Minnesota, with eight RCUT intersections, for example has seen total injury crashes in those locations cut in half, and a 100 percent reduction in fatal and serious injury right-angel crashes. North Carolina leads the nation with 93 RCUTs; these have yielded a 71 percent reduction in fatal and injury crashes, and a 59 percent decrease in total crashes.

    For the State Route 32-Shyville Road intersection, in particular, the number of conflict points will be reduced from 32 to 14. A conflict point is defined as the point at which a highway user crossing, merging with, or diverging from a road or driveway conflicts with another highway user using the same road or driveway. 

    The summarized project elements include the following:
    •    Existing traffic signal will be removed
    •    All traffic approaching State Route 32 from Shyville Road will be forced to go right
    •    Median U-turn lanes will be provided to allow traffic to go in the opposite direction on State Route 32 or return to Shyville Road to continue in its original direction.
    •    New lighting will be installed at the median U-turns and additional lighting will be provided at the main intersection.

    The bottom line is: not much will change for staff or visitors when coming to South Centers; those leaving the campus to get back on the highway, if planning to turn left or continue straight, will experience those more significant changes detailed above.
    Work on the estimated $1 million project is slated to commence in the summer of 2020 with an estimated fall 2020 completion. No detours or temporary roads will need to be used by motorists traveling in the area. 

    At least one lane of the State Route 32 will remain open in each direction throughout the duration of the construction. By the time work on the center of the intersection begins to construct a concrete median island, which would obviously affect Shyville Road travelers, the two U-turn lanes will already be complete and open for use.

    You can find out more by visiting transportation.ohio.gov and heading over to the District 9 section of the site. ODOT has also furnished The Ohio State University South Centers with an educational video on the intersection changes, and you can view that video embedded on this page.

     

  74. Jennifer Dunn is taking care of business

    (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.

  75. YuTube: Newly-minted Professor Yu ‘Gary’ Gao takes on new challenge – online video

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

    Dr. Yu “Gary” Gao has accomplished nearly everything professionally possible. He was the editor and co-author of a highly-cited and award-winning publication; he has established many successful programs over the years; and all the while he has been a mentor to, and helped launch the careers of, many young scientific minds.

    But nothing tops his most recent achievement, when he fulfilled a lifelong dream by earning a promotion to the rank of full professor at The Ohio State University. So, you might ask, what is the logical next step for a man like Gao, who has now reached the pinnacle of a career in academia?

    Become a YouTuber, obviously.

    In all seriousness though, using the immensely-popular, self-publishing video platform to share the wealth of knowledge he has accumulated over his career is part of a much larger plan for Gao. Now, his career path forward is all about leaving a lasting legacy.

    “I don’t know if it is an age thing or what, but this desire to leave a legacy for other people means a whole lot more now,” Gao stated. “One thing that excites me a lot is recording YouTube videos, where I show people how to grow things, etc. And since videos are kind of permanent, it is like leaving a legacy.”

    If you ever talk to Gao for very long about YouTube, he will be sure to tell you about the video that first got him thinking about using the platform as a way to enhance his programming. It featured a common man in his backyard showing the viewers a few slick tricks to effectively rake leaves. As of the writing of this article, the video with a simple title and unpretentious presentation has been viewed 3.1 million times, and the host “David” now has over 10,000 subscribers.

    “‘How to rake leaves’ – that was my inspiration,” Gao said with a chuckle.

    And while “Gary” still has a way to go before he catches up with “David,” right now he is having a lot of fun being in front of the camera, and working alongside the talented team of Duane Rigsby and Sarah Swanson, who shoot and produce the videos.

    “It is also exciting to know that we have people like Duane and Sarah at South Centers who are equally passionate about this,” he said. “I can do what I do, and then they turn it into really neat videos. I have a little more time and freedom to do these types of things now, following my promotion to full professor.”

    That ultimate career goal Gao spoke of was finally fulfilled on May 30 of this year. A long process that began with a letter of intent to pursue the full professor rank, then went through a series of steps that included: 1) a departmental review, 2) college promotion tenure review, 3) a letter from the dean of the college, 4) and then to the provost’s office before ultimately being approved by the OSU Board of Trustees.

    “It was one of the happiest days of my life, it is hard to imagine getting here from my humble beginning as a graduate student – this has been a lifelong dream for me,” Gao reflected. “You always want to accomplish great things, but there are no guarantees in life.”

    He was also quick to point out all the help he received along the way, everyone from graduate advisors to co-workers to students/scholars to members of his family.
    “Even though it was a personal achievement, a lot of people have helped me along the way.” He said. “It certainly took a village.”

    Gao currently serves as a small fruits specialist and the co-leader of the specialty crops program at OSU South Centers, where he has worked since 2010. During that time he has built a program that includes a staff consisting of full-time Research Assistant, Ryan Slaughter, and a steady stream of visiting scholars. He holds several popular events throughout the year including the Blueberry, Bramble, and Wine Grape Field Day and Night, Pruning School, and Grape and Wine Workshop, as well as conducts research and trials on a variety of small fruits.

    His previous stops at Ohio State included Horticulture Extension Specialist roles in Delaware County and Clermont County, where 25 years ago he founded a Southeast Ohio Perennial Flower School that is still going strong to this day, as well as the Master Gardner program. He also spent time as a post-doc researcher at Purdue University working primarily with culinary herbs, blueberries and muskmelons.

    Born in Taiyuan in northern China, he came to the United States in 1985 as a Graduate Student at The Ohio State University. He earned his master’s degree in viticulture and a PhD in table grapes. 
    Looking forward, in addition to producing educational videos, he also wants to continue his work as a mentor to young people, and to continue his work on the development of new rootstocks. One of the major goals of which is the development of a small blueberry tree through grafting.

    “If this comes to fruition, there is a very good chance that anybody could plant this, and harvest blueberries from your little tree in your backyard.”

    Gao and his wife, Wendy, reside in central Ohio and are the parents of two sons, Tom and Alvin, a medical school student and Technology Development Specialist for PNC Bank, respectively.

  76. Duane Rigsby: Problem Solved

    (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.

  77. Wayne Lewis: celebrating 35 years at OSU

    (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

    Wayne Lewis has seen it all, and then some.

    Not only has he been a part of The Ohio State University South Centers since the doors first opened back in 1991, he was also a university staff member for seven prior to then. In all, Lewis is closing in on another milestone – his 35th year of employment with OSU.

    With his work anniversary date coming up in May, the South Centers Farm Manager sat down with Connections to reflect about his time at the university, talk about how South Centers has evolved over the years, and what’s next for him.
    “We didn’t even have possession of these buildings yet,” Lewis recalled of his first days at South Centers. That’s because for the first few months of being open, South Centers offices were housed at the old Piketon Grade School on Clark Street. It wasn’t until later in the year 1991 that staff moved into structured located on the current Shyville Road property.

    Lewis was employee No. 4 at South Centers; today, the staff is 10 times the size it was when he was hired. With more people comes more programs and projects, and obviously, the technology has gotten much better too.

    “The technology changes have been remarkable,” Lewis stated. “There were a few computers here, but I didn’t have one. Everything had to be hand-written on paper.”

    At South Centers, Lewis first fulfilled the role of an agricultural technician, the same title he held when he moved over from the Western Research Station near Springfield, where he got his start with OSU seven years earlier. His first responsibilities there saw him tending to the dietary needs of swine.

    At South Centers, he moved up the ranks to become an Assistant Manager of Farm Operations and then Assistant Farm Manager, before finally ascending to his current role as Farm Manager.

    Lewis is a graduate of Southwestern High School, which was once part of the Gallia County School System prior to consolidation. He worked on a private farm out of school before joining The Ohio State University in 1984.

    When asked about what he likes best about coming to work every day, he said it is the relationships he has with his fellow employees. “The best part has to be the people – I get along with everyone. It’s almost like a family atmosphere,” Lewis said.
    So what’s up next for Lewis? Will he be making that 40-year milestone? To hear him talk, he sounds like he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

    “As long as there are more days that I don’t mind coming to work, than ones that I do, then I’ll still be here.”

    Lewis and his wife, Cindy, reside in Jackson on the campus of the Jackson Agricultural Research Station.

  78. Family, home, career: changes abound for Jordan Maxwell

    (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.

  79. A Sign of the Times

    Passers by on State Route 32 are no doubt taking notice of The Ohio State University South Centers’ brand new sign. The Ohio State University’s new branding designs have been popping up all across the Buckeye State, and the project to update the sign at the corner of SR 32 and Shyville Road wrapped up on July 11, 2018. 
    (Photo: Bradford Sherman, CFAES)

  80. Sarah Swanson: The smiling face of South Centers

    (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.

  81. Bradford Sherman joins the staff of OSU South Centers

    By Bradford Sherman
    Program Assistant

    A longtime journalist has been tabbed as the new publications editor for the Ohio State University South Centers.

    Bradford Sherman joined the staff last month in the role of a Program Assistant. In addition to editing a variety of publications – including research papers, grant proposals and promotional materials – he will also assist several program leaders, perform general office-related tasks, and tap into his years of multimedia experience to help publicize the many goings-on at OSU South Centers.

    “I have always said that working as a member of the media is a great way to prepare you for any job,” said Sherman. “You end up passively educating yourself on a wealth of different topics, due to the wide variety of subjects you report on. It also teaches skills that are sought after in any field, such as proper grammar and punctuation, teamwork, dealing with the pressures of working under a deadline, and how to communicate ideas with a vast and varied audience.”

    Sherman worked as a newspaper reporter and editor for 13 years during which time he covered news and sports for publications in Jackson, Gallia, Meigs, and Pike counties in Ohio, as well as Mason County, W.Va.. 

    But Sherman is no stranger to Ohio State, either. After exiting the journalism field, he joined the university in June 2015 as a 50 percent FTE Office Associate at the Jackson County Extension office. It was there that he learned what it meant to be a Buckeye, and decided that he wanted to turn that part-time job into a new career.

    “I love working at the Ohio State University; it became apparent to me very quickly that I wanted to spend the rest of my working years here,” said the 39-year-old. 

    Sherman, who is originally from Oak Hill, earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from the University of Rio Grande in 2002. As a college student, he worked as an intern producing newsletters for senior citizens in Gallia County, and in the news department at WKOV radio in Jackson.

    Sherman and his wife, Melanie, reside in Jackson with their two children, daughter Celyn and son Cuinn.

  82. Let’s Be Fit with Tamara Kissinger

    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.  

    Tamara KissingerKissinger 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.
     

  83. The Ohio Channel now re-airing OSU South Centers’ short videos

    By Patrick Dengel
    Business Development Specialist

    Ohio Channel LogoThe Ohio Channel is a service of Ohio’s public broadcasting stations, which provide different video programs on government and educational access platforms. Recently, The Ohio Channel acquired a license from The Ohio State University to re-air different short videos that are produced by The Ohio State University South Centers’ Studio Short videos are educational programs ranging from 1-to-5 minutes.

    The Ohio Channel indicated that many of South Centers’ short video programs are of public value and will be shown on their channel. The Ohio Channel will be re-airing different educational short videos that are produced each month to include topics such as agriculture, natural resources, farmers’ markets, healthy living, healthy aging, and others.

    The Ohio Channel also indicated that in the very near future, full telecast episodes (28 minutes) on different topics will be re-aired.

    Currently, there are 1,170 subscribers to the OSU South Centers YouTube channel with videos being viewed in more than 30 countries.  Individuals can view the videos, including the shorts by visiting go.osu.edu/OSUSC.

  84. Putting the VID in COVID

    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.

  85. Virus has temporarily changed EC operations 

    By Ryan Mapes
    Endeavor Center Manager

    The Endeavor Center business incubator continues to experience significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the start of restricted operations in March 2020 through June, the facility doors were closed while OSU employees as well as the partner businesses’ staff worked remotely.  Flexible payment terms were made available and fortunately most of the tenants remain in the Endeavor Center. 

    In July, based on better knowledge of the virus and safety protocols implemented, we were fortunate to re-open on a limited basis. With assistance from OSU and College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences, we developed a very thorough plan to begin re-opening the facility. Our plans continue to be flexible, based on the ebb and flow of the virus and as more information becomes available.  Highlights of this plan include increased daily cleaning and sanitizing standards, adhering to masking policies, and following all mandated social distancing guidelines.  

    The Endeavor Center remains closed to the general public, but some business tenants have resumed occupancy of their offices and are following all state, university, and local health guidelines.  Meeting and training rooms are now being reserved based on an exemption approval process for business events, but the hours of operation are limited, and occupancy levels have decreased significantly.
    Both 400 sq. ft. and 200 sq. ft. furnished office space is currently available for lease to entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.  Easy access to a copier, printer, kitchen area, meeting rooms, and our Small Business Development Center counselors are just a few of the benefits when leasing an office in the Endeavor Center.  

    Please contact Jennifer Dunn at dunn.595@osu.edu or Ryan Mapes at mapes.281@osu.edu for any questions regarding usage of the facility.
     

  86. What exactly is the Appalachian Export Development Program and how to apply?

    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.
     

  87. SBDC assisting business owners with new low-interest loan program

    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 the region. SBDC is monitoring the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and, with the information and guidance provided by the university, state, and federal government, the program is taking all necessary precautions to reduce the spread of the virus.

    The safety and well-being of our clients, training attendees, and staff is of utmost importance to us. We have resumed one-on-one advising services with our clients in situations where meetings can be conducted safely. We also continue to utilize telephone, e-mail, social media, and most recently, video conferencing through the Zoom communications platform to conduct counseling with clients. Our training events, however, are continuing to be conducted exclusively online utilizing the Zoom platform of communicating. 

    We are constantly in search of resources to assist businesses and their financial wellbeing.  A recent addition to this list of resources is a low-interest loan program. The Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC) is currently accepting small business loan applications to assist business owners in managing their cash flow with a low-interest sustainability loan from the EDA CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund. 

    A pre-application questionnaire to begin the process is required from the business owner and once eligibility is determined, they will have access to apply for loans from $5,000 to $25,000 for working capital expenses, without the participation of a bank. Other features connected to the program make it easy for businesses to access capital that could help sustain them through the coronavirus downturn, including interest rates as low as 2% and no payment required for the first six months of the loan term.  A business plan and supporting financial documentation, including cash flow projections, are required as a part of the loan application.  

    The SBDC can assist in the development of these documents.  Please contact our center for assistance.  Details of the loan program are as follows:

    • Loans from $5,000 – $25,000 for working capital expenses
    • Interest rates as low as 2%
    • Pay nothing for the first 6 months
    • No bank required
    • Use loan proceeds for day-to-day operating expenses to work through the temporary economic downturn
    • Term 3-5 years
    • Low application fee of $100

    Eligible borrowers include existing small business owners or sole proprietors with operations located in Adams, Brown, Clermont, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto, or Vinton counties in Ohio. 
    For information about the OVRDC Business Sustainability Loan, please visit: ovrdc.org/rlf/business-sustainability-loans.

    Our team of Certified Business Advisors are here to support you and your business. Your health, well-being and business success are our number one priority. 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 We also continue to update businesses with the latest information through our Facebook page.

  88. SBDC continues to support clients and their businesses amid COVID-19

    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.

  89. New OSHA obligations for a post-COVID 19 world

    As employers begin looking beyond the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and start thinking of bringing people back to work, they will be wise to realize the new virus means permanent changes related to their obligation to provide a safe workplace. It is a new day in terms of keeping workers safe. ]

    While the Occupational Safety and Health Act does not reference the coronavirus or COVID-19 and no specific regulation addresses it, the Act’s General Duty Clause requires employers to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards. In March, the virus was formally identified as a recognized hazard in the workplace, meaning employers are obligated to take steps to prevent employees from transmitting the disease at work. 

    OSHA has been issuing various documents in recent weeks, including an enforcement plan released April 13 intended as guidance for its area directors as they prioritize complaints about workplace exposures. The guidance also lets employers know what they can expect in terms of agency inspections and enforcement. Employers need to evaluate the nature of the coronavirus hazard in their workplaces, and they need to understand that it is pervasive. ]

    Decisions on what steps to take will have to be made case by case and what makes the most sense for your business, but examples of steps to incorporate in a plan may include screening employees for fever, putting out questionnaires, testing employees for the virus on a regular basis, preventing anyone testing positive from entering the workplace, sending infected workers home, doing contact tracing within the workplace, and educating employees. Businesses may also need to institute engineering controls, protective coverings, enforcing six-foot distance rules and requiring face masks. Businesses and employers will have to have plans for different kinds of employees based on potential exposure risk. 

    Putting an effective plan in place can help employers stay in operation by not losing employees to sickness or quarantine and can keep workers’ compensation insurance rates down. 
    In addition to OSHA’S April 13 enforcement plan, the agency released a policy on April 16 outlining discretion in enforcement of agency standards when employers act in good faith during the COVID-19 crisis available at osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf.

  90. Taking Care of 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

  91. South Centers-produced video wins award

    Noble County Extension Educator Christine Gelley, along with the South Centers video production team of Patrick Dengel, Duane Rigsby, and Sarah Swanson were presented with an award during OSU Annual Conference.

    Gelley and her producers won first place in the video interview category for their video titled Invasive Weeds in a Pasture. Her guest on the May 2019 episode was Guernsey County Extension Educator Clif Little.

    The award was made possible through the recognition program of the Ohio Join Council of Extension Professionals.

    To see the winning video and more from Gelley and the entire South Centers production team, head over to YouTube.com/southcenters.
     

  92. South Centers video team delivering programming with diverse topics, lengths

    Show ListingsDuane 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.

  93. South Centers’ Export Assistance Network participates in successful internship program

    Kelly O’Bryant
    Export Assistance and MEP Advisor

    Finding the time to focus on developing a new international market is a challenge for many small businesses. The Ohio State University South Centers SBDC Export Assistance Network participates in the Ohio Export Internship Program by placing export-focused interns within southeast Ohio regional companies.

    The Ohio Export Internship Program was designed to help businesses overcome challenges of international marketing by matching them with highly motivated students, from Ohio universities and colleges, who have taken export-focused coursework., such as this year’s interns and students at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration, or Cleveland State University’s Monte Ahuja College of Business.  

    This year’s Export Internship Showcase, highlighting the accomplishments of the Class of 2019 and demonstrating the positive impact of partnerships among the state of Ohio, its universities, and private industry will be held Aug 8, 2019 at 1pm at the Ohio Statehouse Atrium. 

    Speakers will include representatives from the Ohio Development Services Agency, The Ohio State University, Youngstown State University, Cleveland State University and participating companies.

    For more information, email Kelly O’Bryant at obryant.6@osu.edu.

  94. Following successful 2018, Endeavor Center enters transition period as new year begins

    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.

  95. Export Assistance Network connects Turkish buyers with wood products manufacturers

    By Kelly O’Bryant
    SBDC Export Assistance

    In 2017, hardwood lumber exports in the United States was a $2.3 billion market, according to USDA FAS. That same report shows that the total U.S. export market for hardwood logs was $717.9 million. A majority of U.S. hardwood lumber products are sold domestically, here in the United States, but Ohio is a major export contributor for hardwood lumber, logs, and manufactured wood products. 

    The Ohio State University South Centers Export Assistance Network, along with the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service, coordinated a reverse trade mission September 24-27, 2018 hosting eight Turkish lumber, log, and veneer buyers to meet with Ohio wood products manufacturers. 

    The delegation made 12 direct stops at mills and manufacturing plants as well as a participated in a networking/matchmaking reception.

  96. South Centers serves as MEP lead affiliate

    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. MEP Map

    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. 

  97. SBDC helps businesses grow, increase sales, create and retain jobs in 2018

    By Brad Bapst
    SBDC Director

    One of the core components of the Business Development Network at The Ohio State University South Centers continues to be the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). SBDC 

    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.  

    A vital component of the SBDC is the Export Assistance Network (EAN). International markets provide opportunities for businesses to increase sales and create jobs. Many small companies do not have the expertise or resources to expand their business into international markets. The EAN helps companies to expand globally through counseling in the areas of market research, due diligence, general export education, export readiness assessments, and trade missions.

    During fiscal year 2018, the SBDC at the OSU South Centers provided the following assistance to entrepreneurs and businesses in the Southern Ohio region:

    • Provided consulting to 334 clients, of which 229 received five or more hours of consulting
    • Assisted with starting 25 businesses
    • Helped clients obtain $10,214,900 in capital
    • Logged 4,323 consulting hours
    • Held 19 training events with 344 attendees
    • SBDC Clients created 106 new jobs and retained 532 jobs
    • Recorded $4,944,400 in general sales growth for clients 

    Regional partnerships are the primary source of referrals for the SBDC at 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. 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.

    Core SBDC 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 bapst.4@osu.edu

  98. Watch This!

    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.”

    Patrick Dengel, Duane Rigsby, and Sarah SwansonSouth 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. 

    Mike ThompsonThese 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.

  99. Endeavor Center awarded EDA Grant

    The Ohio State University South Centers was recently awarded funding by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to conduct an incubator expansion feasibility study.

    The EDA investment of $28,205 will be used to hire a consultant to complete an analysis and evaluation of a proposed incubator expansion to determine market demand and sustainability over time.

    This study will help define the current and future uses and strategies of the Endeavor Center Business incubator.  Completing market research will help us better understand the existing market and anticipated future market potential for business incubation in the region.

    The funds for this study are a part of the EDA’s Technical Assistance grant program, which helps local business incubators promote economic development and alleviate unemployment.

    “Ohio small businesses support local economies,” said U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “This investment ensures the OSU Endeavor Center in Piketon has the resources it needs to help local businesses expand and bring jobs to the area.”
    This investment will assist the Endeavor Center to build on strengths, improve weaknesses, capitalize opportunities and identify threats. Financially, the study should provide projections for potential revenue generation and total project cost expectations.

    Finally, and most importantly, the study will assist in determining the need to increase business incubator space in our region.

    The Feasibility Study will:
    •    Complete a market study to help the Endeavor Center understand what types of new spaces should be considered based on the potential for specific start-up companies in the region.
    •    Review the Endeavor Center’s financial position and provide suggestions regarding expansion feasibility and current / future cash flow.
    •    Review existing client selection policy and processes and provide feedback to strengthen the application process.
    •    Review tenant lease or license agreement that enumerates the shared services to be provided; delineates the incubator’s business assistance policy, including the provision of management, technical, and training policies.
    •    Review the Endeavor Centers business assistance policy and provide suggestions for new ideas and improvement of existing programs.
    •    Review current staffing levels of the Endeavor Center and business programs to ensure client / partner technical needs are being addressed.
    •    Develop an incubator performance plan that includes how the incubator will track the success of incubator partners/clients, specifically identifying what performance measurement data the incubator proposes to collect from tenants/partners and for what period of time during and after the service period the data will be collected. This should also include members of any over sight or policy board for the incubator that will be responsible for setting performance goals of the incubator, selecting or approving selections of staff, establishing and reviewing policy, and monitoring performance.

  100. Business Development Network Updates

    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.

  101. Endeavor Center and Business Development Network Achievements

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

    Endeavor Center

    2017 has been another successful year for the OSU Endeavor Center business incubator. The center operated at a 100% occupancy rate for most of the year.  During the year we had a couple partners leave but were fortunate to have new partners ready to come on board to fill the vacated offices.  State Street Laboratories is the latest business to become an Endeavor Center partner.  The Endeavor Center also partnered with the African American Chamber of Commerce to house the minority SBDC that covers the Southern Ohio Region. There has also been much activity and many visitors through the doors this year.  We hosted over 400 training or meeting events with well over 5,000 visitors during 2017.  In summary, there are 18 partner companies that occupy 26 office and light industrial bay spaces.  We also have 4 virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis but do not occupy an office.

    SBDC

    The Ohio State University South Centers Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is a 9 person team that provides business counseling and training to a 10 county region in Southern Ohio. The Center utilizes a unified delivery model to incorporate resources from other programs affiliated with The Ohio State University South Centers, including the Ohio Cooperative Development Center, Direct Marketing and OSU Extension programs to strengthen service offerings.

    The Export Assistance Network (EAN) helps companies to expand globally through counseling in the areas of market research, due diligence, general export education, export readiness assessments, and trade missions. A counselor also continues to specialize in providing opportunities for businesses to increase sales and create jobs through access to international markets as many small companies don’t have the expertise or resources to expand their business into these markets. Individual counselors are recognized each year at the Statewide SBDC conference for extraordinary efforts given throughout the year.  These Peer Recognition Awards are voted on by all counselors around the state. All levels of field staff are eligible for nomination and there are five (5) categories of awards: advocacy, collaboration, innovation, marketing and mentoring. This year two of our counselors brought home individual awards.  Chris Smalley won the Innovation Award for his work with the OSU South Centers Aquaculture Boot Camp program and Melissa Carter won the marketing award for helping clients develop and enhance informational/basic websites, Etsy stores, and social media platforms.

    The Small Business Development Center at the OSU South Centers had very successful year providing business consulting to the existing and start-up small businesses in Southern Ohio. Also, Fayette County was added to the South Centers service area in 2017. During fiscal year 2017 the SBDC at the OSU South Centers provided the following assistance:
    • Provided consulting to 365 clients of which 271 received 5 or more hours of consulting
    • Assisted with starting 26 businesses
    • Helped clients obtain $9,626,093 in capital
    • Logged 4,484 consulting hours
    • Held 18 training events with 324 attendees
    • Clients created 113 new jobs and retained 824 jobs
    • Recorded $7,000,000 in general sales growth for clients

    Manufacturing Extension Partnership

    The Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) was recently awarded a contract from the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to support the growth of small and medium sized manufacturing companies in the southeast region of Ohio. CDME is a unit within OSU’s College of Engineering focused on strengthening Ohio’s manufacturing sector.The contract establishes CDME as a Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) affiliate for the State of Ohio in support of Ohio companies. CDME will partner with the Ohio State University South Centers Business Development team to implement services in the Southeast Ohio region.

    The MEP at Ohio State will focus on providing value added. CDME has a full-time engineering staff and is led by a team of former entrepreneurs and business owners who have successfully grown manufacturing and product innovation companies. The MEP program has access to CDME’s 40,000 square foot manufacturing space on the main Columbus campus, as well as most of the equipment in the broader Ohio State University landscape.  
     
    CDME MEP is primarily focused on new product development, product improvement, innovation, business development, lean manufacturing, and supply chain management.  The program assists companies in the central and southeast Ohio regions in the following manner:
    • Providing value-added engineering support for product development and innovation with an emphasis on design for manufacturing.
    • Commercialization support and partner opportunities with commercial OEMs.
    • Professional program management and industry-friendly contracts.
    • Proposal identification and development support for federal, state and commercial funding programs.
    • Access to the research capabilities and facilities of The Ohio State University and other State of Ohio research universities and federal laboratories.
    • Introduction to support partners in the CDME network (incubators, venture capital, supply chain partners, fortune 100 OEMS, etc).
    • Prototyping and small scale manufacturing of new products.
    • Access to highly motivated students with experiential learning looking to join innovative manufacturing companies upon graduation.

    Training and Programming

    The staff of The OSU South Centers Business Development Network continues to engage community organizations and partners to maintain awareness of changing needs in the region and develop solutions to address those needs.  Throughout the year, members of the Business Development Team served as board members for multiple chambers of commerce, county economic development offices, and advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems.

    University of Rio Grande - The OSU-Rio Collaboration is a multi-project partnership between the OSU South Centers and the University of Rio Grande.  The primary objective is to provide educational TV programming covering many different topics that promote Small Businesses, Business Support Organizations, programs at The Ohio State University South Centers, and Educational Programs at the University of Rio Grande / Rio Grande Community College. A member of the Business Development Network also serves as adjunct faculty to provide instruction for both online and on campus business courses.

    Lumber Grading School  - Over a dozen loggers from Ohio and abroad gathered at OSU South Centers to participate in a course designed to give them a better understanding and develop their skills in the timber industry. The five-day Lumber Grading Short Course/Flex Day Course was instructed by a National Hardwood Lumber Association National Inspector.  The course began on October 2nd and finished on October 6th. The course was sponsored by OSU South Centers South Centers, Ohio Forestry Association, Inc., and the National Hardwood Lumber Association.

    From Dream to Reality- This course is a five-week business program that meets twice a week designed to provide an opportunity to learn a variety of skills needed to own and operate a business. This course is offered two times per year through a partnership with the Pike Community Action Agency.

    Agricultural Development and Young Farmer Programs- The SBDC works continues to work closely with the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation to provide assistance  annually to  agribusinesses and next generation farmers to diversify from tobacco production into a profitable venture. The SBDC provides assists area farmers with writing business plans for projects that will be submitted to SOACDF for potential grant funding. This past year, there were 73 Ag Development applicants and 25 Young Farmer applicants. You can view details and deadlines about the program at http://www.soacdf.net/.

    Chillicothe Veterans Affairs Medical Center - The SBDC has partnered with the Chillicothe Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center’s Office of Rehabilitative Services to establish an entrepreneurship program for veterans. The program is divided into three two-hour classes and occurred quarterly. The classes focus on business feasibility and entrepreneurship readiness, business plan components, marketing and operations. The veterans who have successfully completed this course have either already started or are in process of starting their own business.

     

  102. Congratulations SBDC team members Chris Smalley and Melissa Carter

    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.

  103. Endeavor Center and Small Business Development Center

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

    Open since 2005, the Ohio State University Endeavor Center, a 27,000 square foot mixed-used business incubator, has come to be recognized as a community leader in economic development as well as a business training and networking hub. The facility has a 2-part mission:

    First, to provide four tangible advantages to new and emerging businesses poised for rapid growth; professional office space in flexible configurations, access to advanced technology, networking opportunities with other small businesses, and access to expert business counseling on a free and timely basis. Second, the center seeks to be a positive and visible example of how small businesses successfully navigate the difficult issues faced by all growing small businesses.

    Meeting rooms at the Endeavor Center support the dual-purpose mission by providing partners and the business community access to technology and learning space. The OSU Endeavor Center has a number of rentable meeting spaces in a variety of sizes and technology accommodations. The largest room available is classroom 160, with approximately 1,200 square feet and accommodating up to 72 persons seated at tables.  Classroom 165 is approximately 800 square feet and accommodates up to 20 persons seated at tables. Both rooms have a built-in projector and screen, large whiteboard, audio system, large screen TV and CD/DVD combo. Conference room 112 is great for smaller meetings and will seat up to 12 persons in a boardroom style setting. Portable projection units service this room and it has a large whiteboard for use. There is also a 16-unit computer lab with projector available for lease. All classrooms can be rented for ½ or whole days and catering is available.

    If you are interested in renting one of our excellent classrooms or in exploring the opportunity to conduct your business from our facility, please call 740-289-1605. We think you will discover the OSU Endeavor Center and its staff have a lot to offer your growing business!

    Small business Development Center

    The SBDC at the OSU South Centers recently was awarded additional funding from the Ohio Development Services (ODSA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). Innovation Challenge Grant funding opportunities were made available to SBDCs across the state to further enhance the offerings the SBDCs provide to their client base. Local needs were identified and a proposal was developed, submitted and successfully funded to secure resources to assist the staff in meeting the needs of the local business community. This funding will increase levels of staff knowledge through professional certifications, learning software, and trainings. It will also provide access to consultants to assist in exploring opportunities to grow local industries in Southern Ohio. 

    Human resource issues affect all industries in Southern Ohio. This funding will enable the SBDC to secure Business & Legal Resource (BLR) software to help businesses in the region to simplify compliance with state and federal legal requirements. BLR is the leading provider of employment, safety, and environmental compliance solutions. Employers know that they can count on BLR’s industry-leading compliance and training resources to keep them out of legal trouble, avoid fines and save money. This will afford the SBDC with the opportunity to help grow established businesses that may not have the capacity to handle common HR problems without assistance.

    The forest and wood industry is a major driver in Southern Ohio’s economy. The SBDC and the Ohio Cooperative Development Center are exploring the opportunity of developing a cooperative business model which will construct and operate a wood drying kiln. This facility can be utilized by members of the cooperative to add value to their existing market lumber products. The Challenge Grant helped the SBDC secure funds to hire industry consultants to complete multiple designs for the kiln operation based on the data gathered from a previous survey and follow-up visits with potential users. Additionally, funds will be used to consult with attorneys specializing in the co-op model to assist with the development and vetting of the cooperative’s structure. This additional funding will help support the efforts of this project moving forward. The deliverables from this proposal will be used to complete the feasibility report for the operation, to develop the cooperative’s legal structure, and to provide information to potential co-op members. Industry consultants with expertise in kiln build out and operation and attorneys with expertise in agricultural cooperatives will provide consultations to the project team and potential members of the co-op.

  104. Endeavor Center and Small Business Development Center

    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” 

  105. OCDC achievements

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager

    2016 was an exciting year at the Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers! The center continued its mission of rural economic development by providing education and assisting cooperative businesses across Ohio and West Virginia.

    Cooperative Education Across the Region

    OCDC provides education on the cooperative business model and business development that not only increases awareness of the business model, but helps groups who are exploring the start-up of a co-op business to make informed decisions.

    Throughout 2016, OCDC provided a number of educational sessions at events like the West Virginia Small Farm Conference, the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association Annual Congress, the Ohio Aquaculture Association Annual Conference, and the West Virginia Agricultural Innovation Showcases in Huntington and Moorefield. Specialists with OCDC lead programs for high school agricultural science students from Portsmouth and Piketon, Ohio, and presented to business students at the University of Rio Grande.

    Technical Assistance

    In order to support the development of rural businesses, OCDC counselors provide technical assistance in a number of areas including feasibility analysis, business planning, cooperative formation counseling, and financial planning, among others. In 2016, OCDC counselors worked with a variety of clients who were forming new cooperatives or existing cooperatives that were working to improve their businesses.

    For example, OCDC staff provided support to the Southern Ohio Growers Cooperative (SOGC) to explore the cooperative business model, legally incorporate a new business, and build financial projections for the 2016. The co-op was up and running for the 2016 growing season, marketing a variety of pumpkins to retailers across the state and helping member farms increase their revenue!

    Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network

    OCDC continued convening and facilitating the successful Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network throughout 2016, bringing together food hub managers, directors, developers, and technical assistance providers for peer learning and networking. The network met quarterly and included sessions focused on financing, quality and process controls, and institutional markets. Multiple network meetings throughout the year included tours of operating businesses, including produce aggregation and distribution businesses and local food grocers. The tours of operational facilities gave participants the chance to observe working facilities, learn from employees about how produce is sourced from growers, protocols for aggregating and distributing products, as well as the importance of quality and safety control throughout the supply chain. OCDC was pleased to partner with the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition and the Value Chain Cluster Initiative to host the August 2016 network meeting.

    Building OCDC’s Capacity

    OCDC is committed to building the center’s capacity for technical assistance in order to enhance the support available to Ohio and West Virginia’s new and emerging cooperatives. In October, OCDC took a large step forward toward increasing capacity by welcoming a new staff member!

    Ivory Harlow is a Program Specialist working to provide technical assistance and educational programming to rural businesses in the region. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Strayer University and earned a Master of Arts from Ohio Christian University. Ms. Harlow is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where she served as a medical material logistics journeyman. She is a graduate of Syracuse University Whitman School of Management’s Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) program, and Entrepreneur Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) at the Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri. Ivory has a background in agriculture and business development. She is the owner of Dickie Bird Farm LLC in Ross County, Ohio. She writes Farm Forward, a weekly agriculture column for Farm and Dairy Newspaper.

    OCDC Recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

    On October 3, 2016, the Ohio Cooperative Development Center was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development with an Award of Excellence. The award was granted, “In honor of nearly two decades of steadfast promotion and support of co-ops, leading to the success of innumerable rural and agricultural-based businesses in the Buckeye state.” Sam Rikkers, Administrator of USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business Cooperative Service presented the award to OCDC staff along with Tony Logan, Director of USDA Rural Development in Ohio. The two visited Piketon to help kick off Co-op Month 2016 and to announce awards for USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG). As a recipient of an award through the grant program for the upcoming year, OCDC received funds to support business assistance throughout the region, focusing particularly on businesses in agriculture, forest and wood products, transportation, and energy. 

  106. OSUE Direct Agricultural Marketing Team 2016 achievements

    By Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist
     
    The Direct Agricultural Marketing Team had a great 2016 assisting Ohio’s farm markets, farmers’ markets, agritourism operators, and stakeholders. Some of the trainings provided included:
     
    • Monthly webinars on a host of direct marketing topics that are archived on our website for viewing anytime, by anyone with an internet connection.
     
    • Many workshops and presentations from social media marketing to designing your farm market for flow and profit.
     
    • Collaborated with attorney Peggy Hall, OSUE Agricultural and Resource Law Field Specialist, to offer a free webinar and resources at the Farm Science Review about the new agritourism law inOhio; Ohio Senate Bill 75.
     
    • Collaborated with the Ohio Proud Program to offer two day-long training programs to Ohio’s direct marketers to improve their online presence to better communicate with their customers.
     
    • Collaborated with the Ohio Small Business Development Centers to provide a train-the-trainer program, DeviceReady (previously Maps&Apps). This program will be used by the Ohio SBDC counselors to better assist their small business clients with online marketing.
     
    • Collaborated with the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association to offer a direct ag marketing track at their annual Congress. This 3 day conference provided training to nearly 350 Ohio produce growers and marketers.
     
    • The annual team meeting gathered at Easton Town Center to do some on-site learning of marketing and merchandising techniques for businesses at Easton.
     
    2017 is gearing up to be a busy year of additional training and assistance for Ohio’s direct marketers.  We will be once again offering our free monthly webinars, many workshops including Ohio MarketReady trainings, and many presentations. We will be assisting Ohio’s direct ag marketers with how they can take advantage of current food trends and how to more effectively communicate with their customers. If you would like to learn more or would like assistance for your agricultural enterprise, please go to our website southcenters.osu.edu/marketing or contact Christie Welch, Direct Ag Marketing Specialist at welch.183@osu.edu.
  107. Direct Marketing 2017 Webinars

    The Ohio State University Direct Agricultural Marketing Team is excited to once again, offer FREE marketing webinars once a month. Each month we have a new topic to discuss, with various educational presenters.
     
    Each webinar begins at noon, and is approximately one hour in length. Attendees have the opportunity to ask questions to the presenter, and comment to other attendees. This is a great way to network and share valuable information with one and other.
     
    Please see the flyer below for dates, topics, and presenter information.
     
    All webinars are recorded. For all our previous webinars, you may go to directmarketing.osu.edu
     
    If you have questions regarding this year’s webinar schedule, please contact Christie Welch, OSU Direct Marketing Specialist at welch.183@osu.edu.
     
     
  108. Endeavor Center and SBDC success

    By Ryan Mapes, Business Development Network Program Leader and Endeavor Center Manager
     
    2016 has been another successful year for the OSU Endeavor Center. The center operated at a 100% occupancy rate for most of the year, with new partners ready to come on board to fill vacated offices when they became available. Mid America Conversion Services is the latest business to become an Endeavor Center partner. There are 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 occupy an office. There has been much activity and many visitors through the Endeavor Center doors this year. We hosted over 400 training or meeting events with well over 5,000 visitors during 2016.
     
    The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the OSU South Centers was recently successful in obtaining the SBDC funding award for another two-year period, 2017 and 2018. We will continue to provide business consulting to the existing and start-up small businesses in our service area, which changed slightly as Fayette County is now included in the Region 7 SBDC network. The SBDC area served now includes Adams, Brown, Gallia, Fayette, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto, and Vinton Counties. For fiscal year 2016 the SBDC at the OSU South Centers provided the following assistance:
     
    •  Provided consulting to 345 clients of which 212 received five or more hours of consulting
    •  Assisted with starting 27 businesses
    •  Helped clients obtain $10,037,949 in capital
    •  Logged 5,002 consulting hours
    •  Held 20 training events with 503 attendees
    •  Clients created 172 new jobs and retained 1,011 jobs
    •  Recorded $7,415,000 in general sales growth for clients
     
    SBDC work with the University of Rio Grande:
    The OSU-RIO Collaboration broadcasts are multi-media (Radio, TV, YouTube and Live Internet Streaming) educational shows with a host of different topics that promote Small Businesses, Business Support Organizations, Programs at The Ohio State University South Centers, and Educational Programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.
     
    As a result of the URG/OSU programming success, OSU was able to secure grant funds to install a recording studio at the South Centers. Currently, we are airing weekly shows pertaining to business and manufacturing.
     
    The Small Business Administration provided additional support to the SBDC to have detailed marketing projects completed for SBDC clients. This project was completed in partnership with the University of Rio Grande in which students from Dr. Wesley Theone’s marketing class completed market research and developed comprehensive marketing plans for five SBDC clients. 
     
    SBDC Work with the Chillicothe Veterans Affairs Medical Center:
    Over the past six months, the SBDC has partnered with the Office of Rehabilitative Services at the Chillicothe Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center to establish an entrepreneurship program for veterans. The program is divided into three two-hour classes and occurred quarterly. The classes focus on business feasibility and entrepreneurship readiness, business plan components, marketing, and operations. The veterans who have successfully completed this course have either already started or are in process of starting their own business. The next series of classes will begin in February.
     
    SBDC work with SOACDF:
     
    SBDC continues to work with the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation in providing assistance to area farmers interested in applying for the Ag Development Grant and the Young Farmer Grant programs. This is a program where our SBDC counselors work closely with area farmers to write business plans for projects that will be submitted to SOACDF for potential grant funding to assist with their project. This year, we helped 43 individuals complete and submit applications for these programs. You can see details and deadlines about the program at www.soacdf.net/.
     
    SBDC work in Export Assistance:
    International markets provide opportunities for businesses to increase sales and create jobs. Many small companies don’t have the expertise or resources to expand their business into international markets. The Export Assistance Program (EAP) helps companies to expand globally through counseling in the areas of market research, due diligence, general export education, export readiness assessments, and trade missions.
     
    The EAP worked with 19 Appalachian companies that were awarded $83,856 from the International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) and/or the Appalachian Export Grant to expand their international marketing efforts and increase their exports.
     
    Be sure to visit our weekly Blog and stay up-to-date with the OSU South Centers business development network at u.osu.edu/osubusinessdevelopmentnetwork.
  109. Building Great Partnerships

    By Patrick Dengel, Business Specialist/OSU-Rio Grande Collaboration Coordinator and Ryan Mapes, Endeavor Center Manager
     

    Dr. Thomas Worley, Director of the OSU South Centers named the University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College (URG/RGCC) the 2016 OSU South Centers Supporter of the Year. This award was presented to Dr. Michelle Johnston, President of URG/RGCC at the 25th Anniversary Celebration at the OSU South Centers on September 15, 2016.

    This award recognized the strong commitment and collaborative efforts between the two Universities. Through their contribution of time, resources, ideas and collaborative efforts, The University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College has been providing support and direction, as well as enhancing the overall quality of the OSU South Centers.

    “I am honored to receive this award,” Johnston said. “Our partnership with OSU South Centers contributes to our efforts to serve our communities and provide our students with quality learning environments to help them succeed.”

    Dr. Worley stated, “Dr. Michelle Johnston has become a very strong supporter and advocate of OSU South Centers during her time as President at University of Rio Grande. Our collaborative work in business development and in broadcasting has blossomed under her leadership. Her participation as a host of her own show is a tribute to her commitment to our shared efforts. I am very confident that we will continue to find ways to collaborate as we work to serve the residents of Southern Ohio.”

    The OSU South Centers contracted with URG/RGCC in July 2009. At that time, the primary emphasis was in providing experiential learning formats to both MBA and undergraduate students enrolled in the Emerson E. Evans College of Business, as well as to work with students enrolled in other educational Programs. The OSU-RIO Collaboration is the “nickname” to the contracted agreement between The Ohio State University South Centers and URG/RGCC.  

    Since that time, URG/RGCC has become a very strong collaborator with a number of our programs at The Ohio State University South Centers. As a result of initial collaboration, one major joint program has had a significant effect on both of our universities. Our OSU-RIO broadcasts on television, radio, and live-streaming programs on the web have allowed both universities to promote joint educational programs to clients, students, small businesses, and interested viewers in Southern Ohio, across the State of Ohio, and beyond. 

    It was recognized by administration and staff from both universities that increased content, viewership, and a more concerted effort with the broadcasts would result in better visibility of educational and research programs both at the University of Rio Grande and The Ohio State University South Centers.

    Some program highlights include:

    •  Over 60,000 viewers and listeners have touched at least one YouTube or internet radio program.

    •  Listeners or viewers from 178 Countries have tuned in to at least one of the broadcasts. 

    •  Tallies show that approximately 350 listeners/viewers each week touch one of the archived educational broadcasts.

    •  Several students under tutelage of Mike Thompson have tried their hand at RIO RADIO – a daily and weekly radio show.

    •  Both administrations and key personnel from both universities host different shows on educational and informational subjects.

    The University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College and The Ohio State University South Centers have shared resources in promoting programs that enhance clients, students, and businesses throughout the areas each serves. This working collaboration has demonstrated a well-defined effort while providing needed information to its perspective clients, students, and community members. Please visit the link below to explore some of the various shows. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrv0SYonHCbXs1WgoOHa6mw

  110. Carter speaks at national conference

    By Brad Bapst, SBDC Director 
     
    Melissa Carter, a Business Advisor with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the OSU South Centers, presented a seminar session at the America’s SBDC Conference in Orlando, Florida in September. Carter was selected to present “Navigating Online Marketing for Clients” which covered topics such as understanding and utilizing social media, managing website content and optimization, and tips to increase online visibility for businesses. Over 75 individuals attended the ninety-minute session.
     
    Annually, the America’s SBDC Conference is held to provide professional development and networking opportunities to Business Advisors and Directors throughout the country. Over 1,400 individuals attended the September conference.
  111. Endeavor Center and Small Business Development Center

    By Ryan Mapes, Endeavor Center Manager

    The Endeavor Center continues to have a very successful year. We have been operating at a 100% occupancy rate for 2016. North Wind Construction Services LLC was the latest business to become an Endeavor Center partner. There has been much activity and many visitors through the doors this past quarter, hosting over 80 training or meeting events during the months of April, May and June.

    Below is a list of Endeavor Center Partners:                                                                                                          

    ·   Adams Wealth Management

    ·   Boston Government Services

    ·   Alliant

    ·   CRC Technologies

    ·   EHI Consultants

    ·   EC Government Services

    ·   Hukari Ascendent

    ·   InSolves

    ·   InSolves Manufacturing

    ·   Navarro Research

    ·   North Wind Construction Services

    ·   Probatum Technology

    ·   Professional Project Services

    ·   Steve McCain and Associates

    ·   SAA Solutions

    ·   Swift and Staley

    ·   Visiting Angels Home Health

    ·   Wastren

    The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the OSU South Centers was recently successful in obtaining Ohio Development Services Agency funding for another two-year period, 2017 and 2018. We will continue to provide business consulting to the existing and start-up small businesses in our coverage area. Through the first three three quarters of fiscal year 2016, the SBDC at the OSU South Centers has assisted 245 clients and helped create 15 new businesses. Our clients have obtained $6,247,395 of capital, increased sales by $915,000, have created over 60 jobs, and have retained another 746.

    Recently our SBDC has worked on a wide variety of projects. We received additional SBA funding to have detailed marketing projects completed for SBDC clients. This project was completed in partnership with the University of Rio Grande in which students from Dr. Wesley Theone’s marketing class completed market research and developed  comprehensive  Marketing Plans for three different SBDC clients including a coffee wholesaler, a beef processing plant, and a co-packing facility.

    Another project we are currently working with is the Agricultural Development and Young Farmer grant application through Southern Ohio Agricultural Development Foundation (SOACDF). This is a program where our SBDC counselors work closely with area farmers to develop business plans for projects that will be submitted to SOACDF for potential grant funding. You can see details and deadlines about the program at http://www.soacdf.net/.

    The OSU-RIO Collaboration TV/RADIO broadcasts are multi-media (Radio, TV, YouTube and Live Internet Streaming) educational shows with a host of topics that promote Small Businesses, business support organizations, programs at The Ohio State University South Centers, and educational programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College. These shows air on Wednesday afternoons from the Radio and TV Studio at the University of Rio Grande. Guests include a variety of people representing educational, business development, community and organizational programs. The mission of these collaborative TV/RADIO broadcasts is twofold, first is to be an educational learning lab and second is to be a promotional tool for educational programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College and the business and agricultural programs of The Ohio State University South Centers. 

    In January 2012, the shows began simulcasting with the Rio Grande Educational Channel 17 TV station. This public access TV Program broadcasts under the Time Warner Cable System using one of their Public Educational Channels. Viewers from four southern Ohio counties can view broadcast shows live as well as listen on the Internet Blog-Talk Radio. All completed broadcast shows are also uploaded onto YouTube, with all shows archived on Blog-Talk radio and YouTube video channels for viewing and listening again. According to statistics of YouTube and Internet Radio, over 178 countries and over 55,000 people have listened or viewed to one of the archived shows.

    With the success of the University of Rio Grande partnership, the SBDC had the opportunity to obtain grant funds to initiate a live streaming radio and TV broadcast  international media channel to be located at the OSU South Centers. Emphasis is on small businesses, supportive small business organizations and agricultural programs. Training events covering a wide variety of business related topics also be recorded and archived on YouTube as well as the data recording platform used by the Ohio SBDC.

    Be sure to visit our weekly Blog and stay up-to-date with the OSU South Centers business development network at https://u.osu.edu/osubusinessdevelopmentnetwork/.

     

  112. Business Security Forum held at University of Rio Grande

    By Patrick Dengel, OSU - Rio Grande Collaboration Coordinator/Business Development Specialist
     
    On March 16, 2016, a Business Security Forum was held at the University of Rio Grande.  This Educational program was sponsored in part by Ohio Valley Bank, The Ohio State University South Centers, OSU-OARDC and OSU Extension Programs, and University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College.  
     
    Participants were welcomed by Dr. Michelle Johnston, President of the University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College.  We were pleased to have staff members from State of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office on campus to be a part of this program.  
     
    In addition to the live presentations of the speakers, all presentations were individually recorded to be shown on the Rio Grande Cable Access (Time-Warner Channel 17) Educational TV as well as on Blog Talk Radio in the near future.  During March and April, these pre-recorded shows have been shown at different times on the OSU-RIO Collaboration TV/radio programs.  All programs are archived on the URG or OSU YouTube Channel and Radio Shows.
     
    Listed to the right is an overview of the presenters. Full YouTube and Internet Radio Addresses will be available when they are aired on the channel Broadcasts.
     
    Presenters included:
     
    Introduction to Business Forum with Dr. Michelle Johnston and Attorney General Mike DeWine. Radio:  http://tobtr.com/s/8544113 
     
    Ryan Lippe, Consumer Educator, Consumer Protection Section Office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine - Ryan discussed Fraud Prevention and awareness of Cyber Scams.  Ryan Lippe is a Consumer Educator for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Consumer Protection Section. As a consumer educator, Ryan conducts presentations to groups across the state to teach Ohioans about their rights and how to avoid scams.  Radio:  http://tobtr.com/s/8589181 
     
    Gabe U. Stewart, CISSP, CRISC AVP/CISO, Ohio Valley Bank - Gabe discussed cyber security measures in the banking world.  Gabe is the Chief Information Security Officer at the Ohio Valley Bank and has nearly twenty years of banking IT experience, the last 14 specifically in IT Security. Radio:  http://tobtr.com/s/8589263
     
    Thomas E. Saunders, Attorney-at-Law Law Office of Thomas E. Saunders - Thomas discussed legal aspects in keeping personal information and assets protected.  Thomas attended Capital University Law School and graduated cum laude with his J.D. in 2013.  Thomas was a class representative in the Student Bar Association. During one summer of law school, Thomas attended classes at the University of Oxford in the U.K., through a program with the Ohio State University’s Mortiz College of Law.  Radio:  http://tobtr.com/s/8544045
     
    Scott Borden, Chief of Police University of Rio Grande Police - Scott discussed how to keep safe on and off campus.  Scott started in law enforcement in 1978 as a cadet for the Ohio State Highway Patrol at the Xenia post.  During his career with the State Highway Patrol, Scott earned numerous awards. Scott ended his Ohio State Highway Patrol career in 2001, after almost 33 years and has been the University of Rio Grande Campus Police Chief for five years.
  113. OSU Business Development Blog

    By Kimberly Roush, Program Assistant
     
    Are you looking for local business development tidbits?
     
    Join the OSU South Centers Business Development Network team weekly as they share practical tips for new and existing businesses in areas of marketing, management, financials, technology, manufacturing, commercialization, leadership and exporting.  
     
    You will also learn about resources available to assist in your business endeavors.  You will receive updates on how to start, sustain, and grow your business.
     
    The Ohio State University South Centers Business Development Network provides service through many programs including the Small Business Development Center, the Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development specialist, the Export Assistance specialist, the Ohio Cooperative Development Center, the Endeavor Center, and the Ohio Farmers’ Markets programs.
     
    Program services impact business success locally and state-wide. From April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015, the business development network team served 404 clients, provided 4,998 hours of professional one-on-one assistance, helped to start 21 new businesses, helped businesses to create 303 new jobs, helped businesses retain 1,891 employees, and assisted businesses to gain formation capital totaling over $35 million.
     
    To receive regular updates from these experts, subscribe to the OSU South Centers Business Development Blog at https://u.osu.edu/osubusinessdevelopmentnetwork.
  114. Manufacturing Rountable

    By Mick Whitt, Manufacturing Business Development Specialist
     
    After spending eighteen years in manufacturing I am aware of the exciting accomplishments and possibilities that exist for companies as they develop new products, new technologies, and new processes that improve production and quality of current product. These types of improvements can lead to greater profits, a better work environment, and of course the potential to reach new and larger markets.  However, I am also aware of the challenges and obstacles that many manufacturers face, and the frustration that comes with not being able to find the answers you seek.
     
    To begin to identify the issues and problems of local manufacturers, I invited companies and individuals from a wide range of industries to participate in a Manufacturing Roundtable held at South Centers on March 8, 2016. The idea was to give manufacturers a voice and an open forum to discuss their specific needs and how we might collectively address and solve those needs. 
     
    A few of the topics and concerns discussed during the forum were: training (maintenance, soft skills, ISO), workforce availability and development, and current workforce dependability. 
     
    With the information and input I received in this roundtable I am currently researching and coordinating with other SBDC offices, as well as partners such as the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG), to develop training events, schedule speakers to address specific topics, and work with local schools to somehow bridge the gap between education and employers.
     
    Going forward we will continue the quarterly roundtable in hopes of engaging even more manufacturers and growing the program to increase the direct impact we can have on companies in our region.
  115. Endeavor Center and Small Business Development Center

    By Ryan Mapes, Business Development Program Leader and Endeavor Center Manager
     
    The Endeavor Center and its partners are off to a great start in 2016!  As cleanup work continues at the Piketon Uranium Enrichment facility, so does activity in the Endeavor Center as we continue to operate at an occupancy rate of 100%.  Many partners are either contractors who work directly with Fluor or companies that provide services to those contractors.  We have also added three new partners since the fall of 2015.  Those partners are Steve McCain and Associates, LLC. (Acentus Capital), Visiting Angels Home Health Care, and Swift & Staley, Inc.
     
    The Endeavor Center has small, medium and large size training and meeting rooms as well as a 16-station computer lab available for lease.  Our smallest room will accommodate 12 people, the medium room up to 30 and the large room will seat 75 comfortably.  These rooms are a great asset to the Endeavor Center as they bring close to 2,500 visitors through the doors annually.  This also provides an opportunity for those attendees to learn more about the services and programs available at the South Centers.
     
    The primary business development technical assistance program affiliated with or housed within The Endeavor Center is the District 7 Small Business Development Center.  The SBDC provides consulting services to area businesses at no direct cost to the client.  These primary services cover a very broad range of topics from business planning to access to capital to starting your business in Ohio.  The SBDC also provides access to an Export Assistance specialist and a Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development specialist who are also housed at the Endeavor Center.  These programs provide technical expertise and training to the small businesses in Southern Ohio.
     
    The staff of The OSU South Centers SBDC continually engages community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and develop solutions to combat any negative impact to the economy.  Counselors volunteer time to serve as board members on chambers of commerce, a regional board established to support economic development, and advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems.  Two specific examples of this continuous communication with the business community are featured on pages 6 and 7.
  116. SBDC success

    By: Ryan Mapes, OSU - Endeavor Center Manager
     
    The Ohio State University South Centers Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is a nine-person team including a Regional Director, a manufacturing specialist, an international trade assistance specialist, four business counselors and two program assistants.  The District 7 SBDC Center utilizes a unified delivery model to incorporate resources from other programs affiliated with The Ohio State University South Centers, including the Ohio Cooperative Development Center, Direct Marketing and OSU Extension programs.  
     
    In 2015 the OSU South Centers SBDC provided 4,463 one-on-one consulting hours to entrepreneurs and existing businesses in the region.   As a result, the clients started 27 new businesses, obtained $24,502,381 in loans and other capital, helped create 328 jobs and increased sales by nearly $32,214,000. The SBDC also provided 30 training sessions with 608 attendees.  Training topics included general business management and growth principles, Microsoft Office products and social media outlets.
     
    Individual Counselors are recognized each year at the Statewide SBDC conference for extraordinary efforts given throughout the year.  These Peer Recognition Awards are voted on by all counselors around the state.  All levels of field staff are eligible for nomination and there are five categories of awards: advocacy, collaboration, innovation, marketing, and mentoring.  This year two of our counselors brought home individual awards.  Patrick Dengel won the collaboration award and Melissa Carter won the marketing award.
     
    Regional partnerships are the primary source of referrals for the District 7 SBDC.  The South Centers maintains formal agreements with three local universities for regional economic development collaboration.  The SBDC also utilized formal Memorandums of Understanding with the Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center, the district’s PTAC, and Pike County Community Action.  These relationships help the region’s entrepreneurs, business owners and small manufacturers with technical assistance and training.
     
    The OSU South Centers SBDC Center also participated in multiple entrepreneurial focused events throughout the year such as: Lumber Grading School, Business Blog Talk, From Dream to Reality, and the SOACDF Tobacco Diversification Initiative.
     
    Lumber Grading School Over a dozen loggers from Ohio and abroad gathered at OSU South Centers June 29 through Jule 3 to participate in a course designed to give them a better understanding and develop their skills in the timber industry.  The five-day Lumber Grading Short Course/Flex Day Course was instructed by a National Hardwood Lumber Association National Inspector.  The OSU South Centers Business Development Network worked with Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth to provide reimbursement through the Make It In America workforce development grant to cover the costs of the training for companies sending employees to the Lumber Grading School.
     
    Business Blog Talk is a weekly podcast that incorporates business resources and highlights entrepreneurial successes in our region.  In partnership with the University of Rio Grande, this program has now expanded into weekly television broadcasts.  This is a unique and innovative approach to communicate with our clients and partners about the services available and to share success stories that help market the businesses of OSU South Center’s clients.  
     
    From Dream to Reality is a five-week course that meets twice a week and is designed to provide an opportunity to learn a variety of skills needed to own and operate a business.  This course is offered two times per year through a partnership with the Pike Community Action Agency.
     
    Tobacco Diversification Initiative is an annual program for agribusiness and next generation farmers in the 22-county area served by the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation to diversify from tobacco production into a profitable venture.  
     
    The staff of The OSU South Centers SBDC continues to engage community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs of entrepreneurs in the region and develop solutions to combat any negative impact to the economy.  Counselors volunteered time to serve as board members on several chambers of commerce, on a regional board established to support economic development, and as members of advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems.
  117. Endeavor Center accomplishments

    By: Ryan Mapes, OSU - Endeavor Center Manager
     
    The OSU Endeavor Center manager and staff of the affiliated programs at the Ohio State University South Centers continually engage community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and develop solutions to combat negative impact to the economy while promoting the resources and talents of those in the region.  2015 was once again a successful year for the Ohio State University Endeavor Center, its programs and its partners.   Open since 2005, the 27,000 square foot mixed-used business incubator has come to be recognized as a community leader in economic development, business training, and technological excellence.
     
    Endeavor Center business programs and partners had another successful year.  The technical assistance programs affiliated with or housed within the Endeavor Center include a Small Business Development Center, an International Trade Assistance Center, a Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development Center, and the Ohio Cooperative Development Center.  All of these programs provide technical expertise and guidance to the small businesses housed in the incubator.  Several partners carried out work on several projects at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion facility.  The facility housed 18 individual businesses which filled 27 office spaces throughout the year and had the center operating at close to 100 percent of its occupancy capability.  In the last five years of operation, The Ohio State University Endeavor Center and its business partners have:
     
    • Created more than 1300, high-skill, high-wage jobs, adding more than 115 million dollars  of direct economic activity to the local community.
     
    • In cooperation with the Small Business Development Center of Ohio, sponsored or conducted 320 business workshops, training sessions and seminars with nearly 5,300 attendees – business owners, prospective entrepreneurs and ambitious employees seeking to improve the profitability of their businesses so they can grow and provide additional employment opportunities in the community.  
     
    A highlight of the year occurred in October when The OSU South Centers and the Endeavor Center hosted a visit from the Michael Drake, President of The Ohio State University, Bruce McPheron, Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmnental Sciences, faculty members, students and BRUTUS BUCKEYE!  The meet and greet lunch included various community leaders and Endeavor Center partners.  The trip showcased many businesses currently housed at the Endeavor Center and/or businesses that have received assistance from one of our business programs.
  118. Carter and Dengel win peer recognition awards

    By: Ryan Mapes, Endeavor Center Manager and Business Development Network Program Leader
     
    The Ohio Small Business Development Center held its annual conference this past month and two of our business counselors received awards. Melissa Carter received the Peer Recognition Award and Patrick Dengel received the Collaboration Award.  These awards are given annually to recognize the extraordinary efforts of SBDC counselors and staff across the State of Ohio. 
     
    The Marketing Award is given to the person who generates and implements activities and/or techniques specifically targeted to Ohio’s entrepreneurs and small business owners for the purpose of increasing awareness and encouraging use of SBDC products, services, and/or events. 
     
    Melissa Carter won the Marketing Award for her implementation of social media and online marketing techniques for both the OSU South Centers Business Development Network and for businesses. 
     
    To be considered or nominated for the Collaborative Award, the candidate must show strong evidence of creating or strengthening a collaborative relationship. Examples of collaborative partnerships can be with other entities within our own organizations or can involve an outside organization with similar goals, and with various business-oriented groups.
     
    Patrick Dengel won the Collaboration Award for his partnership with the University of Rio Grande. Patrick works diligently with the University of Rio Grande by utilizing their television and radio equipment to organize weekly broadcasts to showcase the businesses and partners throughout the region. 
     
    These activities and techniques deliver value to the SBDC by increasing the SBDC’s economic impact on the state’s economy, and to its clients by satisfying the owner and partner objectives and fostering their success.

     

  119. Lumber grading training creates opportunities for workforce

    By: Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    In 2010, the forest products industry employed close to 12,000 people in southeast Ohio and contributed over $511 million dollars in labor income alone to the region.  The importance of the forest and wood products industry to the region prompted the OSU South Centers Business Development Network, in conjunction with the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA), to host two Lumber Grading Short Courses over the summer of 2015. More than 30 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 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 interested in the forest and wood products industry as a career opportunity. 
     
    Participants who successfully completed the course received the NHLA lumber grading certification; a certification that is highly regarded in the lumber industry.  Previously, this training and certification was only offered several hours away from Pike County which made it hard for employers and employees to participate.     
     
    Business development specialists at the OSU South Centers worked with the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG) to secure reimbursement grants to cover the costs of the workforce development training through the “Make It In America” grant program. The cost of the training was covered for approximately 25 of the 32 participants through the program.  
     
    The success of both courses has prompted the OSU South Centers Business Development Network to make plans to offer the course on an annual basis and will return in 2016. You can read more about the June training in the Pike County News Watchman at http://bit.ly/1FFe4H3. 
     
     
    *Image from lumber grading workshop is by Stephanie Stanley, Pike County News Watchman.
  120. Welcome to OSU South Centers, Mick Whitt!

    Mick Whitt is the new Manufacturing Business Development Specialist for the MTSBDC. He holds a Machine Trades Certificate from Pickaway-Ross CTC, a Business Management Degree from Ohio Christian University, as well as having nearly 20 years of experience in a variety of manufacturing facilities in production support, quality control, and management.
     
    Prior to Mick’s employment with OSU, he was a Quality Manager at a gray iron foundry that specialized in green sand molding.
     
    Mick’s professional background is in machining where he spent 15 years as a manual machinist, CNC mill operator and programmer, pattern maker, and 5s facilitator before going into quality control and management.
     
    Mick is the newest member of the Business Development Team, and as the Manufacturing Specialist, he will be concentrating on several key areas to assist in developing and improving processes and productivity for small manufacturers: 
      
    •  Lean manufacturing
       efficiency 
       time management
       downtime (tracking)
       waste/scrap reduction
       organization (5s = Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain)
     
    •  Process Flow
       New buildings, add-ons, new businesses
       Improving flow in existing structures
     
    •  Process and Quality Control
       Quality issues
       Quality controls
       Control standards (setting deviations and standards)
       Work Instructions
     
    •  Working within the SBDC Team
       Connecting businesses with the proper people at OSU South Centers to meet their business needs.
     
  121. OSU-RIO collaboration broadcasts update

    By: Patrick Dengel, OSU - RIO Grande Collaboration Coordinator and Business Development Specialist
     
    OSU-RIO collaboration broadcasts are multi-media (Radio, TV, YouTube and live Internet streaming) educational shows with a host of different topics that promote small businesses, business support organizations, programs at The Ohio State University South Centers, and educational programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.
     
    The shows air on Wednesday afternoons at the Radio and TV Studio at the University of Rio Grande.  Guests include a variety of people representing educational, business development, community and organizational programs.  These broadcasts are a collaborative effort of the two Universities that are hosted by individuals representing organizations and local communities, the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College and The Ohio State University. 
     
    The ultimate mission of these collaborative media programs is to be an educational learning lab for students enrolled in the business and communication programs at the University of Rio Grande as well as to be a promotional tool for educational programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College and the business and agricultural programs of The Ohio State University South Centers.  The OSU-RIO collaborative educational broadcasts assist students with understanding and using different formats of social media, including: Radio, TV, YouTube and live Internet streaming.  
     
    This educational project had its inception February 2010 using a weekly Internet Blog-Talk Internet podcast program.  This program provides business majors and MBA students with experience in using different media formats as part of their entrepreneurial course work.  It has been the goal to have students plan the media show schedule, schedule guests for the program, use different marketing/advertisement formats, co-host interviews, undertake the behind-the scenes broadcasting duties, and maintain statistical information.
     
    In January 2012, the shows began simulcasting with the Rio Grande Educational Channel 17 TV station. This public access TV program broadcasts under the Time Warner Cable System using one of the Public Educational Channels.  Viewers from four southern Ohio counties can view broadcast shows live as well as listen on the Internet Blog-Talk Radio site.  All completed broadcast shows are uploaded onto university YouTube channels.  Consequently, all shows are archived on Blog-talk radio and YouTube video channels for viewing and listening again.  According to statistics of YouTube and Internet Radio, people from over 170 countries have viewed or listened to at least one of the broadcasts and over 45,000 have listened or viewed to one of the archived shows.
     
    These broadcasts provide subject information on varying topics ranging from interviewing people from small businesses, personnel from business support organizations, programs managers and educators with The Ohio State University South Centers, and faculty/administration on various educational programs with the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.  Different show formats include:  
     
    •  South Centers Chat – hosted by Dr. Tom Worley discussing OSU South Centers Partners and OSU educational programs
    •  Agri-Talk – focusing in on agricultural topics in Southern Ohio
    •  Strictly Business – focusing in on regional small business owners
    •  Tech-Talk focusing on new types of technology in the educational and business worlds
    •  Pawsitive Learning – dog training segments
    •  Exposition – art and artisan culture
    •  Bank-Talk – financial and economic programs
    •  Voice of Rio Grande – hosted by Dr. Michelle Johnston, educational programs and organizations that support higher learning
    •  Voice of Rio Grande – hosted by Dr. Richard Sax, educational programs inside the University of Rio Grande
    •  Voice of Rio Grande – Hosted by Dr. Lawrence and Dr. Mitchell, Deans, interviewing faculty at the University of Rio Grande
    •  Safe-Guard  with Police Chief of Rio – safety issues for students and individuals
    •  International Culture – focusing on different cultures throughout the diverse world
    •  Babylon Radio – featuring musical artist
    •  Business Talk – featuring different southern Ohio small businesses
    •  Chamber Exchange – Gallia County Chamber of Commerce, featuring area businesses and organizations
     

     

  122. Business Development Network

  123. The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon Contracts with the University of Rio Grande

    By: Patrick Dengel, OSU-Rio Grande Collaboration Coordinator and Business Development Specialist
     
    The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon contracts with the University of Rio Grande to provide service programs that assist business students with experiential learning, complimenting their formalized for-credit education. This program assists students with understanding the essentials in entrepreneurship. Patrick Dengel is the OSU-RIO Collaboration Program Coordinator, who establishes learning objectives, tasks, and focuses the activities of students in this program.  
     
    As an adjunct faculty member, Dengel teaches a simultaneous on-line and in-class for-credit course each semester in business management.  This is the capstone class for students seeking their degrees in business.  Students develop a workable small business plan and at the end of the course make a presentation about their plan.  As a result of this course, several students have started new businesses, one has expanded their business via expansion loans using their small business plan, and another established increased product capacity in their manufacturing business.  
     
    In another joint effort, Dengel and Jason Winters, Chair of the College of Business  at University of Rio Grande, established an OSU-RIO Collaborative television/radio educational show which assists students with understanding different media formats including: radio, television, YouTube and live internet streaming.  These shows feature guests discussing business and education topics ranging from interviewing people from small businesses, personnel from business support organizations, programs managers and educators with The Ohio State University South Centers, and faculty/administration from various educational programs at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.
     
    This project had its inception February 2010 using a weekly Internet Blog-Talk Podcast program.
     
    This program provides business majors and MBA students with experience using different media formats as part of their entrepreneurial course work.  With assistance, students schedule guests for interviews, schedule media show slots, use different marketing /advertisement formats, co-host interviews, manage behind-the scenes broadcasting and maintain statistical information.  In the beginning, the shows were one hour long using the telephone as the principle microphone.  All interviews have been archived on Internet Blog-Talk Radio for listening again. 
     
    As the listening audience grew, in January 2012 the show drew the attention of Mike Thompson, Director of the University of Rio Grande Instructional Design and Media Services. In addition to the Blog-Talk Internet Radio, the shows began simulcasting with the Rio Grande educational channel 17 TV station.  This public access TV Program broadcasts under the Time Warner cable system using the public educational channels.  With the addition of the public access channel 17 broadcast, viewers from four Southern Ohio counties can now view broadcast shows live, in addition to the audio program being available on the Internet through the BlogTalk Radio site.  All completed broadcasts are archived online on BlogTalk Radio and YouTube for viewing and listening again. 
     
    As of January 2015, the OSU-RIO Collaboration TV/Radio again expanded its format by introducing three-half-hour programs, which include:
     
    Wednesday, 1:00 to 1:30 p.m.    
    Business Talk – Focuses on people from different small businesses; personnel from small business support organizations; program leaders and educators with The Ohio State University South Centers; and students, faculty and administrators with the University of Rio Grande.
     
    Wednesday, 2:00 to 2:30 p.m.   (Each of the four shows is seen once a month):
    Body Talk – Health program on maintaining healthy living
    Exposition – Art and cultural program featuring local artisans displaying artwork
    Agri-Talk – OSU educators discuss agricultural programs
    Strictly Business – OSU program managers highlighting area businesses and entrepreneurs Wednesday, 3:00-3:30 p.m.   (Each of the four shows airs once a month, featuring various guests):
    Voice of Rio – Hosted by the President of the University of Rio Grande Voice of Rio – Hosted by the Provost of the University of Rio Grande South Centers Chat – Hosted by the Director of OSU South Centers
    Voice of Rio – Hosted by the Deans of the University of Rio Grande
     
    Using archive statistics, the OSU-RIO Collaborative has tabulated that since beginning the program in February 2010 to May 31, 2015, the program has had almost 32,000 views or listens. Statistics also show persons from 165 different countries have viewed or listened to at least one of the broadcasts.
     
    By the end of 2015, it is the goal of the OSU-RIO Collaborative to distribute completed shows to other public access channels. 
     
    Readers can information about these educational programs at:
     
     
    OSU-RIO Collaboration Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/theosurio
     
    Rio Grande Cable Access Facebook page:  www.facebook/riograndecableaccess
     

     

  124. Center for Cooperatives welcomes new staff

    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.
     

  125. New quick advice legal clinic program aiming to help close gap for rural entrepreneurs

    By Hannah Scott
    CFAES Center for Cooperatives Program Director 

    Imagine you are an entrepreneur starting a business or even growing an emerging business. In addition to thinking about important questions like where you will locate, how you will hire the staff you need, and how you will connect with customers, among many other considerations, you will also encounter various questions with legal implications. And you will be making decisions that can have major impacts for yourself, your business, and potentially, those around you like family members. What if you want to raise money from your family and friends to help with the costs of start-up?

    What if your business is a lifelong dream for you and your best friend and you plan to work together? What if you have created a strong, recognizable brand and want to ramp up your online marketing and sales? 

    If you are an entrepreneur in a rural area, getting answers to these questions from a licensed attorney can be especially challenging. As of the mid-2010’s, about 14% of Americans lived in rural areas while only about 2% of lawyers practiced in rural communities and as rural populations age, so are the populations of rural attorneys.   In a 2018 article in Ohio Lawyer, Dianna Howie shared the challenges accessing legal services in rural Ohio and the work of organizations like Southeastern Ohio Legal Services to combat these issues – while there are about 11,000 registered attorneys in Columbus, rural communities have far fewer -- in Vinton County, there were about 10 at the time.   

    As business development specialists with the OSU South Centers programs, including the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, Small Business Development Center, and Manufacturing Extension Partnership, assist clients and provide community education, they have seen how often legal questions come up. “As a small business counselor, I work with many entrepreneurs in starting their own business. Many of them come to our program for assistance because they have encountered a roadblock in the start-up process. It is not uncommon for this to be a legal question that prohibits them from making a decisive decision on the direction they need to take moving forward in starting the business,” shared Brad Bapst, director of the Small Business Development Center housed at the OSU South Centers. 

    So the team started planning to organize a program that will help the region’s entrepreneurs get access to legal advice and education. Hannah Scott, Program Director with the CFAES Center for Cooperatives housed at the OSU South Centers had seen the model at work in other locations. Scott shared, “One of the most impactful parts of law school for me was participating in UC Law’s Entrepreneurship & Community Development Clinic where students assist current and future business owners, and the program hosts a quick advice clinic for the community.” Scott earned her Juris Doctor from University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2020. Scott, Bapst, and other team members started brainstorming how they could host a similar clinic at the Endeavor Center business incubator at the OSU South Centers. They reached out to Paige Wilson, Director of the Entrepreneurial Business Law Clinic at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law, and the OSU colleagues began collaborating on the new program.

    “Building Legally Resilient Small Businesses: Quick Advice Legal Clinic for Entrepreneurs,” will be co-hosted by the Entrepreneurial Business Law Clinic at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law, which provides transactional legal assistance to startups, nonprofits, and small businesses, and partner business development programs at the OSU South Centers. 

    During the evening program on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, entrepreneurs can participate in free public education sessions on common legal issues for small businesses. Attorneys will teach sessions on “Legal Structures for Small Business,” “Working with Independent Contractors,” and “Legal Basics of Branding and Marketing: What to know in a digital world.” 
    Entrepreneurs can also sign up for no-cost, one-on-one consultations with volunteer attorneys to explore their legal questions and receive guidance in areas like business structures, employment, contracts, marketing and advertising, venture capital, worker and other cooperatives, commercial real estate, and more. Sessions will last up to 30 minutes and participants can register for up to two sessions. 

    There is no cost to participate in the program, but registration is required. Entrepreneurs interested in a one-on-one appointment will be asked to submit basic information about their legal question so staff members can try to match participants with a volunteer attorney whose practice area most closely matches their legal question. Please note, space is limited. 

  126. SOACDF grant will fund additional leadership experiences for local youth

    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.

  127. Resource kit available for those exploring a meat processing business

    Joy Bauman
    Co-ops Program Specialist

    A team of Ohio State business and meat science specialists have compiled a Meat Processing Business Tool Kit for people who are exploring the meat processing business. Designed as a decision-making aid for people exploring investing in or expanding a meat processing facility, this online tool kit can help entrepreneurs evaluate the business and navigate business planning. The Meat Processing Business Tool Kit is available in the Business section at the OSU South Centers webpage and at the OSU Extension Meat Science webpage.

    With the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers saw shortages of meat in large supermarkets caused by disruptions in large packing plant operations. “As a result, consumers started shopping at smaller, local meat shops, that didn’t have shortages of meat,” explained Lynn Knipe, PhD, associate professor of food science and technology at Ohio State who worked with the team to develop the meat processing business tool kit. “This, in turn, increased business for the smaller meat processors to a point that people who were used to taking animals to their local slaughterhouse, had to schedule their animals much farther out than normal,” Knipe said.

    Knipe explained that entrepreneurial people who either raised livestock or had some past experience with slaughter or cutting of meat, have decided to consider opening their own meat businesses. Knipe and his colleague, Lyda Garcia, PhD, assistant professor of animal science, began receiving more calls than usual, with people finding them either through their Extension Meat Science website or by referral from meat inspection people they had contacted.  

    Likewise, many of the same people were reaching out for guidance from the business development specialists at OSU South Centers and the specialists at the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, which is also based at the OSU South Centers. While gathering information to assist clients in summer 2020, the Center for Cooperatives team members reached out to OSU Extension meat science specialists Knipe and Garcia. Soon, a working group was formed with team members from the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, the Small Business Development Center at OSU South Centers, the Extension Meat Science Program, and the OSU Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.  Together, the group developed and compiled resources to help guide entrepreneurs interested in the meat processing business.

    “It only made sense that we work together as Ohio State colleagues to better serve our clientele,” said Garcia. “Instead of individuals contacting one OSU source and getting a bit of information and then needing to contact another OSU source for more information, we can all point them toward this fantastic online resource that will help answer their questions and guide them in the decision-making process,” Garcia explained.

    On the webpage housing the tool kit, users will find information to help get started, including understanding the capacity for such a business, maps of federal and state inspection facilities and auction sites, as well as livestock inventory. To aid in decision making regarding business models, there are samples of cooperative and corporate business models, with business planning templates, financial worksheets, and information about funding sources. Contacts are also listed for those using the tool kit and seeking additional assistance with their business planning.
    “The materials lead entrepreneurs to investigate critical considerations during the planning process, including collecting livestock data, gathering financial information, financial modeling, and business planning. That means that the tools are adaptable and intended to be changed to the user’s unique circumstance,” said Ryan Kline, Cooperative Program Specialist for the CFAES Center for Cooperatives.

    A business plan is helpful as a decision-making tool for entrepreneurs and it becomes a tool they can use when talking to potential lenders, investors, or future key employees. CFAES Center for Cooperatives program manager Hannah Scott explained, “In our experience, entrepreneurs don’t usually look forward to business planning, but many of them are already going through the business planning process mentally as they consider a new business or ways to expand their current operation. We encourage entrepreneurs to write down their plans — and to use tools and coaching that can help them approach the process in a systematic way without being overwhelming — because it can help them identify potential issues and consider topics they might not have before.”   

    “There is lots of assistance for entrepreneurs going through the business planning process, from templates like the ones in this tool kit to assistance from business development specialists like our team at the CFAES Center for Cooperatives or the OSU South Centers Business Development Network, which houses a multi-county Small Business Development Center (SBDC),” Scott said. The SBDC program is a nationwide network of business development specialists who provide no-cost business consulting for entrepreneurs. Readers can locate their nearest SBDC here.
    “We hope that the tool will be intuitive as entrepreneurs move through the planning process,” Kline said. “When visiting the website, people will find a self-guided and self-paced exploration of meat processing that we hope will help anyone interested in starting a meat processing facility.”

    To find the Meat Processing Business Tool Kit online, visit: southcenters.osu.edu/meat-processing-business-toolkit or meatsci.osu.edu.

  128. Forming a more Diverse Cooperative History

    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 CooperativesAppalachian 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.

    Freedom QuiltingThe 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.

    Latinx CooperativesExploring 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.
     

  129. Why the cooperative model could be a key to closing the broadband gap

    By Hannah Scott
    Center for Cooperatives

    The impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency are vast and varied. While we recognize and thank the many people who continue to do the essential jobs of feeding, moving, and caring for America in person, many Americans are now working, learning, and connecting online.

    Everyday tasks like work meetings, classes, grocery shopping, religious services, doctor appointments, hangouts with friends, and more, have moved online. But what happens when you don’t have reliable internet access at home? Millions of rural Americans faced this question long before the current public health crisis and in our current context, the broadband divide between urban and rural America has become more pronounced than ever. 

    Connected Nation Ohio, an organization that studies and provides resources for rural broadband connection, estimates that approximately 710,000 Ohioans do not have internet access at home. That does not include people who have internet access that is unreliable or prohibitively slow. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that almost 30 million Americans are “unable to reap the benefits of the digital age.” In 2017, the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity recognized the expansion of high-speed, high-capacity internet as a key infrastructure priority in rural America. Beth Ford, Chief Executive Officer of Land O’ Lakes, one of the nation’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, has highlighted the far-reaching effects of the problem and called for significant infrastructure investments in broadband, reminding people that, “there is a shared destiny between urban and rural America.” 

    Cooperatives are not new to problem-solving on behalf of rural Americans. According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, in the mid-1930’s as many as 90% of rural homes lacked electricity. By 1953, more than 90% of America’s farms had electricity. This transformation was the result of the rapid growth of rural electric cooperatives, which currently provide electricity to 56% of the nation’s landmass and over 20 million member-owners. Co-ops are owned and controlled by their users and provide services to member-owners at cost. Today, nearly 100 rural electric cooperatives are investing in infrastructure to bring high speed internet to their member-owners. 

    In some communities, the cooperative model is being explored anew to determine whether a community-owned enterprise can help close the broadband gap. Groups are coming together to assess whether they can form cooperatives to invest in the infrastructure to connect their homes and businesses to broadband service providers. The enterprises would be controlled by community members through an elected board of directors.

    Community members in Washington County, Ohio have begun exploring options for a community-owned broadband enterprise. David Brown, who is leading the Southeast Ohio Broadband Cooperative Exploratory group along with additional volunteers from the community, explains, “Most areas have no broadband access at all and rely on slow, expensive and unreliable technologies like cellular hotspots and satellite internet.” 

    After conversations with elected leaders, local economic developers, and others, the group surveyed the community about their current broadband access and interest in joining a broadband co-op. They started engaging with community members via a Facebook group where they share updates and information. The group has over 1,000 members after just three weeks. While they have a lot of work ahead to develop their co-op, David Brown shares that the group’s vision is to, “bring affordable, reliable broadband access to rural areas in SE Ohio that will create economic opportunities, connect communities and encourage members to be a part of the solution to a problem that has long plagued the area.”  

    When exploring a cooperative model in any industry, it is vital to explore the feasibility of an enterprise and to develop robust business plans. At the same time, organizers should educate their potential members on the co-op model and help them understand their role in a newly formed business. The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Center for Cooperatives at Ohio State has been assisting new and emerging cooperatives since 2001, helping groups understand the co-op model, explore the feasibility of a new co-op, develop the business plans and structure for a new enterprise, and more. 

  130. Center for Cooperatives kicks off 3-year student cooperative project

    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.

  131. Youth Leadership Cooperative Experience

    Whitney Hill
    Ohio Valley CTC FFA Reporter

    The students in the Agriculture Business Management program at the Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center have been learning about agricultural cooperatives with Joy Bauman and Hannah Scott from the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Center for Cooperatives. On October 7 and 8, 16 students participated in the Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience conducted by the Center for Cooperatives.

    On this two-day trip, the students experienced several learning opportunities at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences on The Ohio State University main campus. The students had the chance to tour the university with CFAES student ambassadors and learn about college life from current students. They participated in classroom-style learning activities with Meat Science Professor Dr. Lydia Garcia; Agricultural Communication Professor Emily Buck; and Marketing and Communications Manager for the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership, Emily Wickham.

    The students were joined in a cooperative leader panel discussion about careers in cooperatives by Adam Specht, the Director of Youth Programs for Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives; Josh Zehentbauer, a field representative for Dairy Farmers of America; Deborah Rausch from USDA Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs; and Tom Worley, who is the Director of OSU South Centers, CFAES Center for Cooperatives, and an Agricultural Cooperatives Course Instructor.
    On the second day of the trip, the students heard from Dan Durheim, the Vice President of Sponsor Relations for Nationwide Insurance. Andy Lynd hosted the group at Lynd Fruit Farm near Pataskala, Ohio. 

    Andy’s grandfather was a founding member of the Ohio Apple Growers Marketing Association. The students were especially interested in learning about the apple marketing cooperative, because it is the supplier of the apples sold through the Ohio FFA Fruit Sales. Lynd discussed marketing strategies and the development of apple varieties that occurs on the farm as part of the Midwest Apple Improvement Association.

    Next, the students had the opportunity to tour COBA/Select Sires at Hilliard, Ohio. Administrative Director Julie Ziegler hosted the group and reviewed the 70+ year history of the successful farmer-owned cooperative focused on genetic progress in the dairy and beef cattle industries. She also explained the cooperative’s structure, with COBA being a member of the federated cooperative, Select Sires.

    OSU Cooperative Development Specialist Joy Bauman said the immersive program was designed to help youth learn about the cooperative business model, education opportunities, and careers in cooperative business. “The students learned of many opportunities for internships and employment with Ohio’s cooperatives,” Bauman said, “while also learning about what next steps in education or training are necessary.”  With students coming from a small school in an Appalachian area, Bauman said it was good for them to hear about the similar backgrounds shared by several of the guest speakers.  

    “Our hope is that an experience like this can help students realize that they, too, can become successful in the agriculture industry. And that regardless of what their interests in agriculture may be, there are opportunities in the agriculture industry, especially with agricultural cooperatives,” she said.

    This trip was funded by The Ohio State University through a North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Youth Educator Grant Program. The focus of the NCR-SARE grant program is on research and education. The program is part of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, funding projects and conducting outreach designed to improve agricultural systems. 

  132. Bauman, Gardner take on new roles with co-ops team

    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 BaumanJoy 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 GardnerCharissa 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.

  133. CFAES Center for Cooperatives kicks off Appalachia Cooperates Initiative

    By Joy Bauman
    Center for Cooperatives Program Coordinator

    A group of individuals interested in growing co-op culture in Central Appalachia filled the meeting room March 22 at the West Virginia State University Economic Development Center in Charleston, W.Va. when The Ohio State University CFAES Center for Cooperatives hosted the inaugural meeting of the Appalachia Cooperates Initiative.  The group ranged from farmers and small business owners, to attorneys, credit unions, and cooperative business development agencies.

    Featured speakers included Dr. J. Todd Nesbitt, Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography at Pennsylvania’s Lock Haven University and Leslie Schaller, one of the founding members of Casa Nueva, a successful worker-owned restaurant cooperative and also the Director of Programs at the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) in Athens, Ohio.  

    Nesbitt, who has studied and developed a course on sustainability in Appalachia, shared “A Case for Economic Distributism in West Virginia.”  Schaller shared the history and development of Casa Nueva and insights on the success of the cooperative business.

    Participants also heard from Gail Patton, Executive Director, and Ursulette Huntley, Program Director, at Unlimited Future, Inc., a non-for-profit microenterprise development center and business incubator; they shared their experience with the development of one of West Virginia’s first non-agriculture cooperatives.

    During lunchtime, attendees viewed the film, Shift Change, and learned about worker-owned co-ops not far from the Appalachian region and around the world.  

    “Seeing how a worker-owned co-op can empower members of a community and provide jobs and economic growth for an area helped to spark some ideas among those in attendance,” said Joy Bauman, program coordinator at the OSU CFAES Center for Cooperatives.

    Daniel Eades, West Virginia University Rural Economics Extension Specialist, and Michael Dougherty, West Virginia University Community Resources and Economic Development Extension Specialist, led a discussion about challenges with developing businesses in Central Appalachia, ways Appalachian communities are uniquely positioned to develop businesses, and what resources and tools work well in Central Appalachia’s environment.  This activity led to much discussion and discovery of ways those interested in growing the cooperative culture in Central Appalachia can network to assist each other and share solutions.

    OSU CFAES Center for Cooperatives program manager Hannah Scott spoke about resources and technical assistance offered by the Center and encouraged participants to stay connected and consider becoming involved on a regular basis with the Appalachia Cooperates Initiative group.  “Getting cooperative-minded people together to connect and learn from each other’s experiences will help them build a network that fosters cooperative business,” Scott explained.

    Scott said that the CFAES Center for Cooperatives will soon be planning another activity for those interested in the Appalachia Cooperates Initiative, and that she hopes to hold quarterly events for the group over the coming year.  If you are interested in developing co-op culture in Central Appalachia, for more information, or to be added to the Appalachia Cooperates Initiative email list to be notified about upcoming events, contact Joy Bauman at 740-289-2071 ext. 111 or email bauman.67@osu.edu.

  134. Cooperating for the greater good

    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.

  135. Harlow wins Innovation Award

    By Joy Bauman
    Center for Cooperatives Program Coordinator

    Congratulations to CFAES Center for Cooperatives program specialist, Ivory Harlow, who was recently presented with the Ohio State University CFAES Staff Advisory Council Innovation Award. OSU Extension Director Dr. Roger Rennekamp and OSU South Centers Director Dr. Tom Worley made the presentation during the annual CFAES Center for Cooperatives advisory committee meeting.

    The Innovation Award is one of the “Above and Beyond” Awards presented annually by the CFAES Staff Advisory Council to a staff member for their role in developing and/or participating in project initiatives and/or process operations improvements that enhances CFAES, Extension, ATI, or OARDC and their mission. Rennekamp explained that Ivory was selected for this honor because of her work to conceptualize and create the Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101 online cooperative education platform. 

    “Ivory is a great asset to the Center and we appreciate the wonderful contribution she has made to expand the reach of our cooperative education,” Worley said when presenting her award. 

  136. Student-operated cooperative now managing 300-acre farm at OVCTC

    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.

  137. Supporter of Cooperatives Inducted into Ohio Ag HOF

    Dennis Bolling, a passionate advocate for cooperatives and a supporter of the Center for Cooperatives in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, was inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame on August 3 at the Ohio State Fair. 

    As the Ohio Agricultural Council shared:

    “Dennis Bolling has dedicated his life to the betterment of Ohio agriculture and the agricultural cooperative field. Bolling served as the long-time president and CEO of United Producers Inc. (formerly Producers Livestock Association). Under his leadership, Bolling orchestrated mergers, led the organization through financial challenges, and ensured director education and development. Today, as one of the largest livestock marketing cooperatives in the country, United Producers Inc. serves 30,000 members across the Midwest.

    “Throughout his career, Bolling has been a generous contributor of his time and leadership to improving agriculture through education and developing agricultural leaders. In 2003, he helped launch the Mid-America Cooperative Council to address the lack of education on cooperatives as a way of doing business.

    “Bolling has been repeatedly recognized by his peers for his contributions to agriculture. He is a recipient of the Industry Service Awards from the Ohio Pork Council and Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. In 2016, he was inducted into the National Cooperative Hall of Fame in Washington D.C.”

    Congratulations to Dennis on this distinct honor. We are happy to count him as one of our advocates for cooperative business and as a member of the advisory committee for the CFAES Center for Cooperatives.

  138. LIVE from the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, it's Co-Op Mastery

    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.

  139. From Farm to Cafeteria to Field

    By Ivory Harlow and Hannah Scott
    CFAES Center for Cooperatives

    The 2018 National Farm to Cafeteria Conference brought together educators, dieticians, foodservice staff, farmers, and local food advocates from across the country in Cincinnati, Ohio in late April.

    Attendees discussed how Farm to School initiatives enrich their communities, strengthen the food system, and boost local economies. Conference sessions shared best practices to boost local food consumption in the cafeteria and provide agriculture, food, health, and nutrition education to students.

    The conference featured field trips to several Ohio food and farm destinations. The CFAES Center for Cooperatives guided tours “From Garden to Food Hub” and “The Science of Local Food” at the Ohio State University South Centers.
    On the conference’s final morning, 20 conference attendees boarded the bus for a 2-hour scenic trip from the conference center in Cincinnati to OSU South Centers in Piketon. They participated in the award-winning food science program “The Story of the Strawberry.” The program is a partnership between OSU Extension Pike County, OSU Horticulture, and OSU Food, Nutrition, and Wellness.

    Attendees learned about plasticulture strawberry production and OSU researchers’ efforts to extend the Ohio harvest season from a historical 3-week strawberry harvest to a 3-month harvest window. Attendees also gained disease prevention insights from current berry nutritional research. Hands-on activities included taste tests and strawberry DNA extraction.

    Next, the group boarded a hay wagon for a tour of the South Center’s research plots. They visited the hops yard, grape vineyard, and aquaculture ponds. Attendees learned about services provided to new businesses in South Center’s unique business incubator, the 27,000-square foot Endeavor Center. The Business Team shared how they help entrepreneurs, including agricultural producers and food manufacturers, start and grow businesses in southern Ohio.

    CFAES Center for Cooperatives Program Manager Hannah Scott greeted 25 conference goers on a sunny afternoon outside of the Duke Energy Convention Center for a tour focused on local food aggregation and distribution. Attendees visited the facilities of Our Harvest Cooperative and Ohio Valley Food Connection located in The Incubator, a commercial kitchen and food aggregation incubator in northern Kentucky, to learn about the collaboration between the two southwest Ohio food hubs to move more local food to institutions. The field trip also took attendees to Fox Tail Farm in New Richmond, Ohio, a small produce farm marketing produce like carrots and greens through a hub. Participants learned about the farm’s production techniques and the advantages the farm experiences marketing through a hub.  

    The unique challenges of moving locally produced food from farms to restaurants, cafeterias, and retailers have been a focus of the Center for Cooperatives since 2014 through the Ohio & West Virginia Food Hub Network and technical assistance work with food hubs. According to a recently released study from Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems and Wallace Center at Winrock International, approximately 31% of U.S. food hubs marketed products to K-12 schools in 2017. Despite challenges, food hubs can help producers access larger markets than they may be able to working on their own. In 2017, approximately 18% of food hubs in the U.S. were cooperatively owned. 

  140. CFAES Center for Cooperatives: Collaboration Creates Greater Impact

    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 14th Annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference. Together, the Center and partners are resolved to drive forward the cooperative movement in the region and beyond.

  141. Coming soon: Co-op Mastery, an online training from The Ohio Cooperative Development Center

    By Ivory Harlow, Ohio Cooperative Development Center Program Specialist

    Cooperative businesses exist to serve members. Cooperative education must do the same– serve members, employees and students of cooperatives with relevant and timely information so that they can contribute effectively to their cooperative and the larger cooperative movement.

    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) is excited to announce it has received a 2017 CHS Foundation Cooperative Education Grant to support OCDC’s effort to develop an online educational training for members, employees and students of cooperatives.

    The course, “Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101,” will go beyond basic cooperative information by providing technical and practical guidance to new and existing cooperative businesses and students. The course will serve OCDC’s current client base in Ohio and West Virginia. Additionally, the online format will expand OCDC’s reach nationwide.

    “Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101” contains ten modules. Each module focuses on a unique area of cooperative business. Modules address common challenge areas for new co-ops, such as co-op finances and legal considerations. Industry experts and co-op service providers offer insight to issues such as sources of equity, shared capital and tax treatment. Narrated presentations guide users through governance and financial documents.

    Users can download cooperative business and financial templates, including purchasing and marketing agreements and board training development tools. They can search the “Co-op Mastery” online library to locate additional research-backed reference materials.

    “Co-op Mastery” engages learners with interactive content that speaks to the modern learning environment. The course will include video and audio interviews with leaders in the cooperative movement. Photography and infographics give users a sneak peek into the world of cooperatives. Case studies highlight cooperative businesses, sharing successes and lessons learned.

    OCDC will host monthly “office hours” within the course. Users can log-on to ask questions and get answers in real-time. The forum also serves as a networking opportunity for cooperatives to exchange perspectives with peers and experts.

    Continuous education, training, and information is one of the cooperative movement’s principles, and an important part of OCDC’s mission. Additional content will be added to enhance the course and ensure training is up-to-date and relevant for the long-term. Updates will reflect co-op trends as well as suggestions and feedback from users to better serve their needs.

    The course will be housed in the public access version of Canvas, The Ohio State University’s online learning management system. The open online format allows learners to search the course for information as it is needed. Students at The Ohio State University will be encouraged to access training materials that complement their agricultural studies.

    “Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101” will be released beginning in spring of 2018. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center thanks the CHS Foundation for their generous support of the project and recognizes CHS’s commitment make a difference through cooperative education.

  142. South Centers Synergy:Pumpkin Power

    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.

  143. New partners move into Endeavor Center, space still available

    By Ryan Mapes
    Endeavor Center Manager

    Like many businesses and organizations, the Endeavor Center experienced significant challenges during the pandemic.  The doors to the facility were closed while employees worked remotely during the onset of COVID-19.  Through much of 2020 into 2021 the Endeavor Center was closed to the public.

    As knowledge of the virus progresses and safety protocols implemented, the Endeavor Center has been able to reopen to serve businesses in Southern Ohio.  Tenants have resumed occupancy of their offices and are following all state, university, and local health guidelines.  

    Meeting and training rooms can be reserved for in-person business events, but hours of operation are limited.  It is recommended to plan ahead when requesting use of a meeting room, as there are new reservation policies in place that can take some time for approval. 

    The Endeavor Center operated at a 100% occupancy rate for most of 2019, however the pandemic brought both challenges and opportunities.  New capabilities and virtual opportunities are being implemented as more meetings and business activities are being held virtually.  

    Since 2019, several partners relinquished office space - fortunately new partners were ready to come on board to fill the vacated offices.  Recent partners that have joined the Endeavor Center include American Income Life Insurance Company, Affiliated Financial Group, FBB Group, and TK Fitness.

    Both 400 sq. ft. and 200 sq. ft. furnished office space is currently available for lease to entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.  Easy access to a copier, printer, kitchen area, meeting rooms, and Small Business Development Center counselors are just a few of the benefits when leasing an office in the Endeavor Center.  
    Please contact Jennifer Dunn at dunn.595@osu.edu or Ryan Mapes at mapes.281@osu.edu for any questions regarding usage of the facility.

  144. Endeavor Center manager offers update, telework tips

    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.
  145. Open for Businesses: Endeavor Center has services to help start or grow a business

    Ryan Mapes
    Endeavor Center Manager

    Are you interested in starting a business, but not sure how to start?  Do you need to grow your existing business?  Do you just need office space?  
    Come visit the Endeavor Center and visit with one of our knowledgeable business development network staff to determine how we can help.  

    The Endeavor Center can provide access to programs such as the Small Business Development Center, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Export Assistance Network, and the CFAES Center for Cooperatives. The Endeavor Center also has space available for lease. These spaces range from 200–400 sq. ft. general use, furnished offices, an office suite including four small offices, a private conference room, and a small break area, as well as three high-bay industrial type spaces. Tenants have access to high speed internet, phone systems, and office equipment. 

    If you do not need physical office space, but need a place to hold business meetings and events, the Endeavor Center has three conference rooms and a 16-station computer lab available to lease for your business’s needs.  These rooms range from a small board room style conference space to a larger space that can accommodate up to 75 attendees. These can be leased for full-day or half-day meetings and catering can be arranged. The conference rooms are utilized frequently by OSU programs, our partners, and outside organizations.

    There are currently 16 partner companies that occupy 20 spaces and four virtual partners that occupy the building on a part-time basis, but do not occupy an office.

  146. Endeavor Center operates at full occupancy for most of 2018

    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.

  147. Endeavor Center Achievements

    By: Ryan Mapes, Endeavor Center Manager

    The OSU Endeavor Center manager and staff of the affiliated programs at the Ohio State University South Centers continually engage community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and develop solutions to combat negative impact to the economy while promoting the regions resources and talents of the region. 2014 was once again a successful year for the Ohio State University Endeavor Center, its programs and its partners. Open since 2005, the 27,000 square foot business incubator has come to be recognized as a community leader in economic development, business training, and technological excellence.

    Endeavor Center business programs and partners had another successful year. The technical assistance programs affiliated with or housed within The Endeavor Center include a Small Business Development Center, an International Development Center, the Ohio Cooperative Development Center and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. All of these programs provide technical expertise and guidance to the small businesses housed in the incubator. In partnership with the Endeavor Center, the region’s Small Business Development Center was chosen as the top performing SBDC within six states by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). Partners proceeded to work on several projects at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion facility. The Endeavor Center facility housed eighteen individual businesses which filled twenty-seven office spaces throughout the year and operating at more than 100% of its original occupancy capability. In the last five years of operation, the Ohio State University Endeavor Center and its business partners have:

    • Created more than 1,300 high-skill, high-wage jobs, adding more than 115 million dollars of direct economic activity to the local community.

    • In cooperation with the Small Business Development Center of Ohio, sponsored or conducted 320 business workshops, training sessions and seminars with nearly 5,300 attendees – business owners, prospective entrepreneurs and ambitious employees seeking to improve the profitability of their businesses so they can grow and provide additional employment opportunities for those in the community.

    In August, a partnership was formed with Community Action of Pike County to combat potential federal budget induced layoffs at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion facility. Community Action Committee of Pike County received funding to create a temporary transition center to provide technical assistance for employees facing layoffs. In short time, the transition center was up and running in the Endeavor Center.

    Also in 2014, the OSU Endeavor Center was chosen as The Ohio State University’s nominee for the national C. Peter McGrath Community Outreach and Engagement Award. In October, the OSU South Centers director, Tom Worley, and Endeavor Center manager, Ryan Mapes, attended the national outreach and engagement award presentation in Edmonton, Alberta to learn more about the award process. The Endeavor Center staff is currently working with staff on main campus to prepare the presentation for the 2015 national award process.

  148. A Warm Welcome to Dr. Lijing Zhou to the Small Fruit Research and Extension Team at OSU South Centers in Piketon!

    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.

  149. Blueberry trees focus of Gary Gao’s University of Florida visit

    By Gary Gao, PhD, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor

    As a part of Gary Gao’s new specialty crop block grant, he travelled to the University of Florida in Gainesville to meet with professors Rebecca Darnell and Jeff Williamson. Together, they had a multi-year and multi-state USDA-SCRI grant to work on grafted blueberry trees.  Dr. Darnell was the PI of the project.  She showed Gary their grafted blueberry trees that were designed to improve harvest efficiency.  Southern highbush blueberry cultivars were grafted on the sparkleberry, Vaccinium arboretum in their study.

    Dr. Jeff Williamson was one of the co-PIs of the project.  He showed Gary some of the advanced selections of sparkleberry plants.  It was very interesting to see the wide range of plant heights and forms.  Although the USDA project ended a couple of years ago, the blueberry tree project will continue, many thanks to some of the new state specialty crop grants that Drs. Darnell and Williamson have received.  

    Gary Gao also reached out to Dr. Wei Qing Yang of Oregon State University for help.  Dr. Yang was able to send Gary Gao some sparkleberry plants from his rootstock selection program.  He is in the process of patenting several of his selections.  Hopefully, Gary Gao and his team will be able to find a few good selections for growers in Ohio.

    Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the USDA for a new specialty crop block grant.  The grant will support a two-year study on grafted blueberry trees and evaluation of processing blueberry cultivars.

  150. Gary Gao toured fruit plantings in China’s Hebei and Shanxi Provinces in September 2016

    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.

    Dr. Gao’s first stop was Hebei Province. He was invited by the Hebei Agricultural Enterprises Association in China to give technical advice to raspberry and grape growers in several counties in Hebei Province in September 2016. Raspberry production is relatively new to Chinese farmers in Hebei Province. Raspberry cultivars from England, Poland, Russia and the USA were planted there. There are also native raspberries in China. The native raspberries are mainly cultivated as medicinal herbs. Both fruit growers and researchers in Hebei Province had a very limited understanding of raspberry production. Gary was able to share his experience and expertise on trellising, pruning, fertilization, and pest management of raspberries with the growers there.
     
    Table grape production is quite advanced in many parts of Hebei Province. Dr. Gao shared his expertise on soil and tissue testing and mineral nutrition with growers and researchers. Bagging of grape clusters for disease and insect prevention and management is a common practice. Bagging each grape cluster is a very time-consuming process. However, grape growers manage to make it happen with available labor. It is hard to know how much longer this practice will last since labor in China is getting more and more expensive.
     
    Apple production in Shanxi Province encompasses many counties. Many of the apple orchards are on top of the mountains in western and southern counties in Shanxi Province. Dr. Gao visited several apple production counties. It was a good learning experience for him since he does not conduct research on apples in Ohio. Fruit bagging in apple production is also very popular. It is hard for American apple growers to imagine that all of the apples on each tree get bagged. Chinese apple growers have been doing this every year for quite some time. While he was in Shanxi Province, he worked with several fruit professors of Shanxi Agricultural University. He did notice that viral diseases are quite common in apple trees since virus indexing is as well practiced there as it is in the USA.
     
    One of the counties he visited is on the eastern side of Yellow River, which is known to be the muddiest river. Farmers in that region grow apples, pears, Chinese jujubes and small grains on these tall mountains of yellow clay soils with some sandstone rocks.

     

  151. Container Fruit Production May Have Good Potential in Ohio

    By Gary Gao, Ph.D., Extension Specialist and Associate Professor; Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant; and Michael Daniels, Formerly Student Intern, OSU South Centers

    Our container fruit production plot has finally been set up and ready for your viewing pleasure after several months of learning, planning, and hard work. Since we are not necessarily nursery production experts, we reached out to a few people before we decided on the specifics of our container fruit production plot. We toured Dr. Altland’s research facilities in Wooster, Ohio.  Both Dr. Altland and his assistant Dan Troyer welcomed us with open arms.  We are very grateful for all of the excellent information from them.  Our container production is on drip irrigation and is supported by a very strong trellis system. 

    If you would like to bring a group to tour our research plots in Piketon, Ohio, please let Gary (Gao.2@osu.edu) or Ryan (Slaugher.71@osu.edu) know.  Fridays are typically the best days for tours like this.  Gary or Ryan can share what we have learned.  We planted blackberries, blueberries and raspberries so far, and may add other fruit crops.

    The main objectives of this study are to:

    1. Explore the techniques and practices of container fruit production;

    2. Explore an effective way to produce blueberries where soil acidification is not feasible;

    3. Provide an effective method of winter protection for blackberries;

    4. Extend the fruit harvest season by “forcing” early or later blooms and fruit ripening;

    5. Help farmers diversify their farming operations.

    There may be other benefits from this project. We use aged pine fines as our substrate for our container fruit production. Pine barks are the byproducts of paper industry. In southern Ohio, timber industry is a significant source of cash receipts for many landowners. Using byproducts of the timber industry can help everyone!   

    Since soils on many hilly areas are not ideally suited for fruit production, high density berry production in containers might be a good option. Stay tuned for more information. Pay us a visit, if you can’t wait!

    We showcased our berry container production plot at our 2016 Super Berry, Container Fruit Production and Wine Grape Field Night on July 7. With the weather turning out to be much better than we had anticipated, it was a good turnout for the field night.

    We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dave Daniels, Director of Ohio Department of Agriculture, and Ms. Lori Panda, a senior program manager at Ohio Department of Agriculture for a specialty crop block grant. We also thank the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service for the Special Crop Block Grant Program. 

  152. Container Fruit Production

    By Gary Gao, PhD, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor, OSU South Centers
     
    Container fruit production is underway at the OSU South Centers.  We have researched possible container types and sizes, potting mixes, nutrient fertility programs, and other factors.  Since we do not have unlimited funds, we will focus on one or two container sizes and potting mixes.  Seven- to ten-gallon containers seem to be a happy medium for container sizes and commercial nursery mix with mostly pine bark fines might be a good starting point for potting mixes.
     
    While I was researching for grape production techniques, I came upon a really neat raspberry cultivar.  It is called raspberry Shortcake ‘NR7.’  My good friend Bob Maddox, president of Delhi Flower and Garden Center (http://www.delhigardencenters.com/), told me about this new dwarf thornless raspberry cultivar.  It seems to be a good cultivar for patio fruit production.  This cultivar should also be good for commercial production. 
  153. Super Berry and Wine Grape Workshop on March 18th in Piketon

    By Gary Gao, PhD, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor
     
    It was a beautiful, sunny and mild day in Piketon for our Super Berry and Wine Grape Workshop on March 18th.  We could not have asked for better weather!  We had a very good turnout for the program, with quite a few people driving several hours to get to the event.  Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Director Dave Daniels was in Piketon that day and stopped by the workshop.  He shared with our program attendees many exciting developments in the world of Ohio Agriculture.
     
    The Ohio Wine Hall of Famer Dave Scurlock talked about how to assess bud survival rate of wine grapes.  Gary Gao talked about how to assess winter injuries in blackberries and raspberries.  
     
    Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter, the research and Extension team members at OSU South Centers, would like to thank Christy Eckstein, Executive Director of Ohio Grape Industries Program, and members of Ohio Grape Industries Committee for their strong support of the wine grape research and Extension programs at OSU South Centers in Piketon.  We would also like to thank Director Daniels, Ms. Lori Panda, and Ms. Janelle Meade for their strong support of Super Berry research and Extension programs at OSU South Centers in Piketon.  Please email Gary Gao at Gao.2@osu.edu or call him at 740-289-2071, ext. 123, if you have any questions.
     
  154. Tweaking our research and demonstration vineyards to help grape growers produce wine grapes in southern Ohio and beyond

    By: Gary Gao, Ph.D. Extension Horticulturist and Associate Professor and Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant
     
    The unpredictable weather patterns during the last 2-3 years have been very challenging to the fruit industry in Ohio.  Grape growing is no exception.  Extreme cold temperatures during the “polar vortexes” in 2014 and 2015 killed a significant percentage of grapevines and drastically decreased fruit production in Ohio and throughout the Midwest.  We are actively looking for ways to help grape growers deal with such weather related challenges.
     
    Testing cold hardy grape cultivars in our Piketon vineyard is one way.  We planted several super cold hardy varieties from Minnesota in 2015.  We will soon add two more from Minnesota and one from Cornell University.  The new cultivars that we will be adding to our vineyards are Aromella (Cornell), La Crescent (MN), and Marquette (MN).  According to Dr. Bruce Reisch and his colleagues at Cornell University, Aromella is a winter-hardy white wine grape with high potential productivity and excellent aromatic muscat wine characteristics.  Follow this link http://cornell.flintbox.com/public/filedownload/4732/Cornell%20grape%20Aromella%20flyer for more information on the Aromella variety.  Follow this link http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/cultivars/La%20Crescent.pdf for more information on La Crescent. Information on the Marquette grape variety is available here: http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/cultivars/Marquette.pdf.
     
    We will also be installing a high tunnel for wine grape production research.  Growing grapes in high tunnels is not necessarily a brand new concept.  Follow this link   http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=111842 for more information on this subject.  Wine grape production in high tunnels can make sense on a small scale, especially if growing grapes for estate wines.  We will use an old high tunnel for this project.  The cultivars we will test are Cabernet Franc and Regent.  Hopefully, this small demonstration vineyard will yield big findings!
     
    We would like to extend our sincere appreciation for a grant from the Ohio Grape Industry Program.  Follow this link http://www.tasteohiowines.com/ for more information on Ohio wines.  We look forward to seeing many of you at our workshops and field nights at OSU South Centers in Piketon!

     

  155. Gary Gao receives specialty crop block grant

    By Gary Gao, Ph.D., Extension Specialist and Associate Professor
     
    Fruit production in containers in a home landscape setting is not necessarily a new concept.  However, commercial fruit production in containers is.  A few production practices need to be worked out before growers can successfully adopt such a production system.  Container production can be a way to minimize winter injuries.  This system can also help growers get around poor soil conditions.  Polar vortexes during the last two years have caused major problems to fruit production in Ohio and beyond.  Effective production systems to deal with winter injuries need to be developed to help fruit growers mitigate risks.  Whether we will have El Niño or La Niña during the next a few years, a reliable production is still needed to grow relatively cold sensitive fruit crops.
     
    There are a few benefits with fruit production in containers.  One of them is that containers can be moved into a sheltered area before extreme cold temperatures arrive.  Fruit plants in containers can also be set on their side so that protective covers can be placed over them for winter production.  Another benefit is ease of soil selection and modification.  Since artificial soil media will be used, “prescription soils” can be used to meet the specific requirements of each crop.  A third benefit might be higher harvest efficiency.  Another benefit is season extension since fruit plants in containers can be moved to warmer environments earlier or later to speed up or delay the fruit harvest season to maximize profit margin. 
     
    We will also study the effectiveness of Chemigation (pesticide delivery through micro sprinklers) for pest management, especially those that can cause significant damage during fruit ripening and harvest season.  Chemigation can save time and labor on pesticide applications while reducing fruit loss potentially caused by driving sprayers though a fruit planting. 
     
    Our new project starts in October, 2015 and will last two years.  We are very excited about this new project.  We extend our sincere appreciation to Ohio Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Agriculture for their financial support of this new project.  Stay tuned for more information.
  156. Cold-hardy wine grape cultivars are the latest addition to our wine grape vineyard

    By: Gary Gao, PhD, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor and Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant
     
    The polar vortexes in 2014 and 2015 have hit many of the tender wine grape cultivars in Ohio very hard.  There are several different ways to deal with winter injuries.  One approach is to plant super winter hardy grape cultivars.  Whatever cultivars are selected, they still need to produce good quality wine.  Several cultivars from the University of Minnesota grape breeding program seem to be a good fit.  The wine grape cultivars that have shown good potential are Frontenac, Frontenac Blanc and Frontenac Gris.  All of them are from the University of Minnesota grape breeding program.  We planted a few of them in our demonstration vineyard at OSU South Centers in Piketon. 
     
    One interesting cultivar is Traminette.  The breeding work was done at the University of Illinois by Herb C. Barrett around 1965. He sent the cross to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station grape breeding program at Cornell for development when he departed from Illinois.  We planted several short rows of Traminette in 2014.    This cultivar has done very well despite the cold temperatures in 2015.  A few growers had reported significant winter injuries to Traminette in 2014.   
     
    Both Ryan Slaughter and Gary Gao extend our sincere appreciation to the Ohio Grape Industries Program for their financial support of our wine grape research and Extension program at OSU South Centers.  Log on to http://www.tasteohiowines.com/ for more information on Ohio wines.

     

  157. A Super Time for Super Berries

    By: Gary Gao, PhD, Small Fruit Extension Specialist and Associate Professor 
     
    If you do a Google search for “super berries,” a few plants will come up.  Some of the uncommon ones could be Aronia berries, Chinese goji berries and elderberries, while common ones could be blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.  With growing interest in super foods by the general public, growers in Ohio might find super berries as viable cash crops.  
     
    We are lucky enough to have received a specialty crop block grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the USDA to work on new and existing super berries.  We planted a few of them this year.  Our research team members have propagated a few elderberry plants.  We also purchased some Aronia berry Chinese goji berry plants.  We would like to thank the Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA for this specialty crop block grant.
     
    If you are thinking about planting any of the super berries, Gary Gao would like to hear from you!  He created a Facebook page for Ohio Super Berries.  The Web address is https://www.facebook.com/OhioSuperBerries.  Gary will provide regular updates there with pictures and comments.  This page can also be a good place for growers to connect with each other.  There is also a Facebook page for “Aronia Growers East of Mississippi.”  The group was started by several growers in Ohio. Please check it out.  
     
  158. 2014 Fruit Research and Extension Progress

    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

                          

     

     

     

     

     

  159. Innovative raspberry system being tested

    By Gary Gao, Professor and Extension Specialist
    Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant
    Paul O’Bryant, Research Assistant

    The Specialty Crops Small Fruits team is in the midst of a two-year long-cane raspberry project funded by Ohio Department of Agriculture through a Specialty Crop Block Grant. Our project officially started late last year. 

    What is long cane raspberry production? 

    Long cane raspberry production is a relatively new raspberry production method where raspberry bushes with long floricanes (5 feet and 10 inches) are produced in greenhouses, stored in coolers in autumn and winter, and then shipped to growers in spring for planting and fruiting in summer. 

    Growers can plant these “ready made” plants with fruiting canes in a soilless media and a protected environment like a high tunnel or an unheated greenhouse, or even under solar panels for fruit production in summer. This new and innovative system could help growers solve problems such as poor soil drainage that limits new cane growth and fluctuating spring temperatures that damage floricanes. The long cane production has been very popular in Europe and Canada. This approach has not been viable in the United States since there was not a nursery that grows and sells long cane raspberries.

    Background information

    There is a major shortage of Ohio-grown raspberries due to a strong demand for raspberries and limited raspberry acreage and low yields. Based on the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census, Ohio had 487 raspberry farms with a total acreage of 343. Poor soil drainage, polar vortexes, fluctuating temperatures, labor shortage, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have greatly limited the expansion of raspberry production in Ohio. Numerous improvements to the raspberry production systems have been tried with some success. However, a totally different production system may need to be developed for raspberry growers in Ohio. 

    Only about 5% of the berries consumed by Ohioans are produced in Ohio. Flavor, healthfulness, convenience, and year-round availability have contributed to increasing consumer demand for strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and other berries, with per capita loss-adjusted availability growing from an average of 4.5 pounds per person per year during 1994-98 to 6.6 pounds during 2007-08 and to 9.9 pounds in 2014 (USDA Economic Research Service, 2017). Hence, there is an excellent potential for Ohio growers to get a much bigger “slice of the pie,” if more effective raspberry production systems are developed for Ohio growers. The long-cane raspberry production system may be the innovation that Ohio growers needed.
    The “bottleneck” of long-cane raspberry production has always been the lack of available raspberry with long canes from nurseries. A March 2021 news release entitled “Strawberry Tray Plants & Long Cane Bramble Plants” by Nourse Farms (Whatley, MA) caught the attention  of the Small Fruits Team since raspberry bushes come with long fruiting canes for growing in soilless media. 

    Project details

    In addition to a trial plot in a high tunnel, the team also set a separate trial outside in the container production yards. Researchers will compare the yield, fruit quality, and growth rate to see if open field production method is a viable approach.

    Three separate grower trials have been set up as well. Containers, media, and plant materials are identical. Fertilization program and watering intervals are different since each site is different. The study will summarize the information from all the trials and the end of the season to determine which approaches will be good for growing conditions in southern and northern parts of the state.   

    “It was exciting to see flower buds on June 28 on the raspberry bushes that were put out on June 16,” said Professor and Small Fruits Specialist Dr. Gary Gao. “As expected, the flower buds came with the lone canes and are ready to turn into tasty raspberries. We will need both honeybees and other pollinators to help with pollination.”
    At the 2022 Farm Science Review (FSR), Ryan Slaughter, Paul O’Bryant and Gao will present a talk on long-cane raspberry production at the small farm tent on September 20.

  160. The Bees are Back in Town

    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. 
     

  161. Researching the effectiveness of laser bird deterrent devices

    By Bradford Sherman and Dr. Gary Gao
    South Centers/CFAES

    Bird depredation damage is a tremendous challenge for commercial fruit growers. Growers and researchers are constantly looking for easier and more cost-effective methods, including the use of lasers.

    Small Fruit Specialist Dr. Gary Gao explained that many approaches have been tried over the years with varying degree of success, and now his Small Fruits team at The Ohio State University South Centers is investigating the use of these “laser scarecrows,” with some promising results thus far.

    Drs. Gary Gao and Kent Eichenauer“Bird netting seems to be one method that is consistently reliable, but it is very costly and labor intensive to put up and take down,” he said. “A laser deterrent method that we are testing may provide some relief to growers.”

    Gao spent much of 2021 researching the various, and plentiful, types of laser bird deterrent devices on the market. Such units can be as inexpensive as around $100, or as much as $25,000.  

    Following an extensive search and correspondence in conjunction with Dr. Rebecca Brown of the University of Rhode Island, Gao’s team was able to purchase six laser units at cost.

    Three were installed at OSU research centers in Kingsville, Piketon, and Wooster, while the other three were placed in three commercial vineyards for observational trials in 2021 and 2022.

    One such commercial vineyard was Dragonfly Vineyard and Wine Cellar in Urbana, where the laser scarecrow is connected to a solar panel, timer, and a deep cycle marine battery. Owners Connie and Dr. Kent Eichenauer have been pleased with the results. 

    “We feel so fortunate in our relationship with Ohio State for our viticulture and winemaking and appreciated the opportunity to experiment with the laser scarecrow in our vineyard,” said Dr. Eichenauer.

    “In our first and only season to try it, it worked phenomenally.  We had coverage of two acres with the laser and had only about a dozen clusters affected.  All that coverage with zero netting – this has been a huge timesaver. We are grateful to OSU and OGIC to be able to participate in this trial.”

    “The reason this deterrent method is so effective is because the laser mimics a predator’s eye and frightens the birds,” explained Research Assistant Ryan Slaughter. “The randomness of the oscillation means birds are unable to notice a pattern, which otherwise would render it useless.”

    Dr. Brown has also gotten some positive results on managing bird damage in sweet corn with a laser bird deterrent device developed by her project team. Gao indicated that she will likely apply for a USDA grant to continue her research on fruit crops. 

    “Hopefully, our field observations will help her grant application. More importantly, we hope the laser bird deterrent device will give our growers a more affordable and less labor consuming way to reduce bird damage,” said Gao.

    The laser scarecrow installed at South Centers in Piketon also produced some encouraging results, according to Gao, even though bird pressure was low at the center’s demonstration vineyards in September and October 2021. 

    “After we saw a huge flock of doves in blueberry and fig plots, Ryan relocated our laser scarecrow there. Those doves just took off and moved away shortly after the laser scarecrow deployment there,” recalled Gao.

    Even though this is not replicated and randomized study, Dr. Gao is quite encouraged by the initial observation in 2021. He says he will continue this observational trial in 2022 and hopes to have more results to share. 

    Ohio Grape Industries Committee (OGIC) provided funding for the purchase of the laser scarecrows.
    Installing laser scarecrows at Dragonfly Vineyard and Wine Cellar in Urbana.

  162. Back to the Basics

    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.

    Amish meeting“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.
     

  163. New program to help train Ohio minority and socially disadvantaged farmers

    By Brad Bergefurd, The Ohio State University 
    Dr. Siddhartha Dasgupta, Central State University
    and Dr. Alcinda Folck, Central State University  

    The lack of affordable and good quality farmland is a major barrier for many socially disadvantaged people to adopt farming as an occupation. For many minorities and socially disadvantaged farmers, to expand their farms and manage their cropland, they need to have educational opportunities to increase their farming knowledge and experiences. 

    Two grants, one for training new farmers and another for improving the farming practices of experienced farmers, will build viability of socially disadvantaged farms in Ohio by providing learning opportunities and training using outreach, technical assistance, and USDA programs.  

    Brad Bergefurd of The Ohio State University South Centers is a collaborator with Central State University Extension, which is the lead University on this USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant-funded project titled “Fastrack Farming: A training program for socially disadvantaged and military veteran beginning farmers during the COVID 19 pandemic” and the USDA Office of Partnership and Public Engagement’s 2501 program grant titled “Building viability of socially disadvantaged farms in Ohio using outreach, technical assistance, and USDA programs.”

    The goals of these projects are to train new and experienced socially disadvantaged beginning farmers with the knowledge and skills to start farming profitably by using workshops, incubator farms, mentors, and Extension outreach. Trainings will include farmland access, USDA farmer programs, plasticulture production, hydroponics, specialty crops, hemp, and beekeeping; marketing systems, food safety, farm safety, and farm/financial/risk management. It is anticipated that these newly trained beginning farmers will start farming, while the experienced beginning farmers will improve their current farm plans. 

    Bergefurd, a Specialty Crops Specialist, serves as the specialty crop mentor for the project. In this role he will provide technical assistance and hands-on education and training to the enrolled farmers on production, marketing, and crop management topics related to production of vegetables and small fruits such as strawberries. He will encourage farmers to network with each other and not operate in regional isolation. He will also share his specialty crop  knowledge and provide direction for new farmers and youth participating in agricultural entrepreneurships in Cincinnati and Toledo.

    For more information or how to become involved in this new minority and socially disadvantaged farmer training program contact Brad Bergefurd, leader of the South Centers Specialty Crops Program at bergefurd.1@osu.edu or Program Leader,  Dr. Siddhartha Dasgupta, at sdasgupta@centralstate.edu, or Dr. Alcinda Folck at Afolck@centralstate.edu
     

  164. New produce auction coming to Beaver

    By Brad Bergefurd
    Specialty Crops Specialist

    Brad BergefurdThirty 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.

    Beaver Produce AuctionProduce 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 
     

  165. Highlights of the Fruit Extension Program and Research Projects

    By Dr. Gary Gao, Professor and Small Fruits Specialist
    and Ryan Slaughter, Research Assistant II

    Online workshops well attended in 2021
    Due to COVID restrictions, the Small Fruits team at The Ohio State University South Centers continued to offer workshops online via Zoom in 2021. Zoom fatigue proved to be only a myth in regard to the small fruits workshops, as each continued to draw very nice numbers.

    2021 Fruit Pruning School
    The Online Fruit Pruning School, held in March 2021, was easily one of the most successful at South Centers the entire year. In total, 250 people registered to attend this event. Many people expressed interest in viewing the recorded version, but it still had a healthy number of live participants with a peak of 93 at one time. 

    Most of the audience was retained throughout, with approximately 85 people still watching at around 45 minutes into the two-hour scheduled event, and the event ended with 67 attendees online once the two-plus hour event had ended.

    The event was a mixture of pre-recorded video, PowerPoint presentations, live Q &A, interactive polls, and prize drawings every half hour. All these different formats helped keep people engaged throughout. 

    Fruit Production Series (March-April 2021)
    The program’s first-ever online Fruit Production Series, featuring two-hour-long individual sessions on blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries over the course of three weeks, was a rousing success with a total of 181 individuals registering to either watch the events live or on-demand later. 

    These events were held entirely online via Zoom, in keeping with the university’s policies and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. All registrations were collected online via Qualtrics.

    The blueberry session held March 23 was the most popular event in terms of live viewership, but all three events averaged around 40-50 viewers for the live event. All the events also did a nice job of retaining viewers throughout the two-hour duration. For example, blueberries peaked at 50 viewers at one time and still had 43 people watching by the time the stream closed. Blackberries had a high of 40 viewers at one time, of which 21 remained at the end. Raspberries had peak live viewership also in the mid-40’s and retained that number throughout.

    Fall Fruit Research Updates and Live Q&A II
    The usual Blueberry, Bramble, and Grape Field Night in July or August was replaced with Fall Fruit Research Updates with Live Q&A delivered through Zoom in September 2021 due to COVID-19.  Grape was one of the featured fruit crops at this program, and a few videos of South Centers vineyards and other fruit plantings were pre-recorded and aired during the event. Questions on a variety of fruit crops were also answered. The program drew 42 registrants.
    These successful programs were certainly a team effort. Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter were the featured presenters. Bradford Sherman handled program promotion and registration and prize drawings. Duane Rigsby and Sarah Swanson recorded and edited the videos for these training programs. Swanson also handled online polls.

    Extension support to growers conferences
    Dr. Gary Gao provided support to several grower conferences, including the OPGMA Produce Network, Ohio Grape and Wine Conference, and MidOhio Growers Conference. Dr. Gao and Ryan Slaughter co-presented a talk on cultivars, trellises, integrated pest management of various berry crops at the 2021 OPGMA Produce Network. 

    The 2021 Ohio Grape and Wine Conference was offered online. Dr. Gao served on the conference planning committee and provided input on topics, presenters, and helped with the logistics of the 2021 Virtual Ohio Grape and Wine Conference, which drew more than 300 attendees.

    The 2022 Mid-Ohio Growers Conference in Mt. Hope, Ohio was a highlight of Dr. Gary Gao’s year. This conference was organized by a group of Amish growers for the Amish community in Ohio and many neighboring states. Gao was invited to give two talks there, one on high tunnel raspberry production and one on commercial blackberry production. His raspberry talk drew about 150 people while his blackberry talk drew approximately 75 attendees. There were several thousand attendees at this conference. All the attendees were very eager to learn and asked many questions.  

    Extension support to county Extension offices and beyond
    2021 Master Gardener Volunteer Training: Dr. Gary Gao was invited to provide training on tree fruits and small fruits to Master Gardener trainees for OSU Extension in Butler and Hamilton counties. The training program for Butler County was in-person and four hours long, while the training for Hamilton County was virtual and six hours long. Gao says the training programs were both very exciting to deliver and rewarding since these trainees will likely donate 50 hours of their volunteer service to their perspective Extension offices. 

    2021 Farm Science Review: Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter were approached by Dr. Brooke Beam of OSU Extension in Highland County for recording a few videos to be shown at the iFarm Immersive Theatre at the 2021 Farm Science Review. The topic of our segment was the South Centers Specialty Crop Tour.

    2020 and 2021 Ohio Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program (VEAP)
    The Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program (VEAP) was offered by Ohio Grape Industries Committee in both 2020 and 2021. Dr. Gao evaluated grant applications, conducted pre-planting visits, and post-planting verifications. In spring and summer of 2021, Gao conducted post-planting verifications for the 2020 VEAP. In autumn of 2021, he reviewed grant applications and conducted pre-planting visits. This program helped add about 28 acres of grapes in 2021 and will help add another 28 acres in 2022. The total acreage may sound small, however, one acre of grapes can be converted into $22,000 in Ohio wine. The total value of this program can be worth $616,000 each year.     

    Research and Extension Grants
    Long Cane Raspberry Production: Dr. Gary Gao applied for a 2021 Specialty Crop Block Grant. He received funding for the project titled “Long Cane Raspberry Production System for Acreage Expansion, Farm Diversification, Risk Mitigation and Season Extension.” This will be a two-year project, and it officially began in November 2021.

    What is the long cane raspberry production? Long cane raspberry production system is a relatively new raspberry production method where raspberry bushes with long floricanes (5 feet and 10 inches) are produced in greenhouses, stored in coolers in autumn and winter, and then shipped to growers in spring for planting and fruiting in summer. Growers can plant these “ready-made” plants with fruiting canes in a soilless media and a protected environment like a high tunnel or an unheated greenhouse or even under solar panels for fruit production in summer. 

    This new and innovative system could help growers get around the problems of poor soil drainage that limit new cane growth and fluctuating spring temperatures that damage floricanes.

    The long cane production has been very popular in Europe and Canada. This approach has not been viable since there was not a nursery that grows and sells long cane raspberries. Recently, a nursery in Massachusetts started producing long cane raspberries.

    It is exciting to note that the long fruiting canes have been shown to produce 2.5 to 4.0 kilograms (5.5 to 8.8 lbs) of large and tasty raspberries per cane under protected structures in Europe and Canada.

    The mass production of long cane raspberry bushes in nurseries and mass plantings of long cane raspberries under protected structures could also present a unique opportunity for Ohio growers to expand raspberry acreage, mitigate environmental risks, and diversify their farming operations. 

    OGIC Extension Grant – Ohio Grape Industries Committee
    Dr. Gary Gao and his grape Extension colleagues at OSU received another viticulture Extension grant from OGIC. With this grant, Gao and Ryan Slaughter can provide technical assistance to growers in southern Ohio. This will also provide much-needed funds to maintain demonstration vineyards for grape growers in southern Ohio and beyond. Currently, grapevines are planted in the open field and under high tunnel with nearly 20 different grape cultivars with varying degrees of winter hardiness. These demonstration vineyards are integral to the Extension outreach of the grape program.

    Slaughter hosted several vineyard tours at South Centers. One group had 52 farmers from Knox County. The bus tour was organized by OSU Extension and Soil and Water Conservation District in Knox County in August. Gao hosted a vineyard tour that was held during the 30-year celebration at South Centers in September 2021. Around 25 people toured the demonstration vineyards.

    Research Proposals - USDA NIFA: Dr. Gary Gao was invited to join a multi-state and multi-million-dollar grant proposals in both 2021 and 2022.

    Service to FAES, university, and association
    University Senate - EOCA: Dr. Gary Gao has been serving as a university senator at OSU since September 2019. In 2021-2022, Dr. Gao chairs the Evaluation of Central Administration Committee (EOCA). The members of this committee evaluated two senior members of the university administration via interviews of 15 people for each member. Two final reports will be drafted, completed, and then presented to the OSU Faculty Council and the provost.  

    CFAES-IGP: Gao served on Intellectual Property Accelerator Panel of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Internal Grant Program (IGP) in 2022. He helped review proposals for this program and wrote a panel summary. 

    Ashtabula Grape Branch Visioning: Gao participated in the visioning process for the Ashtabula Agricultural Research Station. He provided suggestions on potential projects that deal with various specialty crops. 

    Northwest Berry Foundation: Gao was invited to review research proposals submitted to the Northwest Berry Foundation. This foundation gets proposals mainly from the pacific northwest states and awards millions each year.

    National Vice Chair – Professional Excellence Committee of National Association of County Agricultural Extension Agents (NACAA): Gao finished his term as a national vice chair of the

    Professional Excellence Committee of NACAA. He oversaw judging of posters from the Northcentral Region and helped with the national judging for the Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference of NACAA.

    Extension support to colleagues in NJ, Virginia
    Dr. Gary Gao was invited to give a talk on container fruit production for the 2021 Virginia Berry School and another talk on growing fruits in containers for Rutgers University’s R U Ready to Garden program. Both programs drew excellent attendance. His presentations were based on the data collected at FAES South Centers from several specialty crop block grants.
     

  166. New grant dollars to aid tomato soil health research, crop management

    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

  167. USDA grant to help explore soil health and disease management of high tunnels

    By Brad Bergefurd and Bradford Sherman
    OSU South Centers/CFAES

    New USDA funding coming to The Ohio State University South Centers will help research and develop crop management techniques to increase the soil health and reduce or alleviate the soil disease pressures causing crop and financial losses to farmers.

    The research project is titled “Enhancing Regional Adoption of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation for Soilborne Disease Management in High Tunnel Vegetable Production Systems” and will develop agronomic management systems for improving soil and tomato health for sustainable productivity, and deliver knowledge-based information and approaches for stakeholders can enhance tomato and soil health with reduced reliance on chemical application to benefit human health and environment. 

    The goals are based on the integration of the holistic, innovative, and ecologically sound agricultural management components, which include arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and cover crop (cereal rye grass) to decipher the indicators of the soil health and tomato soil-borne disease control, by connecting the tomato and soil-associated microbial communities.

    “There are numerous farmer partners who have shown their support of this needed research and they are volunteering the use of their high tunnels to collect soil and plant samples throughout the year so that the researchers can conduct soil health analysis,” explained project Co-PI Brad Bergefurd, an Assistant Professor and Specialty Crop Specialist with The Ohio State University.

    “With over 500 high tunnels being used by area farmers within a 50-mile radius of the OSU South Centers, the results of this research will not only assist our local growers with being more profitable but the results can be adapted to other regions of the United States and the world.”
    Bergefurd is partnering with faculty from the USDA and other OSU departments including Principal Investigator Dr. Sally Miller (OSU Plant Pathology) and Soil Scientist & Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Steve Cullman on this $324.937 USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Crop Protection and Pest Management Program (CPPM) grant.

    High tunnel research at South Centers dates back to 1995 when new techniques to increase the harvest and market season of locally grown produce began to be explored. Farm Manager Wayne Lewis took the lead on applying his research experience and his “farmer engineering” techniques to develop a first-of-its-kind moveable, passively heated and cooled field greenhouse structure that was capable of growing crops like they were being grown in Georgia, thus bringing crops like strawberries and tomatoes to harvest 1 to 2 months earlier than field grown crops. 

    This structure, today defined by the USDA as a “high tunnel” was proven successful through repeated research field trials conducted at South Centers throughout the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Today this technique has been adapted by the USDA as one of its most highly recommended Environmental Quality Incentives over the past 15 years, being adopted by tens of thousands of farmers throughout Ohio and nationwide, allowing farmers to extend their farm income through extending the cropping season earlier and later in the year. Crop management issues have been identified over the years that, over time, can reduce crop yields and crop quality when grown in these high tunnels with little to no crop rotation. Soil health and soil disease being the main issues faced by growers. 

    For more information on this and other specialty crop field research being performed at the South Centers, join the horticulture list serv at southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/join-our-listserv, visit the program’s Facebook page at facebook.com/OSUSouthCentersHorticulture or check out annual research reports published on our South Centers Horticulture web page at southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture. 

    Contact Brad Bergefurd, Specialty Crops Specialist for more information on this and other South Centers specialty crop field research at bergefurd.1@osu.edu

  168. $250,000 grant received to explore new strawberry production techniques

    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.

  169. 'Tis the season for strawberries

    Bradford Sherman and Brad Bergefurd
    CFAES/South Centers

    Having fresh Ohio strawberries to enjoy over the holiday season? It may not take a Christmas miracle to make that a reality, say researchers at The Ohio State University.

    Making fresh, Ohio-grown strawberries available during higher market price periods, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, is one of the objectives of a new Extension research trial being conducted by Dr. Chieri Kubota and Mark Kroggel from The Ohio State University Horticulture & Crop Science Department and Brad Bergefurd from the Department of Extension.

    “Strawberries shipped in for the holiday season in Ohio are high-priced, have poor taste, and are limited in quantity,” said Bergefurd. “This opens up a great marketing opportunity for Ohio farms to produce off-season strawberries.”

    “Picking your own strawberries at Christmas IS possible in Ohio,” he concluded. 

    This new research coalesces more than 30 years of combined strawberry research expertise of the three principal investigators in traditional field and high-tunnel strawberry production and modern greenhouse soilless off-season strawberry production. 

    Conducted at both the Columbus and Piketon OSU campuses, thanks to the support from the Ohio Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant, the research thus far has yielded encouraging results.

    “The greenhouse production has been going very well.  We had our first harvest during the week of Thanksgiving and the month of December was a big production month,” said Dr. Kubota. “We could have planted 2-3 weeks earlier so that the big harvest would have occurred before Thanksgiving, but that is something to improve on next year.”

    Plants grown in the Columbus campus greenhouse seemed to benefit greatly from having supplemental heating and light. At Piketon, on the other hand, researchers wanted to observe the results of growing strawberries outdoors using a high tunnel system without climate control.

    “We never harvested a red strawberry – we had some nice fruits set, but they never ripened for us,” explained Piketon campus Research Associate Thom Harker. However, Harker believes that an adjustment in planting time could have resulted in high tunnel-produced, ripened strawberries, at least during the month of November.
    “If we had planted a month earlier, in August instead of September, I think we would have had success,” he said.

    This kind of soilless substrate-based production system trialed in these experiments has been widely adopted by growers in countries such as Australia, Belgium, Japan, Korea, and the Netherlands and other Northern European countries. The tabletop production system was recently introduced in strawberry production in California and Ontario, Canada in order to mitigate issues of soil-borne disease, drought, and labor shortages. 

    The tabletop production systems allow workers to stand upright while conducting crop maintenance and harvesting. 
    Growing gutters were placed on the tabletop system within a 1,536 sq. ft. research high tunnel located on the Piketon campus of the South Centers in July and August. Clean substrate (growing media), which eliminates the need for soil fumigants, was used to allow for more highly managed irrigation and nutrient delivery, as well as discharge for improved yield and quality. 

    Bare-root Chandler and Camarosa cultivars were obtained in June and grown as plugs with substrate. Plugs were conditioned for flower bud initiation in August and planted on September 15.  Following the fall harvest, plants have now been moved down to the ground with row covers applied to provide additional protection for overwintering. Spring harvesting is expected to begin in April and end in June.

    A virtual field day is being planned in late winter early spring to highlight this new strawberry production system. For more information contact project managers Dr. Chieri Kubota Kubota.10@osu.edu 614-292-3175 or Brad Bergefurd Bergefurd.1@osu.edu 740-289-2071.
     

  170. Gao: Our research and extension efforts yielded many ‘fruits’ in 2020

    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.
     

  171. From the Field

    By Ryan Slaughter
    Research Assistant

    Despite all the changes brought on by COVID-19 in everyday life, activity for the research farm has changed very little.  
    The presence of the specialty crops team to accomplish all the intricate day-to-day duties required to raise a healthy crop of fruits for research and Extension purposes has never ceased.  Weeding, mowing, spraying, planting, and harvesting are activities that continue.

    Some highlights, as the growing season comes to a close, come from the fruit that has been (and is still being) harvested.  The last of the wine grapes, traditionally the last fruit crop to be harvested at the Ohio State University South Centers, were picked and data recorded the week of October 12.  These grapes are used to make wine and later evaluated for quality and flavor.  The South Centers Research and Extension Vineyard is one of three within The Ohio State University system; the other two are in Wooster at Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center (OARDC) and Kingsville at Ashtabula Agriculture Research Station (AARS).

    As of October 23, the fruits of ripe hardy fig plants are being harvested, and this may very well continue as long as the temperatures stay above freezing.  There is a replicated fig trial at South Centers with plants both outdoors and inside an un-heated high-tunnel, a plastic cover metal structure that helps collect and maintain heat units.  Peak production for both the tunnel-grown figs and the outside-grown figs was October 9th, but fruit still continues to ripen.  

    Another highlight from the Small Fruits team is the move to virtual Extension programming.  The Fall Fruit Update occurred on September 9 this year in the form of a Live Q&A session focused on five major crop types.  Each Q&A was preceded with a short update on the crop, and these can still be viewed on YouTube by searching “Small Fruit Specialty Crops Update.”  
    Presentations on blackberry production and hardy fig and hardy kiwi production were also given by Dr. Gary Gao and Ryan Slaughter, respectively, at Farm Science Review 2020.  
    Those presentations can be viewed at fsr.osu.edu. Stay tuned for more virtual offerings from the team in the future.

  172. Innovative Engagement + Active Collaboration: Small Fruits

    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!

  173. Helpful Resources for Fruit Growers

    By Gary Gao
    Professor and Extension Specialist

    While the COVID-19 pandemic has been turning our world upside down, we have been working hard to find new and innovative ways to help all citizens in Ohio.  During these past two months, we have answered many questions from growers and gardeners, produced news releases, taught online classes using Zoom, developed fact sheets on new crops, and continued our research projects.  

    Personally, I have watched many instructional videos, read quite a few articles, and contacted some of my colleagues with The Ohio State University and other land grant universities.  Because it appears that COVID-19 will be with us for a while longer, we will need to develop new ways to develop and deliver our educational resources.

    Existing Resources
    Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide (OSU Extension Bulletin #940)
    This guide, now in its third printing, is an excellent resource for home gardeners, master gardener volunteers, gardener center employees, and new fruit growers.  

    There is currently a surge in fruit and vegetable production in home gardens.  Many new farmers want to grow fruit crops in order to diversify their operations.  More and more row crop growers are looking for ways to utilize their land more efficiently.  The Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide will be an excellent reference for many. I am very happy to report that more than 5,000 copies have been sold since 2009.  Visit extensionpubs.osu.edu/midwest-home-fruit-production-guide to purchase a copy. 

    Midwest Blueberry Production Guide
    This regional publication, to which I was a key contributor, was published in 2003 by The University of Kentucky and included contributions from several within The Ohio State University.  This guide was designed with commercial growers in mind,  but also includes useful information for home gardeners.  You can download a digital copy of this bulletin by visiting www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ID/ID210/ID210.pdf.

    What is not included in the bulletin is how to grow blueberries in containers, because that has not yet been produced. Research Assistant Ryan Slaughter and I have been conducting research trials with container blueberries and once the social restrictions are lifted, you are welcome to visit us at OSU South Centers to see how it is done. 

    Online Training Courses
    Specialists such as myself have done a few online classes through Zoom or WebEx. Little did I know that this was the only way our training classes would be offered during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have a feeling that the online training method will become even more prevalent as we move forward.  When I first started with OSU Extension back in 1994, I embraced technology, but it has taken more time to get used to new technology as I haven gotten older.  On April 16, I taught a class on edible landscaping for Greene County Extension.  More than 130 people participated in this training and learned new and useful information.  It was a wonderful experience for me!  By the time this newsletter publishes, I will have likely conducted three more online classes.  I suppose it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. As we look at this pandemic and beyond, we may need to develop better online training classes and offer even more comprehensive training programs for continuing education.

    You may have seen some of my YouTube videos.  While they will not be winning academy awards any time soon, I am hopeful that growers and gardeners can learn a few things from our videos.  As we challenge ourselves to get better at these new technologies, our instructional videos and webinars should be getting better and better. 

    Research Projects
    While it is true that COVID-19 has caused many disruptions with our research projects, our research support staff members have managed to finish the critical tasks for our funded projects.  Ryan Slaughter is a key member of our fruit Extension and research team and was instrumental in accomplishing our critical tasks. We will be finishing our brambles, hardy fig, and hardy kiwi projects this year. We have been particularly impressed by the hardy kiwi cultivar known as Hardy Chicago or Chicago Hardy.  It is important to grow hardy kiwis in a high tunnel for an earlier harvest and higher yields.

    We are also on course to wrap up our Laser Guided Intelligent Sprayer project, which was fund by USDA NIFA in 2020.  Our Viticulture Extension research funded through Ohio Grape Industries Program will end on June 30.  We will work hard to help our grape growers survive this difficult period.  
    Fruit Pruning School on March 12, 2020

    We were able to host our Fruit Pruning School on March 12, 2020 at OSU South Centers in Piketon and it was a huge success.  We tried both hands-on training, indoor presentation and a Zoom live streaming.  Instead of just the usual berry crops, we added apple, peach, cherry, and hardy kiwi to our lineup this year.

  174. Ag Madness: a slam dunk success for OSU Extension

    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. 

  175. Don't Hurry Into Hemp

    By Brad Bergefurd & Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    Although now legal to grow hemp in Ohio, farmers should be cautious of immediately investing a lot of time and money into this risky crop, warns Horticulture Specialist Brad Bergefurd of The Ohio State University.
    The passage of Senate Bill 57, signed into law in mid-December, decriminalized hemp and paved the way for the development of a new industry in the state. However, factors such as the high cost of planting and harvesting the crop, a potential for taking a total loss due to elevated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels, and a market price in decline make it hard for experts such as Bergefurd to recommend to farmers.

    “It was an interesting year to say the least, we sure learned a lot”, said Bergefurd. He along with co-worker and soil and water researcher Dr. Rafiq Islam were members of a special Hemp Task Force comprised of 25 Ohio State University researchers and Extension specialists within the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). 

    Bergefurd and Islam, together in 2019, led a field trial of the controversial crop at OSU South Centers in Piketon that was one of only two planting sites in southern Ohio. 

    They partnered with fellow agriculture and natural resources Extension educators David Dugan (Adams County) and James Morris (Brown County) to design, plant, maintain, and manage data collection and analysis on the pair of cannabidiol (or CBD hemp) plantings. The other site was located in an open field near the Acela CBD warehouse in Winchester, and represented the largest planting in all of Ohio at around an acre in size.

    While 2019 marked the first time that hemp was legal to plant in Ohio since prior to World War II, Governor Mike DeWine did not sign the bill, permitting limited growth of the crops for research purposes, into law until August. This was extremely late in the year and the crop at Piketon suffered.

    “Hemp is very photoperiod sensitive in that short days trigger the crop into a reproductive stage of growth,” explained Bergefurd. “With legalization not going into effect until August, this was way past the summer solstice, therefore with the shorter days, the hemp never vegetatively grew and remained short at Piketon, greatly reducing yields.”

    However, the Winchester site was provided 24 hours of light each day, from planting through October, with the addition of portable lighting that lit up the entire field from dusk until dawn. This modified the plants’ environment and tricked them into a vegetative stage of development, allowing for larger plant size and increased yield.

    Hemp is an annual plant that looks and smells like marijuana, so you cannot visually tell a difference. Unlike marijuana, hemp is low in THC, the chemical that can trigger a “high.” Legal hemp in Ohio must have 0.3% THC or less, while marijuana plants have much more. Farmers in other states that have already legalized hemp years ago get paid by producing product that with a high percentage of CBD and low percentage of THC; any hemp higher than 0.3% THC is not allowed to be harvested or sold and is a total loss to the farmer.

    Lab analysis of samples taken at Piketon and Winchester showed a high percentage of CBD, but also high percentages of THC. “These high THC results made us very uneasy, for if this was a farmer’s crop, it would be confiscated and not allowed to be sold”, said Bergefurd. 

    Research Associate Thom Harker, who performed the analysis of data, says there seems to be a correlation between the moisture content and the CDB and THC levels. “As the moisture goes down, the percentage of CBD oils go up,” explained Harker, “but unfortunately, THC levels rise also.”

    In the Adams County plants, those with an average moisture of 44.5 percent were within the legal limits of THC, which was at .23 percent. However, when moisture levels dropped to an average of 13.4 percent, THC rose to .5 percent, making them unsellable. The same relationship between moisture and CBD/THC levels also held true for the smaller plants grown at Piketon.

    As if the potential for a total loss on a crop was not bad enough, the costs associated with planting and harvesting the crop are also high. Preliminary results of the 2019 research indicate that hemp costs between $10,000 and $15,000 per acre to plant. 

    Also, hemp requires as much or more “hand and stoop” labor as tobacco, hops, or tomatoes. “This is not a crop that can be grown from a tractor seat”, added Bergefurd, “specialized planting equipment and drying facilities are also required.”

    Bergefurd says the biggest takeaway from the 2019 season is that farmers MUST have a market lined up and a contract in hand, but that does not always guarantee a profitable crop, either. The price of CBD has dropped more than 50% in three months this season, and there is now a national oversupply of hemp, contributing to many of our neighboring farmers in Kentucky and West Virginia, despite having contracts with processors, not getting paid for their 2019 crop.

    “The 2019 hemp season was one for learning and will help us to educate growers on what is required to be successful with this crop in the future,” Bergefurd said.

    With no research funding available for hemp at the present time, CFAES administration graciously offset some of the preliminary research costs for 2019 through the purchasing of plants, and members of the task force shared specialty equipment and extra field supplies to get preliminary trials planted.

  176. Another Fruitful Year for the Small Fruits Team

    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). 

  177. Produce auctions for the direct buying and selling of produce

    Brad Bergefurd
    Extension Educator Scioto County and OSU South Centers 
       
    Produce auctions are local aggregation points that facilitate small-scale fruit, flower, and vegetable farmer access to wholesale buyers from a broader geography. Buyers purchase lots from multiple farmers to fulfill wholesale demand, and then retail the product to the consumers.

    Produce auctions charge a commission, usually 10 to 15% of sales, to the farmer to conduct the mediated marketing transactions. Sales are held multiple times per week to create a consistent supply for buyers and regular market for the farmers. Buyers make payment to the auction at the end of the sale day, and in turn the auction issues a single weekly payment to individual farmers based on their total combined sales minus commission. With over 70 produce auctions located in eastern North America, including 12 in Ohio, this is a growing trend of intermediated direct agricultural marketing that is beneficial to many farmers. Produce auctions have a positive economic impact on the communities in which they are located, as well as on those who sell and/or buy at the auction. 

    Produce auctions fill an important niche in Ohio’s produce industry and new ones continue to be formed.  For some buyers and sellers, the produce auction is the perfect place to find each other and make their market transaction in a matter that is fair and profitable for both. Produce auctions create another direct agricultural marketing outlet for existing growers and new growers who are producing and marketing high value specialty crops. Produce auctions have become an important piece of economic income for many farm families and it is a part of infrastructure that helps rural areas and communities grow economically. 

    Brad Bergefurd, an Extension horticulturist and educator at The Ohio State University South Centers, was instrumental in the establishment of the first produce auction in Ohio in 1992 in Geauga County, Ohio and helped establish the first southern Ohio-based auction, the Bainbridge Produce Auction, in Pike County in 1999. “Produce auctions are both new and old, whatever their age, they offer fresh fruits and vegetables for sale to the highest bidder, and buyers and sellers find each other in a very simple format,” said Bergefurd. “Fruit and vegetable growers can focus their efforts on the production side and get a lot of help on the marketing side by working with a produce auction.”

    Bergefurd says, “Ohio produce auctions have been quite successful and are real economic drivers throughout rural Ohio communities, with over $20 million in estimated agricultural sales generated from Ohio’s 12 produce auctions annually. The farmers who sell at auctions are committed and sell regularly, which provides a consistent produce supply throughout the season to attract and helps retain buyers — both important factors in the success of produce auctions.  

    “Most of the Ohio auctions have order buyers who actually take orders from buyers and buy for them,” Bergefurd said. Auction managers keep in touch with both buyers and sellers, so a lot of information is traded before the auction ever starts.

    Most Ohio produce auctions are generally shareholder-owned corporations with mainly the farmers being the shareholders. 

    The University of Kentucky fact sheet, “Marketing at produce auctions,” http://www.uky.edu/ccd/marketing/market-resources/wholesale/produceauctions lists the benefits of produce auctions as:

    • Set days and times for delivery
    • Ability to group produce into various lots
    • Ability to test market new products or sizes of produce for wholesale.


    “The primary risk in using a produce auction is the price uncertainty,” it says.

    The Kentucky publication offers this piece of advice: “Produce quality should be defined by the auction and inferior produce should be rejected, with no exceptions.”
    For questions, market reports, or pricing information at the Bainbridge Produce Auction located right here in Pike County, call the market report hotline at (712) 432-8520 for daily produce market reports and special sale days. Currently the Bainbridge Produce Auction is in full swing with sales being held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday beginning at 2 p.m. Produce can be brought during the mornings of sale days, up until the time of sale.  

    Anybody can buy or sell at a produce auction; just visit the office window prior to the sale to register for either a buyer or seller number and bring lots of money, as it is easy to get “auction fever” at fast-paced produce auctions.  Please be advised, buyers need to carefully read the auction rules and regulations posted on the walls of the auction house prior to bidding. If you intend to only buy a bushel of tomatoes for canning, make sure you are not bidding on a lot that contains 100 bushels of tomatoes; once the auctioneer yells “sold,” you just bought 100 bushels of tomatoes and you are required by law to pay for that lot you just purchased.

    For more information on Ohio produce auction marketing, please visit the OSU South Centers web site at southcenters.osu.edu/marketing/place/produce-auctions or call Bergefurd at (740) 289-3727 ext. 136 or (740) 354-7879.

  178. Dr. Jiuxing ‘Lulu’ Lu has joined Dr. Gary Gao’s Team at South Centers as a visiting scholar

    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.

  179. Building for Berries: New trellis systems installed at South Centers

    Ryan Slaughter
    Research Assistant

    Despite the summer heat, outdoor activities continue at the South Centers’ research plots.  Most recently, construction and installation began on trellises for our cultivar evaluation and demonstration plots for both blackberries on Rotatable Cross-arm Trellis (RCA) and our hardy kiwis.

    Blackberry production is a difficult venture here in Ohio because of its susceptibility to winter injury.  The RCA system has proven to be a very effective way for farmers to produce a good, high-quality blackberry crop from year to year, despite some very devastating winter temperatures we have experienced.

    The way the RCA system improves on traditional trellis systems, simply, is that the entire trellis (blackberry canes included) can be laid flat on the ground and covered with a specially designed fabric called row cover to protect the plants throughout the winter. More and more growers are adopting this trellis system and require the technical assistance to learn the management requirements for this; the small fruits program at OSU South Centers will provide this assistance through workshops and online videos.

    Hardy kiwi production is very similar to grape production, in respect to the trellis system on which it grows.  Hardy kiwi fruits are smooth-skinned and much smaller in size compared to their tropical, “fuzzy” relative. The vines’ growth habit are very similar to grapevines and require an extensive trellis system to support their vigorous vegetative growth. Besides determining the best-suited cultivars for our regional area, we will be able to offer farmers the technical assistance in raising this crop, something they can add to help diversify their products.

    Keep an eye out for our upcoming workshops here at South Centers. Also, stop by and see Research Assistant Ryan Slaughter at the Farm Science Review (September 17-19, 2019) for a talk on Growing Fruit in Containers.

  180. Update on Blueberry Production Research

    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.

  181. A Fruitful Year

    By Dr. Gary Gao
    Extension Specialist and Associate Professor 

    Ohio has quite a diverse fruit industry; and the high value fruit crops being worked with at The Ohio State University South Centers are aronia, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, gooseberries, hardy figs, hardy kiwis, raspberries, wine grapes, and other emerging fruits. 

    According to the 2012 USDA Agricultural Census, Ohio had around 352 acres of blackberries, 381 acres of blueberries, seven acres of currants, 1,980 acres of grapes, 401 acres of raspberries, and 24 acres of other berries.  Since 2012, quite a few growers have planted more berry crops.  The biggest area of growth has been blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  

    While Ohio may not boast the largest acreage in berry crop plantings, these small fruits are worth a lot of money.  For example, an acre of blackberries on a rotatable cross trellis can provide a gross revenue of $45,000, and an acre of blueberries can generate somewhere between $16,000 to $40,000 in gross revenue.

    Dr. Gary Gao, Extension Specialist/Associate Professor and co-Director with the Center for Specialty Crops at OSU South Centers, says he feels very honored and privileged to support such an important sector of Ohio’s agriculture. 

    “I have been conducting extension programs, research projects, and international collaboration in the area of high value fruit crops since 2011,” said Gao. “Currently, our team consists of a research assistant, a research associate, a post doc, a Ph.D. from Brazil, and two visiting scholars from China.  We are also blessed to have a strong team members of farm operations, program delivery, HR, accounting, and IT support.” 

    Extension Programs for Both New and Existing Growers:
    Extension Programs in the areas of high-value fruit production have been the cornerstones of Gao’s work at OSU South Centers in Piketon.  Three of the main educational programs are the Blueberry, Bramble, and Wine Grape Workshop in March; Blueberry, Bramble and Wine Grape Field Night in July or August; and the Grape and Wine Analysis Workshop in December.  The program also provides extension support to OSU Extension offices across the state of Ohio, Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association, Ohio Grape Industries Program, and Farm Science Review offered by The College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. 

    Dormant pruning of berry crops is typically the main focus of the Blueberry, Bramble and Wine Grape Workshop. Normally, around a half hour or so is spent in the classroom introducing the program agenda and each other.  What follows is a trip to the field in order to show our program attendees how to prune blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, raspberries, and wine grapes.  Some years, aronia, currants, gooseberries, and other fruit crops of importance are included.  Hands-on pruning demonstrations are always a good way to show folks how to prune.  In 2018, the weather was good and the attendees of the workshop were able to learn basic and advanced pruning techniques for their fruit-growing operations. 

    The Blueberry, Bramble, and Wine Grape Field Night was offered in September, 2018, which was later than the typical July or August time frame due to scheduling conflicts.  It focused on cultural management tasks, disease and insect identification and management, and fall fruit harvests, as well as key findings of research projects.  Both Ryan Slaughter and Gary Gao served as the featured speakers.

    The popular Grape and Wine Analysis Workshop was held in December, 2018.  The program, as usual, drew good attendance and reviews.  Drs. Lisa Dunlap (OSU-Horticulture and Crop Science), Gary Gao, Maria Smith (OSU-Horticulture and Crop Science), Mr. Todd Steiner (OSU-Horticulture and Crop Science), and Mr. Patrick Pierquet (OSU-Horticulture and Crop Science) were the featured speakers of this one-day program. Gao called this an excellent example of active collaboration between the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and OSU South Centers.

    Farm Science Review is one of the best programs that CFAES offers to farmers in Ohio. Gao has been a regular presenter at the Small Farm Center at this huge show.  In 2018, he gave a presentation on container berry production to more than 40 attendees.  Despite searing temperatures, the attendees were very engaged and asked a lot of questions.      

    Gao is also actively involved in the planning and delivery of Ohio Grape and Wine Conference.  This two-day program is a joint effort between The Ohio State University and the Ohio Grape Industries Program or Committee (OGIC), and draws a large audience from the grape and wine industry.  According to a 2016 economic impact study commissioned by OGIC, Ohio’s grape and wine industry has a significant impact of $1.3 billion on the state’s economy annually, is the 6th largest wine producer in the country, and produces and sells 1.2 million gallons or more than a half-million cases of wine. The industry also boasts more than 270 wineries, 8,067 full-time jobs.  See findohiowines.com/about-ohio-wineries/economic-impact/ for more information.      

    Research Projects:
    Container Berry Production Project Funded by USDA Through Ohio DOA
    This project was completed in 2018.  Trialed were production techniques of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in containers.  After three years of hard work, Gao is happy to report that berry production in containers can be a viable option in Ohio.
    The best crop for growers, who do not have acidic soil, to try is blueberries.  That pretty much encompasses the entire state, as Ohio rarely sees a soil pH of 4.5.  Growers in northwest Ohio may find blueberry a viable crop to grow for the first time ever, if they grow in containers. 
    The recommended container size is 10 gallons, and are round and square ones. The substrate used was 100% aged loblolly pine bark, a byproduct of the paper industry.  Growers could also add up to 30% of peat moss to the mix. There are also commercial mixes available.  Fertilizers were a combination of slow release fertilizers with micronutrients.  Nutrients can be incorporated or injected with drip tubes.  Acid injection to irrigation water will be a necessity if the alkalinity level is high.  The containers can be “buried” into raised beds for winter protection of the roots. “The blueberry bushes could live in the containers for many years,” explained Gao. “It is hard to tell exactly how many right now.  I am hoping for at least 15 years in 10 gallon containers.”

    Grafted Blueberry Tree Project (Department of Agriculture and USDA)
    Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboretum) is a large shrub or a small tree and can be used as a rootstock for greater adaptability of alkaline soils.  The added benefit is that blueberry bushes grafted onto the sparkleberries can turn into a small tree for ease of machine harvest.  Homeowners may plant them as small ornamental trees for beautiful white colors in spring, tasty fruits in June or July and red fall color.  

    Elderberry Fruit Ripening and Color Development Study
    Dr. Pengfei Wang, a visiting scholar from Shanxi Agricultural University, conducted an experiment on fruit color development of elderberries in 2018.  American elderberries are a native shrub and can be used in many different ways, such as for wine, jam, medicinal, baked goods, and its flowers can be used in pancake batter.

    A New Study on LED Inter-lighting of Raspberries in Greenhouse 
    Ricardo Bordignon Medina, a Ph.D. student from Brazil, initiated a study on the use of LED lights on growth and phytochemical production of raspberries.  Gao would like to thank Dr. Chieri Kubota (HCS), Dr. Mark Kroggle (HCS), Jim Vent (HCS), Dr. Abhay Thosar of Signify (Phillips Interact), Ryan Slaughter, Dr. Pengfei Wang, and Dr. Rafiq Islam for their help with the project.  

    International Program:
    2018 Cochran Program – High Value Horticultural Crops
    Gao and Beau Ingle applied for, and secured, a training grant to host eight Cochran fellows in 2018.  This was a two-week program.  The fellows visited many farms, organizations, and companies in Ohio.  It was a very successful program. 
    For more information on our high value fruit crops, please contact Gao at gao.2@osu.edu

  182. New Hop Research Funding Received to Further Develop the Ohio Hop Industry

    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.

  183. Money Does Grow On Trees

    By Brad Bergefurd and Dr. Matt Davies

    If you’re lucky, valuable fruit in high demand could be growing in a tree on your property. Per acre, a pawpaw orchard has the potential to produce an annual gross income of $50,000, including $15,000 per acre for fresh fruit, $30,000 per acre for frozen pulp, and $5,000 an acre for seed and scion wood. 

    Due to the pawpaw’s enticing taste and untold culinary possibilities, it is in high demand by brewers, consumers, chefs, bakers, ice cream manufacturers, and fresh fruit purveyors throughout Ohio. Pawpaw production has been researched on a small-scale at the OSU South Centers in Piketon since the 90’s with small acreage observation and demonstration trials. 

    In 2018, Marketing and Orchard Resource Efficiency (MORE) Ohio Pawpaw, a new statewide, grant-funded project spearheaded by Principal Investigators Brad Bergefurd, a horticulture specialist with OSU Extension, the outreach arm of CFAES and Dr. Matt Davies, an assistant professor in CFAES, were awarded funding for this research and education project thanks to a USDA and Ohio Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant.

    Pawpaw trees, the largest edible fruit trees native to North America, grow from the Great Lakes down to portions of the Florida Panhandle with Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states making up the predominant growing region. Pawpaw trees produce greenish-blackish fruit, usually three to six inches long. The flesh is pale to bright yellow and contains a network of glossy, dark brown seeds. 

    A pawpaw’s flavor is sunny, electric, and downright tropical: a riot of mango-banana-citrus that is incongruous with its temperate, deciduous forest origins. They also have a subtle kick of a yeasty, floral aftertaste somewhat like unfiltered wheat beer. 
    “The flavor of pawpaws is forceful and distinct,” wrote culinary historian Mark F. Sohn diplomatically in his encyclopedic book, Appalachian Home Cooking.

    The members of the Lewis and Clark expedition ate pawpaws for pleasure, and, for a period in Missouri in 1806, subsistence. Our early American ancestors enjoyed pawpaws for centuries, spreading them as far west as Kansas. In 1541, the expedition of conquistador Hernando de Soto recorded Native Americans growing and eating pawpaws in the Mississippi Valley. Even though they had to clear pawpaw trees to create farmable land, white settlers savored pawpaw fruit —often the only fresh fruit available nearby.

    Want to try some pawpaw fruit? Ask around at your local farmers market, where pawpaw fruit may show up around August, September, or early October. It is not cheap, but you can have fresh pawpaw fruit shipped to you in season, and frozen pawpaw pulp year round. The specialty foods company Earthy Delights says that requests for pawpaws have gone up every year since National Public Radio first aired a story about them in 2011. You can also go directly to the source and contact other regional growers and gatherers, who may be selling both frozen pulp and mixed fruit. 

    How to Drink Pawpaws
    Can’t find fresh pawpaw fruit? Drink beer! Pawpaw-flavored craft beer is popular among Ohio craft beer enthusiasts and is perhaps one of the most accessible ways pawpaws have been brought to the people. Breweries such as Weasel Boy Brewing in Zanesville, Sixth Sense Brewing in Jackson, and Jackie O’s Brewery in Athens are just a few Ohio craft breweries using pawpaw in specialty craft brews. 
    Interested in Pawpaw growing?

    To acquire unbiased, research-based information to help grow the Ohio Pawpaw industry, over two acres of research orchards and  native woodland research trials have been established on the Columbus and Piketon campuses of OSU.  Pawpaw information from this and past years trials and from the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association can be found on the projects web site at southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/fruits/pawpaws, or to receive information on upcoming pawpaw trainings and field days, subscribe to the email list at go.osu.edu/horticulturelistserv or contact Brad Bergefurd at Bergefurd.1@osu.edu or call him at the South Centers. 

  184. Raspberry production in a different light

    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.

    Ricardo Medina and Dr. Gary GaoBelow 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.

  185. OSU South Centers hosts one of 5 Hops Field Nights

    By Bradford Sherman
    Ohio State University South Centers

    Veteran hops growers and those looking to get started, alike, received valuable information, witnessed demonstrations, and more as part of a Hops Field Night held on August 8 and hosted by The Ohio State University South Centers.

    Featuring Horticulture Specialist Brad Bergefurd, the educational opportunity included dinner and a tour of the South Centers hops field. Informational items and demonstrations covered as part of the tour included: galvanized trellis systems, hop mechanical harvesting demonstration, drying demonstration, insects and disease, pest management, nutrient management/fertigation demonstration, and drip irrigation management.

    Approximately 30 participants took part in the field night activities; it was a significant number considering that the same program had been held twice around the state previously, and will be held in two other locations in the coming weeks. Many potential attendees chose to attend earlier or later sessions due to their closer location. It speaks volumes about the growing popularity of hops in the Buckeye State.

    “The number of hops growers in Ohio has quadrupled within the last five years, and there is a major need for educational programs such as these,” explained Charissa Gardner, Program Coordinator for Bergefurd’s Horticulture program at OSU South Centers.

    “Because it’s a relatively new industry for Ohio, there is not a whole lot of information about it readily available,” she said. “There is a thirst for information from the public; that is why these events are so popular, they fill a major need.”
    A main ingredient in beer manufacturing, hops provide a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt sugars and provides a refreshing finish. Hops educational programs are some of the South Center’s most popular events and are designed to help growers and anyone interested in hops to learn more about Ohio hops and the Ohio craft brewing industry.

    The same program will be held in Bowling Green on August 15 and in Wooster on August 23.

    “We are holding them at various locations because: one, they are popular, and, two, there is a lot of interest all over Ohio,” Gardner added.

    To preregister for the remainder of the 2018 hops field nights, you can call Gardner at 740-289-2071, ext. 132, or email her at gardner.1148@osu.edu.

  186. Gao welcomes two new members to fruit research & extension team

    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. 

  187. Updates on Fruit Research Projects and Extension Programs at South Centers

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

    Container Fruit Production:

    Now in the final year of our project on container berry production, our team has made significant progress.  Among blueberries and brambles, blueberries seem to be the most difficult crop to grow, both in the field and in containers.  Blackberries are next in terms of difficulty. Raspberries, on the other hand, are much easier to grow in containers than blackberries and blueberries.

    The pine bark media seem to have worked out well; with a pH level that is perfect for blueberries.  To make sure that water alkalinity is reduced, an injector was installed to add sulfuric acid.  Both macronutrients and micronutrients have been added each year since pine bark media have very little mineral nutrients.  

    One of the last stumbling blocks for successful blueberry production is winter storage.  We have used row covers as a way to protect blueberry roots during the winter months.

    However, this method is quite cumbersome since row covers may still need to be put on and taken off multiple times.  Dr. Gary Gao, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor at OSU South Centers, learned one neat trick from a company in Holland at the North American Bramble Growers Association’s Annual Meeting; Instead of covering the potted blueberry bushes with row covers, the blueberry containers are buried in preformed raised beds.  Half of the pots are buried in the raised beds.  We are going to test this method in 2018 and beyond.  Hopefully, we will have a truly viable blueberry production system without soil acidification in Ohio.

    Hardy Kiwis and Hardy Figs in Ohio

    Our research team members are quite busy planting many different fruit crops, such as hardy kiwis and hardy figs.  We are very excited about these two crops as potential cash crops for Ohio.  As with many new or rare crops, growers should be cautious and do their homework before they plant a lot of them.  Stay tuned for more information.

    Blueberry Rootstocks

    Ryan Slaughter, Lijing Zhou, and Jiangbo Fan have made trips to Indiana and/or Missouri to collect sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) plants and cuttings for our blueberry grafting study. I do not know how many of you have gone to the woods to collect wild specimens; both Ryan and Lijing found out what its like when they went to a national forest in Indiana.  Well, Ryan and Jiangbo had a taste of it in Missouri too … the woods in Indiana take the cake, though.  

    Fruit Extension Programs

    We offered two major extension programs during the last six months or so.  These were the Ohio Grape and Wine Analysis Workshop in December, 2017 and the Ohio Cane Berry and Wine Grape Pruning Workshop in March.  Both programs were well received by the attendees.  Dr. Gao also gave presentations at the 2018 OPGMA Connect, Ohio Grape and Wine Conference, and Southwest Ohio Fruit and Vegetable (Specialty) Crop Conference, as well as fruit training programs in Athens, Delaware, and Ross Counties.

    Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA Agricultural Marketing Services for their financial support of research projects and extension program through several Specialty Crop Block Grants.

  188. Ohio Hops Conference deemed a Huge Success

    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.

  189. 2017 Highlights of Fruit Research Projects and Extension Programs at South Centers

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

    Our team had a very good year in both research and extension in 2017. We conducted several successful Extension programs at OSU South Centers in Piketon. We also participated in many regional, statewide, national and international programs. In 2017, Dr. Gary Gao authored or coauthored and published 13 fact sheets, one Extension bulletin, and five refereed journal articles. We received a new grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA to work on blackberries, hardy figs and hardy kiwis (kiwiberries), and another grant from Ohio Grape Industries to continue our work on wine grapes. We added a Thermo Fisher Ultimate 3000 UHPLC and a MSQ Plus Single Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer to our fruit research lab. We also added several new members to our team.

    Fruit Educational Programs at South Centers in 2017:

    We conducted the Ohio Cane Fruit Pruning Workshop on March 16, 2017, Ohio Blueberry, Bramble, and Wine Grape Field Night on August 22, and Ohio Commercial Grape and Wine Analysis Workshop on December 14, 2017. These programs were well received by attendees. Dr. Gary Gao, Dr. Lijing Zhou, Ryan Slaughter, Dave Scurlock (HCS-OSU), Patrick Pierquet (HCS-OSU) and Todd Steiner (HCS-OSU) were the featured presenters at some of these programs.

    Dr. Gary Gao also participated in several programs throughout Ohio and other states. Dr. Gao gave two presentations at the 2017 OPGMA Congress in Sandusky, Ohio, two more at the Southwest Specialty Crop Conference, one poster presentation at 2017 Annual Meeting of American Society for Horticultural Science, two presentations at Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, and several presentations at the county fruit training program in Delaware, Lorain and Richland counties.  

    Specialty Crop Research Projects:

    We made good progress with our container production research of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Blueberry bushes grew very well in containers after we increased dosage of fertilizers and acidification of irrigation water. Several types of containers were used in our study. Raspberry bushes produced lots of fruit while blackberry bushes had a significant amount of fruit as well. We will finish our container fruit production project in September 2018 and share all production data in a summary report.

    Our grafted blueberry project went quite well too. We were able to secure sparkleberry plants from different sources in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, and Oregon. Jiangbo Fan, Ryan Slaughter, and Lijing Zhou were able to collect some sparkleberry plants from a few state and national parks in Indiana and Missouri. We are hoping that a few promising sparkleberry plants will emerge as good rootstock for blueberry plants in Ohio and beyond.

    We received a new specialty crop block grant to continue our work on blackberry production, and start examining hardy figs and hardy kiwis for Ohio.  Blackberry production using rotatable cross arm trellis continues to draw attention from growers.  This highly specialized training system is quite complicated.  We will establish a plot of blackberry using this system and hope to teach growers how to manage this system well.  We will initiate a comprehensive study of hardy figs and hardy kiwis as alternative cash crops for Ohio.  Both fruits are very tasty and highly nutritious.  We will test which cultivars are best suited for Ohio and how to grow them for maximum profitability.

    Extension and Research Publications

    Dr. Gao’s fact sheets are posted on OhioLine at https://ohioline.osu.edu/  You may want to check them out.  Dr. Gao’s fact sheets concentrated on backyard production of tree fruits and small fruits, tomatoes and soil testing.

    Dr. Gao revised the award winning “Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide.”  This OSU Extension bulletin is available for sale from the CFAES Publications at http://estore.osu-extension.org/ To find this bulletin, you can try searching “940” or “fruit.”  This publication can also be purchased from OSU Extension offices throughout Ohio.  Please call for availability before you visit an extension office. “Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide” can also be purchased from Amazon.

    In 2017, Dr. Gary Gao published three journal articles in the Journal of Forestry Research, one in the Journal of Food Microbiology and two in the NACAA journal.

    Dr. Gao is one of the contributing authors of a new book entitled “Blackberries and Their Hybrids.” This book was edited by Dick Funt and Harvey Hall and published by CABI.  It is available for purchase at https://cab.presswarehouse.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=512515 or from Amazon.

    Our Fruit Research and Extension Team at South Centers Is Growing too!

    Our fruit research and extension team at OSU South Centers has been growing.  Dr. Lijing Zhou was hired as a research associate in July, 2017.  Mr. Yanling Chu of Jiangsu University of Science and Technology in China joined our group in September, 2017 as visiting scholar.  Dr. Jiangbo Fan was hired as a postdoctoral researcher jointly by Dr. Gary Gao and Dr. Ye “Summer” Xia of Department of Plant Pathology at OSU.

    Ryan Slaughter, a research assistant, has been with our fruit team since 2014.  He has been Gary Gao’s “right hand man” for quite a few years and will continue to be a key member of our group.  Wayne Lewis, Farm Manager, also participated in many of our project activities.  Wayne has been quite instrumental our grape high tunnel project and vineyard maintenance.

    Our Fruit Team is International in More Ways Than One!

    In addition to having international members on our fruit team, our fruit research and extension team leader had reached China.  Dr. Gary Gao formed strong collaboration with Henan Agricultural University, Northeast China Agricultural University, and Shanxi Agricultural University in China.  He gave four international presentations in China in 2017 and visited many fruit and landscape plantings there.  His international experience certainly helped him generate many new ideas for his fruit research project in Ohio.  His active collaboration efforts also led to four refereed journal articles.

    Acknowledgements

    We would like to thank Ohio Department of Agriculture (Lori Panda), USDA (NIFA, SCRI, and Agricultural Marketing Services), and Ohio Grape Industries Program (Christy Eckstein) for their financial support of our fruit research projects and extension programs.  Our sincere appreciation also goes to many wonderful colleagues at OSU South Centers.  They are Marsha Amlin, Charissa Gardner, Rafiq Islam, Wayne Lewis, Paul O’Bryant, Dean Rapp, Duane Rigsby, Beth Rigsby, Sarah Swanson, and Dr. Tom Worley.  We are also thankful for the support of our colleagues from the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at OSU.  They are Patrick Pierquet, Dave Scurlock, and Todd Steiner.

  190. $5 million in annual new harvest ale sales using Ohio hops being brewed in Ohio

    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.

  191. Research leads to 4 month longer Ohio Strawberry harvest season and $5 million in annual sales

    By: Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist

    Thanks to funding from the Ohio Fruit Growers Society, the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, the Ohio strawberry harvest and marketing season expanded from a historical 3 week harvest season to a 5 month harvest and marketing season. New production techniques researched and taught by the OSU South Centers Specialty Crops program provided the basis for this extended season.

    In an effort to increase local strawberry supply and availability and to capture consumer market demand previously sourced from out of state suppliers, Horticulture Specialist Brad Bergefurd as the strawberry research and education project Principle Investigator, acquired grant funding to conduct field and greenhouse research to introduce and develop new extended season strawberry growing systems to Ohio. The research and extension education program has resulted in extending the Ohio harvest season from a traditional 3-week harvest and marketing season to a 5-month harvest window, more than doubling yields per acre compared to Ohio’s traditional matted row production system.

    In 2017, many Ohio strawberry growers reported the highest yields ever achieved on their farms, many exceeding 2 quarts per plant with annual strawberry retail sales exceeding $5 million. This new strawberry production system requires new plant types, not available in Ohio before. A propagation protocol and curriculum was developed and taught to assist with the development and creation of a new Ohio strawberry plug plant propagation industry where Ohio nurseries are now producing strawberry plug plants with annual plant sales exceeding $2 million.

    Bergefurd and other Specialty Crops Team members have taught on season extension strawberry production techniques throughout Ohio for county-based Extension programs, field days and at 26 national programs, workshops and conferences, and have authored 18 technical reports and fact sheets on these new production techniques including day neutral production, plasticulture production, matted row production, greenhouse and high tunnel production. These strawberry production techniques have now been adopted by farms throughout Ohio, the Midwest and Canada.

  192. Strawberry growers increasing profits through techonology adoption

    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.

     

     

  193. Yanliang Chu joins the Fruit Research and Extension group as a Visiting Scholar

    By Dr. Gary Gao, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor

    We are very happy to welcome Mr. Yanliang Chu to our fruit research and Extension team at OSU South Centers in Piketon.  Mr. Chu is an instructor of the College of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. He came to the U.S. in September, 2017. Mr. Chu received a M.S. in Animal Science from Zhejiang University in Hongzhou, China. He holds a B.S. in Biological Education from Yantai Normal University. Mr. Chu will assist Gary Gao with many of his fruit research projects and some of his Extension programs. Mr. Chu’s training at The Ohio State University is supported by a scholarship from Jiangsu University of Science and Technology.  

    In China, Mr. Chu’s research efforts centered around the bioactivities (antimicrobial activity, enzymes activity and allelopathy) of the endphytes isolated from Saposhnikovia divaricate and other Chinese traditional medical plants.  He also teaches Biology for the College of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology. Mr. Chu conducted research on the effects of external factors on the activities of immune serum in Macrobrachium nipponense. He was able to demonstrate antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of flavonoids extracted from Humulus scandens.

    Mr. Chu will stay in the US for one year. We are very happy that Mr. Chu joined our group and look forward to productive collaboration in this coming year.

  194. Horticulture program develops an Integrated Pest Management scouting program for area specialty crop farms

    By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist
     
    As a part of the OSU College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Sustainable Food Systems area a Specialty Crop Pest Scouting Program was organized in partnership with the OSU Extension Ross and Pike County Offices. Funding received was a part of a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant for a Crop Protection and Pest Management for an in-season fruit and vegetable integrated pest management scouting, monitoring and education program. Two OSU CFAES students were employed to scout 12 fruit and vegetable farms in four counties.  These farms represent over 300 acres of high-value specialty crops reported, reducing and/or better managing pesticide applications and developing an increased awareness of pest management scouting practices.
  195. Horticulture program receives USDA and industry grant support to conduct strawberry market and season Extension research

    By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist

    Thanks to grants from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, Ohio strawberry research and Extension education programs are increasing. Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator & Horticulture Specialist, the projects Principle Investigator, is leading this strawberry research project to further support the growth of the expanding consumer demand for locally grown strawberries. 

    Ohioans consume over 89 million pounds of strawberries annually, however Ohio farmers only produce 1.8 million pounds annually (USDA, NR-15-06, 2015). This additional 87 million pounds of strawberries, currently sourced from farms and related jobs outside of Ohio, has an estimated farm level value of $165.3 million.  
     
    This industry development project is using applied strawberry field production research and educational programming to capture dollars and jobs that are currently being sent out of Ohio by Ohio’s produce marketing industry, by expanding Ohio’s strawberry production and plant propagation capabilities. This research is currently evaluating new strawberry cultivars, innovative plant propagation and field production systems, and protective culture production systems including high tunnels and greenhouse production techniques that can be adopted by Ohio farmers to increase strawberry production from the traditional three week June harvest season to a six month production system.
     
    J.M. Smucker Company in Orrville, Ohio that utilize a large portion of strawberries for their processing operations and Sanfillipo Produce Company in Columbus that utilize fresh market strawberries for their Ohio 1st Local Food program are providing industry support for this research.
  196. Horticulture program receives funding to research mechanical harvesting of hops in Ohio

    By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist
     
    With the rapidly expanding acreage of Ohio hops being planted and the increased high demand from the Ohio craft brewing industry for locally grown hops, the Horticulture program began researching in 2016 the adoption of small-scale, mobile hop harvesting production options for Ohio growers.  
     
    The intent of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a mobile hop harvester with sufficient capacity to harvest one acre of hops per day. Mechanical harvesting technology like this is needed since most Ohio hop acreage is beginning to reach its peak harvest maturity, and the current hand-picking methods being used are very labor intense, costly and slow. This research and education project is in partnership with HopsHarvester LLC of Honeoye Falls, New York as a part of a USDA-funded hop research project.  
     
    How It Works
     
    The hop bine or plant is attached to a specially designed hook and is fed into the harvester using a chain drive. As the bine is pulled through the stripping section, stripping fingers remove leaves and hop cones from the bine. These are dropped to a main conveyor at the bottom of the machine as the stripped bine is pulled out the back of the harvester. The leaves and cones are dropped into a section of dribble belts which are inclined and rolling upward. The rough top of the dribble belts grabs leaves which lay flat on the belt while cones roll “downhill.” A suction fan also separates the leaves from the cones. 
     
    In 2016 the Hop Harvester was demonstrated at field days in Piketon and Bowling Green, Ohio with over 200 viewing its operations.
  197. Harker receives 2016 Outstanding Staff Awards from the Ohio State University and the OSU College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

    By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Horticulture Specialist

    Thomas C. Harker, Horticulture Research Assistant at  the OSU South Centers and  a 20-year dedicated OSU College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and OSU South Centers Horticulture and Field Research team member,  was recognized with a plaque presented by OSU President Michael Drake in May as one of 12 from over 25,000 staff members at the Ohio State University selected to receive the prestigious 2016 Ohio State University Distinguished Staff Award.  Annually OSU honors twelve individuals for their outstanding achievements, service, leadership and dedication to The Ohio State University. The Distinguished Staff Award is the highest honor bestowed upon staff at the university since its inception in 1984.

    Thom was also recognized and received the OSU College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) 2016 Staff Advisory Council (SAC) Above and Beyond Innovation Award. This award is given annually by CFAES to recognize a staff member for developing and/or participating in project initiatives and/or process operations improvements that enhances CFAES, Extension, OSU Agriculture Technical Institute (ATI) or OARDC and its mission. Thom was recognized and received a one-time cash award and a plaque which was presented to him by the CFAES Administration at the CFAES Staff Advisory Council’s staff recognition banquet in November at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center.

    Thom oversees daily management of Horticulture field & greenhouse research and Extension education projects at Piketon, Bowling Green and Wooster CFAES campus locations. He manages this research with an innovative approach, practical, and whole-hearted effort.  He has developed creative and innovative solutions to CFAES research facilities that have resulted in significantly more effective, economically viable, and efficient research operations. He provides outstanding and ongoing excellence in service to all program leaders, farmers, agriculture industry clientele, and OSU faculty, students and staff to enhance the CFAES research and Extension mission.

    As new projects or ventures are implemented, Thom as a “Farmer Engineer” has invented machinery, equipment and/or processes to accomplish important agricultural research tasks at very modest costs, saving the University thousands of dollars.  Some of these innovative examples have been;  the modified grape hoe, deer fence, drip irrigation, hop high trellis system, moveable greenhouse or high tunnels (which have now been adopted by the agriculture industry), whole-farm underground irrigation and a bird netting applicator that can protect grape, berry, and fruit plantings, Israeli style micro-irrigation technology, tomato plant grafting methods, field plasticulture technologies, micro-fertigation of crops, and greenhouse food crop production technology.  Many of these innovations have been adopted by farmers not only in Ohio, nationwide but also by African researchers, students and farmers at the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Sénégal. 

    Thom currently manages operations of eleven field and greenhouse research projects that account for over $380,000 in external funding.  With his attention to detail, Thom can spot potential problems with field research operations before the problems affect important data collection and he rectifies the problems immediately to protect data collection.

  198. USDA grant received to explore greenhouse vegetable soilborne disease control

    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.

  199. Research collaboration and Extension outreach in China - one of OSU’s gateway countries

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

    Gary Gao shared his research and extension expertise on fruit production in 2016 with researchers, extension professionals, farmers, and college students in Gansu, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces in China. He gave four lectures to graduate students and faculty members at Shanxi Agricultural University (http://www.sxau.edu.cn/) and Hexi University (http://www10.hxu.edu.cn/w/Default.htm). In addition, he visited more than 10 farms and gave three presentations to farmers.

    Gary Gao taught a daylong session on English writing to a master’s level class at Shanxi Agricultural University. He also conducted joint research with several faculty members there. He and his collaborators at Shanxi Agricultural University had one paper accepted in 2016 by the Journal of Forestry Research for publication in 2017.

    Gary Gao hosted Dr. Dong Qin, an associate professor of fruit crops from Northeast China Agricultural University (http://www.neau.edu.cn/). Dr. Qin conducted joint research projects, demonstrated fruit production techniques, and visited growers in Ohio. Drs. Qin and Gao had two journal articles accepted in 2016 for publication in 2017.

    Collaborative research and Extension work has been immensely beneficial to Gary’s research projects and extension programs in Ohio. For example, his invited trip to Gansu Province helped directly with his Super Fruits Project with Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA, since he received first-hand knowledge on how Chinese goji berries are produced. He also applied for and received a training grant with Beau Ingle to host a team of Chinese visitors as a part of the Scientific Cooperation Exchange program between USDA and Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.        

  200. Small fruit progress

    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 25th 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.

          

  201. “Fresh Market Tomato fertility – the never-ending battle against fruit physiological disorders”

    By Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator Horticulture/Agriculture and Natural Resources
     
    Not only was the 2015 growing season one of the wettest on record, but the season had some of the lowest average temperatures for an extended period of time in recent years.  The season-long extreme environmental conditions caused many problems for all vegetable growers, but fresh market tomato growers were particularly affected due to high percentages of fruit physiological disorders with some farms experiencing up to 50 percent of fruit affected.  Thanks to greatly appreciated grant funding from the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program (OVSFRDP), researchers have shed some light on reducing the economic impact of these tomato fruit disorders through cultural management and fertility research.
     
    Yellow shoulder disorder and other tomato fruit disorders are a wide-spread problem annually, especially with extended hot and dry growing conditions at blossoming and fruit development.  Yellow shoulder disorder seems to impact all-sized fruit and is characterized by areas at the top of the fruit and shoulders of fruit that stay green or yellow and as the fruit ripens, tend to turn a more intense yellow color.  These areas never will ripen properly, even if left to hang on the plant for an extended time.  The area beneath the yellow shoulder is firm and poor tasting which makes the fruit unmarketable and not desired by consumers.  Unfortunately, the cause of this problem is complex and researchers have been investigating cures for almost thirty years with limited success.  The complexity of the disorder is increased since environmental conditions as well as tomato plant physiology lead to the disorder and there is no real solution. Factors that can increase the severity of these disorders include cloudy weather, wet and cool conditions, high nitrogen, low potassium, and compacted soils.  Some of the cultural and crop management practices that fresh market tomato growers can do to ease the symptoms and possibly reduce crop losses will be covered here. 
     
    One of the main causes of this disorder, that we have limited control over, is intense heat.  High temperatures prevent lycopene production, the red pigment in the tomato fruit, most often in the shoulders of tomato, as this part is more commonly exposed to the direct rays of the sun.  Researchers have measured fruit temperatures of between 86 degrees and 105 degrees Fahrenheit morning through evening hours in July 2012, one of the hottest months on record for southern Ohio.  When temperatures are greater than 85 degrees, lycopene production begins to cease, whereas at temperatures below 85 degrees, lycopene consistently produces.
     
    Inside the plant we see a reduction in potassium (K) just before yellow shoulders are seen.  This year in our tissue testing we saw drops in K of 3-4% in a matter of weeks going from 4-6 percent, which is in the good range, to 2-3 percent which is in the poor range.  Usually within a week or two of this drop, yellow shoulder will be expressed.  Therefore, early detection and management are critical for control.  Drops in calcium (Ca), nitrogen, and at times magnesium (Mg) have also been observed as we move into mid-July and early August, the hottest months of the year.  We also have observed this disorder in high tunnel tomatoes; however, it is usually a month or so earlier, when temperatures in the tunnels begin to climb around Memorial Day.  High tunnel tomato growers will apply a 10 to 15 percent shade cloth to tunnels around this time in an attempt to reduce the heat stress in the tunnels.  This disorder is expressed in plants that are under some stressful growing conditions when the plant is under a heavy fruit load. These stresses can be too little water, too much heat or high amounts of plant disease or insect infections. 
     
    For now, recommendations from our research conducted at the OSU South Centers over three years is to closely monitor plant nutrient levels, especially nitrogen and potassium levels, on a regular basis throughout plant development beginning around the time of first flower cluster formation.  Timeliness is so important to take the necessary corrective actions to avoid or reduce this disorder.  A major limitation is getting the plant nutrient analysis results back in a timely manner.  A considerable amount of time is required to collect leaf petiole samples, dry samples, send them to a commercial lab for analysis and then receive the results, which could take several days, and more typically a week.
     
    Plant sap extraction and analysis can be completed in the field using a quick-test method to speed up the collection of tissue testing results and to help make more timely fertilizer program adjustments.  Instruments are commercially available that can be used to directly measure nutrient concentration and that do not require a laboratory setting for accurate calibration and use.  These pocket-sized meters currently cost about $500 and are simple to use. We have taught and demonstrated the use of these instruments at workshops and field days over the years.  A sample size normally collected for petiole testing with conventional methods will yield more than sufficient sap to obtain a reading with this type of meter.  Using the plant tissue test results as a guide, necessary and timely adjustments should be made to nitrogen, potassium and calcium fertilizing programs to keep fertility levels within sufficiency ranges.  Plants respond well to fertigation of fertilizer directly through drip irrigation with higher amounts better applied through this method.  Foliar fertilizing may help, but it is difficult to raise the potassium levels 2-4 percentage points as would be needed in most cases through foliar applications alone and plant injury could result.  More information on plant petiole sap testing for vegetable crops along with plant nutrient charts which show nutrient sufficiency ranges can be found on the University of Florida fact sheet http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv004.  This fact sheet explains the testing process in more detail.
     
    Yellow shoulder disorder is also a varietal problem, as some varieties have been observed which express the symptoms more than others.  Bergefurd and other members of the South Centers horticulture research team partnering with Dr. Matt Kleinhenz of the OSU Horticulture & Crop Science Department have conducted important tomato variety evaluations, especially on new variety releases and the use of grafted plants, to observe resistance or tolerance to yellow shoulder and other tomato fruit disorders.  Many tomato evaluations, including research performed at the OSU South Centers, are available for comparison annually in the Midwest Vegetable Variety Trial report published by Purdue University.  This publication is a compilation of vegetable variety research performed throughout the Midwest United States and makes for easy comparison between trials.  The Midwest Vegetable Variety Trial report is available at the Purdue University vegetable crops web site https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/fruitveg/Pages/MVVTRB.aspx 
     
     From our extensive tomato physiological fruit disorder research conducted at the South Centers over three years, we recommend that for most growers the best practices to prevent yellow shoulder will be to intensively tissue test tomatoes from first flower cluster for Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium levels.  From this information, growers could apply Potassium Nitrate, Sulfate of Potash, Potassium Carbonate, Calcium Nitrate, Calcium Chelate, and Magnesium Oxide to reduce the potential for this disorder.  Our experience has proven that nutrients applied through fertigation are necessary to prevent yellow shoulder disorder of tomato. 
     
    Full research reports of this and past years’ fruit and vegetable experiments are available on the OSU South Centers website at http://southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/.  For more information on the tomato research or other horticulture field trails, contact Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator Horticulture/Agriculture & Natural Resources at bergefurd.1@osu.edu or at 740-289-2071 ext. 136. 

     

  202. Developing the Ohio hops and malting barley industry

    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 2nd 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.

  203. OSU Extension South Centers employee receives recognition

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

    Charissa Gardner has been recognized by the Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) for her outstanding contributions to and support of Extension educational programming. Charissa is the Extension Program Assistant for Horticulture and Direct Marketing. 
     
    Charissa received the ESP Meritorious Support Service Recognition Award on December 8, 2015 during the Ohio State University Extension Annual Conference at the Ohio Union on the Ohio State University campus. 
     
    This award is a nationally authorized recognition designed to pay tribute to staff in OSU Extension who, over time, have shown outstanding support for the mission, programs, and professional staff of Extension.   
     
    As Program Assistant for the Horticulture and Direct Marketing programs, Charissa has shown dedication and extraordinary commitment to the OSU College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), OSU Extension and to the OSU Piketon Research & Extension Center. The breadth of her work has been considerable, including print and web design, editing, teaching, and management and coordination of the Ohio Marketmaker program. She teaches clientele by friendly, considerate, and creative problem solving and assists with managing annual program grants and revenues. 
     
    Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) is the honorary fraternity for Extension professionals.
     
    For more information on OSU Extension, see http://extension.osu.edu.
  204. Bergefurd receives Distinguished Service Award from The National Association of County Agricultural Agents 2015

    Brad Bergefurd received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents during their Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference held in Sioux Falls, SD.  This award is given to Agents with more than 10 years of service in Cooperative Extension and who have exhibited excellence in the field of Extension Education.  This award is only presented to two percent of the County Extension Educators in Ohio each year.
    As Horticulture Specialist and Scioto County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator, Brad conducts field research, authors publications, and teaches on plasticulture strawberry, vegetable crop and hops production, produce auction development, urban agriculture and food hubs. Brad’s responsibilities include: Co-Leader of the OSU Vegetable Crops Team; Director of the Great Lakes Vegetable Working Group; Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association Educational Advisor; Ohio Hops Guild Academia Director; NC SARE Research & Education Technical Committee and Co-leader for an agriculture development project in Senegal, Africa.
  205. Horticulture program receives $83,000 in USDA and industry support to conduct strawberry market and season extension research

    By: Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator Horticulture /Agriculture and Natural Resources 
     
    Thanks to grants from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the State of Ohio, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, Ohio strawberry research and Extension education are increasing. Brad Bergefurd, Extension Educator and Horticulture Specialist, the projects’ Principle Investigator, is leading this strawberry research project to further support the growth of the expanding consumer demand for locally grown strawberries. 
     
    Ohioans consume over 89 million pounds of strawberries annually, however Ohio farmers only produce 1.8 million pounds annually (USDA, NR-15-06, 2015). This additional 87 million pounds of strawberries, currently sourced from farms and related distributors outside of Ohio, has an estimated farm level value of $165.3 million.
     
    This project will use applied strawberry field production research and educational programming to capture dollars and jobs that are currently being sent out of Ohio by Ohio’s produce marketing industry, by expanding Ohio’s strawberry production and plant propagation capabilities. This research will evaluate new strawberry cultivars, develop innovative plant propagation and field production systems, protective culture production systems including high tunnels and greenhouse production,  drip irrigation, winter protection,  fertility management, insect and disease control methods, harvesting, and production techniques that can be adopted by Ohio farmers to increase strawberry production from the traditional four week harvest season in June to a four-month production system.
     
    J.M. Smucker Company in Orrville, Ohio that utilize a large portion of strawberries for their processing operations and Sanfillipo Produce Company in Columbus that utilize fresh market strawberries for their Ohio 1st Local Food program are providing industry support for this research. 
     
  206. Hort program receives USDA grant

    By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator
     
    Ohioans consume over 89 million pounds of strawberries annually, however, Ohio farmers currently only produce 1.8 million pounds annually (USDA, NR-15-06, 2015). The additional 87 million pounds of strawberries, currently sourced from farms outside of Ohio, has an estimated annual farm level value of $165.3 million.  Ohio being home to several food industries such as the J.M. Smucker Company in Orrville, Ohio which utilize a large portion of strawberries for their processing operations, and Sanfillipo Produce Company in Columbus which utilizes fresh market strawberries for direct as well as wholesale produce markets, there are many Ohio markets for fresh, local strawberries and growers who are able to provide an extended season crop often have the marketing edge. 
     
    Traditionally, Ohio growers have produced strawberries using the matted row or ribbon row production methods. In 2001, the Ohio State University Piketon Research & Extension Center began to pursue a new strawberry field production technique to help growers harvest an earlier crop – the plasticulture strawberry production system.
     
    Based on the increased interest in buying locally grown and produced items, Ohio growers are investing in producing specialty crops, including strawberries, for the Ohio consumer market. However, research driven production guidelines for insect and disease management, irrigation and fertilization needed to produce strawberries for an extended season in an ecological and economically sustainable manner are lacking. Further, Ohio growers are left without sufficient resources or knowledge for connecting to Ohio markets and meeting required food safety guidelines. 
     
    For those willing to make the investment in time and resources, the strawberry plasticulture system may be a good choice for some farms. Strawberries are increasingly being planted on plastic mulch covered beds as a popular way to extend the harvest and marketing season outside of the traditional June market window, thus capturing a profit from the high demand for local strawberries. 
     
    This system allows the grower to have berries up to one month sooner than growers using the traditional matted row system. One of the main advantages of this system is a potential earlier harvest, providing a competitive edge in the marketplace relative to traditional matted row strawberry production systems.  Other potential advantages include higher yield, enhanced fruit quality, less disease and increased harvest labor efficiency. 
     
    Thanks to support from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the USDA Specialty Crop Block Gant program, OSU South Centers horticulture researcher Brad Bergefurd has received funding to conduct research and Extension programs to identify techniques that maximize strawberry production, increase harvest windows and provide winter protection of strawberries through cultural management.     
     
    For future reports or information from the strawberry research and Extension program, to view previous year’s trial results or to be added to our commercial horticulture email list, visit our web site at  http://southcenters.osu.edu/hort/ or contact Brad Bergefurd, Bergefurd.1@osu.edu or Charissa Gardner gardner.1148@osu.edu or call the OSU South Centers 1-800-860-7232 or 740-289-3727 extension #136.

     

  207. Ohio brewing and hop production FAQ’s

    What do Ohio brewers produce in a year? 
    Ten years ago, you could count all the Ohio’s breweries on your fingers and toes! Today, 153 licensed breweries produce an estimated 1,097,955 barrels of craft beer annually.
     
    How much money do Ohio brewers spend to purchase hops out-of-state? 
    At 4 pounds per barrel, Ohio breweries require an estimated 4,000,000 pounds of dried hops annually, worth an estimated $30 million. To meet current demands, an estimated 6,000 acres of hops are required by Ohio craft brewers at current use rates. 
     
    How many growers produce Ohio hops? 
    In 2012 it is estimated that 10 commercial growers were managing hop yards; this has grown to 60 in 2015. In 2012 Ohio had 15 acres of commercial production; this has grown to 120 acres today.
     
    How much does it cost to install an acre of hops? 
    Establishing a hop yard will cost $20,000 to $25,000 per acre depending on whether a grower selects rhizomes or plants. This does not include land costs. 
     
    What is the value of an acre of harvested hop cones? 
    Yield and price per acre depend on quality, variety and buyer. Wet hops are used for seasonal brewing and have a premium value. On average an acre will produce 3,000 pounds of wet hops valued at $25 per pound = $75,000 per acre. One acre will produce an average of 600 pounds of dry hops, valued at $30 per pound = $18,000.  
     
    Are Ohio growers working together to move the industry forward? 
    Yes! The Ohio Hops Consortium was formed in 2014 and currently 48 growers are active members. The OSU Hops Research Program was actively involved in the formation of the consortium and also provides “first Friday” hop yard tours, summer field nights and a 2-day winter workshop. In 2013, 300 growers attended the winter workshop, this increased to 420 in 2014! 
     
     
     
    Prepared by the OSU Hops Research Team: Brad Bergefurd, Mary Gardiner, Chelsea Smith, and Thom Harker
  208. Developing the Ohio hops and malting barley industry

    By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator
     
    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 $30 million out of Ohio annually by purchasing hops 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 and Brad Bergefurd of OSU South Centers and OSU Extension Scioto County 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 planted. Most of the barley grain cultivated today is a six row winter feed barley variety used for livestock feed on-farm or sold at local elevators. Of the 6,000 acres of barley, less than 100 are 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, cultivating 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. 
     
    There is an ever-increasing Ohio market for hops and malting barley with the expanding craft brewing industry. The Ohio Department of Liquor Control sees continued interest in applications for alcohol-manufacturing permits, a trend that continues into 2015. Hops and malting barley are main ingredients in beer manufacturing, and are highly sought by local craft and home brewers. The majority of hops and malting barley are sold on the open market, with the northwest United States supplying the majority of U.S. hops. Currently, Ohio has an estimated 100 acres of hops and 100 acres of malting barley being grown on small acreage.
     
    The OSU South Centers Horticulture program has conducted several hops and malting barley educational programs and field days this summer for those 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 with over 200 participants so far in 2015. Two Hops Field Nights were conducted at Wooster on July 23 and at Piketon on July 30 with 80 participants from 20 counties participating. An Ohio Hop Farm tour was conducted in partnership with the Ohio Hop Growers Guild, where over 500 people participated in all-day tours of nine commercial hop farms throughout Ohio. A hops workshop was taught in July in cooperation with OSU Extension Adams, Brown and Highland Counties 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. For information on the Ohio Hops Guild, visit OHGG.org.  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 ext.132.

     

  209. Growing Barley and Hops For Local Beer-making

    By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator
     
    Statewide interest in purchasing local malting barley and hops by Ohio brewers has Ohio State University moving ahead with research on these crops. Ohio commercial beer manufacturers and craft brewers send millions of dollars 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. 
     
    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 planted. 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 100 are estimated to be of the malting barley variety in demand by craft brewers. 
     
    In the 2008–2009 growing season, Dr. Eric Stockinger of the Ohio State University Horticulture and Crop Science Department began growing and testing cultivation of malting type barleys at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster and throughout northern Ohio. In 2013, Brad Bergefurd, OSU Extension Educator and Horticulture Specialist, partnered with Stockinger 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. 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 brewers 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 grown throughout Ohio and are adaptable to most Ohio soil types. 
     
    There is an ever-increasing Ohio market for hops and malting barley with the expanding craft brewing industry. The Ohio Department of Liquor Control has been seeing continued interest in applications for alcohol-manufacturing permits, a trend that continues into 2015. Hops and malting barley are main ingredients in beer manufacturing, and are highly sought after by local craft and home brewers. The majority of hops and malting barley are sold on the open market, with the northwest United States supplying the majority of U.S. hops. Currently, Ohio has an estimated 100 acres of hops and 100 acres of malting barley being grown on small acreage. 
     
    If you are interested in learning more about the hop and malting barley research that is being conducted by the Ohio State University, there are several upcoming educational opportunities. We are holding tours the first Fridays of August, September, October and November at Piketon and Wooster to view the hops and barley field trials. We also will be holding a Hops Field Night at Wooster, Ohio on Thursday, July 23 and a Hops Field Night at Piketon, Ohio on Tuesday, July 30. Registration is required for both field night events and the first Friday tours. Interested parties must register by calling McGlothin at 740-289-2071, ext. 132, or by emailing her at mcglothin.4@osu.edu. You can also 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 ext. 132.
     
  210. Can Making High Tunnels Increase Farm Profits?

    By: Brad Bergefurd, MS, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator
     
    High tunnels, also called high hoops or hoop houses, are temporary structures used to extend the growing season of fruits and vegetables and are gaining in popularity with area farmers. These covered structures offer some environmental crop protection, but are highly management-intensive. Looking similar to greenhouses, high tunnels provide less climate control and rely on natural passive heating and cooling instead of heaters and cooling fans.  High tunnels are constructed in the field to protect crops from the weather (rain, wind, cool or warm temperatures), as well as (in some cases) pests and are less expensive to construct and operate than traditional greenhouses.
     
    Types of High Tunnels
    High tunnels are most often constructed of metal bows which are attached to metal posts, driven into the ground 3 to 4 feet. They are typically covered with one or two layers of 6-mil greenhouse-grade polyethylene, and are ventilated by rolling up or dropping down the sides.  There are various designs each offering advantages and disadvantages. Due to their permanent nature, care should be given to siting the high tunnel properly. 
    The gothic style high tunnel is the most popular due to its peaked design which allows for greater height along the sides, making the sides of the high tunnel more useful for crop production and resulting in a 15% greater growing space than quonset-style tunnels. The peak also sheds snowfall, reducing the chance of collapse under a snow load.
     
    Advantages of High Tunnels
    High tunnels have many uses on the farm. In cooler climates, they are used to elevate temperatures a few degrees each day, resulting in faster plant growth and higher yields. One main advantage of high tunnels is they allow farmers to produce crops outside of the normal growing season, thus meeting consumer demand on either end of the production season, typically when prices are higher. The modified climate inside the high tunnels also creates the opportunity to produce crops that can’t normally grow if unprotected, that may lead to a higher percentage to top-grade fruits and vegetables at harvest. 
     
    One of the primary disadvantages of the more permanent high tunnels is the fact that they are not easily moved.  The result of this is that the same crop is grown in the same location every year, or a very short rotation is practiced. A short rotation or no rotation in vegetable production may lead to yield reductions and, depending on the crop, soil-borne disease development.
     
    Another disadvantage to high tunnel production is the lack of exhaust fans for venting during hot weather. In most regions where tunnels are used, tunnels will overheat at some point during the crop production season unless manually vented as the temperature inside the tunnel rises. On warm sunny days, air temperatures in poorly vented tunnels can easily be 40o F greater than ambient outside temperatures. 
     
    Conclusion
    For most farmers, the advantages of high tunnels outweigh the disadvantages. Thousands of fruit and vegetable farms in the U.S. successfully use high tunnels to extend the growing season. A farmer considering high tunnel production should first do some preliminary research and receive training in high tunnel production. 
    To teach Ohio farmers about high tunnel production and how they could adopt this new and emerging technology on Ohio farms, thanks to a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, the Ohio State University South Centers hosted a high tunnel training program on April 27 and 28, 2015, at the Piketon Research and Extension Center in Piketon, Ohio.  Individual trainings were tailored for the beginner and the advanced grower.  This training included hands-on training on six local high tunnel farms and at the South Centers high tunnels. 
  211. Hands-on Horticulture

    village farmers

    Extension Education Nurtures Senegalese Farming Future

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

    Developing West Africa’s food-production capabilities in an environmentally sustainable manner is important to ensure the continent’s future food security, economic development and political stability. With sixty percent of people in Africa depending on agriculture, the people of Northern Senegal are poised to begin growing more of their own food, reducing reliance on imports, and creating a more sustainable future based on self-reliance. An irrigation project by the World Bank created 1,400 hectares of newly irrigated land to be farmed by 243 farmers on small two-to-five-hectare plots. However, the availability of irrigated land solves only part of the problem. New farmers need a lot of technical and practical assistance to make sustainable agriculture a reality in Northern Senegal. Brad Bergefurd received funding from a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Higher Education for Development (HED) and is providing training to Senegalese farmers.

    Purpose: The objective of the project is to implement state-of-the-art agricultural education and extension programs at the Université Gaston Berger (UGB), focused on enhancing sustainable agriculture in the fragile Sahelien agroecosystems of Africa. A main objective of this project is to establish the land grant model at UGB, incorporating extension and research into the traditional teaching role of the university. This project is an innovative way to export the land grant model to Sub-Saharan Africa and to support sustainable agriculture. Impact: The partners, the Ohio State University (OSU) and Université Gaston Berger (UGB), are creating pilot extension and outreach program with the Senegalese farmers working the newly irrigated land,troubleshooting problems, and conducting farm research on site. An immediate problem the farmers face is the amount of time it takes to plant up to five hectares. These plots of land are much larger than typical Senegalese farms. A farmer is able to transplant 15 plants per minute and about 9,880 tomato plants are needed for one hectare. Bergefurd immediately understood the challenges farmers were facing and recommended they adopt mechanical transplanting technology. The inexpensive device can plant 50 plants per minute, dramatically reducing the amount of time needed to fill a field. With a solution available, education was the next step. The partners purchased a transplanter and shipped it to Senegal. Field demonstration and trainings were held in 2014 at the UGB student farm as well as on village farms. Recognizing the tremendous impact this technology can have on the future of Senegal, representatives from the media, farmers associations and UGB, as well as politicians, 113 local farmers and 144 students were in attendance. Local farming organizations are planning to purchase additional transplanters, and working to establish a local transplanter dealer in the Saint-Louis region.

     

  212. 2014 Horticulture Research and Extension Achievements

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

    Urban food hub organized and formed in 2014

    A food hub to strengthen the local food system and increase access to healthy food in the Cincinnati area was formed in 2014 with support from the OSU South Centers Horticulture program, the OSU Direct Marketing Team and the Ohio Cooperative Development Center. The goals of the food hub are to increase organic vegetable production, sustain the food hub effort by developing and organizing training for farmers, and by creating family sustaining jobs in Greater Cincinnati. This effort began with the development of an incubator urban farm in April 2012, with an additional 100 acre farm leased and cultivated in 2014. In 2014, the incubator farm employed 20 people and 400 families purchased shares for a weekly Community Supported Agriculture Harvest box program. Our Harvest Cooperative aggregates produce, and supplies various retail and wholesale outlets. Our Harvest Cooperative is partnering with Cincinnati State’s newly launched Sustainable Agriculture Management Program which was spun off from the Specialty Crop Apprenticeship Training program started by OSU South Centers in 2013 where students come to the urban farm weekly for their practicum.

    $100,000 Specialty Crop Block Grant received to explore new hop processing, plant propagation and production techniques

    Thanks to a grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the State of Ohio, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Ohio hop research and Extension education have increased. Brad Bergefurd as the projects Principle Investigator, and co-Investigators Mary Gardiner of the Department of Entomology and Sally Miller of the Department of Plant Pathology are leading this hops project to further support the growth of the expanding Ohio hops industry and craft brewing industry. Ohio’s brewing industry is booming! Legislation in 2013 allows Ohio’s craft brewers to invest more money into their breweries, increasing the demand for Ohio-grown hops. Over 140 licensed Ohio beer manufacturers and thousands of home brewers send an estimated $30 million in hops purchases and related jobs out of Ohio by purchasing the flowers of the hop plant, called hop cones or "hops" from out-of-state. Hops are a main ingredient in beer manufacturing, providing a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt sugars and a refreshing finish. Based on the increased interest from brewers in buying Ohio grown hops, Ohio farmers are investing in hops production. This project is providing the research based production guidelines for insect and disease management, irrigation and fertilization needed to produce Ohio hops in an ecological and economically sustainable manner. Further, Ohio growers are left without economical methods for post-harvest processing of hops that suit brewers’ needs and meets food safety guidelines. These are the critical priorities being addressed to move the hops industry forward. This project is expanding Ohio’s specialty crops research in hop production and is providing education and research focused on addressing Ohio hop production and processing issues that are impacting profitability of Ohio hop farmers, including plant nursery production, pest management, processing technology and grower education.

    Horticulture program receives grant to conduct a three-year high tunnel training program

    From field research the OSU South Centers began in 1996 and continues today, Ohio has faced an explosion of high tunnel production by mostly new producers due to conservation program incentives and an uptick in local foods and urban agriculture. High tunnels are a way to extend the season for fruit and vegetable crops. There is continued need for education at the beginner and advanced levels of pest management and production. Grafting techniques that add horticultural diversity and combat soil borne diseases, plus the introduction of a new fact sheet series on tomatoes has been incorporated into a three-year high tunnel training initiative, part of an $886,643 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant. Brad Bergefurd is a co-principle investigator on this project.

    Ohio has a huge demand for integrated pest management (IPM) training regarding high tunnels, with a mix of hundreds of existing seasoned operators needing advanced training, and a recent influx of almost 300 new growers requiring basic training due to the popularity of the Natural Resources Conservation Service EQIP High Tunnel initiative. The university-based and on-farm based training program that began at Piketon in April 2014 is for new and advanced growers, Extension Educators and Specialists who want to learn about high tunnel IPM and production management. This training program is comprised of a combination of on-site educational modules and experiential "in-tunnel" learning showing practical application.

    Over 350 attend first annual Ohio Hop Growers Conference

    We organized and taught the 1st annual Ohio Hop Growers Conference in Wooster, OH at the OSU OARDC campus on February 13th, 2014. With over 350 attendees, this workshop was a huge success! Brad Bergefurd was the Conference Moderator for the day-long conference and began the day with an overview of the hops industry in Ohio and the opportunities for Ohio farmers to grow for the ever-expanding Ohio Craft Brewing Industry. Other educators for the day (and topics) included: Andy Pax (beginner’s advice from an established grower), Chelsea Smith (pests and beneficial arthropods), USDA Farm service agency, Fulya Gurel (diseases and virus control and management in hops), Jason Channels (Ohio Department of Agriculture: food safety regulations and requirements for hops processing and sale), Dan Kamburoff (Irrigation design, setup, operation, fertigation and management for hops) and Eric Stockinger (Malting barley research and production opportunities in Ohio). A post-conference craft brewery tour was conducted at JAFB brewery in Wooster. The second annual Ohio Hop Conference will be held in partnership with the Ohio Craft Brewers Annual Conference on February 5 and 6, 2015 at the OARDC campus.

    Brad Bergefurd, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator Agriculture & Natural Resources

    Email: Bergefurd.1@osu.edu

    Phone: 740-289-2071 ext. 136

     

    Thom Harker, Research Assistant

    Email: harker.4@osu.edu

    Phone: 740-289-2071 ext. 177

     

    Wayne Lewis, Farm Manager

    Email: lewis.34@osu.edu

    Phone: 740-289-2071 ext. 135

     

    Charissa McGlothin, Program Assistant

    Email: mcglothin.4@osu.edu

    Phone: 740-289-2071 ext. 132

     

    Chelsea Smith, Research Assistant

    Email: smith.7231@osu.edu

    Phone: 330-202-3555 ext. 2560

     

  213. Strawberry winter protection technique saves thousands in crop losses from polar vortex

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

    Thanks to a grant from the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, strawberry winter protection techniques researched for Ohio conditions proved to help keep strawberry growers from experiencing total crop losses during the 2014 polar vortex event with several episodes of -10°F temperature conditions. Without protection, strawberry blooms can be injured at temperatures of 10°F. Strawberry yields were reduced throughout Ohio from the sub-zero polar vortex events, however, farms that had adopted the row cover protection systems researched at Piketon ended up protecting a percentage of their crop from total loss. Farms also have adopted the row cover treatments to protect their sensitive strawberry blooms from frost and wind-borne advective freeze events in the spring of 2014. Growers that adopted these winter protection techniques reported up to 40% higher yields than unprotected strawberry crops.

     

    $165,000 grant received for Urban Agriculture Development

    Thanks to the city of Dayton Community Development Block Grant for $165,000, Principle Investigator Brad Bergefurd along with Co-Investigators Tony Nye (Ag/NR Educator, Clinton County Extension) and Suzanne Mills-Wasniak (Ag/NR Educator, Montgomery County Extension) are leading this two-year urban agriculture development project which will greatly expand their previous urban agriculture initiatives across the city of Dayton. This project further explores new uses for over six thousand vacant lots within the Dayton city limits as a part of the "Vacant to Vibrant" Urban Agriculture Project. The City of Dayton and the Ohio State University Extension Montgomery County, Clinton County and the OSU South Centers program areas, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, are major partners in this endeavor. The marketing plan is producing vegetables for the area’s Middle-Eastern ethnic population on vacant lots, thus helping to eliminate a Dayton area "food desert."

    The Vacant to Vibrant project expanded the number of vacant lots developed as food production units in 2014. Two major benefits from the project are that vacant lots are given a new environmentally sustainable life and purpose and that the city, neighborhood, Extension, and culturally diverse groups collaborate to make a positive difference for the city of Dayton. Secondary benefits are: an underserved population is able to produce and have access to fresh local ethnic produce, refuge partners learned English and agricultural and marketing job skills, and limited resource participants learned to combine the use of ethnic and local food for healthy nutritional choices.

  214. Specialty Pumpkin Grant Received

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

    Thanks to a grant from the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, the Ohio State University South Centers Horticulture program has been researching pumpkin crops for over 20 years. This pumpkin research and extension program has explored new production methods that have been implemented on Ohio farms to add to the profitability of Ohio pumpkin enterprises. Pumpkins, gourds and winter squash are a big cash crop for Ohio. Ohio ranks third in pumpkin production in the United States, harvesting over 10 million pumpkins off of 6,100 acres, and generating over 15 million dollars in 2013.

    One area of on-going research is the evaluation of new pumpkin germplasm or varieties that are in the testing stages or that will be soon entering the market. OSU South Centers have tested new selections to see how they perform under Ohio growing conditions and if they have the traits necessary for the wholesale and retail fall crops market, which, according to the National Retailers Association, is the second most decorated season of the year--second only to the Christmas holiday season. To view the results of pumpkin research performed in Ohio, visit our web site at: southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/vegetables/pumpkins.

  215. Survey Says: MEP had super third quarter

    By Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    It was an impressive third quarter in client metrics for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at The Ohio State University South Centers, says Director Aaron Patrick of Ohio MEP.

    Dawn Coleman“I’m happy to report that South Centers showed marked improvement in the area of client metrics for the third quarter of 2021.  OSU South Centers was able to score an impressive 7 out of 10 on our latest scorecard, which positively impacts the overall Ohio MEP network,” said Patrick.

    The Ohio Department of Development administers the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program on behalf of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST).  Patrick explained that, as part of that cooperative agreement with NIST, MEP programs are graded on 10 metrics each quarter ranging from: Jobs created and retained, New Investments and Cost Savings, as well as New and Retained Sales provided to clients through the delivery of projects.  

    These metrics are collected by a third-party company through survey results from clients served across the state by the Ohio MEP network. Among the South Centers MEP clients reporting in the quarter included Pittsburgh Glass Works (PGW) and OSCO Industries, which received leadership and sales training, respectively, and Schilling Truss, which benefitted from a financial analysis.

    “I would like to thank Ryan Mapes and his MEP team of Mick Whitt and Dawn Coleman for their continued improvement in this area,” Patrick continued. He particularly praised the performance of Coleman, who was responsible for some staggering growth numbers in Southeastern Ohio.

    “I would like to single out Dawn Coleman for her high-level performance with client outputs of over $76 million in retained sales, over $14 million in increased sales, and over 750 jobs created or retained.  Thank you for your efforts and continued support of the Ohio MEP program.”

    The South Centers MEP program is looking ahead to a successful 2022, as the team had added two new members recently in new Growth Advisor Charissa Gardner and Program Coordinator Reid Pope.
     

  216. Stopping COVID Cold

    By Bradford Sherman 
    CFAES/South Centers

    One of the newest Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) clients is poised to play an important role in delivering a crucial COVID-19 vaccine to Americans.

    Stirling Ultracold is a manufacturer of ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers, the kind necessary for transporting large doses of such a vaccine across the country. The MEP program at The Ohio State University South Centers is helping the Athens-based company prepare for such a monumental task.

    “We are providing consultants to help prepare Stirling for a massive launch of freezers to transport potential COVID-19 vaccines,” explained Dawn Coleman, the MEP Growth Advisor working closely with Stirling Ultracold on the project.

    “OSU South Centers MEP strives to partner with businesses to lead in technologies and innovations, giving them their competitive edge,” added MEP Program Manager Doug Anderson. “We are proud to partner with Stirling Ultracold, one of our nation’s leaders in COVID cure solutions.”

    Stirling Ultracold currently offers the only commercially available ULT freezers that can safely maintain temperatures from -86°C to -20°C and meet the cold storage efficacy requirements of most COVID-19 vaccine candidates, regardless of which are ultimately approved.

    “Our breakthrough cooling technology makes the Stirling Ultracold line of ULT freezers uniquely efficient, lightweight, and flexible enough to meet today’s unprecedented COVID-19 vaccine cold chain deployment challenges,” Stirling says via its website, stirlingultracold.com, where you can read more about the technology.

    Connecting manufactures, like Stirling, with consulting services is just one of the many ways MEP provides high value, affordable solutions to help businesses increase profitability. Services MEP can offer include operational support and quality, workforce development, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing technology.

    “We have developed a wide range of services and initiatives that enable manufacturers to accelerate business growth, strengthen business improvements, and mitigate business risk,” added Anderson. “Our aim is to bolster our manufacturing partners’ competitiveness in the global marketplace.”

    The project with Stirling Ultracold, secured by Coleman, is the largest ever for the MEP program at OSU South Centers. 
    It is also one of the most important, as the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the health of Americans and the U.S. economy.

    “This is opportunity to not only create additional workforce in southeastern Ohio, but to help potentially save thousands of businesses across the country. Most importantly, though, this is a project that has the potential to help save hundreds of thousands of lives,” Coleman said.

    To learn more about the MEP program at OSU South Centers, or to find out what it can do for your company, visit southcenters.osu.edu/manufacturing-extension-partnership. You can also call 740-289-2071.

  217. Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19 pandemic

    In response to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA), Ohio Hospital Association (OHA), Ohio Manufacturing Extension Program (Ohio MEP), nursing homes, and JobsOhio have joined forces through the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19. 

    This collaborative effort is currently engaged with Ohio manufacturers to see which companies have interest in repurposing their manufacturing operations to produce some of the most in-demand products in the fight against COVID-19, especially PPE (personal protective equipment).

    The full Alliance website can be found at repurposingproject.com. 

    More information on PPE and additional frequently asked questions can be found at manufacturingsuccess.org/ppe-faq.

  218. OMA Launches Exchange to Help Facilitate Access to PPE

    The Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19 has launched the Ohio Emergency PPE Makers’ Exchange, an online marketplace where organizations that need personal protective equipment (PPE) and related equipment can find a wide selection offered by Ohio manufacturers.

    “Nearly 2,000 Ohio manufacturers have answered the call to fight COVID-19 by repurposing and retooling to make PPE and other urgently needed equipment,” said Eric Burkland, president of The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association. “The online exchange will enable the Alliance to speed up the process of connecting sellers and buyers with equipment to help protect our protectors and keep Ohioans safe.”

    The Exchange is not an e-commerce site and the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance will not be involved in transactions between buyers and sellers. The platform is more like Craigslist than eBay. In this way, the Exchange enables PPE makers to list items they are ready to sell or give away. Those looking for local PPE can search listings and connect with makers to procure items for their organizations. Manufacturers that want to list products on the Exchange must first complete a short survey.

    The Alliance was announced by Governor Mike DeWine on April 1. The public-private partnership was formed to help meet the urgent need for more PPE used by health care workers and first responders. The Alliance is led by The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (and its partner organization MAGNET), the Ohio Hospital Association, and JobsOhio, in partnership with the Ohio Development Services Agency, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and the Ohio Department of Health. 

    A list of practical items manufacturers need to be thinking about and do today to prepare for COVID-19 can be viewed at manufacturingsuccess.org/covid-19.

  219. MEP team adds three

    Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    Over the past five months, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership team at OSU South Centers has more than doubled in size with the addition of a new Program Manager and two additional staff members.
    Dorinda Byers took the leadership reigns of the program in June when she was hired as the Program Manager. Supporting her in helping to move the program forward are fellow new hires Dawn Coleman, Program Assistant, and Kara Willis, the newest Growth Advisor.

    Included on this page are short bios of each of the new MEP team members

    Dorinda ByersDorinda Byers
    With more than 15 years of experience, Dorinda possesses a proven track record of increasing organizational effectiveness, shaping cultures, strengthening teams, and positioning businesses for sustainability. 
    Early in her journey, Dorinda found a niche in working with institutions and organizations to grow their business consulting practices.  She has worked at Zane State College, EZG Manufacturing, TechSolve, and APEG and is currently at Ohio State University. 

    She has a passion for serving manufacturers, she loves to spoil her nieces, and nephews, to cook, travel, and read.

    Contact Dorinda by email at byers.18@osu.edu, or by phone by calling (740) 680-0612.

    Kara WillisKara Willis
    Kara Willis, Growth Advisor, holds a B.A. degree in International Relations from Shawnee State University.  Over the past 17 years, Kara has developed skills in economic and community development, business development, fundraising, leadership, and strategic planning.

    Prior to joining OSU South Center’s MEP, Kara served as Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at the University of Rio Grande. Mrs. Willis is eager to put her knowledge of development and higher education to work for our manufacturing businesses in southern Ohio.

    Contact Kara by email at willis.662@osu.edu or by phone at (740) 289-2071 x 240.

    Dawn ColemanDawn Coleman
    Dawn Coleman is a Program Assistant with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program at The Ohio State University South Centers. As a Program Assistant, she assists with the day-to-day operations of the program including the areas of communications, record-keeping, finances, and more.

    Coleman joined the university in 2018 as an Office Associate in Jackson County, before joining the MEP program in August, 2019.

    Contact Dawn by email at coleman.1002@osu.edu or by phone at (740) 289-2071 x 242.
     

  220. Manufacturing Extension Partnership makes cybersecurity less daunting

    Cybersecurity requirements such as the DFARS 252.204-7012 clause or NIST 800-171 framework may sound daunting, but they don’t have to be.

    The Ohio MEP network has economically efficient solutions for Ohio small and medium enterprises, manufacturers, and government contractors looking to achieve cybersecurity compliance and/or increase their cyber hygiene.

    Consider these recent statistics*

    • 43% of all cyber-attacks are aimed at small businesses
    • in most cases, it takes companies about 6 months to detect a data breach
    • 85% of all attachments emailed daily are harmful for their intended recipients
    • in 2017, 61% of data breach victims were companies with less than 1000 employees

    For more information on how the Ohio MEP can assist you, contact:
    Dorinda Byers, byers.18@osu.edu
    Mick Whitt, 740.289.2071 x 252, whitt.124@osu.edu
    Kelly O’Bryant, 740.289.2071 x 235, obryant.6@osu.edu
    Jamey Dixon, 740.856.6340 mobile, jamey.dixon@manfacturingsuccess.org
    *Sources: Cisco, Symantec, Small Business Trends, ZD Net

  221. Diversity: a key aspect of any organization, MEP can help

    Submitted By Dorinda Byers
    MEP Growth Advisor

    Workforce is the biggest challenge faced by manufacturers today.  Around 71% of manufacturers cited attracting and retaining a quality workforce as their top challenge in the most recent NAM Quarterly Outlook Survey.  We have expanded our workforce service offerings to add a new training helping manufacturers bridge the generation and diversity gaps, “Bridge the Generational and Diversity Gaps in the Workplace with DISC”.  

    Diversity is an important aspect of any organization and differences matter in the workplace.  Knowing your style, recognizing others’ styles, and “flexing” your style to interact more effectively with those who have styles different from yours can help.
    Whether you’re managing a multigenerational or multicultural workforce, diversity is a source of enrichment and opportunity that can bring a wealth of benefits. Assembling talent from diverse backgrounds helps develop a team with broad knowledge, varied viewpoints, and innovative ideas.

    But, diversity can also create challenging situations. Team members may feel inhibited or self-conscious when working with people from different cultures or generations. Understanding individual diversity is an important aspect of succeeding in any position and it helps your team become a cohesive and productive unit. The result of team members that value individual differences is an accepting, dynamic, and effective work environment.

    Everything DISC Workplace provides team members with the tools to understand their own personality styles as well as those of others.  This understanding enables employees of all generations and cultural backgrounds to have safe and comfortable conversations using a common language to bridge gaps. 

    It also enables team members to develop the skills to gain greater understanding and respect from others by recognizing their styles and meeting them where they are. This course highlights how to successfully recognize the personality styles of others and how to flex and adapt your style to be more effective in interacting with others thereby creating common leadership and interpersonal language within your company.

    Contact Dorinda Byers, MEP Growth Advisor, to learn more about how we can help your company with training.  We also have other trainings available including leadership, lean, safety, quality, Six Sigma, and many others.  Email her today for more information: byers.18@osu.edu.

  222. High School Internship Program available to local manufacturers

    Manufacturers have the opportunity to place high school and career technical students as interns in their manufacturing operations. 

    The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has created this internship program to assist manufacturers with their workforce needs and is providing financial assistance for participating Ohio manufacturers.

    Advantages of having student interns:
    •    contribute to developing your future manufacturing workforce
    •    connect with schools to ensure students are work-ready
    •    be reimbursed up to 50% of student wages (up to $1,500/student)

    How does the program work?
    •    We help you work with your local schools to select students for internship positions in manufacturing operations
    •    We will design a work-based learning experience with you that is school-approved and complies with state requirements
    •    You guide the student(s) through their internship experience
    •    You are reimbursed 50% of each student’s wage (up to $1,500/student)
    For more information on this program, contact Bret Whitaker via email at whitaker.77@osu.edu.

  223. Local students tour manufacturing facility as part of National Manufacturing Month

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

    To showcase October’s National Manufacturing Month, local high school seniors along with staff members from the OSU South Centers Business Development Network, recently, toured the Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, Inc. manufacturing facility in Jackson, Ohio.

    Speyside produces barrels for bourbon distilleries across the United States. While the company has been in business since 1947, they began production at the Jackson facility in 2016. Much of the raw materials used to produce the barrels are processed within a 30-mile radius of Jackson. The tour highlighted the process of converting the raw wood materials into barrels through CNC machining and modern manufacturing.

    National Manufacturing Month helps highlight the value of manufacturing to the economy and the opportunity available for highly-skilled workers and careers.

    Eastern High School seniors from Pike County participated in the tour to highlight local careers available in the manufacturing industry after graduation. “Not only did these students get to tour a manufacturing facility in the region, they also learned career opportunities in manufacturing as well as some required skills needed to enter the workforce,” Mick Whitt, Manufacturing Specialist with the OSU South Centers stated during the tour.

    This tour also kicked off a new collaboration for the Southeastern Ohio Region. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) serving 22 southern and southeastern counties will be housed at the OSU South Centers in conjunction with the Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence within the College of Engineering. The MEP program will focus on providing value-added manufacturing consulting services to manufacturers throughout the region. Some services include market development, new product innovation, supply chain development, and strategic growth planning.

    Additional tours introducing high school students to manufacturers in the Southeastern Ohio Region are being planned throughout the coming year.

  224. Welch named to Farmers Market Coalition Board

    By Bradford Sherman
    CFAES/South Centers

    Christie Welch, Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team Leader with OSU Extension, has been elected to a three-year term on the Farmers Market Coalition board of directors. The board is tasked with representing the farmer, consumer, and community interests served by farmers markets.

    Joining Welch as new members on the board are Christie Balch, Senior Evaluation Associate, Sharp Insight LLC; and Robbi Mixon, Executive Director, Alaska Food Policy Council/ Alaska Farmers Market Association. Anupama Joshi and Gary Matteson were re-appointed during the most recent board elections held in early spring.

    As part of her role with OSU Extension, Welch leads a team to provide research-based information and education on all aspects of marketing to Ohio’s farmers and producers. Her most popular programs include MarketReady, DeviceReady, Meet the Buyers, and best marketing practices.  

    Welch has worked with the Business Development Network at the Ohio State University South Centers since 2004 and has more than a decade of experience assisting Ohio’s farmers and food producers in business and marketing for the increased sustainability of their farms. She has worked extensively with Ohio’s farmers’ markets, farm markets, micro-farms, and other stakeholders to improve the economic condition of Ohio’s farmers and agritourism enterprises. 

    She offers training and education in business planning and development, direct marketing, and collaborative problem solving.  Ms. Welch has a strong interest in the economic development of rural Ohio and is especially interested in family farms and agribusinesses within this region.

    The national Farmers Market Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to working with farmers market operators to strengthen farmers markets across the United States so that they can serve as community assets while providing real income opportunities for farmers.

    The mission of the national Farmers Market Coalition is “to strengthen farmers markets for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and communities.” FMC’s primary role is supporting those individuals and entities that operate farmers markets.

  225. Support local farmers during National Farmers Market Week

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team Leader

    Summer is here and one of the best benefits of an Ohio summer is the availability of fresh local produce. Who can resist fresh berries, tomatoes, sweet corn, and more? One way to feed your craving for these summer treats is to visit your local farmers market. There is no better time to visit than during National Farmers Market Week, August 7-13, 2022.

    Ohio is home to an estimated 300 farmers markets from which to choose your fresh, local foods. While the fresh food alone is great, farmers markets are much more than a place to purchase local foods.

    We are all aware of the disruptions to supply chains because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Local food producers have been able to adapt quickly to help Ohioans continue to access the fresh, healthy, local foods they have come to expect. However, many more benefits are brought to communities by having thriving farmers markets. 

    Farmers markets offer a safe place where community members can come together to build relationships, increase access to fresh and healthy produce for those who are food insecure, provide information and education on healthy eating, and create a space where local businesses and organizations can support each other. More than 100 farmers markets in Ohio accept food assistance benefits, and many offer matching incentives to individuals and families. You can find Ohio farmers markets that accept food assistance benefits in ODJFS’s 2022 OHIO FARMERS’ MARKET EBT DIRECTORY. According to the Farmers Market Coalition, since 2017, farmers market and direct marketing farmer redemptions of SNAP have increased by 162 percent. FMC also reports that in 2021, over $100 million in federal nutrition benefits were redeemed at farmers markets and with direct marketing farmers ($59m from SNAP, $29.8m from WIC FMNP, $23.7m from Senior FMNP, and $9m from the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program).

    Farmers markets also serve as business incubators. Individuals interested in starting and/or growing a food-based business can enter the industry by participating in farmers markets. This offers access to consumers that are more likely to be interested in their products, allows for direct feedback from consumers on products, and can be entered with low capital requirements. As these new businesses receive feedback, create relationships, and grow their businesses, they become a key component of the community. There are numerous businesses that have started at farmers markets and gone on to occupy brick and mortar facilities throughout Ohio. These businesses also create jobs.

    In an effort to assist Ohio farmers market managers and vendors increase their sustainability and ability to serve Ohio consumers, The OSU South Centers Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team has partnered with the Farmers Market Coalition, Ohio Farmers Market Network, and USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education to provide education and information on data collection and use by farmers markets.

    The OSU South Centers Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team is here to assist you in exploring being a farmers market vendor, explore starting or growing a farmers market in your community, and learning more about what farmers market managers and vendors need to help Ohio farmers market thrive. If you would like assistance or information, email Christie Welch at welch.183@osu.edu.
     

  226. Data collection at farmers’ markets increasing success

    By Anna Adams
    Direct Marketing Team

    While the pandemic brought about many changes, one thing that has remained consistent is farmers markets. Markets across Ohio were open in full swing this season and were buzzing with customers. Members of The Ohio State University Direct Marketing Team, as well as the Ohio Farmers Market Coalition and the Ohio Farmers Market Network visited many of these markets to speak to managers about their data collection methods. 

    This three-year project is funded by the USDA’s North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Professional Development Project. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Ohio farmers markets’ work in data collection, and to help create a culture of shared data collection and use to increase farmers market sustainability and success. 

    Speaking directly to market managers allowed for a deeper insight into what types of data these markets collect as well as where there is room for improvement in collection methods. 
    Team members spoke to market managers across the state, from Cincinnati to Cleveland, to learn about how their markets collect and use the data. Reponses varied from some markets collecting no data to some using information from vendors and customers to acquire grants and sponsorships. 

    The information gathered can help more markets understand their role in the local food system, and better understand how to best serve their customers. 

    If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Christie Welch at welch.183@osu.edu
    This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2019-38640-29879 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC19-185. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    Learn more about this project on the Knowledge Exchange Podcast: kx.osu.edu/podcast/8-emerging-christie-darlene.
     

  227. First Tri-state CSA conference held

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Program Specialist

    Despite the continued struggles with the global pandemic, The Ohio State University Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing team has continued to adapt to provide resources and education for Ohio’s local food producers. With the hopes of having the pandemic behind us, the team planned the first Tri-State CSA Conference, titled Thinking Inside the Box, to be held in-person. 

    Unfortunately, due to continued concerns about the pandemic and to keep everyone safe, the conference pivoted to a virtual format.  Collaborating on the Tri-State CSA Conference were OSU Extension Fulton County Educator Eric Richer; SARE State Coordinators in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana; and Michigan State and Purdue universities.  The virtual event was attended live by 62 participants and recordings of the presentations have been viewed 86 times.  
    Comments on the post conference evaluation included: “Fantastic speakers! Sharing specific information of what worked for them and life-family balance that was reality based” and “Very informative!” 

    The team is in the process of planning the 2022 Tri-State CSA Conference to be held in person in the fall. If you would like to be added to the listserv for information about the conference, please email welch.183@osu.edu.

    Factsheets
    According to Feeding America Action’s 2020 Project Overall Food Insecurity Rate, food insecurity is predicted to increase in Ohio by up to 28% in some counties. While the data is not yet available, anecdotal information has demonstrated that food insecurity was exasperated by the pandemic.  In response, many Ohio farmers markets that accept SNAP benefits and offer nutrition incentive programs saw participation in the food assistance programs increase. Produce Perks reported $2.2 million in health food sales and 22,619 customers served.  Produce Perks works with farmers markets across Ohio to implement nutrition incentives. 
    To assist more farms and farmers markets to accept nutrition incentives, the team developed a series of factsheets.  The first two in the series: Introduction to Nutrition Incentives and Types of Nutrition Incentives Offered at Ohio Farmers Markets and How They are Funded have been published on Ohioline.  Two additional factsheets on the topic are planned for 2022. 

    DeviceReady
    Late in 2021, as the state began to hold in-person gatherings again, the team had an opportunity to offer DeviceReady to Pickaway County businesses in cooperation with the Pickaway County Chamber of Commerce.  DeviceReady offers social media marketing training to assist farms and businesses with becoming more visible online to better connect with their customers.  The resulting connections increase the sales of locally produced and direct marketed food and agricultural products.  As consumers increasingly turn to online resource to make purchasing decisions, having an effective online presence is crucial for success.  If you would like information about hosting a DeviceReady training in your county, email welch.183@osu.edu.  

    Virtual Agritourism Conference
    The 4th annual Ohio Agritourism Conference was held virtually due to the pandemic.  As agritourism continues to be a viable option for Ohio farmers to diversify their income, continuing to provide training and education to help them make informed decisions is critical for their success.  More than 100 registered for the virtual conference and the recordings are available to be viewed at: go.osu.edu/agritourism2021.

    In addition, the team worked with several stakeholders across the state in 2021 – assisting the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association with hosting their 2021 conference virtually, and helping several Ohio producers with development of their application for the USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant, resulting in $250,000 award for an Ohio grower. The team also applied, and has been accepted, to the International Agritourism Conference (postponed from the fall of 2021 to the fall of 2022).  Team members Eric Barrett, Rob Leeds, and Christie Welch will present Agritourism Emergency Preparedness to help farmers and farmers markets develop an emergency plan.  If you would like to learn more or develop a plan for your farm you can do so here: u.osu.edu/agritourismready.

    Finally, the team continues to work with organizations throughout the state to help Ohio’s farmers and food producers be successful.  Numerous presentations on a variety of direct marketing topics were given virtually to the Ohio Beekeepers Association, OSU Agricultural and Natural Resources, and Family and Consumer Sciences educators during their annual conferences; collaborated with the CFAES Center for Cooperatives to offer direct marketing training to producers in West Virginia; and many more.  The team also continued its monthly Marketing Matters video series to discuss a variety of topics related to direct food and agricultural marketing. You can view the videos here: southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing/marketing-matters-videos. 
     

  228. OSUE Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team Achievements

    Christie Welch
    Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist

    No one could have predicted the unrest the COVID-19 pandemic caused. Despite all we have been through, Ohio’s local food producers are still producing.
    Because of the relationships built over the years with Ohio’s local food consumers, many producers are reporting some of their best sales ever. At the same time, many other small businesses throughout Ohio are struggling.  

    Ohio’s agricultural producers were quick to pitch in and help.  Whether they pivoted their entire business model to participate in the Farmers to Food Box program, or to online sales that could be fulfilled in socially distant manners, it once again proves that agricultural producers are flexible, resilient, and willing to do what they can to make sure everyone in their community has access to locally produced, healthy foods.

    The Ohio State University Extension Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing team was proud to serve producers by assisting them with accessing the information needed to continue to provide foods to Ohioans as the pandemic began and continues still.  We quickly partnered with the OSU Produce Safety Team to share science-based information on how producers could continue to operate in the safest possible manner.  

    We also offered a variety of presentations to help them evaluate and adopt online sales platforms, drive-thru markets, and nutrition assistance benefits for the many Ohioans who found themselves food insecure.  Nearly 2,000 individuals viewed the presentations live or recorded.  There were also 1,300 views of the team website where the COVID-19 resources were housed along with other marketing materials and videos. 

    The team also developed the Retail Agriculture – Guidance for Operations during the COVID-19 Pandemic bulletin to assist our producers with operating during the pandemic.  You can download the bulletin by visiting go.osu.edu/operations.

    While this has been a time unlike any other, we are looking forward to continuing to provide education and assistance to Ohio’s local food producers moving forward.  We have many events in the works in the coming months to help further the success of Ohio’s local food producers.

    We are currently collaborating with the Farmers Market Coalition and the Ohio Farmers Market Network on a North Central Region SARE-funded professional development program to assist Ohio’s farmers market managers, stakeholders, and Extension educators to better understand what resources are available to assist with data collection and analysis for decision-making.  Farmers markets are an essential access point for locally produced foods.  This was never more evident than during the pandemic.  Having the resources necessary to collect and analyze data at the market level will go a long way toward ensuring our farmers markets remain successful access points for local food consumers and market outlets for our local food producers.

    We are also in the planning stages for our annual AgirtourismReady conference.  We missed the opportunity to gather with our agritourism operators last year, as it was canceled right as the stay-at-home orders were issued in Ohio.  While we are planning to gather virtually this year, we are looking forward to providing the information and education our operators need to continue to successfully provide a positive interaction with Ohio’s citizens and our farmers. With the amount of time we have spent social distancing, we anticipate increased demand for on-farm activities and events this coming season. One method of helping to ensure sufficient social distancing while participating in on-farm activities has been for operators to offer pre-sale tickets online.  This has helped them better control the number of visitors to their farms, reduced the number of staff needed, and help ensure a more pleasurable experience for all.  We anticipate our agritourism operations will continue this new practice into the future.

    While we do not have data to know all the impacts of the pandemic on our farmers and food consumers, we look forward to continuing to reach out and serve Ohio’s local food producers, direct marketers, and agritourism enterprises.  If you would like to learn more about the OSUE Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Program, email Christie Welch welch.183@osu.edu or Anna Adams adams.2061@osu.edu.  Recorded trainings can be viewed at southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing.

  229. Direct Marketing team helps producers, consumers adjust to doing business amid COVID-19 pandemic

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Program Manager

    While 2020 has been a challenge for us all, the Ohio State University Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Program has continued to help Ohio’s direct marketers continue to serve their customers and run their businesses. Ohio’s farmers are still farming, and Ohio’s consumers are still accessing the locally produced foods they have come to love and expect, but how they go about that, in many ways, has changed.  

    The team was awarded funding from North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program to help producers evaluate and adopt online sales platforms.  This project allowed Ohio producers to learn from their peers about online sales platforms that have been successfully adopted by these producers. In addition, while some producers had adopted online sales platforms prior to the pandemic, the change brought about by COVID-19 has accelerated the need for many more to do so. If you are interested in these online platforms you can view the recorded presentations here: go.osu.edu/sareonlinesales.

    During the busy fall season, as people were looking for safe activities and events in which to take part, our team worked with other Extension experts to develop a bulletin to assist these operators develop a plan to offer on-farm activities to Ohioans in a safe manner.  Many agritourism operations put plans in place to limit the number of persons on the farm at a single time to allow for social distancing.  In addition, they modified some of their activities to ensure safety.  While things continue to be impacted by the pandemic, Ohio’s farmers are still offering the opportunity to take part in family traditions that many have come to love, such as sunflower picking, apple picking, pumpkin picking, and shopping at farms and farmers markets.

    The team also collaborated with the OSU Farm to School program to create a video about how Ohio apples are grown, picked, packed, and distributed to consumers to enjoy.  The video was part of the Midwest Apple Crunch, which encourages people to eat apples as part of a healthy diet. You can view the video by visiting farmtoschool.osu.edu/2020/09/28/apple-crunch-virtual-event-2020/.

    And as we continue to adjust to life amid the pandemic, we continue to work with our producers to adapt their businesses.  The Direct Marketing Program is collaborating with the Farmers Market Coalition and the Ohio Farmers Market Network to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Ohio farmers markets’ work in data collection, and training managers and Extension educators on the suite of available tools and appropriate methodologies to help create a culture of shared data collection and use to increase the sustainability and success of farmers markets. The first phase of the project is to create a database of farmers markets that collect data, and understand how they use that data for decision-making. This three-year project is funded by USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Over the course of the project, the hope is to help create a culture of data collection and use among Ohio farmers markets in an effort to help them with decision-making and planning to increase this important market channel for Ohio’s direct marketing farmers and food producers.

    If you would like to learn more, contact Christie Welch via email to welch.183@osu.edu.

  230. Local food producers learn to navigate social distancing to serve customers

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Program Manager

    The impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic has swiftly changed our world. Who could have anticipated the shutdown of America, more or less within a 24-hour period?  While this pandemic has changed many things, one thing has not – farmers are still farming. 

    With the manner in which they market their products to consumers having changed, The Ohio State University’s Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team has been there to help producers source the information they need.

    Over the past month, our team has heard from many local food producers needing questions answered and factual information to determine how to operate their businesses in the current environment of social distancing and the stay-at-home order.

    One of the first steps we took was to collaborate with the OSU Produce Safety team on a number of webinars as part of the AgMadness Tournament of Education. Dr. Sanja Ilic and Dr. Melanie Ivey conducted three webinars on produce safety in light of COVID-19; these webinars provided the fact-based information our producers were seeking.  

    Secondly, we developed a COVID-19 working group consisting of OSU educators and researchers and many additional organizations that serve Ohio’s local food producers including Ohio Farmers Market Network (OFMN), Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF), and Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association (OPGMA).  This working group came together to help identify producers’ needs, resources to help meet those needs, and to address additional concerns that may be forthcoming related to COVID-19. This working group has met weekly, collaborating to assist our local food producers with accessing needed resources.

    With the high demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), we worked to identify suppliers that could provide access to these items.  Collaborating with this working group and the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), we were able to share information on where producers could look to access PPE. One source is Ohio’s distilleries.  Many of them have begun producing hand sanitizer, which is not only needed by frontline works and first responders, but also by our local food producers. MEP developed an exchange where businesses that have these items can be listed, and those needing this equipment can more easily find these sources.  You can view the exchange at repurposingproject.sharetribe.com

    We also worked to provide information on managing farm and farmers markets in a manner that still allows consumers access to Ohio’s locally produced foods, while at the same time maintaining social distancing and no or low contact purchasing. We offered a webinar on drive-thru farmers markets, how to use online platforms to sell locally produced foods to consumers, and expansion of the senior farmers market nutrition program in Ohio.  All are available for viewing at southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing/covid-19-webinars-and-resources 

    Throughout all of this learning, sharing, and identifying concerns, we are hearing from our local food producers that consumer demand is high. While the way in which consumers can access locally produced foods has changed, our farmers are still farming, our consumers and still demanding it, and we will get through this together.

  231. OSU Extension Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team

    By Christie Welch 
    Direct Marketing Program Manager

    Direct Food & Ag Marketing Team focus: 

    The Direct Food and Agriculture Marketing team is focused on providing training, education, and technical assistance to Ohio’s food producers and marketers.  The goal of this assistance is to help these small businesses increase their marketing effectiveness and profitability.  This should translate to healthier farms, food producers, and the communities where they reside, as well as increase access for consumers to locally produced foods.

    The team has been selected to receive a $81,316 grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) for the project, “Professional Development for Ohio Farmers Market Managers and OSU Extension Educators on Creating a Culture of Data Collection for Sustainability Planning for Markets and Farmers.”

    Collaborating on the project are the Farmers Market Coalition and the Ohio Farmers Markets Network. “This project will provide training for farmers market stakeholders on meaningful data collection and use for markets and vendors to use in developing sustainability plans,” said Direct Food and Agricultural Marking Team leader Christie Welch. Beginning in early 2020, the project with be carried out over a period of three years and will help to benefit Ohio farmers’ market with decision-making information.

    In 2019 the team provided many trainings and educational presentations throughout Ohio.  Highlights of these include:

    • MarketReady – A one-day workshop that helps local food producers explore various market channels: direct to consumers, direct to restaurants, direct to wholesale, and direct to institutions. The workshop focuses on the main business functions for each of these market channels.  The trainings were delivered in conjunction with OSUE Hamilton and Ross Counties, The Minority Business Assistance Center of Cincinnati, Ohio Farm Bureau Ross, Pickaway, Hocking, and Fairfield Counties, and the University of Kentucky’s Center for Crop Diversification. An attendee said of the training, “well developed models, knowledgeable presenters.” When asked what they liked most about MarketReady, most say the “training was great. Highly recommended.” 
    • Partnered with the OSU Resource and Ag Law Program, Wright & Moore Law, LPP, and Ohio Farm Bureau to host the third annual Ohio AgritourismReady conference at Maize Valley Winery. More than 100 individuals attended the conference and learned how to grow their agritourism enterprises, how to manage liability, best marketing practices, and much more.  Bill Bakan, Fun Tsar of Maize Valley, a Family Farm Market and Winery creating fun, local and healthy experiences for all, was the host and very well received by those in attendance.  Comments included “perfect location, helps to see things in action. Excellent sessions.”
    • Held a Sustainability Planning for Ohio Farmers Markets in collaboration with the Ohio Farmers Markets Network, Cornell Cooperative Extension Broome County, and Grow NYC.  Thirty-seven Ohio farmers’ markets managers and stakeholders attended the two-day training, which provided information and resources to assist Ohio’s farmers markets in development of a sustainability plan for their markets.  One attendee, when asked what they liked best about the training, responded “EVERYTHING! The crisis planning and business management tools contain several items I will definitely apply to my market.”
    • Partnered with the CFAES Center for Cooperatives and Ohio Farm Bureau to offer Foodpreneur School. Foodpreneurs engaged with experts in branding, sales, marketing, and more to learn strategies to meet their growth goals. This two-day training was well received and plans are ongoing for Foodpreneur 2.0.
    • Partnered with Dr. Abby Snyder, Field Specialist, Food Safety & Management with OSU Extension on a Connect & Collaborate Grant to offer, “Value Added Small Food Processors Training” to 240 small food processors.  The project aimed to help attendees understand qualified exemption status under the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Preventative Controls for Human Food Rule.  Of attendees surveyed 85% found the training useful. Christie Welch presented the project and results to OSU Extension ANR Educators at their annual conference.

    In addition, team members presented a variety of marketing trainings throughout Ohio including:

    • Marketing Programs to Program Development and Evaluation (COMLDR 3330) for Dr. Scott Sheer’s class Understanding the Consumer to Ohio Small Farm College attendees
    • The Appalachian Table – Where Local Food Producers and Buyers Come Together – poster presentation at OSU Extension Annual Conference
    • Marketing Matters – free monthly marketing presentations that are delivered through online streaming and the team’s YouTube channel.

    Team members continue to participate in a variety of groups throughout Ohio including, Pike County Local Foods Group, Minority Business Assistance Center, Cincinnati Advisory Board, OPGMA’s educational committee, and the National Farmers’ Markets Working Group.

    The team published the factsheet titled Creating Signage for Direct Food and Agricultural Sales, which is available at Ohioline.com

    If you would like to be a member of the Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team, or would like additional information, please contact Christie Welch, welch.183@osu.edu

  232. Direct Marketing Program Selected to Receive Sustainable Agriculture Grant from NCR-SARE

    Christie Welch, Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Program Manager at The Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon, Ohio, has been selected to receive a $81,316 grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) for the project, “Professional Development for Ohio Farmers Market Managers and OSU Extension Educators on Creating a Culture of Data Collection for Sustainability Planning for Markets and Farmers.”

    “This project will provide training for farmers market stakeholders on meaningful data collection and use for markets and vendors to use in developing sustainability plans,” said Welch. The Farmers Market Coalition and the Ohio Farmers Market Network will collaborate on the project.  “We are pleased that NCR-SARE recognizes the need to continue to support a thriving farmers market sector. Markets are great incubators for farmers and a critical part of sustaining them. They also allow access by consumers to locally produced foods, and help create community.”

    The Farmers Market Coalition has a history of assisting markets throughout the United State with data collection and utilization.  The collaboration on this project will bring a wealth of experience to Ohio’s farmers market stakeholders.  The Ohio Farmers Market Network will also collaborate on the project and assist in getting its member markets the training and resources needed for meaningful data collection and use.

    For information or questions about the Ohio project, contact Christie Welch, Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Program Manager at welch.183@osu.edu

    This grant was awarded as part of NCR-SARE’s Professional Development Program, which emphasizes training agricultural educators in Extension, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, private, and not-for-profit sectors, using farmers as educators and addressing emerging issues in the farm community. NCR-SARE administers each of its grant programs, each with specific priorities, audiences, and timelines. The focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education.
    Funding considerations are made based on how well the applicant articulates the nature of the research and education components of their sustainable agriculture grant proposals.

    NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

  233. Direct Marketing, partners collab to improve farmers market sustainability

    Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Specialist

    OSU Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Program Is collaborating with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Grow NY, and the Ohio Farmers Market Network to help farmers markets Improve their sustainability

    We see the word “sustainable” being used everywhere these days. It can be found on food packing, farm production methods, and even non-agricultural related businesses are touting that they are sustainable.  But what does that mean for you and your farmers’ market? 

    According to USDA’s National Agricultural Library, when searching for the definition of sustainable, (Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms, 2007) ‘“Sustainable agriculture” was addressed by Congress in the 1990 “Farm Bill” [Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, Public Law 101-624, Title XVI, Subtitle A, Section 1603 (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1990}. Sustainable agriculture means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

    • satisfy human food and fiber needs;
    • enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;
    • make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;
    • sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

    These last two bullet points stand out in relation to farmers’ markets.  If our farms are not economically viable, farmers’ markets will suffer.  If the quality of life for farmers and society are not enhanced, we all suffer.  So, how can you ensure that your farmers market is sustainable?

    With the rapid pace of change in how consumers are purchasing local food, technology advancements, and the growing use of the terms sustainable and local by larger retailers, how can we maintain the consumers that shop at, and ultimately support, our farmers’ markets and our vendors/producers? To help address this question, the OSU Extension Direct Food & Agricultural Market Program in collaboration with the Ohio Farmers Markets Network is bringing experts to Ohio to learn about the development of a sustainability plan for farmers’ market.

    Laura Biasillo, Agricultural Economic Development Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, and Jessica Douglas, Healthy Exchange Project Manager, Greenmarket of Grow NY, will be coming to Ohio November 11-12 to share the curriculum they developed for New York farmers’ markets.  In addition to information on the development of sustainability plans, they will share insights from lessons learned by working with New York farmers’ markets in the development of their plans.

    This two-day workshop is geared toward Ohio farmers market managers who are interested in learning from experts from New York and their peers.  The workshop is designed to be hands-on, so market managers will leave with an action plan they can take back to their vendors and boards to share their plans and finalize the details.

    Beth Irons, who has managed a New York farmers’ market for seven years, found the resources very helpful.  “It provided not only the big chunks of information we should include, but also the action steps to complete each of those steps and helped to bring it all together as a cohesive plan,” Irons said in an interview with the New York Farms Market Federation.

    To learn more about the November training go to go.osu.edu/SustainabilityPlanning2019 or contact Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist at welch.183@osu.edu

  234. More than 100 farms come together to make Third Annual Agritourism Conference a success

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Specialist

    Nearly 100 farms from all across Ohio met Monday, March 25 at Maize Valley Winery in Hartville, Ohio to learn how agritourism is having a positive impact on Ohio’s farms.

    Collaborating with OSU Extension, Wright & Moore Law, LPA, and Ohio Farm Bureau Federation to offer information and education to Ohio farmers, the day began with Bill Bakan, owner of Maize Valley Winery, sharing information with attendees on how to manage customer expectations.  Throughout the day he and his wife, Michelle, shared information on how they have grown their once dairy farm into the successful agritourism destination it is today.

    What is agritourism? The USDA defines agritourism as “any business activity that invites visitors to come on the farm, ranch, or into a rural community to enjoy agriculture and the natural resources” (2004). And for many farmers and ranchers across the county, agritourism is proving to be a beneficial addition to the farm’s bottom line, as well as for spreading awareness of how food is produced.

    There is a great deal of interest by consumers in how and where their food is produced.  Agritourism operations invite these consumers onto their farm in a variety of ways to help them learn about food production and farming in Ohio.  Agritourism is an agriculturally related educational, entertainment, historical, cultural, or recreational activity, including you-pick operations or farm markets, conducted on a farm that allows or invites members of the general public to observe, participate in, or enjoy that activity (Kirk-Hall, 2018). And since most Ohioans do not live on a farm, their interest in visiting farms is high.

    But don’t just jump right in. You need to do your homework and some planning to ensure you are managing the associated risks of having the general public come onto your farm to enjoy the setting and the products you produce. March’s conference was designed to assist new and existing farmers learn about agritourism trends; how to evaluate and manage risks; understanding Ohio’s laws, rules, and regulations; how to work with your community; and see how others have successfully incorporated agritourism into their farming operations.

    If you are considering adding an agritourism activity to your farm, the OSU South Centers Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing team can help.  There are a number of agritourism resources on the team’s website, southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing, or they can meet with you to discuss your new enterprise.

  235. Direct Marketing provides training, education, and technical assistance to food producers and marketers in 2018

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Program Manager

    The Direct Food and Ag Marketing Team is focused on providing training, education, and technical assistance to Ohio’s food producers and marketers. 

    The goal of this assistance is to help these small businesses increase their effectiveness and, thereby, their profitability. This should translate to healthier farms, food producers, and communities where they reside; and increase access for consumers to locally produced foods.

    In 2018, the team provided many trainings and educational presentations throughout Ohio.  Highlights of these include:

    • MarketReady – A one-day workshop that helps local food producers explore various market channels including direct to consumers, direct to restaurants, direct to wholesale, and direct to institutions. The workshop focused on the main business functions for each of these market channels.  The trainings were delivered 31 participants and were held in conjunction with OSUE Cuyahoga and Brown Counties and the University of Kentucky’s Center for Crop Diversification. An attendee said of the training, “the diversity information, the networking, and the transparency are what I liked best about MarketReady.” Another said they valued all the expertise from the different presenters. In addition to the previously mentioned collaboration, Ivory Harlow of the Center for Cooperatives shared information about cooperative development and marketing with the attendees. 
    • The Appalachian Table, Where Local Food Buyers and Producers Meet was held for the first time at OSU South Centers.  The Appalachian Table event brings food producers, businesses, and buyers to the table to experience a local foods meal, make meaningful connections, and spark interest in the diversity of products produced in the Appalachian region. The event provides a forum to share information, learn best practices, and facilitate peer-to-peer learning and networking. 
    • Potential buyers are exposed to a wide variety of locally produced foods from the Appalachian region of Ohio. The event features an all-local foods breakfast including coffee, baked goods, proteins, dairy, and grains. 
    • Producers have an opportunity to learn how peers are successfully marketing through various channels including major retailers, farm-to-fork restaurants, community-supported agriculture programs, and direct-to-consumer markets. During the 2018 event, Sleepy Bee Café’s founder, Sandra Gross, and Executive Chef, Francis Kroner, shared information with attendees on how they procure locally produced foods for three restaurant locations in the Cincinnati area. 
    • Partnered with the OSU Resource and Ag Law Program, Wright & Moore Law, LPP, and Ohio Farm Bureau to host the second annual Ohio AgritourismReady Conference. More than 40 individuals attended the conference and learned how to grow their agritourism enterprises, how to manage liability, best marketing practices, and much more.  Bill Bakan, Fun Tsar of Maize Valley, which is a Family Farm Market & Winery creating fun, local & healthy experiences for all, was the keynote speaker and very well received by those in attendance.  Comments included: “outstanding presentation;” “awesome, fantastic;” “please bring back;” and” Loved the energy and great information.”

    The team is participating in a Connect & Collaborate Grant project with Dr. Abby Snyder, Field Specialist, Food Safety & Management with OSU Extension.  The project began in December 2018 and will continue into 2019.  The Direct Marketing Team is assisting with the objective to provide technical services for processors by funding a process analysis service needed in product development and regulatory compliance.

    In addition, team members presented a variety of marketing trainings throughout Ohio including:

    • Marketing Programs to Program Development and Evaluation (COMLDR 3330) for Dr. Scott Sheer’s class
    • Marketing for New and Beginning Farmers to Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s New and Beginning Farm Training
    • Marketing Matters – Free monthly marketing presentations that are delivered through online streaming and the team’s YouTube channel.
    • Marketing Your Small Business in a Digital World – For the East Central Ohio Beekeepers Association and the Ohio State Beekeepers at their annual conference
    • Additional marketing presentations were given at the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association, The University of Rio Grande’s business class, AgritourismReady Conference, The Ohio & West Virginia Food Hub Network, and many more.

    In addition, team members continue to participate in a variety of groups throughout Ohio including: Pike County Local Foods Group, Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT), The National Farm to Cafeteria Conference organized by the OSU Farm to School program, OPGMA’s educational committee, and the National Farmers’ Markets Working Group.

    The team published the factsheet; Accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at Ohio Farmers’ Markets and is available via Ohioline.

    If you would like to be a member of the Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team or would like additional information please contact Christie Welch, welch.183@osu.edu

  236. New Fact Sheet Available to Assist Ohio Farmers’ Markets Accept SNAP Benefits

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Specialist

    A new fact sheet has been published via Ohioline to assist Ohio’s farm/farmers’ markets interested in accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.  SNAP is the federal food assistance program known in Ohio as the Ohio Direction Card. 

    These benefits allow income eligible Ohioans to purchase food for their families.  In 2017, 224 Ohio farm/farmers’ markets redeemed $270,510 in SNAP benefits, a 34.6 percent increase from 2012. Even with this positive increase, there are many more markets in Ohio that could accept SNAP benefits to increase where SNAP recipients can shop for locally produced foods. 

    You can access the fact sheet at ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/anr-65. If you have questions or would like additional information about accepting SNAP at your market you can contact Christie Welch, welch.183@osu.edu.

  237. Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team Assist Local Food Producers Become MarketReady

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Specialist

    Local food producers came together in Brown and Cuyahoga Counties this past month to explore new market channels for their locally produced foods.  Many food producers get in to this enterprise because they really enjoy the production aspects of the business.  However, there are also many local food producers whose knowledge of the various market channels is limited.

    To assist these local food producers in increasing their knowledge and overcoming barriers to entering different market channels, the OSUE Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team partnered with local OSU Extension offices for an in-depth workshop to share best practices when exploring the various market channels.

    During the MarketReady training, local foods producers learned research-based best practices for exploring sales to restaurants, grocers, direct-to-consumers, and via wholesale markets.  And while all of these market channels are seeking to purchase locally produced foods, producers must take the time to match their products, capacities, and skills with each of the market channels in order to be successful. While many are familiar with selling their products direct-to-consumers through farm and farmers’ markets, there are additional opportunities to sell to restaurants, grocers, and wholesalers.  Each channel requires different business functions.  MarketReady provides education on these differences and how producers can be successful in developing the proper business functions for the various market channels.

    The producers remarked that the training was “very informative” and they like “the different expertise of each of the speakers.”  

    During the Cuyahoga County training, The Grocery’s owner, Rachael Kingsbury, shared information with the participants on how she procures local foods for her business.  She shared best practices that she experiences with her current suppliers. The Grocery offers locally produced foods, prepared foods, and catering services.  Attendees indicated they really appreciated the “real world” examples that were shared during the trainings.

    At the OSUE Brown County training, Dr. Tim Woods of the University of Kentucky, Department of Agriculture Economics and the creator of the MarketReady program, joined the group to co-present the materials and share information about the research conducted when developing the MarketReady Program.  Joined by Dr. Woods was Alex Butler, also of the University of Kentucky and the Center for Crop Diversification, who shared information on insurance requirements for the various market channels. 

    Also in attendance in Brown County were the participants of the USDA FAS Ukraine Agricultural Economics Faculty Exchange Program.  These visiting scholars will take the knowledge gained back to their home country and adapt the program to assist their local food producers. One of the Ukrainian faculty commented, “it was nice discussing practical solutions to solve the sales problems of farmers.”
    If you would like more information about the MarketReady Program, which is currently being offered in 17 states, you can go to southcenters.osu.edu/marketing/overview-programs/marketready.

  238. Calling all Small Food Processors

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Specialist

    If you are a small-scale food producer, there is required documentation you will need to complete in order to be compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This includes documentation of your size exemption as a “qualified facility” and various food safety programs.

    A related special workshop, intended for small (< $1 million in sales/year) producers of fermented, canned, and other shelf-stable foods, is planned for various locations around the state. This one-day course is a hands-on opportunity for processors to develop their food safety documentation in small groups with individual coaching from instructors. Participants are encouraged to bring their existing documentation, if they have it, for review by instructors. Attendees should leave with completed or nearly completed food safety documentation for size exemptions, Good Manufacturing Practices, and Preventive Control Food Safety Plans as relevant.

    LOCATIONS AND DATES:
    • Columbus on December 13, 2018
    • Athens on January 7, 2019
    • Bowling Green on January 10, 2019
    • Dayton on January 15, 2019
    • Cleveland on January 29, 2019

    TIME: Each location has its own timeframe. For more information and to register go to go.osu.edu/valueaddedfoodsafety2018-2019

    COST: $25.00 per person

    This workshop is being offered through support of The OSU Connect & Collaborate Grant, CFAES Department of Food Science and Food Industry Center, The Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT), Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), and The OSU South Centers Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Program.

  239. Farmers’ Markets at Risk of Losing the Ability to Accept SNAP Benefits

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Marketing Program Specialist

    Ohio farmers’ markets are thriving and many of them accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP); formerly known as the federal food stamp program.

    In Ohio there are currently 224 farmers’ markets and farm markets that accept SNAP benefits.  This represents a 128.6% increase since 2012.  While this has helped food insecure individuals access fresh, locally produced foods, farmers’ markets are at risk of losing this ability.

    On July 2, 2018 Novo Dia Group, Inc. announced it would shut down the Mobile Market + Application.  Novo Dia Group developed the Mobile Market + application for iPhones that allows farmers’ markets the ability to accept SNAP benefits wirelessly via iPhones, iPods, and iPads.  According to the Farmers Market Coalition, “Novo Dia Group is the largest supplier of SNAP payment processing equipment to farmers markets in the country. Over 1,700 (or 40%) of farmers markets and farmers that accept SNAP nationwide are currently customers.” This ability is critical for farmers’ markets that are typically held in open air locations that lack access to land-line telephones and electricity.  If the Mobile Market + app is no longer available, farmers’ markets will have few options. SNAP benefits in Ohio are administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and are known as the Ohio Direction Card. And while ODJFS offers access to wired terminals for Ohio farmers’ markets, due to the nature of where farmers’ markets, operate wired equipment is typically not feasible. 

    Once Novo Dia Group made their announcement about the shutdown of the Mobile Market + app, farmers’ market supporters around the country began looking for solutions.  On July 19 the National Association of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs announced it would provide funding to keep the Mobile Market + app functional for an additional 30 days in hopes a more permanent solution could be identified.  And while this news was welcomed by farmers’ markets, it was a temporary solution.

    Then on July 27th New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced, “an agreement has been reached with Novo Dia Group to enable SNAP recipients to continue to use their benefits at farmers markets across the state, and *nationwide* through the rest of the farmers market season.”  In a press release of that day, the Governor went on to say, “This agreement also lays the groundwork for other states that rely on cellular-based transactions at farmers’ markets to continue their services as well.” You can read the full press release here: governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-plan-protect-snap-recipients-access-farmers-markets.

    On August 2, 2018 Novo Dia Group provided a Frequently Asked Questions list on their website, mailchi.mp/novodiagroup/mobile-market-status-2160213?e=529d05a582.  To help farmers’ markets across the country remain up to date on the fate of Mobile Market + application and/or other solutions that may become available the Farmers Market Coalition has created a webpage dedicated to providing the most current information available.  You can find the information at: farmersmarketcoalition.org/novo-dia-group-shutdown-info-page-now-live.

    The OSU Extension Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Team is following the situation closely and providing updates via our Facebook pages, @OhioDirectMarketing, and @OhioFarmersMarkets.  If you have questions or concerns about your local farmers’ markets’ ability to continue to accept SNAP benefit wirelessly, please contact Christie Welch via email to: 
    welch.183@osu.edu.  We will provide additional information or assistance as it become available.

  240. The Appalachian Table: Where Local Food Producers and Buyers Came Together

    By Christie Welch
    Direct Agriculture Marketing Specialist

    Local food producers and buyers had the opportunity to come together to network, learn from each other, and make connections – all in the name of helping citizens through increased access to Ohio produced foods.  

    Beginning with a locally sourced breakfast consisting of sausage, bacon, eggs, milk, yogurt, granola, coffee, and baked goods, The Appalachian Table helped to raise awareness among producers and buyers about the diversity of local foods produced in the region, and the diversity of opportunities to sell to various markets.

    Leslie Schaller, a founding member of Casa Nueva, shared experiences about sourcing local foods for her restaurant and value-added line. Highlighted were some of the logistical challenges of sourcing locally produced foods, accessing the ability to process those items, and then store them for year-round use in the restaurant.  Casa Nueva is an Athens, Ohio based, worker-owned cooperative restaurant that sources as much locally produced food as possible.
    Sandra Gross, co-owner, and Frances Kroner, Executive Chef of Sleep Bee Café, shared information about their restaurants and working with local food producers.

    They source as much locally produced foods as possible and then create seasonally inspired meals that are served in their Cincinnati area cafés.  Local producers appreciated their willingness to share about their process and learned from the success they shared.

    Attendees also heard from a panel of producers that currently sell their locally produced products via various market channels:  McDowell Farms selling to a regional grocer, Way Farms sells via a farm market and farmers markets, and Two Roasting Joes sells via farmers’ markets and specialty stores.  Attendees were able to ask these producers about the challenges and opportunities of the various market channels they currently use.  One participate said that, “learning firsthand what restaurants and wholesale customers want from producers and how they want to be contacted” was very beneficial.  

    Participants also appreciated the knowledge of the many resources that are available to help them grow their businesses.  Collaborators for the program included the OSU Extension Direct Food and Agriculture Marketing Team, The CFAES Center for Cooperatives, The Minority Business Assistance Center, The OSU South Centers Business Development Network, and The Appalachian Center for Economic Network (AceNet).

    If you would like additional information about direct marketing locally produced food and agricultural products, the OSUE Direct Agricultural Marketing Team would like to help.  You can visit our website at southcenters.osu.edu/marketing or email welch.183@osu.edu for more information.

  241. OSU Extension Direct Food and Ag Marketing Team 2017 Summary Report

    By: Christie Welch, Program Manager and Team Leader

    Direct Food & Ag Marketing Team focus:

    The team is focused on providing training, education, and technical assistance to Ohio’s food producers and marketers. The goal of this assistance is to help these small businesses increase their effectiveness and thereby their profitability. This should translate to healthier farms, food producers, and the communities where they reside and increase access for consumers to locally produced foods.

    In 2017 the team provided many trainings and educational presentations throughout Ohio.  Highlights of these include:

    • MarketReady – A one day workshop that helps local food producers explore various market channels; direct to consumers, direct to restaurants, direct to wholesale, and direct to institutions. The workshop focuses on the main business functions for each of these market channels.  The training was delivered in conjunction with OSUE Cuyahoga County to 26 participants. An attendee said about the training that, “all subjects and speakers were very informative, meeting and talking with fellow growers-always a plus.” Another said they valued, “learning how to connect and strengthen customer relationships through demographics, their needs and offering products through direct sales.” In addition to the collaboration between Amanda Osborne of OSUE Cuyahoga County and the Direct Marketing Team, Ivory Harlow of the Center for Cooperatives shared information about cooperative development with the attendees.

    • The Direct Marketing Team continues to collaborate with the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Proud Program. Team members supported two Ohio Proud Food Summits held in Columbus, and Wellington. The regional summits bring local food producers together with local food buyers. As a result, local food producers enter new markets and increase access to their locally produced foods.

    • Collaborated with the Ohio Proud Program to offer best marketing practices to Ohio Proud Partners – Columbus and Piketon and Milan; approximately 75 individuals attended.

    • Partnered with the OSU Resource and Ag Law Program and Wright & Moore Law, LPP to host the first annual Ohio AgritourismReady conference. More than 75 individuals attended the conference and learn how to grow their agritourism enterprises, how to manage liability, best marketing practices, and much more.  The conference was so well received that we are currently planning the second annual AgritourismReady conference which will be held March 10, 2018 in Piketon, OH.

    • Online video presentation to Heritage Ohio on how to have a successful farmers’ market in your community to 50 members of Heritage Ohio. According to their website, As Ohio’s official historic preservation and Main Street organization, Heritage Ohio fosters economic development and sustainability through preservation of historic buildings, revitalization of downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts, and promotion of cultural tourism.

    • Presented at three regional meetings (Toledo, Dayton, and Marion) of the Ohio Travel Association to make connections with local visitors’ bureaus and tourism organizations with Ohio Agritourism operators for the benefit of both groups. Association members have a better understanding of agritourism enterprises in Ohio and how they can be included in county tourism promotions to help attract visitors to their counties.

    • Was invited to present Facebook Basics and Using Social Media to Market Your Business to the Ohio State Beekeepers Association conference. This annual conference attracts nearly 400 attendees of which 100 attended these two presentations.

    • Team members Rob Leeds, OSU Extension Delaware County and Eric Barrett, OSU Extension Delaware County presented - Managing Your Online Presence and Customer Service in Social Media and the Digital World at the 2017 North American Farm Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) Annual Convention, in February in Mystic, Connecticut.

    In addition team members presented a variety of marketing trainings throughout Ohio including; Best Marketing Practices, Identifying Your Target Market, Getting MarketReady, How to Develop a Marketing Plan, Farmers’ Markets Basics, Connecting with Your Customers, and Value Added Opportunities among others.

    The team also rebranded and updated the Maps & Apps curriculum, now DeviceReady – Managing Your Online Presence.  The inaugural presentation of DeviceReady was held in conjunction with the Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College. The program was so well received it is being offered again on April 17, 2018 for CSCC and on April 24, 2018 for the Ohio State Beekeepers Association members.

    Team members published two factsheets; Selling Eggs in Ohio: Marketing and Regulations and Maps, Apps and Mobile Media Marketing both of which are available via Ohioline.

    Team members Eric Barrett, Peggy Hall and Emily Adams completed a project with others across campus, entitled, “Removing Barriers to the Direct Marketing of Farm Foods in Ohio,” as part of an OSU Cares Grant. The project surveyed farmers’ market managers and health departments, and gained input from farmers around Ohio. Four themes were evident that need addressed in Ohio. The project team will work with ODA, ODH and others in Ohio to review the results and to make plans for reducing barriers to entry in the coming year.

     

  242. OSU Extension Direct Food and Agriculture Marketing Team connecting to assist Ohio’s agritourism operators

    Carillon Brewing Co. front of building

    By Christie Welch, Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist 

    Agritourism is growing around the country. In an effort to assist Ohio’s agritourism operators connection with their communities and potential customers, the OSUE Direct Food and Ag Marketing team partnered with the Ohio Tourism Association to offer a workshop to current and potential agritourism operators. Agritourism provides farmers with the ability to diversify the income for the operations, can attract additional tourists to visit the communities in which they are located, and provide an opportunity for the general public to visit a farm to learn more about agriculture in Ohio.

    The workshop was held in three locations around Ohio and we had the opportunity to learn more about the assistance that local Convention and Visitors Bureaus can provide to agritourism operators. In addition, Melinda Huntley Executive Director of Ohio Travel Association shared information about the benefits agritourism can provide to local communities and the businesses that serve the travelers.

    In addition to these workshops, the OSUE Direct Food and Ag Marketing Team collaborated with Wright & Moore Law Company, LPA and the OSU Agriculture and Resource Law Program to host the first annual AgritourismReady workshop in the spring of 2017. This event was very well attended and participants heard from a variety of experts in the areas of ag law, risk management, zoning, marketing, and more. Due to the success of the workshops and the interest in agritourism in Ohio, the team is planning a second annual AgritourismReady workshop in March 2018. More information will be forthcoming.

    If you would like to learn more about agritourism in Ohio, you can contact Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist via email welch.183@osu.edu or via telephone 740-289-2071 ext. 234.

    The OSUE Direct Food and Agriculture Marketing Program is supported by the OSU College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science and OSU Extension.

  243. Ohio’s first AgritourismReady conference a success

    By Christie Welch, Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist

    On April 5, 2017 nearly 70 individuals gathered for the Ohio AgritourismReady Conference in Waldo, Ohio.  The attendees where there to learn about Ohio’s new agritourism law, liability management, profitability, adding an activity to an agritourism operation, and more.  The attendees heard from industry experts, extension educators, and agritourism operators. 

    The first such event held in Ohio, the workshop was sponsored by OSU Extension’s Agriculture & Resource Law Program, the OSU Extension Direct Agricultural Marketing Program, and Wright & Moore Law Company LPA.  Guest speakers included Ben King, Risk Management Consultant with Nationwide Insurance, Ryan Conklin, Attorney with Wright & Moore Co., and representatives from Richwood Marketing.   

    This one-day workshop was designed to assist Ohio’s agritourism operators to ensure they have the necessary information to effectively manage risks, market their enterprises, and better manage their agritourism business.  The event allowed agritourism operators the opportunity to learn from experts and peers in an effort to increase the profitability of Ohio’s agritourism operations.

    One attendee said it was “Nice to have concrete examples with people who do this.  Would like more examples of tips they implement to make it easier for tours/teachers,” referring to a breakout session that focused on school tours and working with teachers.  Another attendee referred to the breakout session on Adding an Activity to Your Agritourism Operation, “Good brainstorming of potential issues and things I haven’t thought of.”  This session was led by Eric Barrett and Rob Leeds, OSU Extension Educators and members of the OSUE Direct Ag Marketing Team. 

    Overall, the participants indicated the information presented was very helpful and would recommend having such a workshop annually.  There are also plans to hold a similar event in the southern part of the state for those agritourism operators that were unable to attend the April 5th event.

    If you would like more information about this or upcoming workshops, check out the OSUE Direct Agricultural Marketing Program’s website at southcenters.osu.edu/marketing or contact Christie Welch, Direct Ag Marketing Specialist via email to welch.183@osu.edu

  244. The OSU Direct Agricultural Marketing Team trains the Ohio Small Business Development Center counselors in Maps & Apps

    By Christie Welch, Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist
     
    The Direct Agricultural Marketing team collaborated with the OSU South Centers Business Development Network to present a train-the-trainer Maps & Apps workshop to Ohio Small Business Development Centers Business Counselors. This hands-on training provided information on how different consumers use mobile devices and obtain information, as well as shared best practices for small businesses to effectively communicate with their target customers.
     
    This six-hour workshop was held at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on main campus.  Participants in the training increased their knowledge of common maps and applications commonly used on mobile devices. Training topics included: How Customers Find & View Your Business on Mobile Devices, How Consumers Use Social Media, and How Consumers Utilize and Access Apps, GPS, and gadgets. In addition, participants were provided with the power point presentation and workbook so they can use the Maps & Apps program with their small business clients around the state.
     
    As a result of the positive feedback received, the DM team will be presenting Maps & Apps at the statewide Ohio Small Business Development Centers annual conference. The annual conference provides professional development for Ohio’s small business development specialists.
     
    Team members delivering the training are: Rob Leeds, County Director & ANR Educator Delaware County; Jacci Smith, Program Coordinator Ag/4-H Youth Development Delaware County; Mary Griffith, ANR Educator Madison County; Eric Barrett County Director & ANR Educator Mahoning County; and Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Program Director.
     
    The Small Business Development Centers of Ohio program is partially funded by the Ohio Development Services Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Ohio SBDC fosters a strong climate for small business growth with many local community partners, including colleges and universities, economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, and other community organizations. The statewide network offers a wide range of services to Ohio’s small businesses.
     
    To learn more about the OSU Direct Ag Marketing program visit: www.southcenters.osu.edu/marketing. 
     
    To learn more about the OSU South Centers Business Development Network visit: www.southcenters.osu.edu/business 
     
    To learn more about the Ohio SBDC visit: https://www.development.ohio.gov/bs/bs_sbdc.htm. 
  245. Ohio State University Direct Agricultural Marketing Team

    By Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist
     
    The Ohio Direct Agricultural Marketing Team is a group of OSU Extension Educators and specialists along with personnel from partnering organizations that provided education and assistance to Ohio’s agricultural producers.  The team provides this assistance in a variety of ways.  
     
    •  We offer a no-cost monthly webinar series on a variety of topics relating to direct marketing of agricultural products.  Interested participants are welcome to join the live webinars  and can also view recorded and archived webinars on the team website at:  http://southcenters.osu.edu/marketing/direct-marketing-webinars.  The schedule for the remaining 2016 webinars can be found on page 8.
     
    •  The team provides a variety of direct marketing presentations throughout Ohio at many workshops, conferences, and farm tours such as the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association (OPGMA) Annual Congress and Summer Tour, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association Annual Conference, Small Farm College, and at many additional events.
     
    •  We provide technical assistance to groups and individual agricultural producers to assist them in evaluating their marketing strategies and learn where they might improve those strategies to increase their profitability.
     
    •  The team has a variety of programs that can be offered to assist Ohio’s direct agricultural producers.  These programs include; Map & Apps, Market Ready, Ohio Market Maker, and Meet the Buyers.
     
    You can learn more about the Direct Agricultural Marketing Team at: http://southcenters.osu.edu/marketing.  If you have questions or would like to request the assistance of the OSU Direct Agricultural Marketing Team for your agricultural business, email welch.183@osu.edu
  246. Busy year for the Direct Agricultural Marketing Team

    By: Christie Welch, Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist
     
    The OSU Extension Direct Agricultural Marketing Team is busy providing information and education to Ohio’s direct marketers.  Team members have been active presenting at conferences throughout the state.  Topics include branding your farm market, pricing for profit, using social media, and more.  If you have missed these presentations, you can still access our direct marketing information through webinars the team offers monthly.  The webinars cover a variety of topics to assist direct ag marketers to increase their knowledge, learn best marketing practices, and provides tips and tools to help marketers improve their businesses.
     
    The team is also working with Ohio Proud to offer marketing workshops in four areas of the state.  These workshops will offer information about how the Ohio Proud program can benefit your business, marketing your business on social media, and more.  Join us to learn about free and low-cost tools to assist you in managing your on-line presence to maximize your business opportunities. You will learn about practical tools, trends, and strategies for 2016.
     
    If you would like more information about the OSU Direct Ag Marketing Team or would like assistance in marketing your ag business, check out our website at http://southcenters.osu.edu/marketing or email Christie Welch at welch.183@osu.edu
  247. MarketMaker links producers and potential buyers

    By: Charissa Gardner, Program Assistant
     
    There are nearly 8,000 farmers markets in the U.S., an increase of more than 150 percent since 2000.  Direct-to-consumer agriculture sales produce $1.2 billion in annual revenues. To be successful in your agricultural business, it is important to have a good marketing plan. The Ohio State University South Centers leads Ohio’s Direct Agricultural Marketing program and has offers producers resources and educational opportunities to assist with their direct agricultural marketing plans.
     
    Launched in 2008, one very important resource is Ohio MarketMaker which currently hosts one of the most extensive collections of searchable food industry-related data in the country. The web-based program contains demographic, food consumption, and business data that users can search to find products to buy, or find a place to sell their products.
     
    MarketMaker currently links producers and consumers in 19 states plus the District of Columbia.  As the exclusive licensee, Riverside Research plans to invest in additional research and development to expand MarketMaker’s capabilities to new markets and regions, both nationally and globally.  States that are currently participating include:  Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas,  Wyoming, and Washington, D.C..  
    At the beginning of 2014, MarketMaker had almost 700,000 businesses nationwide in categories of AgTourism, Farmers/Ranchers, Fisheries, Farmers Markets, Wineries, Eating & Drinking, Wholesalers, Food Retailers, and Food Banks, as well as other businesses not falling into those categories.  In 2013, users posted 442 advertisements in the Buy & Sell Forum which were viewed over 36,000 times.  
     
    If you don’t have an online profile, you can set one up in less than 10 minutes at www.ohiomarketmaker.com. There is no fee to register; it is totally free to both consumers and producers.  Your profile is easy to maintain and manage, and allows you to connect with local, state, and national customers and buyers.  Some of the features available are: indicating which farmers’ markets you’ll be participating in, which restaurants you sell to, which grocery stores carry your products and your affiliation with local food organizations.
     
    MarketMaker has several unique features that allow the consumers and producers to present themselves to other MarketMaker users.  Using the business connection feature, market managers, consumers and producers can link with one another and other organizations that have also developed MarketMaker profiles, including grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. The link serves the mutual benefit of identifying users of local food sources. Businesses you connect with on MarketMaker appear on your business’s detail page to let users know more about your operation. You may want to connect with a variety of businesses, including: retailers or farmers’ markets that carry your product, businesses where you source product, and other local food businesses.
     
    Another unique feature is that buyers and sellers can select their current industry affiliations.  These affiliations help to build credibility with customers.  Some of these could include: Ohio Proud, CIFT, Ohio Grocers Association, and others.
     
    In today’s world, social networking plays a huge factor in marketing.  MarketMaker also has the feature of connecting your Facebook and Twitter social links to your profile.  Connecting your profile to these sites helps to build your audience and customer base while networking with others in the industry.
     
    Farmers markets may also create a profile in MarketMaker.  Farmers market managers can easily create profiles with location, web site, contact information and produce available. The advanced directional mapping tools allows customers to easily find the market and view the types of products that the market has for sale. 
     
    This feature brings buyers to the market, and saves the buyers time on locating the products they need.   
     
    MarketMaker is supported by several state and national sponsors.  These sponsors are the USDA, Farm Credit, Ohio Wines, Ohio Farm Bureau, the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, and the Ohio State University. 
     
    For further information on Ohio MarketMaker or Direct Agricultural Marketing, visit the following Ohio State University Direct Marketing web site at http://southcenters.osu.edu/marketing/overview-programs/marketmaker.  If you would like to be added to the Ohio Direct Marketing list serve to receive direct marketing updates and educational opportunities, contact OSU Direct Marketing Team leader, Christie Welch or Ohio MarketMaker Program Coordinator, Charissa Gardner or call the OSU South Centers 1-800-860-7232 or 740-289-3727 ext. 132. 
  248. Ohio Celebrates Local Foods Week Aug. 9-15, 2015

    By: Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist
     
     
    Ohio State University Extension’s Local Foods Team has been working on celebrating the bounty of Ohio Local Foods.  In an effort to raise awareness about the importance of Ohio agriculture, the team has developed resources for Ohio local food producers, marketers, and buyers to help celebrate the benefits of Ohio local foods.  This year’s local foods event includes a $10 pledge and a website with an events calendar, resources, and event marketing tools that individuals can use to help spread the word.  These resources can be found at: localfoods.osu.edu/ohio-local-foods-week. Let us know how you are celebrating Ohio Local Foods week and take the pledge.
  249. Ohio farmers’ markets increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) redemption by offering incentives

    By: Christie Welch, Direct Marketing Specialist
     
    Over the course of 2014, OSU South Centers’ Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist collaborated with a diverse group of stakeholders to apply for USDA’s Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Program funds.  The goal was simple, help Ohio Farmers’ Markets increase the number of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly the federal food stamp program known in Ohio as the Ohio Direction Card) benefits redeemed at participating Ohio farmers’ markets.  This not only increases sales for participating farmers, it also increases access to fresh, healthy, locally produced foods for food insecure Ohioans.  The Ohio steering committee worked with Wholesome Wave; a national non-profit whose goal is to increase healthy food access across the United States, and many others to develop a proposal for this new funding.  As a result, Ohio is one of 17 states participating in the $7.4 million, three-year project.  Fifty Ohio farmers’ markets that accept SNAP benefits now have the ability to offer matching incentives to SNAP recipients to use to access fresh fruits and vegetables that are produced by Ohio farmers.  
     
    This program is having triple bottom line impacts for Ohio.  Food insecure individuals can now increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables they purchase at farmers’ markets; thereby increasing their health by increasing their consumption of fruits and veggies.  According to Michelle White, Market Manager of the Clintonville Farmers’ Market, “VeggieSNAPS (the incentive program) has been a wonderful addition to the farmers’ market landscape around central Ohio. 
     
    Now EBT customers have multiple opportunities to shop and double their dollars throughout the week. At Clintonville on Saturdays, we have a couple of people who split their mornings between us and Worthington FM, taking full advantage of the incentive dollars to put healthy food on the table.”  She goes on to highlight the benefits to the community, “The program has created a strong tie within the market community itself, with market managers and neighborhood organizations working together on a united front to increase food access.” 
     
    Other collaborating organizations are seeing benefits as well.  Jamie Sullivan, Vice President of External Affairs with the Greater Cleveland FoodBank said, “The clients we help through our Help Center are often looking for help applying for SNAP or finding other food resources.  They are always very excited to know that they can double their SNAP benefits through the Produce Perks (incentive) program.” And while the program is benefiting SNAP recipients in Ohio, producers are benefitting as well.  Christie Nohle, manager of the farmers’ market at the Franklin Park Conservatory said, “Our farmers’ market has seen an influx of EBT (SNAP) users.  EBT users and non-EBT users alike are commenting that they think the Veggie SNAPS (incentive) program is a great opportunity to put local fruits and veggies into the hands of low-income folks! Our farmers appreciate the program since it boosts their produce sales!”
     
    The collaborators of this three-year project being led by Wholesome Wave include: OSU South Centers, OSU Extension Hamilton County, OSU Extension Cuyahoga County, Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District’s Pearl Market, the City of Columbus, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services EBT Section, Ohio Department of Health, The Farmers Market Management Network, The Countryside Conservancy, Case Western Reserve University, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (AceNet), Franklin Park Conservatory, The Greater Cleveland Foodbank, and many farmers’ markets throughout Ohio. For a map of the participating Ohio farmers’ markets, visit the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website: http://jfs.ohio.gov/ofam/OhioFMEBTDirectory.stm. This website lists the Ohio farmers’ markets that accept the Ohio Direction Card (SNAP) and whether or not they are participating in the incentive program.
     
    Future plans include further development of a statewide network of Ohio farmers’ markets and stakeholders with the goal of applying for additional USDA FINI funding so that any farmers’ market that accepts the Ohio Direction Card will have the ability to offer incentive funds to food assistance benefits recipients.
     
    If you would like to learn more about the Wholesome Wave project you can do so at: http://www.wholesomewave.org/wholesomewavefinigrantaward/.  If you have questions about the program, please contact Christie Welch via email to welch.183@osu.edu or via telephone 740-289-2071 ext. 234. 
     
  250. Voices for Food program looking to expand into more counties

    Voices for Food, a program developed by a multi-state Extension team, provides tools and resources to promote healthy food access and food security. It aims to bring together, empower, and amplify the many voices necessary to improve the food security and well-being of those living within impoverished communities. 

    Now, the program is looking to expand into more counties for 2020, particularly rural communities. Internal funds are available for Extension offices who are interested in implementing Voices for Food.

    “Limited resources often challenge food insecure populations to have healthy dietary patterns, increasing the risks for obesity and diet-related chronic diseases,” explained Dr. Dan Remley, who leads the program.

    “The healthcare costs associated with chronic diseases often further limit people’s financial resources, compounding their food insecurity. In addition, acquiring healthy foods and managing food dollars can be especially challenging in impoverished rural communities that lack full-service grocery stores, markets, and other food services.”

    Remley added that community organizations, food pantries, and food insecure families do not always engage with one another to address these challenges. Consequently, communities miss opportunities when they do not capitalize on local human, natural, and financial resources to address health and food insecurity.

    “The success of this project depends on the collective impact of the voices present in the community:  the food sectors, food pantries, churches, schools, local government agencies, food insecure families, volunteers and other community champions,” he said. “All community members have valuable abilities, unique experiences, and vital ideas to contribute.”

    PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:
    Through changes in policies, systems, and environments: 

    • Participants will choose healthier food options and adopt healthier eating practices.
    • Participants will access resources and services to improve their household food insecurity.
    • Participants will become more aware and engaged in food systems & activities.

    Internal Extension funds

    • Financial support (up to $10,000) for over three years is available for Extension offices to implement Voices for Food activities. Extension offices selected for the project will be responsible for submitting a yearly budget proposal for consideration. A committee of Extension professionals will decide upon which items to fund. Funding might support:
    • Developing or strengthening a community food council
    • Developing or strengthening MyChoice food pantries
    • Training Voices for Food Ambassadors to promote nutrition and food safety within the community and MyChoice food pantries
    • Implementing affiliated policies, systems, and environmental changes
    • Awardees will have access to Voices for Food guides, toolkits and materials.
    • The state Voices for Food team will provide training, coaching and peer support to all awardees.

    WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY? 
    Extension offices who have SNAPed, or an EFNEP educator and at least one educator representing 4H, Ag, Community Development, or Family and Consumer Sciences are eligible. One Extension educator or coordinator must agree to serve as a community coach. In addition, applicants should preferably identify a food pantry director and a food council chair within the community as partners within the application.

    Requirements

    • Awardees will be required to adhere to the following grant project requirements: 
    • Awardees will send a representative to a 1-day training in community coaching, facilitation and the Voices for Food project.
    • All members of the local project team will attend a webinar training on the Voices for Food Project.
    • Each community coach will attend a monthly webinar to discuss project activities and troubleshoot problems.
    • Awardees must submit a basic end-of-project report using SNAPed indicators, pictures and stories. The state Voices for Food team will use this information eventually in a Story Map.
    • Awardees shall submit a project budget request once a year for funding consideration. 

    HOW TO APPLY
    Contact Dr. Dan Remley by calling 740-289-2071 ext. 241 or by emailing remley.4@osu.edu.

    NOTIFICATION AND AWARD FULFILLMENT 
    A committee of Extension professionals who have received training in Voices for Food will review the applications. The committee will notify successful applicants by February 14, 2020 via email.  A webinar training will share additional information about the project.

  251. Pike County Nutritional Sciences Field Day, The Story of the Strawberry

    By: Dan Remley, MSPH, PhD, Assistant Professor and Field Specialist of Food, Nutrition, and Wellness

    According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings, Pike County ranks 88 out of 88 counties. The rankings are based on obesity rates, health behaviors, healthy food access and other socio-ecological determinants of health. Pike County also ranks low in terms of students who complete post-secondary education training. Many of Pike County’s health problems mirror those of the larger Appalachian region and are attributed to socio-ecological determinants such as lack of healthy food access, food preparation skills, lack of awareness of nutrition science, traditional preferences for high calorie foods, food insecurity and poverty.

    OSU Extension in Pike County and OSU South Centers developed and coordinated the Nutritional Sciences Field Day: The Story of the Strawberry to address some of the aforementioned challenges. The program was offered at OSU South Centers on May 25 to local high school agriculture and vocational, family and consumer science, and other science classes. The program objectives were to provide experiences and opportunities to increase awareness and interest in health science, food science, biotech, and ag science, basic and applied nutrition science and physiology and finally food production, local food resources. The students learned about opportunities from industry and academic leaders in various food and health sectors such as dieticians, biotech engineers, OSU faculty, and food processing. Students also participated in various hands on activities and discussion related to nutrition.

    Around 60 students and teachers from 3 Pike County Schools attended the program. Before they had left, each student was asked to complete a program evaluation rating their awareness and interest on various topics before versus after program (results attached). Students were also asked what they had learned. Following the field day, students were more aware of the role that genetics play in play in fruit quality and nutrition, the daily recommendations for fruits and vegetables, and the nutritional benefits of small fruits. Students were also more interested in careers in agriculture, health and food sciences, and also more interested in buying local fruit.

    When asked what they had learned, several remarked that they had learned much about research, strawberry properties, nutrition, and careers.

     

    Two awards received during the annual Extension Conference

    1st place- Epsilon Sigma Phi Team Teaching Award for More Than One Program Area- Recognizes Team Teaching that involved faculty and staff from more than one Extension program area including Family and Consumer Sciences, Community Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Youth Development. The OSU South Centers team received the award during the annual meeting of Epsilon Sigma Phi held on the Ohio State University campus.

    Epsilon Sigma Phi Distinguished Team Award- The award recognizes significant contribution to state Extension program planning and delivery.  Epsilon Sigma Phi is a professional organization dedicated to fostering standards of excellence in the Extension System, supporting the Extension profession, and developing the Extension professional.  Awards are presented annually to Extension professionals dedicated to fostering standards of excellence in the Extension System and developing the Extension profession and professional.

    Both awards recognized team members:

    Brad Bergefurd
    Dennis DeCamp
    Jeff Fisher
    Gary Gao
    Carol Hamilton
    Thom Harker
    Tammy Jones
    Chelsea Peckny
    Dan Remley
    Karima Samadi
    Vinayak Shedekar
    Ryan Slaughter

  252. The Ohio State Univeristy CFAES launches Center for Cooperatives

    By Ivory Harlow, Cooperative Development Specialist

    Friends of Ohio’s cooperatives joined the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and OSU Extension to celebrate the newly established CFAES Center for Cooperatives at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on October 18th, 2017.

    The celebration commemorated the 2017 National Cooperative Month of October. The event also coincided with Ohio Cooperative Week designated by Governor John Kasich as October 15-21, 2017 in a Resolution presented to Mid-America Cooperative Council Executive Director Rod Kelsay at the event.

    Dr. Graham Cochran, CFAES Senior Administrative Officer, welcomed cooperative leaders from United Producers, Select Sires, Nationwide, the Ohio Farm Bureau, and others to the event, and shared the college’s commitment to organizational development and workforce preparation. Associate Dean and Director of OSU Extension Dr. Roger Rennekamp highlighted the importance of cooperatives and how the Center will be part of the overall network of OSU Extension programming to reach stakeholders in all 88 counties of Ohio. Dr. Tom Worley, Director of the new Center, announced the University has been awarded a Rural Cooperative Development Grant totaling approximately $200,0000 to improve rural areas of Ohio and West Virginia through the development of cooperatives and other mutually-owned businesses. Debbie Rausch, from the Ohio office of USDA Rural Development spoke to the group, highlighting the College’s 18 years of USDA cooperative development efforts.

    Along with Worley, Dr. Ani Katchova is leading research programs for the Center and Hannah Scott is serving as leader of Extension and outreach activities. Programming for the Center will occur within and link all major mission areas of CFAES, including teaching, research and Extension. This integration is expected to extend knowledge to emerging and established agricultural cooperatives and support rural economic development. Furthermore, the Center will provide students and agricultural professionals with more interdisciplinary training and research opportunities.

    “The CFAES Center for Cooperatives is expected to be comprehensive and bring together all three mission areas of the College - teaching, research, and Extension. We are very pleased to be well positioned to serve the wider cooperatives community in Ohio through the combined faculty and staff resources of the Center,” OSU South Centers Director Tom Worley said.

    The Center maintains staff based in Piketon, Ohio and also has faculty presence on the Columbus campus. It will integrate the College’s current activities and operations that support cooperative business development, engage directly with long-established cooperatives, and provide cooperative education both in the classroom and via Extension and outreach programs.

     

  253. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center and OSU Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Developmental Economics prepare the next generation of cooperative leaders

    By Ivory Harlow, Ohio Cooperative Development Center Program Specialist

    Agricultural cooperatives have demonstrated steady growth and stable financial performance in recent years. They make strong contributions to the U.S. economy and create new employment opportunities for college graduates with degrees in agriculture. In 2015 there were 2,047 agricultural cooperatives in the United States, with a net income of $7 billion dollars and 136,300 full-time employees (USDA, SR79 Agricultural Cooperative Statistics). 

    The Ohio State University has a long history of supporting cooperative education, including a long-offered undergraduate agricultural economics course that focuses specifically on the cooperative model. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) collaborates with Dr. Tom Worley and Dr. David Hahn of The Ohio State University Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics (AEDE) to facilitate components of the course. AEDE 3141 develops students’ understanding of the cooperative business model and cooperative principles as they relate to the organization and management of agribusinesses. 

    OCDC works with teams of students to develop cooperative leadership multi-media projects. First, students choose a cooperative topic of interest on which to focus their project. Students may choose topics like the unique aspects of managing a co-op compared to investor-owned firms; the concept of the patronage refund and its role in the cooperative business model; or the roles and responsibilities of co-op members in the success of their business. Next, OCDC and course instructors are available to connect students with current cooperative managers, directors, or officers who share operational knowledge and real-world experience of the topic. Students interview the cooperative leader and compile interviews and background materials to create a 3-5 minute multimedia presentation. 

    Students complete AEDE 3141 with a comprehensive understanding of agricultural cooperatives from coursework, lectures, and face-to-face discussions with cooperative leaders. The multimedia project helps students build skills in digital production and fosters meaningful connections with industry leaders.

    “Access to engaging cooperative education materials for developers of new cooperatives, stakeholders of existing cooperatives, and students of cooperatives is one of the major challenges OCDC faces when providing education and technical assistance to the public and start-up cooperatives,” said Program Manager Hannah Scott. The benefit of the student multi-media projects reaches far beyond their personal learning, providing public education in an accessible and engaging format.

     The Center showcases students’ multimedia projects on the Ohio Cooperative Development Center’s website and utilizes students’ videos in OCDC’s cooperative education and outreach efforts. Past student projects can be viewed at southcenters.osu.edu/cooperatives/cooperative-resources. 

    The center also plans to feature student projects in OCDC’s upcoming online training, Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101. The training will be housed in the public access version of Canvas, The Ohio State University’s online learning management system. The course will be available to the public in 2018.

    Reference: Agricultural Cooperative Statistics SR79, 2015, USDA Rural Development. Retrieved April 10, 2017 from https://www.rd.usda.gov/files/publications/SR79AgriculturalCooperativeSt...

  254. Welcome, Ivory Harlow!

    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at The Ohio State University South Center welcomes Ivory Harlow. Ivory is a Program Specialist with OCDC, which works to improve economic conditions in rural areas of Ohio and West Virginia through the development of cooperative and cooperative-like businesses. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Strayer University and earned a Master of Arts from Ohio Christian University. 
     
    Ms. Harlow is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where she served as a medical material logistics journeyman. She is a graduate of Syracuse University Whitman School of Management’s Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) program, and Entrepreneur Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) at the Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri.
     
    Ivory has a background in agriculture and business development. She is the owner of Dickie Bird Farm LLC in Ross County, Ohio. She writes Farm Forward, a weekly agriculture column for Farm and Dairy Newspaper. 
     
    Ms. Harlow is eager to assist cooperative development projects in agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, transportation and exports in the region. 
  255. OCDC Receives Award of Excellence from U.S. Department of Agriculture

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center was recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development with an Award of Excellence. The award was granted, “In honor of nearly two decades of steadfast promotion and support of co-ops, leading to the success of innumerable rural and agricultural-based businesses in the Buckeye state.”
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center was founded in 2000 at The Ohio State University South Centers. The mission of the center is to improve the economic condition of rural areas in Ohio and West Virginia through the development of all types of cooperative businesses and cooperative-like groups. OCDC is a part of the Business Development Network at the OSU South Centers, which also has programs in small business development, farmers’ market promotion, and direct agricultural marketing.
     
    Sam Rikkers, Administrator of USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business Cooperative Service presented the award to OCDC staff along with Tony Logan, Director of USDA Rural Development in Ohio. The two visited Piketon to help kick off Co-op Month and to announce awards for USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG).
     
    Under the RCDG program, the Ohio Cooperative Development Center will receive $199,984 over the next year to assist businesses in Ohio and West Virginia, focusing particularly on businesses in agriculture, forest and wood products, transportation, and energy. OCDC provides cooperative education, formation counseling, member and director training and assistance with feasibility studies, marketing plans, and business plans, among other activities. The center also facilitates the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network and administers a seed grant program for new and emerging cooperatives.
     
    The Rural Cooperative Development Grant program awarded $5.8 million to 29 projects across the country in order to support rural economic development.
     
    National Cooperative Month is recognized by the US Department of Agriculture, along with a number of other cooperative associations, each October. Activities throughout the month raise awareness about the co-op business model and highlight their economic impact and importance to communities throughout the country. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center is celebrating Co-op Month by sharing a variety of information related to cooperative development through social media and the OSU Business Development Network blog. You can follow the “Biz Team” on Twitter at @OSUBizNetwork, Facebook at OSU Business Development Network, and the blog at u.osu.edu/osubusinessdevelopmentnetwork.
     
  256. Co-op Spotlight: Preston County Growers Co-op

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager

    A group of farmers in Preston County, West Virginia is working together to get local food into local schools. The Preston County Growers Co-op recently incorporated as a cooperative business with five member-farms that produce a variety of foods from lettuce to potatoes to eggs and beyond.

    Some of the co-op’s growers have been working together for a few years to supply local schools with produce, but recently decided to formalize as a cooperative that is owned and controlled by their farmer-members.  Within the cooperative model, members coordinate their production and marketing, selling to schools and other institutions as a single business and sharing profits with members.

    The process of formalizing the co-op was supported by a number of organizations, including West Virginia University Extension, the Value Chain Cluster Initiative, West Virginia Farm to School, and the Ohio Cooperative Development Center.  The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) worked with the growers to help them learn more about the co-op model, including the benefits of the business model, how money can move through a co-op, and the process of forming a co-op in West Virginia. OCDC also assisted the group with reviews of their foundational documents, including bylaws, membership applications, and membership agreements.  

    Learn more about the Preston Growers Co-op in this article in The Preston County News & Journal.

  257. Ohio & West Virginia Food Hub Network Learns from Central Ohio Produce Companies

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager

    Participants in the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network learned first-hand the ins and outs of aggregating, distributing and even processing fresh produce when they toured multiple central Ohio produce companies during their recent quarterly meeting. Food hub stakeholders and support organizations from across the region were welcomed at Sanfillipo Produce Co., DNO Produce, LLC and DNO, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, which have roots in produce wholesale and distribution spanning 100 years.

    The tours of operational facilities gave participants the chance to observe working facilities, learn from employees about how produce is sources from growers, protocols for aggregating and distributing products to restaurants, grocers, institutions and other customers, as well as the importance of high quality and safe produce throughout aggregation, processing and distribution.    

    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers leads the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network. The program is a peer exchange network of representatives from new and emerging food hubs and incubator training farms as well as technical assistance providers from a various organizations. The regional effort began in early 2014 and participants now come together four times a year for programs that address the challenges of developing food hubs and training farms. Meetings also create a space for stakeholders to learn from one another. Past programs have focused on financial planning and finance resources, examining successful models, and quality and safety assurance. The network also incorporates other activities throughout the year, including educational webinars.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines regional food hubs as, “a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.”[1] Efforts to create food hubs in Ohio and West Virginia have gained a great deal of interest recently; the businesses can create a variety of community benefits, including market access for local and regional producers.

    The Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network will continue the learning about successful aggregation and distribution models at their upcoming August meeting in Davis, West Virginia. If you are interested in learning more about the meeting or registering, please visit the following link http://southcenters.osu.edu/cooperatives/ocdc-non-profit-local-foods-network-inc

    If you are interested in learning more about cooperative food hubs or the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network, please contact Hannah Scott, scott.1220@osu.edu or 740-289-2071 x227.



    [1] Barham, James, Debra Tropp, Kathleen Enterline, Jeff Farbman, John Fisk, and Stacia Kiraly. Regional Food Hub Resource Guide. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. Washington, DC. April 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.9752/MS046.04-2012            

     

  258. Expanding Cooperative Knowledge at the 2016 Cooperative Leadership Forum

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) staff, along with representatives of credit unions and agricultural co-ops, convened in Oxford, Ohio in March for Mid America Cooperative Education, Inc.’s 2016 Cooperative Leadership Forum. The forum provided emerging leaders from across the Midwest the opportunity to learn from one another and experts in the field about the co-op model and cooperative leadership. 
     
    The forum was hosted at the Miami University Marcum Center in Oxford, Ohio and included tours of nearby cooperatives. At Butler Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. and CHACO Credit Union, speakers highlighted their “cooperative difference,” including their prioritization of members’ needs and participation, education efforts, and concern for community – which derive from the cooperative principles originally created by early cooperative movements.  
     
    Cooperative Principles: What Makes Co-ops Different? 
    The Rochdale Pioneers formed a cooperative society in mid-19thcentury England, outlining a set of principles for their business that would set them apart and place power among their members. The twelve principles outlined by the community are now recognized as the first set of co-op principles. 
     
    To varying degrees, cooperatives today often follow a set of seven cooperative principles outlined by the International Cooperative Alliance that can be traced back to the Rochdale Pioneers. These principles include: 
    •  Voluntary and open membership 
    •  Democratic member control
    •  Member economic participation 
    •  Autonomy and independence 
    •  Education, training and information 
    •  Cooperation among cooperatives 
    •  Concern for community 
    (Zueli, K. & Cropp, R., Cooperatives: Principles and practices in the 21st century, UW Extension) 
     
    Kimberly Roush, OCDC Program Assistant, explained the inspiration she gathered from these co-op visits. “Attending the Cooperative Leadership Forum was very inspiring.  Cooperatives are unique, often pulling together to solve a problem that otherwise they could not solve alone.  I also noticed another interesting result of the cooperative environment during the leadership forum—the overall culture of the cooperative employees who spoke with us.  The staff explained specific details about the reason for and the function of their cooperatives. Then they shared something more—talking about member activities and interaction with the community.  It was exciting to learn how the cooperative principles permeate the local culture through individual cooperation in community support and resolutions.”  
     
    The forum also included visits from representatives of the Miami University Credit Union, Dairy Farmers of America, and COBA/Select Sires about how their co-ops benefit members, how they are governed, and the services they provide to members. Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager, shared, “I enjoyed hearing from co-op representatives about their specific businesses. Even though co-ops share similar characteristics, each one is unique. Listening to these leaders share the ways their businesses carry out the cooperative model highlighted the varied possibilities for co-ops. Understanding these possibilities will be extremely helpful as I work with new and emerging cooperatives throughout Ohio and West Virginia.” 
     
    Finally, the program wrapped up with a hands-on, team project in which participants worked to create a business plan for a new cooperative. The activity provided a great opportunity to network with and learn from other co-op leaders in the program. “It was interesting to discuss with other class members how each of the cooperatives they were a part of were unique and how they were created to serve their members and work through problems that otherwise could not be solved on their own. Some class members even shared that working in the cooperative world compared to other business structures is much more rewarding and self-gratifying because they are a part of something so community-minded,” explained Chris Smalley, Business Development Specialist with OCDC, of the chance to learn from other Cooperative Leadership Forum participants.  

     

  259. OCDC moves new and emerging cooperatives forward

    By Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    It has been quite a year at the Ohio Cooperative Development Center!  The OCDC saw some exciting developments in 2015 and is poised to continue supporting rural economic development throughout Ohio and West Virginia in 2016.
     
    As a co-op development center, OCDC’s main focus is on providing technical assistance to new and emerging cooperative businesses in the region.  This assistance often comes in the form of one-on-one meetings with OCDC staff, who help groups explore the cooperative model, work with them through the cooperative formation process, assist with board training and development, and much more. In 2015, OCDC staff assisted over 35 cooperatives and cooperative projects across the region! 
     
    Many of these new and emerging cooperatives will now help their members address a wide variety of problems or opportunities. For instance, the Greenfield Farmers’ Market Co-op now provides a member-owned and governed outlet for local farmers to market their products, while the All Things Food Co-op allows the community ownership of their food through a cooperative local foods store and the Minutemen Farmers’ Cooperative is gearing up to provide farmer training to local veterans. 
     
    OCDC’s Seed Grant Program was also a valuable resource for cooperative development in the region last year, providing funds for new and emerging cooperatives to form and grow their businesses.  The 2014-2015 program, which operated from October 2014 through September 2015, provided over $18,000 to nine projects. The 2015-2016 program started with a bang in the final quarter of 2015, accepting a record number of proposals from projects across the region.  OCDC staff were excited to award approximately $12,000 to these projects at the end of December and will be working with awardees as they complete their projects in the new year.  
    Finally, one of OCDC’s signature programs, the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network brought together food hub and training farm managers and developers, along with technical assistance and service providers, for peer exchange and education four times in 2015.  Approximately 20 hub businesses and service providers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, OSU Extension, West Virginia University Extension, Marshall University, and many others learned about food hub case studies and models, financial resources, value-chain connections, and more!  The network will continue to address barriers to food development in 2016.

     

  260. OCDC awarded Rural Cooperative Development Grant

    By: Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at the OSU South Centers located in Piketon, Ohio, was recently awarded funding to continue providing assistance to new and emerging cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia. The funds were awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program, a competitive program that provides support to cooperative development centers across the nation that work to “improve the economic conditions of rural areas through cooperative development.”  
     
    In the upcoming year, OCDC will continue to focus cooperative development efforts in the Appalachian regions of Ohio and West Virginia, particularly in industries such as local and regional food and agriculture, energy, transportation, forest and wood products, and others. The center will provide services and resource linkages based on the individual needs of clients, developing an ongoing relationship with clients to ensure their continued success.  
     
    OCDC services will include: 
     
    •  formation counseling 
     
    •  member education 
     
    •  bylaw development 
     
    •  board training and consultation 
     
    •  assistance with feasibility studies, strategic plan development, business planning, and policy    
       development  
     
    RCDG funding will also support OCDC’s 2015-2016 Seed Grant program, a matching grant program that provides funds to new and emerging cooperatives to support activities such as professional services, feasibility studies, development of marketing materials, and more. 
     
    If you would like to learn more about OCDC, please contact Hannah Scott at 740-289-2071 ext. 227 or scott.1220@osu.edu
  261. OCDC Seed Grants assist cooperative development

    By: Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) Seed Grant program has wrapped up another successful year! The program, which enhances OCDC’s mission of improving rural economies through cooperative development, provides critical resources to new and emerging cooperatives for exploratory or expansion projects. New and emerging cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia can apply for a reimbursement, matching grant for feasibility and formation activities of groups exploring the cooperative model and for the implementation of expansion projects of already existing cooperatives. Applications are assessed by members of the OCDC advisory committee and OCDC personnel are available to provide assistance to the cooperatives as their plans progress. The program has supported numerous projects over the last five years, awarding grant funds totaling approximately $68,000. 
     
    New awards this year total approximately $22,000 to support 10 cooperative development projects throughout Ohio and West Virginia. Many of these projects are focused on the formation or expansion of local food cooperative businesses, including a farmers market, food hubs, and retail stores. Local food cooperatives directly contribute to development through job creation and business generation. They also serve a vital function of providing an outlet for agricultural producers to market products, often allowing these producers to realize economic benefits as well. Finally, these businesses create opportunities for community members to purchase locally-produced food, sometimes in areas with limited access to such products. 
     
    Seed grant projects funded this year include a membership loan and gift campaign to help generate financial resources for a new cooperative, a membership and financial campaign to support the expansion of an existing cooperative, work with legal and accounting professionals to develop articles of incorporation and service agreements, and the provision of marketing materials to help generate awareness of cooperatives in their community. 
     
    In addition, OCDC awarded a seed grant to the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition (WVFFC) for use toward legal work, workshops, and network-building aimed at informing others of cooperative statute updates in the state. 
     
    OCDC plans to continue the successful seed grant program in the upcoming year, which begins on October 1, 2015, contingent upon funding. New and emerging cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia that are interested in learning more about the program should contact Hannah Scott or Kimberly Roush at 740-289-2071 or at scott.1220@osu.edu or roush.143@osu.edu
     
    Funding for the OCDC seed grant program is made available through a Rural Cooperative Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency. 
     
  262. Change of Faces at the Ohio Cooperative Development Center

    By: Hannah Scott, OCDC Program Manager
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center at the OSU South Centers welcomed Hannah Scott as the program manager on January 26, 2015. 
     
    Hannah is from Georgetown, Ohio, where she and her family continue to farm.  Hannah earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University where she studied sociology, psychology and documentary studies. She was most recently a graduate associate in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources and is earning a Master of Science in Environment and Natural Resources with a specialization in rural sociology. 
     
    Christie Welch, prior program manager of OCDC, is now a Direct Marketing Specialist with OSU Extension based at the OSU South Centers. Christie’s new role will involve working with individuals, groups, and businesses interested in direct marketing their food and agriculture products.  She also continues her extensive work with developing farmers’ markets throughout Ohio. We thank Christie for all of her hard work with OCDC and wish her luck in her new role! 
     
    In other personnel changes, Dr. Tom Snyder recently retired from The Ohio State University South Centers after 8 years with OCDC and a career in public service exceeding 50 years!  Tom helped to develop many new and emerging cooperatives throughout Ohio and West Virginia and was instrumental in forging a successful partnership between OCDC and West Virginia University Extension. Tom was also a driving force behind the development of the Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network, which is focused on the cooperative development of local and regional food systems. We thank Tom for his great work and wish him well in his retirement! 
     
    OCDC Highlight: Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network
    Food hubs are enterprises that aggregate locally sourced food to meet wholesale, retail, institutional, and individual demand. The concept, and efforts to create food hubs in local communities, has gained a lot of interest in Ohio and West Virginia. The notion of producing more locally grown and processed food and creating new jobs and businesses is of interest to many communities. 
     
    The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers is leading an effort to work with new and emerging food hubs and incubator/training farms. The two-state Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network was formed in early 2014 and currently includes over twenty food hub efforts. The network is composed of food hub managers, directors, support partners and individuals working to form food hubs or incubator/training farms and is an effort to share information, develop linkages, and help these stakeholders gain tools for success to become active in institutional or wholesale food sales or distribution. Meetings of the network are focused on addressing the needs of these hubs and sharing information to help them overcome barriers. Meeting topics have included risk management, ensuring quality and safety of products, and available financial and technical resources. Members also participate in other related and network sponsored projects including special projects, participating in listserv emails, and in viewing webinars. 
  263. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center Recap

    By: Christie Welch, OCDC Program Manager and Brad Bergefurd, Horticulture Specialist and Extension Educator

    2014 was a year of growing cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia. The Ohio Cooperative Development Center (OCDC) at the OSU South Centers worked with new and emerging cooperatives related to local foods, farmers’ markets, the wood industry, and others to help improve the economic status of cooperative members. The clients that received technical assistance and training from OCDC in 2014 reported that they created 26 jobs, retained 34 jobs, invested $1.7 million in capital, and increased sales by $98,000. These new and emerging cooperatives are having positive economic impacts on their local communities. Following are some highlights from a few of these cooperatives.

    The Ohio Hop Growers Guild officially incorporated in 2014

    With the assistance of Brad Bergefurd, Horticultural Specialist at the OSU South Centers, Christie Welch and Tom Snyder of OCDC provided expertise and guidance to Ohio hop growers to determine the feasibility and lead the formation of the Ohio Hop Growers Guild (OHGG). OCDC provided technical assistance and information about the cooperative model for a group of hops producers looking to cooperatives to help grow the hops industry in Ohio. The group is working to plan for and meet the needs of the rapidly expanding Ohio craft brewing industry. The mission of the Ohio Hop Growers Guild is to unify, grow, educate, and protect the Ohio hops growing community; to increase sales of Ohio-grown hops through cooperative promotions, marketing, and increasing industry awareness; and to monitor and assure a sustainable hops industry within the state of Ohio. The Guild is committed to the following objectives:

    1) Advocating for Ohio-grown hops under an OHGG Seal of Quality, cooperatively marketing and promoting the OHGG brand to increase awareness of and demand for Ohio-grown hops.

    2) Improving product quality, grower efficiency and profits through education and collaboration.

    3) Leveraging combined purchasing power through voluntary joint-purchasing programs and access to resources.

    4) Representing the independent producers, which include both general members and the board of directors. The interim Board of Directors includes Dave and Nina Volkman of Ohio Valley Hops, Maineville, Ohio; TJ Merrill of Paradune Brewing Farm, Belle Center, Ohio; Joseph Pellegrino of Mankato Farms, New Carlisle, Ohio; and Brad Bergefurd, OSU South Centers Horticultural Specialist, an ex-officio director representing academia. The Guild will be presenting at the 2015 Ohio Hops Conference on future Guild opportunities.

    The Ohio and West Virginia Food Hub Network

    Many local communities want to significantly increase the production, processing, and marketing of locally-grown fresh food for their residents. However, to meet this growing demand, the production of locally-produced foods must increase. The question then becomes: How should we support the growing or expansion of growers and facilitate the local food-related value chain business expansions or start-ups in order to have major impact? To help address this need, Tom Snyder of OCDC worked with partners to form a food hub networking group. This group supports the development of growers and value chain businesses to meet the increasing demand for locally-produced foods.

    The Food Hub Network is:

    • Supporting regional food hub planning and executive boards/leaders

    • Providing and/or connecting individuals to the needed technical assistance

    • Developing and sharing grower training resources and business model templates

    • Providing regional, state, and national networking opportunities

     

    This food hub network group was formed in 2014. Participants include representatives of sixteen new and emerging food hubs and incubator farms, technical assistance providers, funding agencies, business development service centers, and educational institutions. The network’s goal is to develop successful food hub models that produce, process, and market significantly more locally grown and/or locally processed food while creating new businesses and jobs for local communities.

     

     

    Sharing Best Practices with Policy Makers

    In addition to assisting new and emerging cooperatives in Ohio and West Virginia, OCDC has been working with WVU College of Law to help research cooperative statues throughout the United States. The results of this research will be shared with policy makers in West Virginia to consider when looking to update the state’s statues on cooperatives. While the WV state legislature made some updates to the regulations in 2014, the types of groups that can choose the cooperative model are limited to agricultural based enterprises. Expanding the cooperative model to other industries would encourage the formation of additional cooperatives in West Virginia.

     

  264. SBDC at South Centers: Here to support you

    By Brad Bapst
    SBDC Director

    Whether your business is just a budding idea or has been around for a few days or a few decades, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers is ready to support you heading into 2022.   

    If 2020 was about the resolve and adaptability of the American small business owner, 2021 has been about the grit and determination to build back stronger than ever before. The economic recovery is well underway, and the SBDC remains ready to help prospective, new, and experienced business owners alike in the year ahead. 2022 is poised to be an exciting year, but it won’t be without its challenges.

    The OSU South Centers SBDC has spent 2021 helping businesses survive and thrive. Many businesses are struggling due to high input costs and shortages in both supplies and staffing. Other businesses in our region have shifted their structure and are thriving. Some have moved to online sales, limited brick and mortar hours, varied menus, and a shift in products or services. Entrepreneurs have also seen 2021 as a time to start new ventures in the region as our team assisted with the opening of 14 new businesses. 

    The SBDC team has been a constant force for these businesses with regular updates on COVID-related funding opportunities throughout the past year as well as assisting with increased marketing efforts and review of financials. Training events were held in the areas of starting your own business and online marketing. 

    2022 will bring a new face to the SBDC team at the OSU South Centers. Melanie Sherman is our newest Business Development Specialist, and she will be meeting with clients and expanding visibility in our eastern counties. We will also be expanding our virtual and in-person training events, as well as continue to work closely with the chambers of commerce and economic development offices throughout the region.

    Consider these tips when you are making your New Year’s business resolutions:
    1. Write out your business plan. As a soon-to-be or emerging small business owner, the proper business plan can help you conceptualize your vision. It can also prove to lenders and investors that you have a solid foundation for your ideas. Need help structuring your business plan? The SBDC can assist you and mentor you through the process.
    2. Explore your funding options. Figuring out how you are going to fund your business is often just as important as the concept behind the business itself. However, such a significant decision doesn’t have to be stressful. There are a variety of options for funding small businesses.  There are many popular options such as business loans from local banks and local economic development programs.  These are the most common forms of financing for small businesses in Southern Ohio.  The SBA also offers many options from microloans to 7(a) and 504 loans. The SBA works closely with lenders, reducing risk and streamlining access to capital. That, in turn, makes it easier for small business owners to get the loans they need. 
    3. Create a marketing strategy.  An effective marketing strategy will help get customers talking about your products or services. The SBDC offers business counseling services and training courses that are a great place to start. Topics covered include identifying target market, conducting market research, establishing a marketing plan, and the basics of social media marketing.
    4. Get a second opinion from an expert. Navigating the startup process in the recovering economy can be tricky. That is why a business mentor from the SBDC is so valuable.  The SBDC offers free business mentoring, counseling, and training — both remotely and in-person. Connect with your local SBDC resource partner today.

  265. Programs designed to assist small businesses have been reopened

    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 SBDC is monitoring the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and, with the information and guidance provided by the university, state, and federal government, is taking all necessary precautions to reduce the spread of the virus. 

    “The safety and well-being of our clients, training attendees and staff is of utmost importance to us.  We are continuing to offer one-on-one advising services with our clients in situations where meetings can be conducted safely,” said South Centers SBDC Director Brad Bapst. “We also continue to utilize telephone, e-mail, social media, and video conferencing to conduct counseling with clients. Our training events, however, continue to be conducted exclusively online. 

    Bapst added that the program’s top priority is to help businesses survive throughout this challenging time, and he and his team continue to provide information to businesses that might be applicable to their financial needs.  Recently, Congress extended access to some programs designed to help businesses financially survive the current economic crisis. Below are highlights of those programs. Please contact the SBDC if you have any additional questions concerning these programs or if you have other business needs.

    Paycheck Protection Program
    The U.S. Small Business Administration has recently reopened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for new borrowers and certain existing PPP borrowers as of the week of January 11, 2021. 
    These small business (< 500 employees) loans are designed to support payroll and certain other expenses. Loans are available for up to 2.5 times (and 3.5 times for restaurants) the average monthly payroll of a business during the year preceding the application, with a maximum loan of $10 million.

    If all employees are kept on payroll, SBA will forgive the portion of the loans used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities – for up to eight weeks after the loan is issued and up to 100% of the loan. 
    This round of the PPP continues to prioritize millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $284 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses through March 31, 2021, and by allowing certain existing PPP borrowers to apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan.

    Key PPP updates include:

    • PPP borrowers can set their PPP loan’s covered period to be any length between eight and 24 weeks to best meet their business needs.
    • PPP loans will cover additional expenses, including operations expenditures, property damage costs, supplier costs, and worker protection expenditures.
    • The program’s eligibility is expanded to include 501(c)(6)s, housing cooperatives, direct marketing organizations, among other types of organizations.
    • The PPP provides greater flexibility for seasonal employees.
    • Certain existing PPP borrowers can request to modify their First Draw PPP Loan amount.
    • Certain existing PPP borrowers are now eligible to apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan.
    • A borrower is generally eligible for a Second Draw PPP Loan if the borrower:
    • Previously received a First Draw PPP Loan and will or has used the full amount only for authorized uses.
    • Has no more than 300 employees.
    • Can demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020.
    • Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)

    The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the deadline to apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program for the COVID-19 pandemic disaster declaration is extended to December 31, 2021. 

    The deadline extension is part of the recent bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress and enacted by former President Trump on December 27.
     To date, the SBA has approved $197 billion in low-interest loans, which provide working capital funds to small businesses, nonprofits, and agricultural businesses to make it through this challenging time.
    EIDL loan applications will continue to be accepted through December 2021, pending the availability of funds. Loans are offered at very affordable terms, with a 3.75% interest rate for small businesses and 2.75% interest rate for nonprofit organizations, a 30-year maturity, and an automatic deferment of one year before monthly payments begin. 

    Every eligible small business and nonprofit are encouraged to apply to get the resources they need.
    For more information on SBA’s assistance to small businesses, visit www.sba.gov

  266. Summer means SOACDF Grant season for SBDC

    Brad Bapst
    SBDC Director

    With the summer months quickly passing by, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is busy serving the needs of clients in Southern Ohio.  
    One of the key services the center provides is assistance with applications to the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation (SOACDF) for the Ag Development Grant and the Young Farmer Grant programs. 

    This is a program where our SBDC counselors work closely with area farmers to write business plans for projects that will be submitted to the SOACDF for potential grant funding to assist with their project. Our counselors assist individuals in exploring, completing, and submitting applications for these programs. You can see details and deadlines about the program at soacdf.net.  Eligible parties must submit their completed application by August 31, 2019.

    This service aligns with the key services the SBDC provides to entrepreneurs in Southern Ohio.  The center continues to grow through its successes in assisting business 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.

    These services are provided free of charge with funding provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA).  A sample listing of the services offered is below.  Additional service offerings may be available through other business development programs located at the South Centers or through our wide network of regional partners. 
    Services Include:

    • One-on-One business counseling
    • Strategic business planning
    • Cash flow analysis
    • Financial projections development
    • Identifying sources of capital
    • Workshops and training programs
    • Marketing strategy development
    • Market feasibility and research
    • Business assessment evaluation
    • 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 bapst.4@osu.edu

  267. SBDC wraps up successful 2018 fiscal year

    Submitted by Brad Bapst
    SBDC Director

    The Ohio State University South Centers Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides business counseling and training to a 10-county region in Southern Ohio. Primary services the SBDC provides include business planning, financial packaging and lending, marketing assistance, and goods and services exporting to other countries. The Center utilizes a unified delivery model to incorporate resources from other programs affiliated with The Ohio State University South Centers, including the Ohio Cooperative Development Center, Direct Marketing, and OSU Extension programs to strengthen service offerings.

    SBDCs offer no-cost, one-on-one, long-term professional business advising, low-cost training, and other specialized services. The SBDC program is one of our nation’s largest small business assistance programs within the Federal government, made up of a unique mix of SBA Federal funds, state and local governments, and private sector resources.   SBDCs are often hosted by leading universities and state economic development agencies, and are funded in part through a partnership with the Small Business Administration.

    The Small Business Development Center at OSU South Centers had a very successful year providing business consulting to existing and start-up small businesses in Southern Ohio. During fiscal year 2018, the SBDC at OSU South Centers provided the following assistance:
    • Provided consulting to 334 clients, of which 229 received five or more hours of consulting
    • Assisted with starting 25 businesses
    • Helped clients obtain $10,214,900 in capital
    • Logged 4,323 consulting hours
    • Held 19 training events with 344 attendees
    • SBDC Clients created 106 new jobs and retained 532 jobs
    • Recorded $4,944,400 in general sales growth for clients 

    The staff at OSU South Centers SBDC continues to engage community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs of entrepreneurs in the region and develop solutions to combat any negative impact to the economy.  Counselors volunteered time to serve as board members on several chambers of commerce, on a regional board established to support economic development, and as members of advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems.

    The SBDC continues to work with the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation in assisting area farmers interested in applying for the Ag Development Grant and the Young Farmer Grant programs. This is a program where our SBDC counselors work closely with area farmers to write business plans for projects that will be submitted to SOACDF for potential grant funding to assist with their project. This year, we assisted 33 individuals explore, complete, and submit applications for these programs. You can see details and deadlines about the program at soacdf.net.

  268. SBDC Progress

    By: Brad Bapst, SBDC Director and Counselor

    The District 7 Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at The Ohio State University South Centers is an eight-person team including a Regional Director, six Certified Business Advisors® and an administrative program assistant. The District 7 SBDC Center also utilizes a unified delivery model to incorporate resources from other programming affiliated with the Ohio State University South Centers, including an International Trade Assistance Center, Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development Center, Ohio Cooperative Development Center, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and OSU Extension programs.

    Regional partnerships are the primary source of referrals for the District 7 SBDC. The South Centers maintains formal agreements with three local universities for regional economic development collaboration. The SBDC also utilized formal Memorandums of Understanding with the Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center, the district’s PTAC, and Pike County Community Action. These relationships help the region’s entrepreneurs, business owners and small manufacturers with technical assistance and training.

    The OSU South Centers SBDC Center also participated in multiple entrepreneurial focused events throughout the year such as: Aquaculture Boot Camp, Business Blog Talk, From Dream to Reality, and the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation tobacco diversification initiative.

    Aquaculture Boot Camp was a year-long training program serving the entire state of Ohio to develop new farmers and ranchers in the aquaculture industry. The program couples business planning and scientific technical assistance for the potential new aquaculture producers. The SBDC provided all-encompassing counseling to the business aspects of aquaculture operations.

    Business Blog Talk is a weekly podcast that incorporates business resources and highlights entrepreneurial successes in our region. Over 10,695 listeners have tuned in from around the globe. This is a unique and innovative approach to communicate with our clients and partners about the services available and to share success stories that help market the businesses of OSU South Centers clients.

    From Dream to Reality is a five-week course that meets twice a week and is designed to provide an opportunity to learn a variety of skills needed to own and operate a business. This course is offered two times per year through a partnership with the Pike County Community Action Agency.

    The SOACDF tobacco diversification initiative is an annual program for agribusiness and next generation farmers to diversify from tobacco production into another profitable agricultural venture.

    The OSU South Centers SBDC acted as a champion for the businesses in District 7, advocating on behalf of clients to help them attain their business goals. The counselors often assisted with open house planning, flyer development and new product launches for our clients. Assistance with press releases and advocating with local chambers and economic development organizations on the client’s behalf continues to be a common practice.

    The staff of the OSU South Centers SBDC continues to engage community organizations to maintain awareness of changing entrepreneurial needs in the region and develop solutions to combat any negative impact to the economy. Counselors volunteered time to serve as board members on several chambers of commerce, a regional board established to support economic development, and advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems.

     

    SBDC Achievements

    The SBDC won the top performing center in the Columbus SBA District and was nominated for the multi-state 2014 SBA Small Business Development Center Service Excellence and Innovation award by the State Lead Center located within the Ohio Development Services Agency. The center was notified that it won this six-state regional award in April and was recognized by the SBA at the 2014 Small Business Awards Dinner in Grove City, Ohio.

    In 2014 the OSU South Centers SBDC provided 4,509 one-on-one consulting hours to 378 clients. As a result, the clients started 25 new businesses, obtained $22,094,068 in loans and other capital, helped create 179 jobs and increased sales by nearly $20,387,492. The SBDC also provided 18 training sessions with 237 attendees. Training topics included general business management and growth principles, Microsoft Office products and social media outlets.

     

  269. SWBR receives research funding

    By Arif Rahman
    SWBR Scientist

    The Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program at OSU South Centers, along with Dr. John Lenhart, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering with The Ohio State University, have been funded to work on the development of Al-Fe/LDH intercalated activated carbon composite to control edge-of-field phosphorous and nitrogen loss.

    The project, funded through the CFAES Internal Grants Program (IGP), will focus on the development of a “Buckeye Composite” material, and evaluate its field performance in controlling the offsite movement of soluble reactive P (SRP), nitrate, and ammonium. This study will provide researchers with baseline and real-time data to understand the SRP and N adsorption mechanisms. In addition, it will aid the team in writing large-scale grants on the mitigation of the edge-of-field P and N loss responsible for algal blooms and water quality problems of Lake Erie.

    In addition, the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy team, along with Central State University, was awarded a $598,010 USDA capacity-building grant for a period of three years. The grant research will focus on the development of a holistic photocatalytic approach for controlling agriculturally-induced algal blooms and associated cyanotoxins in lakes and reservoirs. This project is aimed at the development of solar photocatalysts, based on charcoal composite and titanium, that are capable of reducing algal blooms and removing cyanotoxins from freshwater systems. Moreover, the team will mentor Central State University’s (CSU) institutional capacity building and advance the professional portfolios of faculty, staff, and students with research expertise to develop an economically viable and environmentally compatible water treatment system based on photocatalytic technology. 
     

  270. Islam participates in USDA FAS Borlaug Mentor Workshop

    By Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Rafiq Islam, Program Leader of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program at The Ohio State University South Centers recently attended the USDA-Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) Borlaug Mentor Focus Group Event at North Carolina State’s Centennial Campus on June 14 and 15.

    Twenty-five past and new Borlaug mentors from different universities in the United States, along with USDA-FAS administration, attended the two-day workshop event. Islam, who has mentored five USDA-FAS Borlaug fellows from Africa, India, and Ukraine over the years, delivered a PowerPoint presentation to share his learning, successes, and insight to improve the fellowship program for achieving sustainable and long-term partnerships for future mentors.

    The event was sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
     

  271. Kazak scholar visiting South Centers

    By Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Professor Yelikbayev Bakhytzhan, Department of Chemical Processes and Industrial Ecology, Satpayev University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, has joined the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources program at The Ohio State University South Centers as a visiting scholar. 

    Satbayev University is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious, technical universities in Kazakhstan. 

    For more than 80 years, the university has been synonymous with technological progress and leadership in Kazakhstan. As part of its transformation related to higher education in Kazakhstan, K.I. Satbayev University was assigned the “National Research University” category in 2014 that resulted in collaboration with outstanding scientists of the world. 
    The university cooperates with 174 leading higher educational institutions from 25 countries of the world including the United States, England, Germany, Italy, France, China, Korea, and Poland.

    Professor Bakhytzhan is a recipient of the Bolashaq fellowship from the Kazakhstan government. His academic teaching and research interest is focused on land reclamation and remediation, environment and soil quality, soil analysis, and soil and environment monitoring. 

    During his stay at The Ohio State University, he will focus on field analytical tools and lab equipment and analysis, especially sampling, processing, and advanced analytical methods of soil, water, and plant samples from long-term, no-till experiments from farmers’ fields. Moreover, he is interested in the OSU soil quality field test kit, carbon sequestration modeling, and soil health computations using different approaches. It is his strong desire to participate at The Ohio State University Annual Research Conference, field days, and other related workshops for his professional development and develop collaborative academic and research programs with The Ohio State University. 

  272. SWBR researchers present for International Association for Great Lakes Research

    By Arif Rahman
    SWBR Scientist

    The Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Research program team organized a technical session and participated in the State of Lake Erie Conference. Drs. Rafiq Islam and Arif Rahman moderated a session titled “Agricultural practice and water quality” as chair and co-chair, respectively. It was held March 16-17, 2022 in Cleveland and was sponsored by the International Association for Great Lakes Research. 

    The session focused on lake-specific research such as the management of algal blooms, and promoted education and research interactions among researchers and stakeholders. The main focal point was Cyanotoxin-producing algal blooms due to edge-of-field loss of reactive phosphorous (nitrogen), which is one of the critical water problems in Ohio and the entire the Midwest. 

    Islam delivered a research presentation titled “Performance of bio-based dipolar adsorbent to control edge-of-field phosphorus loss.” Rahman delivered a presentation on soil accumulation and edge-of-field loss of phosphorous to surface water under diverse agricultural management practices in Ohio. Participants from various U.S. states and from Canada attended the session.
     

  273. 2021 was a year of outreach, research, and collaboration

    By Drs. Rafiq Islam and Arif Rahman
    SWBR Program

    The Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources (SWBR) program at The Ohio State University South Centers focuses on developing, managing, and disseminating science-based knowledge on economically viable, environmentally compatible, and socially acceptable agricultural management practices to address climate change, water quality and management, and food quality and public health of the state of Ohio. 

    Extension Outreach Activities
    Visitors returned to South Centers for an August field night focused on aquaponics and hydroponics systems. The event was attended by 28 aquaponic and hydroponic growers, farmers, educators, students, and other clientele, and was sponsored via a USDA capacity-building grant with Central State University (CSU). Several presentations were delivered, and demonstrations were performed to showcase both aquaponics and hydroponics research by Rafiq Islam, Brad Bergefurd, Arif Rahman, Thom Harker, Krishnakumar Nedunuri (CSU), and guest speaker Jenni Blackburn, co-owner of the family-owned Fresh Harvest Farm in Richwood, Ohio. Attendees had the opportunity to tour the South Centers aquaponics research system. Topics covered were ones beneficial to both beginners and experienced aquaponics farmers, and included system selection and maintenance, plant and fish production, water quality, social media and marketing, and business success/finances.

    Several SWBR personnel attended at the 2021 Ohio No-Till Council annual meetings. Several presentations and discussions were held on micronutrients availability and crop yield sustainability, no-tillers approach and Federal Government, OSU-CFAES discoveries and lessons learned in no-till systems, ag technology (precision, automation, compaction, heavy vehicles, and their effects on soil health), and new technologies for plant protection. Rafiq Islam participated in a panel discussion on soil health, no-till, and cover crops associated with climate-smart agriculture. 

    The SWBR conducted an agro-tourism event to entertain 52 Ohio (Morrow county) Soil and Water Conservation District personnel when they visited South Centers in Piketon. During the visit, they were provided with evidence-based knowledge associated with applied research and education activities on aquaponics/hydroponics, climate-smart agriculture, soil health, food quality and public health, and agroecosystem services. Islam and Rahman delivered a virtual Extension presentation titled “Cover crops complement no-till soil quality and agroecosystem services” to the needs of the farmers, educators, and professionals at the Midwest Indigo Soil Health Meetings.

    Islam was actively involved internationally, participating in virtual presentations and teaching of farmers, students, educators, and professionals at different field days and meetings in Ukraine. He and Dr. Nataliia Didenko delivered an Extension presentation to 30 farmers and educators on potential opportunities and benefits of no-till farming. The event was held at a no-till farmer’s field in the Kherson region (Oblast) of southern Ukraine. Moreover, Islam participated virtually at the World Soil Day international conference “Transformations in Ukrainian Soils and Conservative Innovations,” organized by The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in December 2021. He and Dr. Didenko delivered a presentation titled “Regenerative agriculture to improve soil health and crop productivity in Ukraine” to the audience of more than 100 participants from Ukraine, Romania, Moldovia, Poland, and other east European countries. Moreover, he has participated at the International Symposium on Coastal Agriculture (ISCA Webinar): “Transforming coastal zone for sustainable food and income security” organized in virtually in March 2021. Islam delivered his invited talk titled “Nano-fertilization and chemical inducing to improve crop growth” to an audience of more than 300 participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to recommend short-rotation, high-value crops, especially vegetables that can be grown sustainability using nano fertilization, via foliar fertilization, soil application, or both, and drip irrigation or chemigation. Salicylic acid (aspirin as an economic and a widely available source) can be used to improve plants’ tolerance to abiotic (e.g., salinity) and biotic stresses, via seed treatment, foliar fertilization, root treatment (dipping into solution), soil applications, and drip irrigation or chemigation.

    In response to worldwide soil and water quality degradation by secondary salinity and its impact on agricultural sustainability and global food security, Islam participated at the Integrated Salinity Management (ISM2021) virtual workshop titled “Salicornia potentials; Forage production and value change in coastal area.”  He delivered a virtual presentation titled “Salicornia as a potential forage to reclaim salt-affected soils” to more than 100 audience participants of Middle-eastern and North African countries. His presentation focused on novel and holistic approaches with proactive and target-specific objectives for sustainable management of saline soils using Salicornia (halophytes) to support for food, forage, fiber, and bioenergy production with improved ecosystem services in the coastal agriculture.

    Research, Demonstration,and International Collaboration
    The SWBR program team submitted and received research grant funding from Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program (OVSFRP), Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), U.S. Embassy (Moscow) and American Councils for International Education (ACIE), and Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF-Global) and Ukrainian Ministry of Science and Technology to work on research, academic, and Extension programs.
    The SWBR program, in conjunction with the Specialty Crops program (Brad Bergefurd) received a seed grant from OVSFRP. The objective of the research was to evaluate the effects of different rates of conventional, chelated, and nano-Fe fertilization on the growth and yield with especial reference to food quality and public health benefits of processing tomatoes. Research focus was emphasized on public health aspects of essential nutrient density, anti-oxidants, and lycopene as influenced by climate-smart agriculture.
    A collaborative ODA Specialty Crop grant titled “Improving tomato yield and quality using nano fertilization with salicylic acid” was received by the SWBR program along with the Specialty Crops program (Brad Bergefurd), and OSU Athens Extension (Ed Brown). 

    Islam and Rahman, in collaboration with scientists and professors from the Institute of Water Quality and Land Reclamation, Kherson State Agrarian University, Dnipro State Agrarian University, and Kyiv, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, and Serney Agricultural Station in Ukraine, received a CRDF-Global US-Ukraine alternate energy research development grant proposal working on proactive recycling of biosolids to rejuvenate soil health of marginal and degraded lands for sustainable production of bioenergy feedstocks in Ukraine. The research was on-going at four different sites in Ukraine using biosolids (sewage sludge) as a source of soil amendment and fertilizer expected to improve vast areas of degraded and marginal lands in Ukraine for growing sweet sorghum to produce bioenergy (Ethanol). Sweet sorghum is a drought-tolerant C4 double sugar crop that has more sugar (20-23%) than sugarcane (~17%). After squeezing sugar, the bagasse will be biochemically processed for cellulosic sugars to produce Ethanol as a fuel and other forms of energy. After processing bagasse, the leftover materials will be treated and converted to produce activated charcoals or biochar as soil amendments or biopolymers for everyday-use consumables.
    The SWBR program also received a U.S.-Russian UniVIP Grant Program titled “Strengthening U.S.-Russian capacity building collaboration through joint-institutional teaching and research development” to develop, share, and exchange up-to-date information and proactive approaches for academic education and capacity-building among professionals between The Ohio State University (OSU) and University of Tyumen (UT), and equip the latter with knowledge and tools to strengthen and sustain programmatic development in these areas. Islam and Bradford Sherman are leading the project. 

    So far, the project collaboration delivered both learning and action outcomes based on layers of diverse, practical, and interpretative approaches, methods, and tools via academic courses, educational materials, virtual modes of teaching and learning, hands-on practice, demonstration, and assistance for faculty and students. Greater exposure, knowledge, awareness, skills, and virtual modes of teaching and learning of faculty members, administration, and students at UT and other Russian academicians on climate change effects, soil and environmental quality, research methodology, regenerative agriculture, food security, data analytics, and visualization. Increased motivation among faculty members and students at UT to upgrade and modernize academic courses and participate in academic research activities to fulfill the requirements of higher degrees and professional development. Motivated and enthusiastic administration at UT is currently working to strengthen their institutional capacity building by removing roadblocks and providing logistic support for conducting nationally-prioritized, mission-driven research studies via the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Improved understanding and active collaboration among faculty members at OSU and UT impacted OSU’s involvement in global academic and research leadership, including Russia.

    On-farm research was established to evaluate the effects of no-till and cover crops on soil health and its relationship with food quality and public health at Brandts Farm at Carroll, Fairfield County, Ohio. The study used a mixture consisting of hairy vetch (winter tolerant legume nitrogen for corn), clover (legume nitrogen for corn), cereal rye, and oats to build soil quality and provide balanced nutrition via cover crops to improve food quality.

    Tools and Technology
    Maintenance of soil health is important to sustain crop productivity. Likewise, building soil organic matter (or carbon sequestration) is important to improve soil health and address global food security. Considering the two issues of climate-smart agriculture, we developed and marketed two global licensed technology for farmers and other clientele, one on “OSU soil quality/health field test kit” and the other one on “Buckeye SOM Calculator” in conjunction with SoilOne Inc.

    Publications and Books
    Based on long-term research data collection, Extension activities, and work experience, SWBR program team members involved in collaborative applied and academic research with scientists, students, and professors from different countries proactively utilized their time to publish several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. There were 12 papers published in Land Reclamation Water Management; Applied Soil Ecology; PLOS ONE; Agronomy; Horticulturae; Water, Air, Soil Pollution;  Fresenius Environmental Bulletin; Soil and Tillage Research; Pedosphere; Soil Use and Management Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis; and Eurasian Journal Soil Science. Rahman wrote a book chapter titled “Extraction of valuable compounds from agricultural crop residues and wastes,” published by the American Chemical Society (ACS) in November 2021. 
     Recognition, Awards, and Services

    In 2020, the SWBR program was recognized with several awards and provided professional services in several areas. The program was listed on the OSU Laboratory Safety Dean’s List. The program was twice recognized by U.S. Congress for helping to develop and mentor young leadership in Africa via the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
    Islam is serving as one of the academic editors of the PLOS ONE journal. He is also serving as one of the editorial board members of the Journal of Botanical Research and Applications, American Journal of Plant Sciences, and Land Reclamation and Water Management. Islam also served as one of the technical review committee members of the National Research Council / National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine fellowships. 

    In 2020, Islam reviewed USDA-FAS, CRDF Global, OSU President’s accelerated and internal grants, Sustainability Institute proposals, USAID’s Middle East Regional Cooperation (MEAC) - Agriculture Panel, CEAES Annual Meeting Research presentations review, as well as Fulbright fellowship proposals (Egypt) and more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles. 
    Rahman reviewed proposals from the Ohio Academy of Sciences, USDA-Borlaug Prorgams, Ohio EPA, and CEAES Annual Meeting Research presentations, and articles from PLOS ONE. Program personnel were proactively involved in national and international academic, research, and outreach prorgams to improve institutional capacity building and professional development of faculty members, researchers, and students.  
     

  274. 2020 a busy year for SWBR

    Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    With our mission to develop and promote research, Extension, and educational programs for agricultural management practices that are environmentally compatible to sustain soil and water resources and are economically viable for producers and growers, the 2020 achievements of Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources (SWBR) program at The Ohio State University South Centers are summarized in the following sections.

    Cover Crops and Sustainable AgriculturePublications and books
    While the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected in-person academic, research, and Extension activities, the SWBR program team members proactively utilized their time working from home to publish a total 14 research articles in high-impact factored peer-reviewed SCI journals (impact factor 0.951 to 4.021 with a mean of 2.773), based on their national and international collaborations. The articles were published in Soil and Sediment Contamination, Agricultural Water Management, Annals of Agricultural and Biological Research, Agricultural and Environmental Letters, Journal of Plant Nutrition, Journal of Soils and Sediments, Journal of Botanical Research and Applications, Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, and Eurasian Journal of Soil Science.

    Dr. Rafiq Islam, who leads the SWBR program, wrote and/or edited the 18-chapter, 320-page book titled “Cover Crops and Sustainable Agriculture” along with Bradford Sherman. The book is set to be published by the CRC Press, part of the Taylor and Francis Group (routledge.com). While this book was not written to serve as an encyclopedia of cover crop management — it certainly comes close. 

    Inside we discuss the benefits of a wide range of individual cover crops and blends/mixes for specific agronomic crop rotations and geographic locations. Descriptions, photographs, and illustrations (including those of plant height, leaf architecture, and rooting patterns) demonstrate to readers how cover crops should look in the field. Long-term benefits are described for soil health, water quality, nutrient contributions, soil biodiversity, air quality, and climate change. In addition to the “whys” of cover crop use, this book also includes details on the “hows”: how to choose cover crops for specific applications and locations; how (and when) to plant; how to manage and maintain the cover for maximum benefit; and how (and when) to terminate. We hope this book will interest a broad audience including faculty members, students, farmers, agriculture researchers and educators, ecologists, economists, federal and state personnel, policy makers, and those who are looking for simple and illustrative information on sustainable agriculture.   

    Workshops, meetings, and symposiums 
    The SWBR program at South Centers organized a preconference workshop titled “Building Agricultural Resilience to a Changing Climate” along with Aaron Wilson (Byrd Polar & Climate Research Center; CFAES-OSU Extension/State Climate Office) and Alan Sundermeier (OSU Extension) at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) annual conference held in Dayton. Islam and Sundermeier also organized two more sessions at the OEFFA annual conference, one titled “Climate-Smart Organic Grains for Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, and Healthy People,” and another titled “Climate-Smart Organic Vegetables for Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, and Healthy People.” Islam delivered two presentations. 
    These two sessions focused on current and future global climate change effects, organic grain and vegetable production in Ohio and the United States, degradation of soil health and water quality, chemical inducing of plants to improve water and nutrient-use efficiency, and conservation agriculture to enhance ecosystem services associated with improved food quality, nutrients, amino acids, and phytochemicals to support public health. 

    Riti Chatterjee, a visiting scholar of the SWBR program delivered an in-depth presentation entitled “Indian Experience on Organic Farming” and was included in the Building Agricultural Resilience to a Changing Climate session. In it, she discussed India’s rich and diverse heritage of agricultural traditions that makes it suitable for designing organic production systems, and its investment in applied research, Extension, and marketing infrastructure. Riti also touched on the constraints farmers are facing with special reference to small vegetable farmers. 

    Islam was actively involved internationally, participating in virtual teaching for 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, 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. 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 healthy properties of organic crops can help provide great opportunities for small-scale, poor, and new farmers, and 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.

    Rafiq Islam participated virtually in the International Symposium on Food Security and the Stand of Civilization: Agri-Horti-Livestock Dynamics in Changing Global Ecology, jointly organized by Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, India; Lincoln University College, Malaysia; and University of Bengkulu, Indonesia. The more than 300 participants consisted of faculty members, scientists, professionals, and students, including personnel from several international organizations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other East Asian countries. Islam delivered a 45-minute keynote PowerPoint presentation titled “Climate-Smart Agricultural Renaissance and Global Food Security.” In his presentation, he spoke about conventional agricultural practices, population growth, climate change effects (including greenhouse gas emission, global warming, and solar dimming on freshwater resources), soil health and food production and quality, conservation tillage, cover crops, and precision chemigation with new technologies and chemical-inducing (to minimize drought and salinity impacts) as part of climate-smart agriculture. After the presentation, there was an interactive question and answer session to discuss sustainable agriculture, population growth, and climate change adaptation and mitigation with special reference to food security in Asia.

    One of the program’s PhD students, Shib Nath Pattadar, participated in the 2020 World Aquaculture Society America Conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii in February as part of his PhD research work. He delivered one oral and one poster presentation at the conference. The title of his oral presentation was “Is Fish Quality Healthier in Aquaponics?” and was delivered as part of the Aquaculture Engineering Society session of the conference. 

    The goal was to evaluate whether the fish produced in U.S. aquaponics systems are as healthy and nutritionally enriched as imported fish. He had an ample opportunity to meet with world-renowned aquaculture scientists and network with them as part of his professional development. 

    Jordan Maxwell, Research Assistant in the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program, also participated in the conference, delivering a pair of presentations. One poster presentation was titled “Aquaponic System Impacts on Lettuce Yield and Quality” and disseminated research findings of green leafy lettuce grown in a deep-water culture aquaponic system using Nile tilapia, and compared that data to a replicated hydroponics system. She gave an oral presentation titled “Building Educational Capacity Through Collaborative Aquaponics Extension Education,” an overview of The Ohio State University South Center’s history of collecting research data, demonstrating, and transferring unbiased research-based aquaponics knowledge to expand educational outreach capacity. 

    Research and extramural funding
    Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program scientists wrote, submitted, and received several research grant proposals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In continuation of research, the team submitted 12 proposals to Warner Endowment, OSU-IGP, Farmers Advocating for Organic (FAFO), OSU-IGP for Ph.D. students, NC-SARE R&E (One with OSU and the other one with Lincoln University, MO), USDA-AFRI, and OSU Sustainability Institute. The research proposals and pre-proposals were focused on edge-of-field soil and nutrient loss; adsorption tools development to control soluble phosphorus loss (SRP) to control algal blooms; sustainable quinoa production; aquaponics education; soil health restoration of pasture lands; alternate energy feedstock production, especially Miscanthus; sweet sorghum; popular graduate student exchange programs, academic teaching, and research capacity development; and advanced energy co-products utilization for aquaculture and horticulture to support circular economy. Some of the proposals have primarily focused on technological innovations. 

    Rafiq Islam was involved in writing and submitting several international research collaboration and science-based knowledge translation projects in several countries, notably Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. He wrote proposals with scientists and faculty members at Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU) for Kazakh Government and private industry funding to conduct research on: 1) restoration of soil health for sustainable pasture production and 2) development of a KazNAU-OSU graduate student and faculty exchange program. In conjunction with Dr. Didenko at the Institute of Water Quality and Land Reclamation, Kyiv, Ukraine, Islam wrote a CRDF Global US-Ukraine alternate energy research development grant proposal to establish field research for the proactive recycling of biosolids to rejuvenate soil health of marginal and degraded lands for sustainable production of Miscanthus, sweet sorghum, and poplar energy bio-feedstocks in Ukraine. 

    In addition, the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program joined with the Specialty Crops program at South Centers (Rafiq Islam, Arif Rahman, Bradford Sherman, and Gary Gao) to submit a project titled “Strengthening U.S. and Uzbek Scientific Capacity through Joint-Institutional Agricultural Teaching, Research, and Outreach Development” between OSU-Tashkent State Agrarian University with funding support from UniCen-American Councils for International Education and U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 

    Graduate students and visiting scholars
    The Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program supported and supervised two students, Natalia Zappernick and Shib Nath Pattadar, for pursuing their graduate studies at The Ohio State University with its collaborative USDA-Capacity Building with the Central State University. Zappernick is a graduate student in the Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department who completed MS degree in December 2020. Her research was focused on techno-economic analysis of a tilapia-lettuce aquaponics system, using data from both OSU and Central State University.

    Pattadar, a PhD student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, is currently pursuing his graduate research work on aquaponics and water quality at OSU South Centers at Piketon. The title of his PhD dissertation is “Moving toward sustainable food production: Aquaponics for healthy and nutritionally enriched fish and vegetable production.” The overreaching goal of the research is to determine whether the quality of tilapia fish produced in aquaponics operations are as healthy and nutritionally enriched as imported, conventionally raised fish available in the U.S. markets in terms of amino acids profiling, fatty acids composition, and mineral nutrition to support public health. He is pursuing his PhD dissertation under the supervision of Drs. Brian Slater (SENR) and Rafiq Islam (OSU South Centers).          

    Dr. Emmanuel Compaore, head of the Soil Chemistry Division of Environmental Institute for Agricultural Research - Burkina Faso (INERA), as a short-term visiting scholar visited the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program for his professional development. He is one of the leading soil scientists in Burkina Faso. 

    His professional development training was focused on conservation agriculture related to long-term, no-till cropping diversity with cover crops and soil amendments with agroecosystem services. Moreover, he received training on our sophisticated laboratory equipment and tools and vast resources of computing, statistical, and library facilities to improve his data analysis and interpretation capability. In return, we benefitted from his research experience and training, and cultural activities acquired in Burkina Faso.

    South Centers visiting scholar Riti Chatterjee, a PhD candidate at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in West Bengal, India, also studied with the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program for several months in 2020. She is working on conservation agriculture as one of the Senior Research Fellows at the Center for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-NAHEP, and World Bank-funded project. She is pursuing her doctoral research on estimation of ecological services in terms of energy, climate, and knowledge management. 

    As part of her ongoing PhD program on conservation agriculture, she received the World Bank fellowship for a period of six months to pursue her Extension outreach research at The Ohio State University under the supervision of Dr. Islam. She attended several meetings including Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference (CTTC) annual meetings and the Ohio Produce Growers & Marketers Association (OPGMA) annual conference in Ohio. 

    Recognition, awards, and services

    • In 2020, the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program was recognized with several awards and provided professional services in several areas.
    • One of the program scientists, Dr. Mohammed (Arif) Rahman, was awarded his second patent for his outstanding research work. 
    • The program was listed on the OSU Laboratory Safety Dean’s List.
    • Rafiq Islam is serving as one of the academic editors of the PLOS ONE journal. He is also serving as one of the editorial board members of the Journal of Botanical Research and Applications, American Journal of Plant Sciences, and Land Reclamation and Water Management. Islam also served as one of the technical review committee members of the National Research Council / National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine fellowships. 
    • In 2020, Islam reviewed USDA-FAS, CRDF Global, Ohio Academy of Sciences, and OSU internal grants, as well as Fulbright fellowship proposals and more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles.
  275. Soil and Water team publishes numerous manuscripts, applies for more grant funds

    By Dr. Mohammad (Arif) Rahman
    SWBR Scientist

    Soil, Water, and Bioenergy team members at The Ohio State University South Centers published 10, and submitted several other research manuscripts to internationally reputed, peer-reviewed journals through our national and international collaborations. Moreover, we have submitted several research grant proposals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
    One of the classical papers dealt with the assessment of heavy metals pollution of soil-water-vegetative ecosystems associated with artisanal gold mining, and was published in Soil and Sediment Contamination. This paper explores how food crops grown in artisanal gold mine areas in Southern Ghana contained mercury higher that the maximum permissible limits of WHO/FAO guidelines. In addition, how both well and stream water were contaminated with heavy metals and become unsuitable for drinking due to lead, cadmium and mercury toxicity. 

    Other recently published work included:
    Shedekar, V.S., King, K.W., Fausey, N.R., Islam, K.R., Soboyejo, A.B.O., Kalcic, M., L.C. Brown (2020) Exploring the effectiveness of drainage water management on water budgets and nitrate loss using three evaluation approaches. Agric. Water Manag. 243: 106501.
    Dutbayev, Y., Islam, R., M.J. Haus, and D. Brad (2020) Impact of Fusarium Infections on Dry Bean Stomatal Functions and Crop Physiology. Annals of Agri-Bio Res. 25: 270-274.
    Kuldybayev, N.M., Slyamova, A.Y., Islam, K.R., Tsygankov, V., and Dutbayev, Y.B. (2020) Clustering methods of important soybean physiological parameters and root rot indexes. UDC 519.237.8:581.1:633.853.52:581:144.2.
    Raut, Y., Vinayak Shedekar, K.R. Islam, Javier Gonzalez, Dexter Watts, Warren Dick, Dennis Flanagan, Norman Fausey, Marvin Batte, Randall Reeder, and Tara VanToai (2020) Soybean yield response to gypsum soil amendment, cover crop and rotation. Agric. Environ. Letters. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20020 
    Reda M. Y. Zewail, Heba S. El-Desoukey & K.R. Islam (2020) Chromium stress alleviation by salicylic acid in Malabar spinach (Basella alba), Journal of Plant Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/01904167.2020.1727504.
    Emmanuel, A., Emmanuel Arthur, KA, Frimpong, S.J, Parikh, and K.R. Islam (2020) Soil organic carbon storage and quality are impacted by corn cob biochar application on a tropical sandy loam. J Soils and Sediments. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-019-02547-5.
    Emanuel, A., Frimpong-Manso, J., Essumang, K.D., and K.R. Islam (2020) Weed control by glyphosate associated with maize production. J. Botanical Res. Appl. (Accepted for publication). 
    Emmanuel, A., M.A. Rahman, K.A. Nketia, R. Djouaka, N.O. Didenko, and K.R. Islam (2020) Impact of deforestation and subsequent land-use change on soil quality. Eurasian J. Soil Sci Accepted for publication). 
    There are two additional manuscripts that have been submitted to journals still under review.

    In continuation of research, the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy team submitted six (6) grant applications to Warner Endowment (received), OARDC-IGP, OSU-IGP for Ph.D. students, NC-SARE R&E (One with OSU and the other one with Lincoln University, MO), and Kazakh-US (Bolashak) programs, which are currently under review.  
     

  276. Thousands take part in virtual teaching on climate-smart agricultural renaissance and global food security

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Rafiq Islam, Program leader of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources at The Ohio State University South Centers, participated virtually in the International Symposium on Food Security and the Stand of Civilization: Agri-Horti-Livestock Dynamics in Changing Global Ecology, jointly organized by Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, India, Lincoln University College, Malaysia, and University of Bengkulu, Indonesia. 

    The approximate 3,014 participants consisted of faculty members, scientists, professionals, and students, including personnel from several international organizations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other East Asian countries. 

    Islam delivered a 45-minute keynote PowerPoint presentation entitled “Climate-Smart Agricultural Renaissance and Global Food Security.” In his presentation, he spoke about conventional agricultural practices, population growth, climate change effects (including greenhouse gas emission, global warming, and solar dimming on freshwater resources), soil health and food production and quality, conservation tillage, cover crops, and precision chemigation with new technologies and chemical-inducing (to minimize drought and salinity impacts) as part of climate-smart agriculture.

    After the presentation, there was an interactive question and answer session to discuss sustainable agriculture, population growth, and climate change adaptation and mitigation with special reference to food security in Asia. 

  277. Organic Production: An Indian experience at OEFFA Conference

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    South Centers visiting scholar Riti Chatterjee was one of the speakers invited to deliver a presentation at the 2020 Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) annual conference in Dayton on February 13, alongside Aaron Wilson, Rafiq Islam, Vinayak Shedekar, and Alan Sundermeier of The Ohio State University. 

    Her presentation topic was titled “Indian Experience on Organic Farming” and was included in the Building Agricultural Resilience to a Changing Climate session. In it, she discussed India’s rich and diverse heritage of agricultural traditions that makes it suitable for designing organic production systems, investment in applied research, Extension, and marketing infrastructure. 

    Chatterjee also touched on the constraints farmers are facing with special reference to small vegetable farmers. Lastly, she told a success story of an Indian organic farmer, elucidating how he is raising various types of vegetables on his 7-acre farm. 

    Additionally, she spoke about government assistance, management and cultural practices he follows at his farm, his online and direct marketing strategy for the produce, labor engagement, etc. In response to questions from the audience, she elaborated how Sikkim, an Indian state, became fully organic.

    Chatterjee, a PhD candidate at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in West Bengal, India, is working on conservation agriculture as one of the Senior Research Fellows at the Center for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-NAHEP, and World Bank-funded project. She is pursuing her doctoral research on estimation of ecological services in terms of energy, climate, and knowledge management: the dynamics of social ecology of conservation agriculture. 

    She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural sciences from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya. In her MS degree program under the supervision of Professor S.K. Acharya, she focused on the health and ecological dynamics of farmwomen. Hers was named best master’s thesis jointly by Banaras Hindu University and RASSA. So far, she has published seven peer-reviewed research articles in national and international journals and co-authored book chapters.

    As part of her on-going PhD program on conservation agriculture, she received the World Bank fellowship for a period of six months to pursue her Extension outreach research at The Ohio State University. Currently, she is working as a visiting scholar in the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program at The Ohio State University South Centers at Piketon under the supervision of Dr. Rafiq Islam.

    Chatterjeee can be reached at ritichatterjee2015@gmail.com.

  278. Maxwell delivers collaborative research talk in Hawaii

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Jordan Maxwell, one of the researchers in the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program at The Ohio State University South Centers, participated in the 2020 World Aquaculture Society America Conference held February 10-12 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

    She delivered a pair of presentations at the conference. One poster presentation was titled “Aquaponic System Impacts on Lettuce Yield and Quality” and disseminated our research findings of green leafy lettuce grown in a deep water culture aquaponic system using Nile tilapia and compared that data to a replicated hydroponics system. 

    Our results indicated the lettuce production and quality was significantly higher in the aquaponic system compared to the traditional hydroponic system. 

    She also gave an oral presentation titled “Building Educational Capacity Through Collaborative Aquaponics Extension Education,” an overview of the Ohio State University South Center’s history of collecting research data, demonstrating, and transferring unbiased research-based aquaponics knowledge to expand educational outreach capacity. 

    Additionally, her collaborative research was part of a presentation delivered by Shib Pattadar, “Is Fish Quality Healthier in Aquaponics?” which was presented as part of the Aquaculture Engineering Society session. The goal was to evaluate whether the fish produced in U.S. aquaponics systems are as healthy and nutritionally enriched as imported fish. 

  279. PhD pursuit takes Pattadar to Hawaii 

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Shib Nath Pattadar participated in the 2020 World Aquaculture Society America Conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii in February as part of his PhD research work. As one of the authors, he delivered one oral and one poster presentation at the conference. 

    Pattadar is a PhD student of School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University and is currently pursuing his graduate research work on aquaponics and water quality, funded by a USDA capacity-building collaborative project of the Ohio State University South Centers at Piketon and Central State University.

    The title of his oral presentation was “Is Fish Quality Healthier in Aquaponics?” and was delivered as part of the Aquaculture Engineering Society session of the conference. The overreaching goal of the research was to determine whether the quality of tilapia fish produced in our aquaponics operations are as healthy and nutritionally enriched as imported, conventionally raised fish available in the U.S. markets in terms of amino acids profiling, fatty acids composition, and mineral nutrition to support public health. He had an ample opportunity to meet with world-renowned aquaculture scientists and network with them as part of his professional development.

    He received his undergraduate degree in fisheries and aquaculture from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh and his MS degree in nematology from Ghent University in Belgium. 

    Before joining The Ohio State University as a graduate student, he was employed as a faculty member in the Department of Aquaculture at Patuakhali Science and Technology University in Bangladesh. 
    Currently, he is pursuing his PhD dissertation under the supervision of Drs. Brian Slater (SENR) and Rafiq Islam (OSU South Centers).

  280. OSU’s science-based knowledge translation to Republic of Kazakhstan

    By Dr. M.A. Rahman
    Post Doc Researcher, South Centers

    Dr. Rafiq Islam, program leader for the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources at The Ohio State University South Centers, was invited on behalf of the Kazakh National Agrarian University to participate in the 4th International AgTech Summit, held December 6 at the main campus of the Kazak National Agrarian University in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan. 

    AgTech Summit covered a wide range of topics that related to the development of agricultural science, education, and business and brought leading scientists and experts together with representatives of business and government authorities from the Republic of Kazakhstan and other countries.

    Dr. Islam’s applied research and Extension outreach interests aligned well with the objectives of the summit. He delivered a presentation titled 21st Century Climate Smart Agriculture in Relation to Kazakhstan at the plenary session of the opening day of summit. He also delivered another presentation titled Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, and Healthy People at the sustainable agriculture session.  

    This collaboration between The Ohio State University and Kazakh National Agrarian University was established via a research project (Strengthening U.S. and Kazakh Scientific Capacity through Joint-Institutional Agricultural Teaching, Research, and Outreach Development) by Islam and others, and funded by American Councils for International Education and U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.

  281. From Burkina Faso to Piketon: Dr. Compaore collaborates with soil/water program

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Dr. Emmanuel Compaore, Head of the Soil Chemistry Division of INERA, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, recently studied at The Ohio State University as a short-term visiting scholar for one month with the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program. 

    He is one of the leading soil scientists in Burkina Faso. His professional development training was focused on conservation agriculture related to long-term, no-till cropping diversity with cover crops and soil amendments with agroecosystem services. 

    Moreover, he received training on our sophisticated laboratory equipment and tools, and vast resources of computing, statistical, and library facilities to improve his data analysis and interpretation capability. 
    In return, we benefitted from his research experience and training, and cultural activities acquired in Burkina Faso.

  282. 15 Years, 15 Minutes: South Centers scientist Islam recognized by University for soil test kit commercialization

    By Bradford Sherman
    South Centers/CFAES

    For Dr. Khandakar (Rafiq) Islam, it was a experiment 15 years in the making, and the result was 15 minutes in the taking.

    Fifteen years ago, Islam began developing a soil test kit that was affordable, and so convenient and simple to use that any landowner could use it to make informed decisions concerning soil health and the potential for agricultural productivity — all within just 15 minutes.

    Rafiq Islam“Farmers would come to me and say, ‘Rafiq, can you make something that we can use in the field and 10-to-15 minutes later, we can know the quality of the soil?’” Islam recalled, when asked about his inspiration for developing the test kit. Fast forward to today and now an estimated 1,000 kits have been sold, and been utilized by farmers, scientists, and scholars all around the world. 

    The Ohio State University South Centers scientist, who leads the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program in Piketon, was awarded a patent for the technology earlier this year. For achieving this key commercialization milestone, Islam is among the faculty members recently recognized for their innovations by The Ohio State University.

    “Discovery is at the core of our academic mission at Ohio State and we have a deep appreciation for the meaningful work you do to drive innovation and better society,” Kevin Taylor, Associate Vice President of Technology Commercialization within the university’s Corporate Engagement Office, penned in a letter to Islam and his fellow innovation award recipients. “You discover life-changing technologies … and pursue knowledge to solve real-world problems and create new opportunities for our communities.”

    The signature feature of this soil test kit is convenience. Unlike many other methods, it can be used in the field and data can be had in as little as 15 minutes. The results are also color-coded for ease of interpreting the results.

    “It is non-toxic as well, it only uses one chemical,” explained Islam. “It is reliable and convenient to use in the field; and very fast, in 15 minutes you are done.”

    In addition to its domestic success and utilization, the test kit has also been used abroad as part of Islam’s extensive studies in Africa, Asia and Europe. Much of his attention has been focused in the eastern European country of Ukraine, where he has distributed many of these test kits to local farmers. Islam says access to technology like that included in his test kit is extremely important for the nation of Ukraine and its people.

    “They do not have the facilities, so they cannot perform routine soil tests like we do in the United States,” Islam said. “They care about land, but do not know how to manage it. They do not regularly have access to diagnostic information.”

    Ukraine is an important country as it pertains to helping achieve global food security in the face of the growing world population. While the nation exported 280 million tons of food last year, according to Islam, they have the capacity to export more than 500 million tons.

    “Ukraine had some of the best soil in the world, but now most of their soil has degraded because of the Soviet style,” he added. “They are interested in improving their soil quality so they can revitalize the soil, and produce more food and export.”

    This one-step basic field test kit contains enough reagent and testing supplies for approximately 15 field soil tests. The kit consists of a heavy-duty case containing 30 ml of reagent, water resistant instruction sheet and color chart, glass-mixing bottle, 5-gram measuring scoop, four black plastic soil trays, a stainless steel spatula, and 2 ml backup dropper.

    A professional version of the kit is also available and is designed to be more heavy duty with an upgraded case and upgraded pipettor system for quicker and more precise reagent dispensing. It also contains enough reagent and testing supplies for approximately 45 tests.

    The soil test kit is now available to purchase starting at $45 for the basic kit, and $95 for the professional version. You can visit soil1.com to find out more, or purchase a kit.

  283. Dr. Moh Joins South Centers

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Dr. Mohammad A. Rahman (Moh) has joined the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources team at The Ohio State University South Centers as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate.

    Prior to coming to OSU, Dr. Moh was a Research Associate conducting research and teaching undergraduate chemistry at New York state’s Clarkson University. He is an expert of sophisticated analytical chemistry instruments such as GC, GC-MS, LC, LC-MS, ICP-AES, ICP-MS, TOC/TON analyzer, FTIR, etc. 

    He has an extensive background in analytical chemistry, especially for soil, water, air, plant, food, and environmental sample analysis, monitoring, and remediation technology development, and diver equipment operations. 

    He has been involved in work with several EPA-funded research projects for PFAS analysis in fish samples from Great Lakes, remediation of carcinogenic compounds from cigarette smoke to analyze the reactive oxygenated substances (ROS), toxic metals, and short chain aldehydes from mainstream cigarette smoke. He also worked with the development of a remediation technology for carbon monoxide off gassing from wood pellets. 

    Moh earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.  He was awarded the Japanese Government’s prestigious ‘Monbukagakusho’ fellowship to pursue for his PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry from Mie University in Japan. He was one of the faculty members actively involved in teaching and research in the Department of Chemistry at Dhaka University in Bangladesh. 

    So far, he has published more than 67 peer-reviewed articles in national and international high-impact journals with two patent licensing in hand.
     

  284. Kazak researcher receives short-term training on sustainable agriculture

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Nurlan Kuldybayev, a PhD candidate from the Plant Protection Department of the Kazak National Agrarian University (Almaty, Kazakhstan), recently visited the United States as a short-term visiting scholar with the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program at The Ohio State University South Centers.

    His 8-week advanced training program ran from August 1 through September 30, 2019 for his professional development on soil health, soil-borne disease and biocontrol, conservation tillage, cropping diversity with multifunctional cover crops, data management/visualization, and manuscript writing. 

    Nurlan was actively involved in lab and field research, and learned new techniques to collect, process, and analyze soil, water, air, and plants associated with enhanced ecosystem services. He attended several professional meetings, workshops, and field days. 

    His short-term training was supported by the American Councils for International Education (ACIE) under a grant project entitled ”Strengthening U.S. and Kazakh Scientific Capacity Through Joint-Institutional Agricultural Teaching, Research, and Outreach Development.” 

    Rafiq Islam was the principal investigator of the project along with team members Professor Renukaradhya Gourapura from Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, and Beau Ingle, Program Manager, Office of International Programs, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. 

    The Kazakh investigators in the project were Dr. Yerlan Dutbayev, a professor in the Department of Plant Protection; Dr. Saule Yessengaziyeva, head of the Department of Management and Organization of Agribusiness’ and Dr. Tulemisova Zhanar, head of the Department and Professor of Biological Safety, Kazakh National Agrarian University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
     

  285. OSU, ACIE support Academic, Research, and Extension programs abroad

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources  
     
    A three-member delegation from The Ohio State University’s College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), including Dr. Rafiq Islam from OSU South Centers, Professor Renukaradhya Gourapura from Food Animal Health Research Program, and Beau Ingle from the International Program in Agriculture (IPA), visited Kazak National Agrarian University (KNAU) Almaty, Kazakhstan, as part of the grant from the American Councils of International Education (ACIE). 

    The purpose of the visit was to help develop academic, research, and Extension programs to improve the KNAU faculty members’ and scientists’ professional capacity. The delegation was led by Ingle. 

    As part of the program, the delegation met with the KNAU administration, faculty members, scientists, and students. Dr. Islam and Professor Gourapura both delivered two presentations to faculty members and students. 

    Dr. Islam delivered his first presentation on current research and Extension activities of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program at the OSU South Centers followed by another presentation entitled “Climate-smart Agriculture for Kazakhstan.” Moreover, Dr. Islam delivered a professional presentation entitled “Sustainable Agriculture” at the international conference held at the Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine in Almaty.

    Likewise, Prof. Gourapura delivered a presentation on innovative vaccines for veterinary use and using a pig model for universal flu vaccine studies. In addition, Prof. Gourapura visited the Central Reference Laboratory of Kazakhstan located in Almaty. It is a branch of the National Biotechnology Center (Ministry Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and delivered a seminar on vaccines against bioterrorism agents and biosafety procedures, and interacted with scientists working in a biosafety level 3 laboratory, which was built by the U.S. Department of Defense.

    Dr. Islam also conducted a day-long brain-storming and grant writing workshop for the agriculture faculty members, scientists, researchers, and PhD students. The grant writing workshop initially covered a brain-storming session to identify the important current and existing agricultural, environmental, and animal science research problems in Kazakhstan, followed by in-depth discussion on team-building procedures. The grant proposal session included discussion on Request for Proposal (RFP), budget and budget justification, rationale, goal/objectives, methodology, outcomes/outputs, data management, Extension outreach, project evaluation, and title and abstract. 

    The workshop was well attended and accepted by the participants of the university. With an active support from the ACIE and KNAU, Dr. Islam and Professor Gourapura developed a sandwich program to train two short-term scholars from the KNAU to work on climate-smart agriculture and the evaluation of immune correlates using modern immunological tools at OSU South Centers at Piketon and the Food Animal Health Research Program.

  286. Visiting scholar Kateryna Chorna, of Ukraine, joins Soil and Water Program

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Kateryna Chorna, of Ukraine, has recently joined the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program as a short-term exchange scholar for a two-month period at The Ohio State University South Centers. 

    In 2016, the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation and The Ohio State University signed a memorandum of understanding and are partnering together on a Civilian Research Defense Foundation (CRDF) project. CRDF Global, Ukrainian Ministry of Education, and The Ohio State University funded her fellowship under a grant program entitled “Impact of sustainable agricultural management practices on soil quality and crop productivity.” 

    During her fellowship period, she will be involved in applied research activities and Extension activities associated with climate-smart agriculture, as well as working with modern laboratory equipment and learning analytical techniques. She will also be trained on writing peer-reviewed articles, grant proposal, factsheets, and news articles as part of her professional development. 

    Chorna was born in Crimea in the then-Soviet Union. She graduated from the National Academy of Nature Protection and Resort Construction, Department of Water Resources and Energy in Simferopol, Crimea in the then-Ukraine. In 2011, she received a specialist diploma as an Expert of Science in Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation. From July 2011 through December 2013, she was employed as the lead engineer on Metrology in the Salgir Water Management Department in Simferopol. She was responsible for the management and accounting of water used for irrigation, water supply to urban areas and power plants, preparation of technical passports, certification of gauging stations, calibration of water-use recording devices, and leveling of undulating landscapes.
    She is currently employed as one of the researchers in the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation under the Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv since December 2013.

    Chorna is assigned to work in the Department of Sustainable Use and Development of the Reclaimed Areas especially in the areas of climate data, organizational condition of land use, projected and actual irrigated areas, water-supply volumes, producing maps using remote sensing, and ancillary data to determine and evaluate relationship between meteorological parameters and crop-growing potentials in Ukraine.  

  287. Islam delivers seminars, conducts grant writing workshop in Kyiv, Ukraine

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Dr. Rafiq Islam, the Director of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program at OSU South Centers, recently visited Ukraine as part of the CRDF Global – Ukrainian Ministry of Education-funded US-Ukraine research project to meet and guide field researchers at the Askaniya State Agricultural Experimental Station, Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Ukraine. 

    This is the second phase of the experiment that needs to include summer cover crops after winter wheat harvest, followed by the planting of corn and sunflowers in the spring 2020. Moreover, he was actively involved in interviewing and selecting another short-term scholar from the Askaniya State Agricultural Experimental Station, Institute of Irrigated Agriculture.

    As part of the CRDF project goal, Dr. Islam disseminated information to the collaborative partners, discussed further research and grant collaboration, delivered seminars for students and faculty members, and organized a professional development on grant writing workshop during his visit to Ukraine. He delivered a classroom presentation entitled “Climate-Smart Agriculture for Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, Healthy People” to the undergraduate and graduate students at Kherson State Agrarian University, Kherson. Dr. Sergey Lavrenko, who previously worked with Dr. Islam at the OSU South Centers, was very helpful to translate and explain the presentation in Ukrainian to the students.

    Dr. Islam delivered a two-hour presentation entitled “Brain Storming and Successful Grant Writing” to the faculty members of the Kherson State Agrarian University, which was followed by an interactive question and answer session. Moreover, he conducted a day-long grant writing workshop to the faculty members, scientists, and researchers of the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation in Kyiv. The grant writing workshop covered most of the aspects of research proposals including budget and budget justification, introduction/rationale, hypothesis, goal and specific objectives, methods and materials, methodology and procedures, experimental design/analysis, outcomes/outputs, data management, Extension outreach, project evaluation, etc. The workshop was well attended and accepted by the participants and the administration of the institute. 

  288. Ukrainian professors, scientists visit OSU for applied research and Extension collaboration

    Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources   

    A seven-member delegation from Ukraine including Drs. Nataliia Didenko (PI/Senior Researcher), Rushena Kupiedinova (Co-PI/Senior Researcher), Mykhailo Romashchenko, Co-PI/ Director), and Olga Zhovtonog, (Co-PI/Chief, Dept. of Irrigation Land Use), Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Kyiv, Ukraine; Drs. Rayisa Vozhehova (Co-PI/Director) and Anastasiia Maliarchuk (Co-PI/Senior Researcher), Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Kherson, Ukraine; and Vira Konovalova (Co-PI/Junior Scientist), Askaniya State Agricultural Experimental Station, Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Ukraine visited The Ohio State University (OSU) from April 15 to 25, 2019 under the Civilian Research Defense Foundation (CRDF) and Ukraine Ministry of Education sponsored US-Ukraine Competitive Grant Program. Dr. Rafiq Islam is the United States counterpart of the project and hosted the visitors. 

    The delegation members visited The Ohio State University International Program in Agriculture (OSU-IPA), its Director and Professor Mark Erbaugh, and other staff members to learn about land grant mission of The Ohio State University. They signed a memorandum of understanding for future applied research and Extension collaboration to improve the professional development of Ukrainian scientists. The delegation met Professor Scott Shearer, who heads the Food, Agriculture, and Biological Engineering Department, to learn about teaching, research, and Extension collaboration with precision agriculture.

    As part of their program, they visited Brandt’s Farm in Carroll, Fairfield County, to learn more about sustainable agriculture, especially continuous no-till, cover crops, and cropping diversity to improve soil health and quality, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and physical stability of soil. They were keen to learn how these practices can be applied to predict and calculate soil hydraulic properties, in the modification irrigation requirements, and for scheduling for major agronomic crops under irrigation in southern Ukraine. 

    They were amazed to see how cover crops covered the grounds during the winter months, control runoff after snowmelts, and can create and recycle N and other nutrients for economic crop growth with reduced chemical inputs. They also visited the Fayette Country Extension Office to learn how Extension offices and various programs in Ohio work to reach clientele. While in Fayette Country, they toured field research and demonstration plots and soil compaction studies underway at the county farm.

    In the final part of the program, they visited OSU South Centers at Piketon and met scientists in order to acquire knowledge about how a regional campus or research station works to develop science-based knowledge and disseminate information to clientele. The delegation visited the South Centers’ aquaculture, specialty crops, and soil and water resources laboratory facilities, including current aquaponic and hydroponic research systems with a great interest to develop similar lab services and systems in Ukraine. A wagon-tour was provided to the delegation to show the on-going field research activities, including berries and other specialty crops, vegetables, a second generation fertigation system (Mitsui iCast System), and long-term no-till and cropping diversity with multi-functional cover crops experiments. Rafiq Islam, Gary Gao, Brad Bergefurd, Hanping Wang, Wayne Lewis, Ryan Slaughter, Jordan Maxwell, and Tom Harker facilitated the lab, greenhouse, and field research activities. 

  289. Meet our new Visiting Scholar from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Du Jiaxing (Jacky)

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Du Jiaxing (Jacky), a new short-term exchange scholar (2-months) from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) from the Heilongjiang (Jiamusi branch) has recently joined the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program at The Ohio State University South Centers. 

    Jacky is a researcher at the Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute of the CAAS-Jiamusi, having worked on no-till equipment since 2015. He is also a graduate student pursuing his Ph.D. degree. 

    Under the supervision of Dr. Rafiq Islam and Wayne Lewis, he will be working on no-till equipment, cover crop planting, and other features of climate-smart agriculture.

  290. 2019 CTC Annual Conference: Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, & Healthy People

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    SWBR Program Leader

    Figure 1Healthy soil is the foundation of climate-smart (sustainable) agriculture. 

    Rafiq Islam, the director of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program at The Ohio State University South Centers delivered an in-depth research presentation titled  “Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, Healthy People” at the Cover Crops, No-Till, and Soil Health session of the Conservation Tillage and Technology Annual Conference (CTTC) at Ohio Northern University in Ada on Tuesday, March 5. 

    In his presentation, Islam discussed how climate-smart agriculture, based on novel and holistic approaches of continuous no-till, cropping diversity with multi-species cover crops or blends, precision chemigation, soil amendments and chemical inducers, helps to improve soil quality and health to provide healthy and nutritious foods in the support of public health. 

    Using long-term experimental data, Islam showed that healthy soils produce foods enriched and balanced with diverse amino acids and protein contents. Moreover, food grains produced on healthy soils are fortified with both macro- and micronutrients (higher nutrient density) especially nitrogen, protein, calcium, sulfur, iron, zinc, and others. Foods enriched and fortified with optimum and balanced concentrations of diverse amino acids and nutrients are expected to improve food quality to support better public health.

  291. Climate-Smart Agriculture

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water, & Bioenergy Program Leader

    The overall goal of the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy program at The Ohio State University South Centers is to develop and manage economically viable, environmentally compatible, and socially acceptable climate-smart agriculture. We believe agriculture is an integral component of the solution, and not the problem. 

    To achieve the goal, the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program targets local, state-wide, and national farmers (youth and future farmers); agro-business and industry representatives; administrative and elected officials; civic, environmental, and non-profit groups; faculty, research staffs, and educators; state and federal agencies; mass communications and technology; international collaborators and institutions; and sister programs at The Ohio State University.

    Applied Research and Demonstration
    1. USDA Land Grant Institution Capacity Building Project on Aquaponics - Role of Water Quality and Soil Health in Sustainable Food Production on Urban Landscapes. 
    In this project, The Ohio State University (OSU) and Central State University (CSU) engaged in a collaborative partnership to address the challenge of optimizing water quality and quantity to maximize economically viable fish and vegetable production in aquaponics. The scientists and students at both institutes are investigating (via academic research, Extension, and outreach) whether aquaponics can be combined with water conservation and storm-water management for converting abandoned food deserts into sustainable green environments where communities can thrive again. 
    2018 was the first experimental year of the project. Dr. Rafiq Islam, Brad Bergefurd, and Matthew Smith are serving as the principal investigators of the project for a period of three years (2018-2021). 

    2. Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Japan) funded a project entitled “Evaluation of Mitsui Chemicals iCAST Crop Cultivation System in Specialty Crop Production.”
    We are currently researching to evaluate the performance of 21st Century fertigation (iCAST technology) based on holistic and novel approaches with respect to state-of-the-art climate-smart fertigation techniques (high water and nutrient-use efficiency) to grow agronomic crops (corn and soybeans) in desert and arid conditions under rain-fed and protective culture systems. 
    Results showed that iCAST Technology is 50–60% more efficient in water and nutrient uses than highly efficient current drip systems.
    2018 was the third experimental year of the project. Dr. Rafiq Islam and Brad Bergefurd are serving as the principal investigators of the project for a period of four years (2016-2019). 

    3. Civilian Research Defense Foundation (CRDF) US-Ukraine Competitive Research program funded a project entitled “Impact of Sustainable Agricultural Management Practices on Soil Quality and Crop Productivity.” 
    The goal of the research project is to develop suitable management practices based on novel and holistic approaches of cropping diversity with a plant stress alleviator (aspirin) under continuous no-till to help improve soil health, water- and nutrient-use efficiency, and economic crop productivity with enhanced agroecosystem services. A long-term collaborative research study by US-Ukrainian scientists was established on irrigated lands in the Southern (Kherson) Ukraine and at OSU South Centers. 
    First year results showed that aspirin significantly increased soybean yield by 14% and improved the nutritional quality of grains. Protein content and nutrient density have increased in response to aspirin application. An international workshop and field day was held to demonstrate the experimental fields and disseminate the results to more than 150 participants including farmers, scientists, students, and policy makers in Ukraine. Drs. Rafiq Islam and Tom Worley, and Alan Sundermeier, from The Ohio State University delivered several presentations. Details on the project events can be obtained from youtube.com/watch?v=86wI4fsDfLM.
    2018 was the first experimental year of the project. Dr. Rafiq Islam is serving as the U.S. principal investigator of the project for a period of two years (2018-2019). 

    4. USDA NCR-SARE Partnership grant program funded a project entitled “Making Sense of Soil Health Reports – A partnership to develop recommendations for soil health testing and interpretation.” 
    Maintaining a healthy and productive soil is the foundation of sustainable agriculture. However, a majority of producers are not clearly informed about the importance of managing soil health. Soil health tests based on different approaches, indicators, tools, and scales offered by several university and private commercial labs often provide conflicting and confusing test results without any realistic interpretations or management recommendations. 
    The goal of this current research project is to develop a set of simple, common, widely applicable, consistent soil biological, chemical, and physical health measurements. This will allow lab technicians, scientists, and farmers the ability to compare these measurements with standard tests, scores, and ranks, and track over time in response to management practices. Currently, we are collecting composite soil samples from long-term experiments and farmer’s fields in Ohio, and analyzing them in different labs to select core indicators of soil health.
    2018 was the first experimental year of the project. Alan Sundermeier, Vinayak Shedekar, and Dr. Rafiq Islam are serving as the principal investigators of the project for a period of two years (2018-2019). 

    5. American Councils for International Education funded a project entitled “Strengthening U.S. and Kazakh Scientific Capacity Through Joint-Institutional Agricultural Teaching, Research, and Outreach Development.” 
    The goal of this project is to share and exchange the most up-to-date approaches for academic education, applied research, and outreach capacity building between professionals at The Ohio State University and Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU), and to equip the latter with science-based knowledge and tools to strengthen and sustain programmatic development in these areas. 
    To achieve our project goal with these specific objectives, the following activities will be performed during a one-week visit by the OSU team to KazNAU in the spring 2019. Proposed activities will be thoroughly discussed and planned with KazNAU prior to the visit to maximize productivity and success of the program. Collaboration and dialogue will continue after the visit and focus on strategically building upon the crosscutting discussions, priorities, and foundational trainings having occurred during the visit.
    Drs. Rafiq Islam & Renukaradhya Gourapura, and Beau Ingle are serving as the principal investigators of the project for a period of one year (2019). 

    6. Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program also conducted and/or maintained several projects on: (1) soil amendments and phosphorus pollution reduction; (2) long-term impact of no-till and cropping diversity on soil health and agroecosystem services; (3) organic production; (4) marginal land and bio-feedstock production.

    Invention and Technology Transfer
    A simple and user-friendly field test kit to evaluate soil health for farmers. Licensed by SoilOne Inc. (http://www.soil1.com), Springfield, Ohio in conjunction with The Ohio State University Office of Technology and Licensing. 2018.
    A farmer’s friendly “Soil Organic Matter and Ecosystem Services Calculator (software).” Invention disclosure with The Ohio State University Office of Technology and Licensing. 2018.

    SWBR Research Grants and Extra-mural Funding (seven grants)

    • USDA-Capacity Building Program funded a project entitled “Role of Water Quality and Soil Health in Sustainable Food Production on Urban Landscapes.” 1/2018 -12/2021) $289,000.
    • Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Japan) funded a project entitled “Evaluation of Mitsui Chemicals iCAST Crop Cultivation System in Specialty Crop Production.” 5/2016 to 12/2022, $650,000.
    • American Councils for International Education funded a project entitled “Strengthening U.S. and Kazakh Scientific Capacity Through Joint-Institutional Agricultural Teaching, Research, and Outreach Development.” 12/2018 – 11/2019. $15,035. 
    • CRDF US-Ukraine Competitive Research program funded a project entitled “Impact of Sustainable Agricultural Management Practices on Soil Quality and Crop Productivity.” 2018 – 2019. $107,000.
    • USDA NCR-SARE Partnership grant program funded a project entitled “Making Sense of Soil Health Reports – A partnership to develop recommendations for soil health testing and interpretation.” 2018 - 2019, $29,980.
    • US State Dept. Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange funded a project “Training Professionals and Educators on Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Health.” 2018. $5,260.
    • CTTC funded mini-grant project entitled “Gypsum and Cover Crops Effect on Edge-of-Field Phosphorus Loss.” 2018. $3,000.

    Awards/Recognition
    Certificate of U.S. Special Congressional Recognition for Outstanding and Invaluable Service to the World Community. 
    USDA-Borlaug Mentor Award for Burkina Faso.
    OARDC International Research Travel Grant for Burkina Faso.
    US Sate Dept. Mandela Washington Fellowship Mentor Reciprocal Award.
    Visiting Scholar Award, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
    Soil, Water, & Bioenergy Lab listing/recognition by the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations.

    Students and Scholars Hosted/Mentored
    Dr. Sergiy Lavrenko, visiting scholar, Dept. of Agronomy, Kherson State Agrarian University, Kherson, Ukraine. 9/15/2018 - 11/12/2018. 
    Prof. Yilmaz Bayhan, Tubitek post-doctoral scholar, Dept. of Biosystems Engineering, Nemek Kemal University, Turkey. 7/10/2017-6/30/2018.
    Cai Lehjun (Cynthia), Visiting scholar, Sustainable Research Agricultural Technology, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences-Jiamusi Branch, Heilongjiang, China. 11/1/2017-1/1/2018.

    Peer-Reviewed Publications
    Aksakal, E.L., Barik, K., Angin, I., Sari, S., and Islam, K.R. (2019) Spatio-temporal variability in physical properties of different textured soils under similar management and semi-arid climatic conditions. Catena 172: 528-546.
    Ortas, I., K.R. Islam (2018) Phosphorus fertilization impacts on corn yield and soil fertility. Commun. Soil Sci Plant Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2018.1474906.
    Gao, G.Y., Zhou, L., Harker, T., Lewis, W., Slaughter, M.R., Islam, K.R., Xia, Y., and Worley, C.T. (2018) Effects of high-tunnel and tile drainage on the yield and ripening time of mature Northern highbush blueberries in Ohio. Journal of the NACCA, 10(2): ISSN 2158-9429.
    Batte, M.T., Dick, W.A., Fausey, N.R., Flanagan, D.C., Gonzalez, J.M., Islam, K.R., Reeder, R.C., VanToai, T., and D.B. Watts (2018) Cover crops and gypsum applications: Soybean and corn yield and profitability impacts. Amer. Soc. Farm Manager Rural Appraisers. 8: 47-71. 
    Ibrikci, H., G. Koca, M. Cetin, E. Karnez, Y.K. Koca, C. Kirda, H. Sagir, J. Ryan and K.R. Islam (2018) Considering residual soil mineral nitrogen in corn fertilizer recommendations in an irrigated Mediterranean area. Commun Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 49(2): 202-214.

    Professional Workshop/Meeting Organized and /Invited Presentations
    21st Century – Climate-Smart Agriculture International Meeting and Field Day, at Institute of Irrigated Agriculture/Askanijske Farm, Ukraine. Sponsored by CRDF, Government of Ukraine, and The Ohio State University, Sep. 11-12, 2018.
    Train the Trainer Workshop on “Climate-Smart Agriculture Systems in Ghana. Sponsored by US State dept. Mandela Washington Fellowship Program, CSIR-CRI of Ghana, and The Ohio State University. Kumasi, Ghana. July 2-6, 2018.
    Soil Health Workshop in Burkina Faso. Sponsored by The Ohio State University, USDA-FAS Borlaug Program, and INERA-Burkina Faso. Feb 27-Mar 1, 2018.
    Professional Workshop/Meeting Organized and /Invited Presentations (cont.)
    Impact of Sustainable Agricultural Management Practices on Soil Quality and Crop Productivity. Professional presentation at the 21st Century – Climate-Smart Agriculture. International Meeting and Field Day, Kherson, Ukraine, Sep 11-12, 2018.
    Advanced Soil Health Training for Farmers and NRCS Professionals. Wenning Farms, Greensburg & Brocksmith Farms, Vincennes, IN. July 24-26, 2018. 
    Rethinking Agriculture in the 21st Century: Growing Healthy Food with One Health Vision. Ohio One Health Symposium, Drake Performance and Event Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Nov 1-2, 2018.
    The Ohio State University soil health test service. Farm Science Review, Molly Caren, London, Ohio, Sep 27-28, 2018
    Soil quality test – Active carbon. Ohio No-Till Field Day, Wooster, Ohio, August 29.
    Rethinking Agriculture in the 21st Century. Professional presentation at CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi – Ghana, July 6, 2018.
    No-Till Cropping Diversity with Cover Crops. Professional presentation at CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi – Ghana, July 6, 2018.
    Sustainable Agriculture Decision Tools (Soil quality test demonstration). Professional presentation at CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi – Ghana, July 6, 2018.
    Brain storming session on current agricultural problems in Ghana. Professional presentation at CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi – Ghana, July 6, 2018.
    Measuring soil health characteristics. In Healthy Soils for Healthy Waters Session, Professional presentation at CTTC Annual Meeting, Ada, OH. March 22-23, 2018.

    Professional Service
    Academic, Research and Extension Committees
    Member, Graduate studies committee, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University.
    Member, Midwest Cover Crop Council.
    Editorial Service
    Academic Editor, PLOS ONE
    Editorial Board Member, ISRN Agronomy Journal
    Editorial Board Member, Journal of Agriculture Food and Development (JAFD)
    Editorial Board Member, Botanical Research and Applications
    Board of Directors
    Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference
    Ohio No-Till Council
    Mentor/Supervisor/Technical Review Committee Member
    Borlaug Young Scholar Program, World Food Prize
    US State Dept. Mandela-Washington Fellowship Program
    National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicines.
    External Examiner for M.S/Ph.D. dissertation
    Dmitri Maksimov (2018) The productivity and quality of haricot beans depending on soil tillage, mineral fertilizers and row width under irrigation. M.S. /Ph.D. thesis, Kherson State Agricultural University, Kherson, Ukraine.
    Natasha Didenko (2018) Investigation of soybean productivity depending on the main cultivation of soil in the south of Ukraine. M.S. thesis, Kherson State Agricultural University, Kherson, Ukraine.
    Promotion and Tenure Committee
    Dr. Mushtaq Hussain Lashari (2018), Dept. of Life Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. External expert evaluation for Assistant professor to Associate Professorship. 

  292. Applied Research and Extension Outreach in Northeast China

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water, & BioEnergy Program Leader

    The Ohio State University is actively involved in capacity building of the research, education, and Extension activities at the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences-Jiamusi located in the Peoples Republic of China. 

    Dr. Rafiq Islam and Ken Ford (Fayette County Extension Educator) from The Ohio State University; Drs. Ismail Dweikat and Oscar Rodriguez from University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Drs. Sougata Bardhan and Safiullah Pathan from University of Missouri and Lincoln University-Missouri visited China at the invitation of the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences during August-October of 2018. 

    Dr. Islam led the visit. All of the experts from the United States delivered professional presentations on climate change and crop productivity, corn and soybean breeding, soil amendments, bio-fertilization, and Extension outreach activities.
    Based on their acquired experience with Chinese agricultural management practices, Dr. Islam and others have developed an applied research and Extension outreach coordination with scientists at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences–Jiamusi Branch in 2014. As a part of their effort, they have established a long-term applied research project entitled “Tillage and Cropping Systems Impact on Soil health and Agroecosystem Services.” 

    Several of the OSU Extension Educators, scientists, and faculty members visited the Chinese academy to further strengthen the bridge of collaboration. Likewise, several exchange scientists and students from the Chinese academy visited The Ohio State University to acquire science-based knowledge on 21st century climate-smart agriculture.

  293. Ohio State University One Health Day Symposium 2018

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water, & BioEnergy Program Leader

    Dr. Rafiq Islam attended and delivered a presentation entitled “Rethinking Agriculture in the 21st Century: Growing Healthy Food with One Health Vision” at the Plenary Session of the Ohio One Health Symposium, which was held at Drake Performance and Event Center on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus on November 1-2.

    One Health DayThe symposium was sponsored by The Global One Health initiative (GOHi) with donations from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), OSU Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Ohio State University Extension, and One World, One Health.

    One Health Day, celebrated annually on November 3, is an international campaign co-coordinated by the One Health Commission, the One Health Initiative, and the One Health Platform Foundation. The goal of One Health Day is to bring attention around the world to the need for One Health interactions and for the world to see them in action. The One Health Day campaign is designed to engage as many individuals as possible from as many arenas as possible in One Health education and awareness events, and to generate an inspiring array of projects worldwide.

    The One Health Day Symposium brought together multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to address the spread of disease, promote health, and emphasize the connection among humans, animals, and the environment.

  294. Saying ‘so long’ to Sergiy

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water, & BioEnergy Program Leader

    Dr. Sergiy Lavrenko, an assistant professor with the Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agronomy at Kherson State Agricultural University in Kherson, Ukraine has completed his two-month fellowship in our Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program at The Ohio State University. 

    He came to South Centers as one of the visiting scholars sponsored by the Civilian Research Defense Foundation-Ohio State University US-Ukraine Competitive Research Program for his professional development to teach and conduct research and disseminate information on climate-smart agriculture.

    During his two-month fellowship period at The Ohio State University, he played a significant role in our program’s teaching, research, and Extension activities. He was actively involved in lab and field research and learned several new techniques to collect, process, and analyze biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil quality associated with enhanced ecosystem services under climate-smart agriculture.

    He is a very responsible and highly motivated individual who worked hard to fulfill his training program goal. We were very impressed with his research work and educational activities.

  295. International Workshop and Field Day on Climate-smart Agriculture in Ukraine

    By Dr. Tom Worley
    OSU South Centers Director
    and Alan Sundermeier
    Wood County Extension Educator

    Within the framework of the Civilian Research Defense Foundation (CRDF)-funded Ukrainian-US project entitled “Impact of sustainable agricultural management practices on soil quality and crop productivity,” workshops and meetings were organized in Kherson, Ukraine as part of International Field Day “XXI century - Climate-Smart Agriculture.” 

    Ukraine VisitOn the first day (September 11), more than 100 participants including representatives from the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine and the leading scientists of the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, “Askaniyske” and “Brylivske” farms, Kherson State Agrarian University, Mykolaiv National Agrarian University, Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian and Economic University, Research Institute of Agriculture of the Crimea,” The Ohio State University, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food production of Ukraine, Kherson Regional State Administration, Kherson Branch of the State Agency of Ukraine, Kherson Branch of Soil Protection, Ukrainian Hydro-meteorological Center of the Ministry for Emergencies, heads and agronomists of farms in the southern region of Ukraine, and several participants from other countries attended.

    The event took place at the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, Naddniprjanske village, Kherson, Ukraine. Several professional presentations were delivered by scientists, farmers, agro-industry personnel, and faculty members. Drs. Rafiq Islam and Natalia Didenko presented the CRDF-funded project results based on a first-year field study on the topic of Agriculture under Climate Change in Ukraine.

    More than 50 participants attended a field day and presentation on climate-smart agriculture in Ukraine; it was delivered at Askaniyske Farm (Tavrychanka village, Kakhovka district) on the second day (Sept 12th, 2018). Several professional presentations were delivered by OSU experts including Alan Sundermeier from Wood County Extension on long-term no-till, cover crops, compaction and soil health; and Dr. Tom Worley on economics of crop production with no-till. 

    After the professional presentation session, the participants visited our research and cover crops site. Several demonstrations on equipment, cover crops, on-site soil quality evaluation, and use of drones to monitor crop growth and disease pressures were performed.

    You can find more information on OSU’s involvement in research, extension and outreach activities in Ukraine by utilizing the following resources:
    izpr.org.ua/index.php/novini/855-mizhnarodnij-den-polja-hhi-stolittja-chas-klimatichno -adaptovanogo-silskogo-gospodarstva-110918.html
    izpr.org.ua/index.php/novini/857-prodovzhennja-mizhnarodnogo-dnja-polja-hhi-stolittja-chas-klimatichno -adaptovanogo-silskogo-gospodarstva.html
    ksau.kherson.ua/news/3234-2018091301.html
    igim.org.ua/?p=5073
    igim.org.ua/?p=5088
    youtube.com/watch?v=fCYL_hxpTKE
    youtube.com/watch?v=yOCh5wVP3Qc
    youtube.com/watch?v=HBKGvFsvt4E
    youtube.com/watch?v=j9utY4k0GTE
    youtube.com/watch?v=86wI4fsDfLM
    youtube.com/watch?v=MWKnzjoXfJA&t=394s

  296. Advanced Soil Health Systems Training for Indiana USDA-NRCS

    By Rafiq Islam, PhD
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    Several members of our Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program staff and The Ohio State University Extension educators recently organized a field day on “Hands-on Soil Health” for farmers and two-day “Advanced Soil Health Systems” workshops for USDA-NRCS personnel in Indiana.

    The field day and workshops were held in Wenning Farms, Greensburg, and Brocksmith Farms, Vincennes, Indiana, respectively from July 24 to 26, 2018.

    On the first day (Field day), topics covered included: “What Insects where? Analysis of pit fall trap (insect trap) contents from fields in a soil health management system vs. conventionally tilled/managed fields”; “How healthy is my soil? In-field use of OSU Soil Health Test Kits to measure CEC, Active carbon, Aggregate stability, and other key assessments of soil health and function”; “What is working? What is in the plots? Reports on Wenning’s current experimental plot work”; and “What can I change? How different cropping practices can positively (or negatively) affect soil health and function?”

    Dr. Rafiq Islam and Alan Sundermeier from The Ohio State University, Barry Fisher from USDA-NRCS National Soil Health Division, Stephanie McLain from USDA-NRCS Indiana State Soil Health Program, 

    Joe Rorick from Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative, and Roger Wenning, Host and Soil Health Farmer of the Wenning Farms, spoke to the farmers and demonstrated several soil health field tests.

    On the second and third day (Advanced soil health systems) workshop, the training provided opportunities to build applied soil health systems knowledge and skills. In-Field Soil Health Assessment Worksheet, Pit Fall Trap Assessments, Soil Health Test Kits - CEC, Active Carbon, Aggregate Stability, Rainfall Simulator - Getting full use of the demo, and Soil Health Test Kit for Interpretation of Results and Management suggestions to improve soil health. Topics are selected based upon training needs and current cropping concerns. Target audience for this training included ICP staff, farmer-mentors, agronomists, and other Ag professionals who have completed Core Trainings and/or previously attended Advanced Soil Health Systems Trainings. 

    More than 100 people including farmers, educators, consultants, state and federal personnel, students, and non-profit personnel attended the field day and workshop. The participating educators received CCA credit for their professional development. Dr. Yogi Raut attended both field day and workshop to demonstrate the soil health test kit.

  297. Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Visit to Ghana

    By Rafiq Islam, PhD
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    Dr. Rafiq Islam visited Ghana as one of The Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange Components in June and July 2018.

    The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders – the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s (State Department) Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) – was created in 2014 to invest in the next generation of African Leaders.

    Under the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program, young African leaders attend top US colleges and universities for a six-week academic and leadership institute in one of the following areas: Business and Entrepreneurship, Civic Leadership, Public Management, and Energy.

    Programs draw from each university’s unique set of expertise and resources. Academic study is augmented by workshops, mentorship, and networking opportunities with recognized leaders in each field and interaction with everyday Americans. Each academic host institute will also offer insights into American society through site visits, community service, and cultural programming.

    The Reciprocal Exchange component provides Americans with the opportunity to travel to Africa to “build strategic partnerships and professional connections developed during the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States.” 

    Mavis Akom is a principal technologist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Crop Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) of Ghana and attended The Ohio State University as one of the Mandela Washington Fellows, who was mentored by Rafiq Islam. 

    As one of the Reciprocal Exchange Awardees, Islam had the unique opportunity to implement a co-designed project with Akom (Mandela Washington Fellow) to form a partnership, expand markets and networks, and increase mutual understanding between the United States and Africa (Ghana). Our former USDA-FAS Borlaug Fellow, Emmanuel Amoakwah, was very instrumental in organizing the workshop.

    The purpose of this project was to help develop a collaboration between The Ohio State University and Ghana CSIR-Crop Research Institute on “training educators and professionals” with the most up-to-date approaches for applied research and outreach capacity building on climate-smart agriculture. 

    The objectives were to (1) organize a “train-the-trainer” workshop for agricultural scientists, educators and professionals; (2) train the trainers to acquaint with OSU rapid soil quality/health tests; and (3) conduct a three-hour “brain storming session” to identify the most emergent agricultural issues in Ghana and help write applied collaborative field research proposals expected to be funded by international donors.

    To achieve these goals, the most relevant and high quality educational materials were provided to all 42 participants on Rethinking Agriculture in the 21st Century; Crop rotation and cover crops; and Sustainable agriculture decision tools during the workshop. Moreover, all the participants conducted on-site rapid soil quality comparative tests on Ghanaian and U.S. soils, and wrote test interpretation and management recommendations. Participants were asked to identify a much needed problem in 2-3 words and place the sticky note on the wall. About 42 sticky notes were finally grouped into the three most important current agricultural issues in Ghana: climate-smart crop breeding (drought resistant) research; (2) sustainable soil-crop management practices; and (3) extension and outreach programs. The participants in the three groups were mentored to complete the drafting of the pre-proposed on the selected issues and presented to justify their research proposal for funding.

    Several professional and academic presentations were delivered by Islam to the scientists of the Crop and Soil Research Institutes and graduate students and faculty members of the Department of Natural Resources Management and Department of Soil and Crop Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. 

    Islam met administrators, officials, and scientists from several universities and CSIR Institutes including Dr. Stella A. Ennin, Director of CSIR-Crop Research Institute; Prof. Emmanuel Otoo, Chief Research Scientist, CSIR-Crops Research Institute; Prof. Hans Adu-Dapaah, Chief Research Scientist, CSIR-Crop Research Institute; Dr. Mohammed Moro Buri, Director, CSIR-Soil Research Institute; Drs. Akwasi A. Abunyewa, Victor R. Barnes, Evans Dawoe, and Andrew Opoku, Senior Lecturer, CANR, KNUST; and Dr. Kwame A. Frimpong, Senior Lecturer, Dept. Soil Science, University of Cape Coast.

    The key highlights of the Reciprocal Exchange are: (1) greater understanding and learning experience on Western Africa, (2) successful organization of the professional development training workshop, (3) enhanced team building capacity for collaborative research on climate-smart agriculture, and (4) development of sandwich academic and research program for graduate students and scientists in Ghana for capacity building.

  298. SWBR Program holds a ‘Climate-Smart Agriculture’ session at International Conference in India

    Vinayak Shedekar
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture was held at Dhanbad, Jharkhand (India) during March 29-31, 2018.

    Dr. Vinayak Shedekar, Research Associate-II with the Soil, Water, and BioEnergy Resources (SWBR) Program was among the three Ohio State University delegates who organized a 2-day special session on “Climate-smart Agriculture” (CSA). Dr. Bryan Mark, State Climatologist of Ohio and Dr. Asmita Murumkar, Post-doctoral Researcher in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering joined Shedekar. 

    The session featured talks from experts, educators, and representatives from non-profit organizations relating to the development of climate-smart agricultural systems, tools, crops, and communities. 

    The speakers presented topics such as role of youth in climate change adaptation, climate change assessment, and climate-smart technologies, among others. The session kicked off with Dr. Bryan Mark’s presentation that highlighted the framework for climate change assessment, adaptation, and mitigation in USA and India. Dr. Asmita Murumkar delivered a talk on assessing climate change impacts. Vinayak presented use of decision tools for climate-smart agriculture. Two presentations on developing climate-smart crops were another highlight of the session. 

    Dr. Ismail Dweikat, Professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, presented his research on developing drought tolerant crops in response to changing climate. The presentation highlighted sorghum and pearl millet as alternative crops that can be grown in deficit-irrigated or water scarce regions. 

    The CSA session concluded with an expert panel question-answer session, which ranged from scientific queries to extension and outreach related questions.

  299. Islam serves as NASEM/NRC technical review committee member

    By Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    Rafiq Islam participated at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM)/National Research Council (NRC), as a technical review committee member, to review and select NRC post-doctoral fellowships. 

    The NASEM/NRC are one of the top ranked scientific and research organizations in the United States. The NRC annual technical review committee meeting was held at the Beckman-Marble Center, University of California-Irvine on March 12 and 13. About 100 scientists and faculty members were invited from universities all over in the United States to participate in the  two-day rigorous review process. 

    The review process was performed to select most outstanding Ph.D. graduates worldwide in the field of Earth Science, Life Science, Chemistry and Physics, and Mathematics and Engineering fields. 
    Three eminent reviewers reviewed each proposal and credential submitted by the applicants. About 100 post-doctoral fellowships are offered annually to the outstanding candidates working in the U.S. government-sponsored laboratories on state-of-art cutting-edge research priorities.

    On behalf of The Ohio State University, Rafiq Islam has been serving as one of the technical review committee technical members in the field of Earth Science since 2014. He, along with other members, reviewed more than 30 proposals on Earth Science research in 2018.

  300. Ukrainian Outreach: Soil, Water and Bioenergy Program Establishes Long-Term Climate-Smart Agriculture Experiments to Help Farmers, Educators in Ukraine

    By Rafiq Islam and Wayne Lewis
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    Recently, OSU South Centers farm manager Wayne Lewis and Dr. Rafiq Islam visited Ukraine to establish a long-term CLIMATE-SMART agricultural research experiment. 

    The goal of our research is to develop climate-smart agricultural management practices based on novel and holistic approaches of crop diversification (rotation and cover crops) with plant stress alleviator (salicylic acid) under continuous no-till that helps improve soil quality, water- and nutrient-use efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emission, and economic crop productivity with enhanced agroecosystem services. 

    Soil, crop, water, greenhouse gas emission, input, and climatic and economic data will be collected and analyzed to deliver the project outcomes and outputs. Proven traditional and electronic outlets will be used for outreaching Ukrainian clientele (both educators and farmers) to show agriculture is not the problem, but a part of the environmental solution.

    The project was funded though the Civilian Research Defense Foundation under US-Ukraine Research Collaboration. Rafiq Islam the US Principal Investigator and Dr. Natalia Didenko is the Ukrainian Principal Investigator for the project. 
    The Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program is conducting the field research in conjunction with scientists from the Institute of Water Resources and Land Management (Ministry of Agriculture), Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, Askaniya State Agricultural Experimental Station, and Brylivske state farm. Professor Vozhehova R. Anatoliivna (Director), Dr. Maliarchuk M. Petrovich (Main Scientific Researcher), Maliarchuk A. Sergiivna (Senior Researcher), and Biliaeva I. Mykolaivna (Department Head) from the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture; Melnik Andrej (Chief Agronomist), Nadia Reznichenko (Scientific Secretary), Vira Konavalova (Junior Scientist), Natalia Galchenko (Director), Victor Naydenov (Director), Oleksandr Knyazev (Chief of Laboratory of Agrotechnology), Tetyana Levenec (Junior Scientist), and Sergij Roj (Junior Scientist) from the Askaniya State Agricultural Experimental Station; and Cherevychnyj Yurij (Head of the Research Fields) and Kiberlenko Ivan (Director) of the state farm Brylivske, will be working with us as members of the team.

    As part of the research activities, both Rafiq Islam and Wayne Lewis delivered presentations and conducted interactive discussions on no-till system, mono-cropping with corn or soybeans, corn-soybean-wheat cropping diversity with summer and winter cover crop blends maintain soil moisture, control weeds, provide home-grown nitrogen, reduce soil compaction, and improve soil quality. They also discussed the effects of salicylic acid on improving the drought tolerance capacity of crops. Both demonstrated to their Ukrainian collaborators how to measure compaction, soil pH, moisture content, and soil quality in the field using simple equipment and the OSU Soil Quality Field Test Kit. 

    Finally, the field experiment was established to test 2 tillage systems x 2 cover crops x 2 salicylic acid treatments with three replications on 45 acres of irrigated lands at the “Askaniya” State Agricultural Experimental Station and state farm “Brylivske” under in Kherson Oblast, Southern Ukraine.

  301. Program staff attend CTC annual meeting

    By Rafiq Islam
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    Several members of our Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program staff participated/attended 2018 Building Soil Health, Regenerative Agriculture, and Healthy Foods from Healthy Soil sessions of the Conservation Tillage & Technology Conference Annual meeting (CTC) held at Ohio Northern University in March. 

    The Healthy Soils for Healthy Waters (HSHW) program is a continuation of a series that began in Columbus in 2014. The most recent HSHW programs were in Denver (2017) and Memphis (2016). On the first day, overall topics included Building Soil Health, Regenerative Agriculture, and Healthy Foods from Healthy Soil. Fifteen speakers and panelists included: Barry Fisher (NRCS), David Brandt (Farmer), Rick Cruse (Iowa State Univ.), Rafiq Islam (OSU), David Montgomery, and Britt Burton-Freeman.
    Rafiq Islam along with Alan Sundermeier (OSU Wood County Extension Educator) delivered a presentation entitled “Testing and management recommendations of soil health characteristics” on the first day in a two-day session on the Healthy Soils for Healthy Waters at the chapel of the Ohio Northern University. More than 250 people including farmers, educators, consultants, state and federal personnel, students, and non-profit personnel from different states and Canada attended the session.

    One CCA credit (0.5 for Certified Livestock Manager, CLM and 0.5 for Soil and Water, SW) was by the participating educators for their professional development. Dr. Vinayak Shedekar, along with Alan Sundermeier and others, moderated the HSHW session for both days.

  302. Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program Highlights Sustainable Agriculture in West Africa

    By Yogendra Raut 
    Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    While high-input conventional agriculture produces greater amounts of food, feed, energy, and fiber in developed countries, subsistence agriculture in Africa is one of the factors responsible for chronic food shortages. Current practices in both situations are associated with soil health degradation and food insecurity, and contribute to diminished agroecosystem services.

    As the threats of climate change are constantly increasing, and in fact, its impact has already shown devastating effects in Africa. The looming prospect of reduced agroecosystem services demands a knowledge-based solution to support sustainable agriculture in Africa.

    In light of some of the management practices for developing sustainable agriculture in Africa, Drs. Yogendra Raut, Vinayak Shedekar and Rafiq Islam visited Burkina Faso, West Africa in February and March 2018. Dr. Alimata A. Bandaogo, a Research Scientist from the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) and a former USDA-FAS Borlaug Fellow (mentored by Rafiq Islam) facilitated our visit to Burkina Faso. 
    We organized two workshops jointly organized by The Ohio State University, INERA, and USDA-FAS Norman Borlaug Fellowship Program; first in Bobo-Dioulasso on February 27  and the second in Ouagadougou (Capital of Burkina Faso) on March 1.  Opening remarks were made by the Director-General of INERA-Burkina Faso and a briefing about INERA mission by Drs. Ouedraogo Ibrahima (Regional Director) and Alima Bandaogo, respectively. 

    The overall methodology of the workshops was based on participatory action research.  Interactive presentations were delivered at each workshop highlighting: Rethinking agriculture in the 21st century, Sustainable agriculture decision tools, Soil health test and interpretation, and Forage/pasture and animal grazing – challenges and opportunities in Burkina Faso. Several demonstrations of the soil health test/soil organic matter (SOM) calculator were performed. A participatory brain storming session was conducted at both locations to identify current agricultural problems in Burkina Faso, which were: lack of knowledge of delivery systems (Extension), climate-change and soil quality management practices, water quality and irrigation, and availability of suitable equipment. About 30 participants from INERA, local government, private companies, international donor agency (JICA), and farmers’ representatives at each location participated in the workshops.

  303. Lijun Cai visits the Soil Team

    Lijun Cai, a Research Associate in the Sustainable Agricultural Technology Institute of the Jiamusi Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China, visited the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program in late 2017. She has been working at the academy since 2014. Her field of research interests are: Sustainable agriculture; Cover crop; Conservation tillage; Soil health; and Semi-dwarf soybean breeding.

    She was a short-term scholar studying recent developments in U.S. sustainable agricultural management practices, including the most recently developed analytical techniques. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. on Plant Nutrition at the Department of Land Resources and Environment of the Shenyang Agricultural University in Liaoning, China.

  304. USDA-Capacity Building, NCR-SARE Partnership, and CRDF U.S.-Ukraine collaborative research grants

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program Director

    Several program specialists and scientists at the Ohio State University (OSU) South Centers have received USDA-Capacity Building, NCR-SARE Partnership, and CRDF US-Ukraine collaborative research grants in recent months.

    The Ohio State University joined in a collaborative partnership with Central State University (CSU) through a project ($592,493) funded by the USDA National Institutes for Food and Agriculture under the 1890 Land Grant Institution Capacity Building Program. Rafiq Islam, Brad Bergefurd, and Matthew Smith are the OSU investigators, who will help to guide CSU’s capacity building to provide academic education, conduct applied research, and disseminate Extension outreach on water chemistry of aquaponics production system over a 3-year period. Both CSU and OSU will jointly disseminate findings from the study to urban youth, and disadvantaged farmers, environmentalists, and other stakeholders.

    Rafiq Islam and Natalia Didenko (a former USDA-FAS Borlaug fellow from Ukraine) received a 1-year collaborative grant proposal funding ($107,000) from the CRDF Global* 2017 U.S.-Ukraine Agricultural Research Competition. The goal of the project is to develop suitable agricultural management practices based on novel and holistic approaches of crop diversification with plant stress alleviator (salicylic acid - aspirin) under continuous no-till that help to improve soil quality, water- and nutrient-use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emission, and increase economic crop productivity with enhanced agroecosystem services.

    The research team members from the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, Kyiv, the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, Kherson State Agrarian University, Dnipro State Agrarian University, and The Ohio State University. Funding for year one of this project will help to establish the test plots for what is hoped to be a long-term effort to identify the most promising agronomic combinations to maintain and/or improve soil health and agroecosystem services in dry conditions in Ukraine.

    Proven traditional and electronic outlets will be used for outreaching Ukrainian clientele to show agriculture is not the problem, but a part of the environmental solution.

    Rafiq Islam and Vinayak Shedekar in collaboration with Alan Sundermeier from The Ohio State University Extension - Wood County has received a collaborative grant funding ($29,980) from the USDA NCR-SARE Partnership Program. The goal of the project is to develop soil health testing, interpretations, management recommendations for farmers by the team of soil scientists, and extension educators. Farmers growing grain and vegetable crops in Ohio, and representing a wide range of practices such as no-till, conventional tillage, cover crop, and crop rotations will be reached by the program.

    *CRDF Global is an independent non-profit that was originally named the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (CRDF) and was funded by the U.S. Government under the Freedom Support Act.

     

  305. Soil health and environmental analytical services at OARDC-Piketon Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Lab

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program Director

    The OARDC-Piketon Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Lab at The Ohio State University South Centers has recently started to provide soil health, air quality and greenhouse gas emission, water quality, plant, manure, fertilizer and chemical, and other environmental analytical services to clientele. The lab facility includes more than 2,500 sq. feet of analytical space for receiving, storing, processing, and analysis of various samples.

    The analytical equipment includes: Microbial preparation ventilated station and hood, Integrated Coupled Plasma Emission (ICPE) spectroscopy (72 chemical elements, including nutrients), HPLC-Mass spectroscopy, Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Carbon-Nitrogen-Sulfur analyzer, Dissolved Carbon and Nitrogen analyzer, Flow-injection auto-analyzer for nitrate, ammonium and phosphates, UV-VIS-IR spectroscopy, Gas chromatographs (HP and Shimadzu) for CO2, CH4, and N2O, High-powered microwave digestion system, Hot-plate digestion, Pressure plate membrane apparatus for water retention and potentials, Aggregate stability analyzers, and other equipment for routine analysis.

    Do you need high-quality certified biological, chemical and physical analysis of your samples? Visit our website southcenters.osu.edu/soil-and-bioenergy to check the variety of analytical services and the fees associated with the analysis.

  306. USDA-Borlaug mentor follow-up visit to Ukraine

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam, Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program Director

    Recently, Drs. Tom Worley, Director of the OSU South Centers and Rafiq Islam, Borlaug mentor have visited Ukraine to meet the USDA-Borlaug mentee, Dr. Natalia Didenko. Dr. Didenko organized and managed the mentor follow-up trip very professionally based on the skills she acquired during her Borlaug fellowship period at the Ohio State University in 2016. As part of our program schedule, we visited (1) Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in Kyiv, Ukraine; (2) Agro-ecology and Forestry Research Institute in Zhytomyr; (3) Kherson State Agrarian University, Kherson; (4) Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, Kherson; and (5) Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, Dnipro.

    We met Director Dr. Romashchenko Mykhailo and his division specialists at the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation. They discussed accelerated salinity and degraded soil quality, droughts, and soil compaction issues in response to climate change effects. In response, Dr. Tom Worley delivered a presentation on Ohio State University and South Centers for possible research, academic and extension and outreach collaboration to address some of the issues raised by the director and specialists. Dr. Rafiq Islam also gave a research and Extension presentation on sustainable management of soil quality and water resources in response to climate change effects on Ukraine.

    We were accompanied by Dr. Didenko to visit Kherson State Agrarian University and Institute of Irrigated Agriculture in southern Ukraine. We met Rector Dr. Yuriy Kryylov, deans, and senior professors to discuss collaborative research and Extension outreach on sustainable soil and water management practices in the Kherson region.

    As part of our program, we visited several private farms (e.g. Freedom Farm International) as well as State farms (Askaniyskoe). We met a pioneer no-till farmer (Stefanov) in Kherson, who is currently managing 12,000 ha lands (30,000 acres) with no-till, cover crops and crop rotation for the last 12 years to improve soil health, reduced soil compaction and minimize water-use for irrigation. Visiting that farm was amazing to see the results being achieveable using sustainable agriculture methods.

    By the initiation of Drs. Natalia Didenko and Iryna Volovyk, Chief of International Affairs Dept., Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University), we met Rector Anatoly S. Kobets, vice-rectors, deans, several professors, and international program officials of the Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University and discussed collaboration. Later, Professors Olexandr Mironov and Mykola Kharytonov from Soil and Ecology Dept. of the Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University took us to visit reclaimed and abandoned mine-lands currently under phytoremediation process to generate bio-feedstock production for energy. With Professor Olexandr Mironov, we also visited “Agro Soyuz” one of the largest private Ag-enterprises in Dnipro, who promotes no-till and cover crops use in Ukraine.

    Throughout our visit, we had several discussions with our Ukrainian counterparts to develop academic courses, conduct applied research, and initiate Extension outreach programs with their specialists. We also discussed initiation of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Ohio State University. Accordingly, Dr. Tom Worley signed the MOU with the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation institute, as the MOU was approved by the OSU Office of International Programs earlier.

    Currently, we are working to develop a “Visiting scholar exchange program” to bring scientists from several universities and institutes in Ukraine to work in Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program of The Ohio State University South Centers, starting May 2018.

  307. Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Program impact in Agronomy, Crop and Soil Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA-SSSA) international annual meeting

    By Dr. Yogi Raut, Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Research Associate

    The theme of the 2018 ASA-CSSA-SSSA international annual meeting was the power of human interaction combined with science to create solutions. The meetings were held in Tampa, Florida on October 22-25, 2017. With more than 6,000 attendees from over 55 countries and 3,000 technical programs, it was a unique conference that brought together global scientific leaders from industry, government agencies, and academic institutions in one platform. The OSU South Centers team delivered twelve presentations in different program areas and moderated one technical session. The team included authors and co-authors from six different countries, namely Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Ukraine, USA, and Uzbekistan.

    Our USDA-FAS Borlaug fellow Dr. Alima Bandaogo delivered a presentation entitled Optimizing use of fertilizer for tropical food legumes both in sole as well as intercropping from West Africa. Emmanuel Amoakwah, USDA-FAS Borlaug LEAP PhD scholar, presented two posters; first representing the Biochar effects on microbial community profiling using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) analysis, and second showing the Effects of biochar on soil aggregate stability and aggregate associated carbon and nitrogen content on tropical soil from Ghana. Alan Sundermeier from OSU-Extension Wood County as one of the co-authors presented the Impact of organic grain cropping systems on soil health parameters. The research was funded by the USDA-Organic Transition Program and conducted simultaneously at both Bowling Green and Piketon sites for four years.

    Vinayak Shedekar delivered three oral presentations and one poster; first showing Uncertainty in rainfall measurements and its implications to hydrologic modeling; second on Healthy soils - Healthy Environment; third on Research available to build healthy soils, and fourth A new method to measure particulate organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur pools as an early indicator of soil quality. He also served as one of the judges to evaluate graduate students’ poster competition. Yogendra (Yogi) Raut had three presentations, two oral, and a poster. The oral presentation showed the results about Soil quality assessment using long-term Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land as a guide for policy makers and the poster was titled A Simplified approach to greenhouse gas emission modeling. Yogi delivered another oral presentation entitled Aggregate associated carbon and nitrogen pools in response to different tillage systems. Rafiq Islam moderated a technical session on soil health analysis, interpretation, and recommendations under the Soil and Water Conservation theme. He also delivered two oral presentations; Long-term tillage effects on soil health and Soil health analysis, interpretation, and recommendations.

  308. Welcome Dr. Alima Arzouma Bandaogo

    Dr. Alima Arzouma Bandaogo, a new USDA-FAS Borlaug visiting scholar from Burkina Faso in West Africa has recently joined our Soil, Water and, Bioenergy Resources Program. Currently, she is employed at the National Institute of Environment and Agronomic Research as a senior Soil Scientist since 2014. Alima has focused her research on integrated soil fertility management because accelerated soil degradation is one of the major problems that is affecting smallholder farmers in Africa, including Burkina Faso. Agriculture in Burkina Faso is characterized by minimum investment, poor crop yields, and low farm income as the soils are poor quality with low soil organic matter and nutrient contents, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. Almost 85% of the population in Burkina Faso is involved in agriculture for growing rice, corn, sorghum, and millet as staple food crops.

    Alima received the highly competitive prestigious USDA-FAS Borlaug fellowship to work in the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program of The Ohio State University South Centers for her professional development under the mentorship of Dr. Rafiq Islam. Her training focus is to acquire science-based knowledge to address integrated soil fertility management practices for economic crop production in Burkina Faso under climate change effects. She is eager to learn more about new soil and crop analytical techniques, soil quality, cover crops and nutrient recycling, crop rotation and tillage systems, greenhouse gas emissions, field experiments, sampling procedures and multivariate statistics, manuscript and grant writing techniques.

    Since her arrival in September to the United States, she has attended the World Food Prize Award Conference in Des Moines, Iowa in October 2017. As part of her research achievement, she has delivered a scientific presentation at the American Society of Agronomy /Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America Annual International Meeting in Tampa, Florida in October 2017. Moreover, she has been selected as one of the invited scholars to deliver a poster presentation at the International Scholar J-1 Research Exposition on November 17, 2017, at The Ohio State University President’s Office. She will attend and participate at the Licking County Field Day on November 16, 2017 and the Ohio No-Till Conference on December 6, 2017 in Plain City to learn more about no-till farming, crop rotation, cover crops, and nutrient and manure management practices.

  309. Welcome Ashlee Saunders

    Ashlee Saunders, an undergraduate student, has recently joined the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program. She is currently enrolled at The University of Rio Grande pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and an Associate degree in Mathematics and Pre-Engineering.

    Ashlee is from Gallipolis, Ohio and was seeking a position which would develop her laboratory and field research skills and leadership qualities. Currently, she is managing the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources laboratory as one of the key team members. Ashlee hopes to lead the lab one day as its supervisor and help the program flourish. We welcome Ashlee to our program at The Ohio State University South Centers.

  310. U.S.-China Scientific and Cooperative Exchange Program, 2017

    By Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil Program Director

    The Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources (SWBR) Program of the OSU South Centers, in conjunction with International Programs in Agriculture (IPA) and USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS), hosted six delegates from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture under the Crop Rotation and Soil Quality Monitoring and Detection sector of the US-China Scientific and Cooperative Exchange Program (SCEP). Dr. Rafiq Islam was the primary trainer and principal investigator of the Crop Rotation and Soil Quality Monitoring and Detection project. The program was coordinated by Beau Ingle, Program Manager of the OSU International Programs in Agriculture. The SCEP delegation was led by Dr. Yuguo Liu, Deputy Director-General of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture’s Farmland Quality Monitoring and Protection Center. 

    As maintaining a healthy and productive soil is the foundation of sustainable agriculture, the goal of the project was to expose senior officials from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture to the layered cross-sectors of the U.S. agricultural system for interaction and understanding, supporting and strengthening the Chinese agricultural sector in preserving and improving farmlands.

    As part of the SCEP, the delegates visited the U.S. Capitol Building, Supreme Court Building, Library of Congress, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They met officials from USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Washington, DC. In addition, they visited several national labs and programs at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service facilities in Beltsville, Maryland to understand the importance of publicly funded agricultural research in priority areas of crop production, soil quality monitoring, and sustainable agriculture.

    At OSU, the SCEP participants had a series of meetings with the Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Dean, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and leadership from Ohio State University Extension to learn more about the land-grant university system, Ohio agriculture, and OSU Extension services. Mike Estadt, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator in Pickaway County, led a very productive meeting between the Chinese delegation and Pickaway County Extension, Soil and Water Conservation District, NRCS personnel, and representatives from local farm and banking communities. They were really impressed with the mission and vision of the OSU and the national 4-H programs.

    To know and learn more about state agricultural programs, the SCEP fellows visited the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) to meet Director David Daniels and ODA administrators from the Division of Soil and Water Conservation, Division of Plant Health, and Office of Farmland Preservation.

    The SCEP delegates visited OSU South Centers to learn about nationally and internationally collaborative applied research and Extension programs of Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources, especially with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Heilongjiang Province (Jiamusi branch). As part of the SCEP schedule, the delegates toured several showcase farms in Ohio, including the Brandt Family Farm (Fairfield County), John Fulton farm (Pickaway County), and Aaron Lemaster farm (Jackson County) to discuss and learn more on sustainable agricultural practices such as no-till, crop rotation, cover crop blends, soil health and field test, compaction and drainage.

    We believe that the Chinese SCEP participants had a good understanding of how OSU Extension facilitates and delivers the exchange of science-based knowledge and tools between agricultural producers and other agricultural and natural resources stakeholders as it pertains to the promotion of conservation and the protection of farmlands.

  311. Soil, Water and Bioenergy Program hosts new visiting scholar

    Dr. Yilmaz Bayhan, a Tubitak senior postdoctoral fellow from Turkey, joined the Soil, Water and BioEnergy program in July. He is a professor in the Biosystems Engineering Department at Namik Kemal University in Tekirdag, Turkey.  Dr. Yilmaz has performed research on conservation tillage systems and no-till machinery. His one-year fellowship program involves studying long-term continuous no-till and multi-functional cover crop systems to maximize agroecosystem services in Turkey. He will conduct research based on continuous no-till and cover crop field experiments in Ohio.

    “Current agricultural production systems in Turkey rely heavily on traditional irrigation, excessive use of tillage and reactive chemicals, and a very limited crop rotation, which are responsible for degrading agroecosystem services,” Yilmaz said. He explained he will be studying the continuous no-till, both with and without multi-functional cover crops in the agronomic crop rotation experiments established OSU South Centers. The science-based knowledge and research experience he is gaining in the U.S. will be directly applicable to his research interests in Turkish agriculture. Dr. Yilmaz will transfer the knowledge and skills learned from this experience to adopt sustainable agricultural management practices in Turkey. He also hopes to develop new undergraduate and graduate courses focused on cover crops.

  312. New Live Stream series on Soil Health

    By Vinayak Shedekar, PhD, Soil Research Associate

    The OSU Extension Healthy Soil Healthy Environment signature program has launched a new monthly video series through the OSU South Centers’ live streaming service. This monthly series aims to educate farmers, youth and the general public about the importance and management of soil health. The hosts are Alan Sundermeier, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Wood County Extension and Vinayak Shedekar, Research Associate at OSU South Centers. The series will feature farmers and experts on various topics surrounding soil health as guests.

    One of the recent guests, Dr. Steve Culman, OSU Soil Fertility Specialist spoke about making sense of soil health testing. In another episode Jim Hoorman, regional soil health specialist with the Northeast Region NRCS-Soil Health Division of NRCS, explained the role of cover crops in soil health management. He also discussed topics such as selection, mixing, planting times, and seeding/planting equipment for cover crops. The “Soil Health Series” will air live on OSU South Centers live stream available at: www.youtube.com/southcenters at 10 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month. Past episodes are available to view at: soilhealth.osu.edu/video. Contact Vinayak Shedekar (shedekar.1@osu.edu) for any queries or more information.

  313. Vinayak Shedekar visits FAO to attend the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon

    By Vinayak Shedekar, PhD, Soil Research Associate

    The 2017 Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC17) organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, was held in Rome, Italy March 21-23. Vinayak Shedekar, OSU South Centers Research Associate was invited to attend the prestigious conference and present the Soil, Water and Bioenergy program’s research work related to on-farm assessment, prediction and management of soil organic carbon. Participants included representatives from FAO member states, UNCCD country Parties, organizing institutions, relevant panels, presenters whose abstracts were accepted, and scientists working in related fields. Over 450 participants from 111 countries were actively involved in both presenting results of studies demonstrating the potential and challenges of managing soil organic carbon (SOC) in different types of soil – such as peatland, black soils and permafrost soils, grasslands and livestock production systems and dryland soils - as well as discussing and developing key messages.
    The first meter of soil across the globe holds an estimated 1,417 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon – almost double the amount in our atmosphere and dozens of times the levels of man-made emissions each year. At greater depths, soil holds three times as much carbon as in the atmosphere. The overall aim of the symposium was to review the role and potential of soils and SOC in the context of climate change and sustainable development and build scientific evidence that could be adopted in policy making at national and international levels through the IPCC, UNFCCC, and UNCCD frameworks. The symposium had three main themes:
    1. Measuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting SOC
    2. Maintaining and/or increasing SOC stocks (fostering SOC sequestration) for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and Land Degradation Neutrality
    3. Managing SOC in soils with a) high SOC - peatlands, permafrost, and black soils b) grasslands, and livestock production systems and c) in dryland soils

    As part of Theme 2, Vinayak presented a novel approach that integrates field-based techniques of SOC assessment, and prediction tools based on long-term experiments for better decision making and assessing the impacts of SOC management on farm economics and soil health at farm scales.  Dr. Rattan Lal, Director of the OSU’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center was one of the keynote speakers during the second plenary session of the symposium, and discussed the “state-of-the-science of soil organic carbon sequestration.”  He called for a global effort to encourage soil stewardship that is based on sound management practices and mechanisms to account for ecosystem services of soil organic carbon. Mr. José Graziano Da Silva, Director-General of FAO, H.E. Jioji Konousi Konrote, President of the Republic of Fiji, Ms. Elena Manaenkova, Deputy-Secretary General World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Mr. Stéphane Le Foll, French Minister for Agriculture, were among other notable speakers.

    Vinayak contributed significantly to the scientific and policy discussions during the symposium – stressing the need to consider the practicality of on-farm implementation of global SOC sequestration policies, and the need for mechanisms to train farmers, educators and policy makers. He and Dr. Rafiq Islam have been invited to contribute a research article to the symposium outcome – a scientific document (Proceedings of the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon 2017) highlighting the role of soils and SOC management in meeting the climate change and sustainable development goals of different nations, as well as reporting to UNFCCC, UNCCD. A complete webcast of the symposium is available at the GSOC17 website.

     

    Soil Organic CSoil Organic Carbon: the hidden potentialarbon: the hidden potential 

    The publication was launched at the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC). 
    It provides an overview to decision-makers and practitioners of the main scientific facts and information regarding the current knowledge and knowledge gaps on Soil Organic Carbon. It highlights how better information and good practices may be implemented to support ending hunger, adapting to and mitigating climate change and achieving overall sustainable development.

     

  314. Urban agriculture: an emerging avenue

    By Yogendra (Yogi) Raut, PhD, Soil Research Associatehydroponics
    The information provided in this report is based on a visit March 14-17, 2017 at University of Illinois Extension, Chicago. This meeting was sponsored by the NIFA-North Central IPM Centers and Great Lakes Urban Agriculture IPM Working Group that includes The Ohio State University Research Foundation, The University Director’s Fund, and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).  There were almost thirty participants attending this meeting from Ohio and Illinois.  Each participant was requested to have two oral presentations; one status report and two about the future strategies about the problems and issues with Urban Agriculture Farming. Each day, an educational tour was scheduled visiting successful urban farming operations in the area to discuss one-on-one about the problems and issues pertaining to the operation, maintenance, and marketing aspects of the system.  The objective of the meeting was to synthesize issues, problems, and learn about successes as well as measures to resolve some of the issues facing urban agriculture to guide future planning, monitoring, and evaluation systems. 

    While environmental advocacy groups are protesting urbanization and real estate development mainly because of shrinking farmland, and when the efforts are being made in favor of using these urban lands for agricultural purposes, they go hand-in-hand and serve the interest of both these groups.  Urban agriculture can be defined as the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around the village, town, or city. Urban agriculture can successfully incorporate several components.  As suggested by the subject matter specialist during the meeting, these components must be cautiously undertaken on a small scale at the outset to be on the safe side financially.  However, most of the sites we visited had over several million dollars invested, indicating that Chicago has successfully developed several urban agriculture enterprises.  

    Components of Urban Agriculture

    • Aquaculture: The farming of finfish, shellfish and other aquatic animals has become big business during the past 20 years.  Recent developments include production of aquatic plants, and fish/plant integrated systems.
    • Aquaponics: A combination of fish and plant production using aquaculture and hydroponics systems, aquaponics is moving from the realm of experimental to commercial.
    • Hydroponics: It is an enterprise growing plants in a nutrient solution root medium, is a growing area of commercial food production and also is used for home food production by hobbyists.
    • Livestock Production: Grass-based livestock systems for meat and dairy production (i.e., grass-to-glass production system), raising free-range chickens and turkeys and pasturing hogs have become viable alternatives for U.S. farmers, as reported by the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association  (APPPA).  The system concept is based on biodynamics, an ancient practice developed in 1920s.
    • Horticulture: Vegetable and fruit production
    • Beekeeping: well-known to all of us
    • Vermiculture: A practice of using earthworms for making compost.  Hundreds of small farms across the country are raising poultry on pasture, producing high quality meat and eggs and improving profitability because of low feed costs.  However, productivity on these farms is typically limited by seasonal climate and waste management. In most U.S. climates, the chickens can be outdoors only in spring and summer, creating indoor production challenges during cooler months.  At the same time, red worm composting, or vermiculture, has been shown to be an effective way to break down organic materials. The worms can eat 50 to 100% of their body weight in decaying wastes per day.  A combination of pastured poultry and vermiculture provides a synergistic effect in the integrated small scale farming system; the worms providing a natural digester of chicken manure and a source of food for the chickens.
    • Fundamental and Key Resources: Based on level of investment, energy and capital (i.e., fixed and liquid) are found be the key fundamental resources.  Depending on the locality, the level of investment, and personal suitability, the following energy alternatives can be chosen.

    Needs: 

    • Education and Research: As long as urban agriculture is limited to small garden scale, the need of research and education is somewhat limited.  However, once the individual acquired basic understating and moved toward an urban agricultural farming system, the education and research sector becomes inevitable. The Chicago Urban Agriculture Meeting 2017 envisaged the need of this sector more than before.  The policy makers (i.e. Federal, States, and Municipalities including cities) need to rethink and reshape understanding about urban agricultural farming systems since there may be multiple areas of research and education systems including needs assessment, program/planning, monitoring and evaluation.
    • Subject Matter Specialists: Programs in urban agriculture are being guided by the Extension Educator personnel. Despite their knowledge, creativeness, and receptiveness, they disclosed the need for more subject matter specialists in the urban agriculture network, especially entomologists, pathologists, and soil scientists.

    Potential impact of urban agriculture:  It is an emerging enterprise which would be a win-win situation for both environmental advocacy and urbanization and real estate development groups.  It is also envisaged to have a multiple positive impacts on social, health, economic, and environmental issues in urban areas.

  315. The French connection: Climate-smart agriculture and soil health workshop

    By Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil Program Director 
    Three representatives from the Ohio State University, Rafiq Islam, Vinayak Shedekar, and Alan Sundermeier, along with Jerry Grigar from USDA-NRCS were invited to organize a series of “Climate-smart agriculture and soil health” workshops by two large farmer organizations in France from March 12 to 18, 2017. This French connection is the result of the science-based knowledge exchange initiatives that brought a French delegation, David Brandt, a farmer from Fairfield County, and the Ohio State University together in 2015. As a result of continued dialogue and partnership, the associations BASE (Biodiversité, Agriculture, Sol & Environnement) (www.asso-base.fr/) and Soin de la Terre (www.soin-de-la-terre.org/) sponsored our trip to France. 

    Dr. Rafiq Islam is a soil scientist who has more than 20 years of national and international research, teaching and extension experience in climate-smart sustainable agricultural and organic cropping systems with a special emphasis on no-till practice, crop rotation with cover crops, soil amendments and nutrient recycling, and soil health assessments. Alan Sundermeier is an associate professor and Extension educator at the Ohio State University with national and international expertise on no-till organic farming, cover crops, and agroecosystem services with more than 30 years of outreach and engagement experience. By profession, Dr. Vinayak Shedekar is an Agricultural Engineer and has more than 5 years of experience in agricultural water management, soil organic matter dynamics, and advanced tools and techniques in modern agriculture. He is currently serving as a Research Associate in the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program at the Ohio State University South Centers at Piketon. Jerry Grigar serves as a State Agronomist for USDA-NRCS in Michigan and has more than 32 years of national and international experience in sustainable agronomic practices. He is also a successful no-till farmer, with vast practical experience in soil organic matter modeling, strip-cropping, and slow-release nitrogen fertilization techniques.

    The team travelled more than 2,600 kilometers to organize four workshops in France: Monday March 13th in Alsace, in the northwest region of France on; Tuesday, March 14th in the Dijon area; Wednesday, March 15th in the Lyon area, and Friday, March 16th in Gironville, close to Paris. On March 16 the group visited a biodynamic lab in Cluny in the mountainous region of France.  

    Information was disseminated during day-long workshops through presentations and demonstrations, based on research findings and experience with organic, bio-dynamic and ecological farming systems.  Topics included: organic farming and soil health management, selecting and incorporating cover crops in organic farming systems, no-till and cover crops impact on soil health and ecosystems services, soil health balancing with organic and inorganic amendments, using a soil organic matter calculator, farmer friendly soil health assessment tools, and economics of organic farming systems.

    More than three hundred farmers, educators, professors, and students attended the workshops. Several farmers from other European countries attended the workshops as well. Post-workshop survey showed about 64% of the participants were farmers, with the remainder being university students, faculty, educators, consultants and trainers. More than 71% of the participants were very satisfied with the workshop. About 67% of the participants found the soil quality field test and soil organic matter calculator very relevant to their needs. More than 74% of the participants reported that they have improved their knowledge on no-till, cover crops, and soil health. About 48, 28, and 22% of the participants reported that cover crops, soil conservation, and crop rotation are the most important agricultural management practices to improve soil health. Among the workshop participants, 37% were motivated to use crop rotation/cover crops, 22% to practice no-till, 22% will use crop rotation, cover and no-till, and 19% of them will regularly perform soil quality tests in their future agricultural planning and management practices. 

    The French sponsoring organizations, BASE and Soin de la Terre, are nonprofit farmer associations that are striving to find suitable solutions, knowledge-based information, and simple, rapid and inexpensive tools for French farmers. This was a great opportunity for us at The Ohio State University to be involved in a knowledge exchange program at the international level, while expanding the college and university’s outreach to the European Union farming communities of France. The interactions with the French farmers and visits to their farms were a great learning experience for our team. This helped our team members to identify some of the local as well as global issues in relation to agricultural sustainability, socio-economics, and environmental quality. Furthermore, the interactions and feedback received from these workshops will help to assess the effectiveness of our outreach and educational methods, and help us improve upon them.

  316. Collaborative Graduate Research Highlights in Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam, Soil Program Director

    Since 2002, the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program at the Ohio State University South Centers has developed a graduate research and educational collaboration with numerous universities across several continents. Currently, two graduate students are visiting scholars working in the Soil, Water and Bioenergy resources Program on their Ph.D. research work. Heba Said Ali El Desouky El Abd, Assistant Lecturer, Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt is funded by the Government of Egypt for a 2-year research scholarship. Emmanuel Amoakwah, Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Soil Research Institute, Kwadaso – Kumasi, Ghana, is funded by USDA Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP).

    Heba is working on her Ph.D. thesis work entitled “Plants Response to Nano- and Chelated Nutrients” under the supervision of Professor Hosny Mohamed Abd-El Daym, Plant Physiology, Botany Dept., Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt (principal supervisor) and Rafiq Islam, Program Director, Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources at The Ohio State University South Centers, Ohio, USA (host supervisor). Her research work focuses on using iron-based nanotechnology (nano-fertilizer) on the physiological processes, growth and yield of greenhouse grown tomato and cucumber production, compared with conventional and chelated Fe fertilizers. So far, she has generated tremendously high quality data to observe that precision technology such as Nanotechnology is far superior to the conventional systems to modify the plant root, stem, and leaf cell structures to improve water and nutrient uptake by plants and consequently, increase plant growth and economic yields. Some of her research slides on modified plant cell structures and fruit quality are shown below:

         

    Photo 1: Chemical iron fertilizer effects on tomato stem cell

    Photo 2: Nano iron fertilizer effects on tomato stem cell

    Photo 3: Conventional iron fertilization (7), chelated iron fertilizer (8) and nano iron fertilizer (9) effects on tomato fruits  

    Photo 4: Heba Said Ali El Desouky El Abd

    Emmanuel Amoakwah, a Ph.D. student in the Dept. of Soil Science, University of Cape Coast, Ghana is funded by the USDA-Borlaug LEAP program for a 10-month scholarship to complement his Ph.D. research work in Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources. This is his second time to visit and study at OSU South Centers. The first time, he came in 2013 as a USDA-Borlaug short-term scholar to learn more about newly developed lab and field research techniques. That work experience he acquired at the OSU South Centers persuaded him to enroll in the Ph.D. program at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. His Ph.D. research study is titled “Biochar Effects on Nutrient Recycling, Mitigation of Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Crop Productivity.” Specific objectives of his research are to: (1) Characterize physico-chemical characteristics of biochar, (2) Determine the effects of biochar greenhouse gas emissions, (3) Measure the effects of biochar on soil quality, and (4) Determine the effects of biochar on crop productivity. Some progress of his work is illustrated below.

      

  317. South Centers leads the Ohio State University Extension Signature Program: Healthy Soil – Healthy Environment

    Vinayak Shedekar, Research Associate

    The Healthy Soil – Healthy Environment is an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension Signature Program launched in July 2016 that will create a Soil Health Education and Outreach Network comprised of OSU researchers, Extension educators and 4-H educators. Vinayak Shedekar, OSU South Centers Research Associate and Alan Sundermeier, Wood County Extension Educator co-lead the program. Dr. Rafiq Islam, Brad Bergefurd, and Dr. Dan Remley from OSU South Centers are also members of the team.

    The new signature program intends to serve a variety of clientele including: all farmers (traditional, organic, no-till, sustainable or low-put), landowners, 4-H members and youth, urban gardeners (youth and adults), Master Gardeners, crop consultants, ag retailers, salesmen, underserved populations, non-profit organizations, and the general public. The program’s long-term goal is to help improve Ohio’s Soil Health and Environment by educating farmers, youth, and the general public. Over the past half century, OSU researchers have a developed a plethora of knowledge and practical solutions farmers can use to better manage their soils. Examples include the long-term no-till studies in Wooster, cover crop studies in Piketon, and the long-term soil drainage and compaction research at Hoytville. This vast knowledge base will be made available to the stakeholders through the Healthy Soil – Healthy Environment program.

    Maintaining a healthy and productive soil is the foundation of sustainable agriculture. However, a majority of producers, youth in agriculture, and urban gardeners are unaware of the importance and ways to manage soil health. The OSU Healthy Soil – Healthy Environment signature program is intended to bridge this knowledge gap, by providing knowledge and tools, and educational curricula related to soil health and its assessment under different agricultural management settings. The program will develop factsheets and other educational materials, conduct in-service training, workshops and field days focused on sustainable soil management practices, and develop curriculum that could be incorporated into state-wide 4-H and youth-education programs.

    The program team also includes OSU soil scientists Warren Dick, Nick Basta, Rafiq Islam, and Steve Culman, and OSU Extension Agriculture & Natural Resources and 4-H educators Clifton Martin (Muskingum County), Dr. Robert Horton (Columbus), Jason Hendrick (Putnam County) and Sarah Noggle (Paulding County), Michael Schweinsberg (Paulding County), and Les Ober (Geauga County).

    Program website: soilhealth.osu.edu

    Twitter: @OhioSoilHealth

  318. Soil, Water and Bioenergy Program research highlights at the 2016 American Society of Agronomy International Meetings

    By Yogendra Raut, Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources

    Five research presentations were made at the American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America International meetings by Rafiq Islam, Yogendra Raut, and Vinayak S. Shedekar in Phoenix AZ, November 6 to 9, 2016.

    The OSU Soil Organic Matter Calculator - a Decision Tool to Manage Soil Health was presented by Vinayak S. Shedekar with Rafiq Islam, Randall Reeder, and Jerry Grigar (USDA-NRCS Michigan) as co-authors.  This presentation in the Graduate Student Competition was selected for second prize based on intellectual quality and merit. This is a simplified version of the computer model designed as a user-friendly decision support system to be used by producers to manage their farm operations and farm profitability. This is free software and can be downloaded from the Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program website go.osu.edu/somcalculator.

    Yogendra Raut delivered a scientific presentation entitled “Bioenergy Production and Carbon Sequestration Dynamics under Conservation Reserve Program Management System” based on his Ph.D. thesis work with Drs. Warren Dick and Vinayak Shedekar, as co-authors. The long-term study has shown that harvesting of aboveground biomass from Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land would be a win-win situation in terms of bioenergy feedstock production, carbon credit and improved soil quality.

    Rafiq Islam delivered three presentations, two on soil quality and one on soil organic matter quality and storage.  His first presentation, “Soil Organic Matter Quality and Storage under Different Land-Use Systems Following Primary Deciduous Forest Conversion” featured USDA-Borlaug scholar Emmanuel Amoakwah from Ghana as the primary author. The study showed that the temporal land-use changes at the OSU South Centers Research farm at Piketon affect the land quality in terms of carbon source and sink. He delivered the second presentation entitled “Evaluating Anthrone Reactive Carbon as a Measure of Soil Quality” as a new approach based on soil health core indicator properties functionally associated with soil quality that are largely controlled by labile organic carbon in soil.

    Rafiq delivered his third presentation during the Soil Health Assessment and Management session on “A New Active Carbon Test to Evaluate Agricultural Soil Health Globally.” This is a modified version of the earlier soil quality test, based on active carbon. In general, the earlier procedure is suitable for mineral soils and not consistently desirable for soils with high carbon content, mine reclaimed soil, muck soil, Ca-rich soil, Fe- and Al-rich red soils, and submerged or rice soils. This new soil quality test can be successfully used to measure soil quality of various soils on a global scale.

  319. Soil, Water and Bioenergy research and education collaboration across continents

    By Dr Rafiq Islam, Soil, Water, and BioEnergy Program Director 
     
    Over the years, the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources Program at the Ohio State University South Centers has developed widespread research and educational collaboration with different countries in the world. Currently, three new visiting scholars joined the Soil, Water and Bioenergy resources Program. They are: Gai Zhjia (Peter) from China, Dr. Natalia Didenko from Ukraine, and Dr. Botir Haitov from Uzbekistan.
     
     

    Peter is a short-term visiting scientist from the Chinese Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences – Jiamusi Branch who is working on sustainable agricultural management practices to improve soil health for economic crop production with enhanced ecosystem services. Peter is the second intern to come to the OSU South Centers for a two-month training period from the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences – Jiamusi Branch.

     
     

    Natalia is a Norman Borlaug short-term post-doctoral visiting fellow from Ukraine. Currently, she is working as a Scientific Researcher, Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, Kyiv, Ukraine. Her current research focuses on soil compaction, soil quality, and water management related to climate-smart agricultural practices. At Ohio State University, she is working on transferring science-based knowledge to adopt sustainable agricultural management practices in Ukraine. The science-based knowledge and research experience she is gaining in the U.S. will be directly applicable to her research interests in Ukrainian agriculture. She is one of the outstanding researchers selected to present her current research at the J-1 Exchange Research Exposition organized by the office of the OSU vice president for research. Recently, she attended the World Food Prize conference in Des Moines, IA. 

     
     
     
    Botir is a Fulbright post-doctoral research fellow from Uzbekistan. He is a senior researcher and associate professor in the Plant Science Dept., Tashkent State Agrarian University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Current agricultural production systems in Uzbekistan rely heavily on irrigation, excessive tillage, and limited crop rotation approaches which are not functionally efficient for agroecosystem services. Moreover, the threats of climate change are constantly increasing, and its impact on agricultural production in Uzbekistan has already started; therefore, it is crucial for us to start acting now. The goal of his Fulbright research fellowship is to study the long-term effects of continuous NT with multi-functional cover crops in a wheat-corn-soybean rotation for enhanced agroecosystem services including cover crops biomass nutrient contribution, soil bio-diversity, soil C sequestration, compaction alleviation, and soil health and farm productivity. 
  320. Research, Education, and Extension Collaboration between the Ohio State University South Centers and Jiamusi Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences

    By Dr Rafiq Islam, Soil, Water, and BioEnergy Program Director

    Drs. Tom Worley, Larry Brown and Rafiq Islam, along with Alan Sundermeier from Ohio State University visited the People’s Republic of China at the invitation of the Chinese National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Heilongjiang and Jiamusi Branches). The Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources program at the Ohio State University South Centers has established and coordinated research, education and extension activities with the administration and scientists of the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences – Jiamusi Branch in 2014. Dr. Worley, Director of the Oho State University South Centers, accompanied by Rafiq Islam and Alan Sundermeier to further strengthen the bridge of collaboration.

    They visited Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and discussed future on collaboration possibilities to develop exchange scientists and students to conduct applied research and educational programs on 21st century sustainable agricultural management practices with especial reference to climate mitigation and adaptation. 

    As part of their visit, Dr. Worley delivered a presentation on “Economics of soybean production in the USA – Ohio.” Alan Sundermeier from OSU Extension (Wood County) gave a presentation on “Managing nitrogen availability in soil,” and Dr. Rafiq Islam delivered a presentation on “Climate change and future agriculture with reference to China.” The Chinese scientists showed a tremendous interest to learn more about our research on no-till, cover crop blends, crop rotation, soil health, and ecosystem services.

    Dr. Rafiq Islam also provided demonstrations and hands-on training to Academy students and technicians on greenhouse gas emission, soil quality evaluation, cover crops decomposition and nitrogen release, and soil, water and cover crops sampling techniques during his 1-month stay in China. Based on their acquired experience on Chinese agricultural management practices and in-depth discussion, Rafiq and others developed a long-term research project entitled “Tillage and Cropping Systems’ Impact on Soil Health and Agroecosystem Services” for academic and applied research activities for the Jiamusi Branch of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences. They are expected to visit China every year to further strengthen the collaborative research and educational programs between the Ohio State University and Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences - Jiamusi Branch, China.

     

  321. Sustainable Management of Food Waste Composting for Nutrient Recycling

    By Dr. Rafiq Islam, Soil, Water and Bioenergy Specialist

    The Soil, Water & Bioenergy Resources Program of the Ohio State University South Centers, in conjunction with Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District and Pike County Solid Waste District, organized a “Food Waste Composting for Home Gardening” workshop in Piketon on     May 19, 2016.The workshop was well attended by the presence of small farmers, organic producers, home gardeners, compost producers and dealers, and home owners.

    The main speaker at the workshop was Dr. Frederick C. Michel, Jr., from the Deptartment of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and member of the Compost Research Center at OARDC, Wooster. He presented information on improving the collection, characterization, and processing of agricultural and industrial organic byproducts. Specific topics include collection, mixing and processing of food wastes, microbial communities in composts and amended soils, efficient conversion of dairy and hog production wastes into composts, and characterizing the effects of composting and other waste management processes on microorganisms, antibiotics and human and animal pathogen persistence. He also covered topics such as how to increase soil organic matter levels by using food waste composts and nutrient recycling to improve soil health for small-scale organic production and home gardening.

     

  322. “The Dirt on Organic Matter” – Organic Farmers learn about Soil Organic Matter & Soil Health

    By Rafiq Islam, PhD Soil and Water Specialist and Vinayak Shedekar, Research Associate II
     
    On Feb. 12, Dr. Rafiq Islam, Soil, Water & BioEnergy Program leader at OSU South Centers organized “The Dirt on Organic Matter,”  a special preconference workshop before the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) annual conference in Granville OH.  This was one of the three pre-conference workshops offered by OEFFA to provide in-depth learning opportunities.  The day-long workshop covered topics such as how to increase soil organic matter levels by using compost, manure, cover crops, and soil amendments such as gypsum, zeolite and leonardite, or black carbon. 
     
    The presenters’ team included farmers, experts from the college’s outreach and research arms, Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center; and experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Michigan. 
     
    The workshop started off with opening remarks by Dr. Islam about the importance of soil health in organic production systems.  “Organic farmers often opt for intensive tillage-based practices in an effort to manage weeds, reduce operating costs, and increase farm profits,” Islam said.  He further explained, “Tillage may provide short-term yield gains but results in loss of soil organic matter  and productivity over time.  Soil organic matter SOM is the cornerstone of soil health. As with any agricultural production system, maintaining a healthy and productive soil is the foundation of sustainable organic farming.”
     
    In the first session of workshop, Dr. Islam further presented an overview of soil quality/health indicators and their assessment, and explained ways of  soil balancing with organic and inorganic amendments.  Dave Brandt, no-till farmer from Carroll, Ohio and a nationally recognized speaker presented “Having fun with cover crops and economics.” Dave shared the practical and economic considerations of using cover crops for improving soil health.  Dr. Harit Bal from the Ohio State University Department of Entomology explained the role of soil management for healthy agro-ecosystems through her presentation.  She presented findings and recommendations from a recent USDA-funded research project focused on long-term organic and transitioning farming systems, and further described the role of nematodes.  Following on the biological aspects of soil health, Dr. Ye Xia from the Department of Plant Pathology at OSU gave a presentation about the importance of beneficial microbes for plant and soil health.  Dr. Xia explained the vital role played by various micro and macro organisms in the soil with respect to nutrient recycling, suppression of soil-borne pathogens and parasites, and synthesis of enzymes, vitamins and hormones beneficial for plant growth.  Jerry Grigar, state agronomist with the USDA-NRCS in Michigan,  shared the practical aspects of soil organic matter management for healthy soils.  Mr. Grigar’s key message to organic farmers was to “focus on C (carbon) instead of T (tillage).”  Vinayak Shedekar from OSU South Centers demonstrated the OSU Soil Organic Matter Calculator, and showed farmers how to use prediction tools for effectively managing soil health.  Jim Hoorman, OSU Extension, explained the economics of cover crops and organic matter through real life examples. 
     
    The workshop was attended by more than 60 organic farmers and educators. The attendees also received the OSU Soil Quality Field Test Kit, free samples of cover crop seeds (courtesy, Dave Brandt), and a copy of  Building Soils for Better Crops – sustainable soil management produced by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).  A few student volunteers and Dr. Tom Worley, Director of OSU South Centers assisted with the organization of the workshop, and participated in the discussion forum.  The workshop was well received, and workshop organizers received excellent feedback comments from the attendees.
     
    Contact Rafiq Islam or Vinayak Shedekar for more information.
     

     

  323. Sustainable agriculture and agroecosystem services

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil and Water Specialist
     
    Sustainable agricultural practices based on increasing cropping diversity with cover crops act as a biological primer to improve functional stability of continuous no-till (NT) with enhanced agroecosystem services. We presented the results of our long-term effects (2004 to 2014) of sustainable agriculture based on continuous corn, corn-soybean (CS) and corn-soybean-wheat (CSW) rotations with or without cover crops (CC) on soil health and crop productivity under NT in the session on “Soil Health Research for Agroecosystems” at the American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America International Meetings in Minneapolis, MN, in November 2015. We were invited to present our long-term experimental results on Sustainable Agriculture and Agroecosystem Services as they related to the tri-society international meeting theme of “Synergy in Science: Partnering for Solutions.”
     
    To account for the impact of sustainable agricultural practices on soil health, economic crop yields, and agroecosystem services, our research team members (Wayne Lewis, Yogi Raut, Hasni Jahan, Stacey Reno, Emily Weaks, and Drs. Celal Yucel, Derya Yucel, Kenan, Barik, and Ekrem Aksakal) collected composite soil and plant samples over the years from geo-referenced sites of each replicated plot.
     
    The soil samples were analyzed for microbial biomass, basal respiration, metabolic quotients, enzyme activity and earthworms (as biological soil health indicators); total organic carbon and nitrogen, active carbon and nitrogen, and greenhouse gas emissions (as chemical soil health indicators); and particulate organic C and N, bulk density, aggregate size distribution, and macro-aggregate stability (as physical soil health indicators). Corn, soybean, and wheat yield data were collected and normalized as relative crop yields. The soil and crop data were normalized to calculate soil health, based on both inductive and deductive approaches.  Data normalization was performed based on the premise that higher values of soil and crop yield data are better indicators of soil health, except for compaction and greenhouse gas emissions. 
     
    Our results showed that low external input with increasing cropping diversity under a continuous no-till system significantly improved soil health with an increase in economic crop yields over the annual plowed cropping conventional tillage system.  The impact of increasing cropping diversity was more pronounced with wheat and cover crops under continuous no-till. Soil biological health indicators were found more sensitive than soil chemical and physical health indicators.  We observed that when switching to continuous no-till crop rotation, it is essential to use multi-functional cover crops to improve soil health for higher crop yields.  We found the improvement in crop yields  lagged behind improvements in soil health.
     
  324. OSU researchers build research capacity in Ghana

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil and Water Specialist
     
    Dr. Rafiq Islam, Senior Research Scientist and Soil, Water & Bioenergy Program Director at The Ohio State University South Centers and Dr. Warren Dick, Professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University recently traveled to Ghana from August 26- September 5, 2015 to deliver an innovative workshop entitled “Climate change, sustainable agriculture and soil health” at the University of Cape Coast. 
     
    The visit stemmed from their earlier participation in the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program - a short-term research program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, which aims to address critical issues related to food security with a collaborating researcher from a developing or middle income country.
     
    These two Borlaug programs were managed by the Office of International Programs in Agriculture at The Ohio State University. While Dr. Islam advised Emmanuel Amoakwah, a research scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Soil Research Institute in Kumasi, Ghana, in 2013, Dr. Dick mentored Kwame Frimpong, a professor in the Department of Soil Science and a colleague of Emmanuel’s, shortly after in 2014. Both Ghanaian researchers completed three-month research fellowships with their respective advisors at The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and are now back in Ghana applying the skills that they acquired and advancing novel research in the field of soil health and quality. 
     
    Ghana’s University of Cape Coast, specifically its Department of Soil Science, hosted the two day workshop and welcomed more than 75 participants including university faculty members, graduate students, and research scientists from Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Liberia. 
     
    During the workshop, several field-based measurement techniques such as residue measurement, soil texture, diversity of soil fauna, available nitrogen and phosphorus, soil pH, and active carbon tests were all demonstrated to the participants. In addition, a ready-to-use soil quality analysis handbook was provided to each participant as a future reference, along with an economic and convenient field-based soil test kit, which participants were taught how to use in field sessions. 
     
    Dr. Dick presented on soil organic carbon and quality of science, while Dr. Islam delivered instruction on soil quality and sampling, and a systems approach to sustainable agriculture. One of the highlights of the workshop was a brain-storming session led by Dr. Islam to identify priority-based research needs in Ghana to sustain agricultural production systems. According to Dr. Islam, the session prompted serious, but healthy debate amongst participants on the appropriate research approaches needed to promote greater soil health in a region of the world that is directly experiencing the effects of climate change.  
     
    “Low soil fertility and climate change are already affecting Ghana’s dwindling natural resources and agricultural productivity,” says Kwame Frimpong. “There’s an urgent need for a clearer understanding and implementation of soil fertility management strategies that will promote increased agricultural productivity and food security in a socially equitable and an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.”  Moreover, Dr. Islam conducted another workshop at the CSIR-Soil Research Institute, Kumasi on August 27, 2015 along with Emmanuel Amoakwah (Borlaug fellow 2013).
     
    Both Dr. Dick and Dr. Islam, along with Rian Lawrence, an undergraduate student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources who assisted with the development and delivery of the workshop, all deemed the workshop an overwhelming success.
     
    “It was probably one of the most beneficial international programs I have been associated with,” shared Dr. Dick, who has been engaged in international teaching and research, especially in Africa, for decades. “I definitely see this workshop style as a model for similar types of training activities in the future.”

     

  325. New visiting scholars joined Soil, Water and Bioenergy Program

    Jingqi (Lily) Liu and Heba El Abd have been welcomed as visiting scholars after recently joining the Soil, Water and Bioenergy Program at the OSU South Centers at Piketon. 

    Currently, Lily is employed as a Research Associate at the Sustainable Agricultural Technology Institute, Jiamusi Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. Lily is a short-term (3-month) exchange scholar and will be working on lab and field-based research techniques, analysis and data interpretation related to sustainable agricultural management practices. Her research focus will be on soil health, conservation tillage, cover crops and ecosystem services.

    Heba is a graduate exchange scholar from Egypt. Currently, she is employed as an Assistant Lecturer, Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, Egypt. Her teaching focus is on plant morphology and physiology, as well as plant taxonomy. She will be pursuing her Ph.D. research work entitled “Plants’ response to nano- and chelated nutrients” under the supervision of Drs. Rafiq Islam and Gary Gao, and Brad Bergefurd, respectively.

     

  326. Collaboration between The Ohio State University South Centers and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

    Rafiq Islam and Wayne Lewis visited the Peoples Republic of China at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Heilongjiang and Jiamusi Branches) from July 18 to 29, 2015. Rafiq Islam, the program director for Soil, Water and Bioenergy Resources at OSU South Centers, established an agricultural research, education and extension collaboration with the scientists at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences – Jiamusi Branch in 2014. Wayne Lewis, the Farm Manager of the OSU South Centers, accompanied him to further bridge the collaboration. Dr. Larry Brown at the OSU Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, facilitated our collaborative research and educational trip to China.

     
    Rafiq and Wayne visited Foreign Office of the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences and discussed future collaboration possibilities to exchange faculty members, scientists, and students to conduct applied research and educational programs on 21st century sustainable agriculture. Liu (Lily) Jingqi, a scholar from the Academy, accompanied them to OSU South Centers for advanced training on sustainable agricultural management practices to improve soil health for enhanced ecosystem services. 
     
    As part of their visit, Rafiq delivered several presentations on (1) Continuous No-till Planting Effects on Soil Carbon Sequestration; (2) Cover Crops, Microorganisms, and Tillage: the Biological Plow; and (3) Evaluation of Soil Quality to the faculty members, scientists, and students of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Wayne Lewis delivered a presentation on “Planting systems and machines for sustainable no-till farming.”  Moreover, Wayne Lewis provided demonstrations and hands-on training to Academy students and technicians for maintenance of farm equipment, such as repairing, setting planters and drills, adjusting harvesters for planting and harvesting corn, soybeans and cover crops. 
     
    The Chinese counterpart, Professor Jintao Zhang, Director of the Sustainable Agricultural Technology Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences Jiamusi Branch, accompanied them to visit government farms and farmers’ fields where they are researching with different planting techniques, tillage operations, and management systems for growing soybeans, corn and rice. They showed tremendous interest to learn more about our research on no-till, cover crop blends, crop rotation, soil health, and ecosystem services. 
     
    Based on their acquired experience on Chinese agricultural management practices and in-depth discussion, Rafiq and others developed a long-term research project entitled “Tillage and Cropping Systems Impact on Ecosystem Services” for academic and applied research activities for the Jiamusi Branch of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences. They are expected to visit China every year to further strengthen the collaborative research and educational programs between the Ohio State University and Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences - Jiamusi Branch, China. 

     

  327. Training Professionals on Sustainable Advanced Energy Feedstock Production for Enhanced Ecosystems Services from the Ground Up

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil and Water Specialist 
     
    Bioenergy is expected to be one of the important sectors of future advanced energy investment. Currently, a portion of the US corn and soybean crops is being processed into biofuels. In 2012, biofuels accounted for ~7% (13.8 billion gallon) of total transport fuel consumption in the United States. Corn accounted for 94% of all biofuels, but corn alone cannot meet the US government’s biofuel goal of replacing 30% of gasoline use by 2030. Corn also requires a lot of reactive fertilizer and chemicals, which can result in off-site nutrient movement and environmental pollution. 
     
    A variety of state and federal energy mandates and incentives, along with various sustainability and low carbon standards, are driving interest in growing several annual and perennial crops used for producing bioenergy and bio-based materials. Ones widely grown or being developed as energy crops include: Switchgrass, Big Bluestem, Eastern Gamma grass and other prairie grasses, Sudan-sorghum, sweet sorghum, energy beet, sugarcane, Miscanthus, Arundo, Guayule, Buckeye Dandelion and hybrid Willow and Poplar. Federal incentive programs (Biomass Crop Assistance Program, BCAP) include Miscanthus giganteus and Switchgrass as dedicated energy crops. However, the demand for food from corn and other crops, usually grown on good soils, will double by 2050 as worldwide population increases. 
     
    While using our best land to grow energy crops is not a logical choice, the question is: how can the economic benefits of growing crops for energy and bio-based products be balanced by the environmental concerns? To answer the question, we conducted a series of multi-state train-the-trainer workshops for professionals to equip them with knowledge-based information, teaching materials, and assessment tools to assist farmers in shifting to bioenergy feedstock production on marginal lands with enhanced ecosystem services. Four one-day workshop/in-service/field day events in 2014-2015 were organized in Michigan at the Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University; in Ohio at the Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference annual meeting and another event at the Ohio State University; and in Maryland at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. 
     
    The target audience was educators and professionals from University Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Environmental Protection Agency and other state and federal agencies, crop consultant associations, farm organizations, ag enterprises, non-government organizations, energy professionals, bio-based company executives, students, and environmental groups. Others invited were: young and innovative farmers, farm leaders, county officials, professors, high school teachers, and bank, credit union and farm co-op officials.
     
    Speakers from the Ohio State University (Rafiq Islam, Katrina Cornish, Randall Reeder, Denny Hall, Eric Romich, John Cardina, and Vinayak Shedekar), Michigan State University (Dennis Pennington, Paul Gross, Mark Seamon, Aaron Fox, Scott Swinton, Phil Robertson, and Steve Hamilton); University of Maryland at College Park, (Bahram Momen, Jason Wight and Wendy Ann Peer), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Ismail Dwikat); USDA-ARS Washington DC (Kate Lewis - BioPreferred Deputy Program Manager) and Michigan NRCS (Jerry Grigar) delivered their presentations at the meetings. Organizations actively involved in organizing the workshops and in-service were: Ohio State University, Michigan State University, University of Maryland at College Park, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center of The Ohio State University, USDA-Agricultural Research Service Washington D.C., Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, Ohio No-Till Council, Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Natural Resources Conservation Service in Ohio and Michigan, and the Corn Marketing Program of Ohio. 
     
    While the discussion and participation session was based on questions and answers between speakers and participants, the response and documentation part was based on post-workshop evaluations. Educational/training materials were prepared by the project partners and reviewed by a multi-state advisory panel. During these events, speakers/presentations were followed by hands-on activities (use of soil quality field test kit) and visualization of tools (OSU soil organic matter calculator), questions and answers, group discussions, and evaluation. 
     
    More than 160 educators and professionals (including farmers and students) from 5 states were trained during the workshops. Evaluations of the training activities showed that more than three-fourths of the participants were very pleased with the educational materials and tools provided for teaching local farmers. On average, participants stated a 32 to 40% increase in knowledge gain on the topics covered. Among the states, the highest knowledge gain by participants was reported in Maryland (39 to 49%) followed by 32 to 42% in Ohio, and the lowest knowledge gain (25%) in Michigan. The highest knowledge gain (20 to 38%) by the participants was reported on sorghum for ethanol (39 to 45%) and Soil Organic Matter calculator (31 to 53%), followed by 31 to 43% on bio-products, 36+1%  on energy crops and bio-feedstock production, and 32 to 38% on ecosystem services. About 40 to 55% of the participants recommended the use of degraded land for bio-feedstock production followed by 30 to 36% for reclaimed mine land as compared to 5 to 13% for prime agricultural land or 4 to 12% for Conservation Reserve Program land. Based on communications during and following our workshops, we expect that our training information and tools will be shared with more than 1,000 farmers by professionals. 
  328. 2014 Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources Program Achievements

    By: Rafiq Islam, PhD, Soil and Water Specialist

    The Ohio State University South Centers Soil, Water, and Bioenergy Resources program provides science-based applied knowledge, education and tools to regional, national and international clientele on sustainable management practices and agroecosystem services.

    RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

    Development of tools and technology

    Ecosystem services (SOM) calculator

    Farmers, educators and energy industry personnel need a simple and easy-to-use tool in order to understand how agricultural management practices influence agroecosystem services. We have developed the "ecosystem services calculator" for clientele, based on the impacts of energy feedstock production and stover removal under different management practices. The calculator predicts soil organic matter build-up and C trading, greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. CO2), nitrogen fertilization, and overall soil health. The tool also helps to calculate the revenue from residue sales. This tool has been loaded on the Soil, Water and Bioenergy website (http://www.southcenters.osu.edu/soil) and was acccessed worldwide, with more than 500 downloads. The tool is ready to convert into software for commercial use by farmers, educators, NRCS staff and other clientele. We are working with the OSU Licensing and Technology Deptartment for technology transfer and commercialization of the calculator.

    Development of bio-polymers and bio-products

    Management of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) pollution from both farmland runoff and leaching has been a challenge to minimize water pollution and improve agroecosystem services. Lakes, streams and rivers in Ohio have become eutrophic with soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and subsequently, polluted with toxic and nuisance algal blooms (e.g., Grand Lake St Mary’s). Similarly, Midwest agricultural

    contribution of reactive N and P through the Mississippi river is responsible for algal blooms and anoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.

    We are actively researching with the funding support from Battelle and the Ohio Sea Grant on to develop efficient and dual-purpose adsorption materials for binding and retaining reactive P and N, based on quaternized biomass anion resin and cation exchange materials. Mixing of anionic biomass resin with cationic nanoporous zeolite will serve as the dual-purpose adsorption material and is expected to bind and retain both P and N (NH4+) simultaneously to minimize reactive P and N formation and loss with enhanced agroecosystem services.

     

    Express soil quality test kit

    We have modified our express soil quality field test kit for routine evaluation of field soil by farmers, Educators, crop advisors and citizens. The test kit was developed at the OSU South Centers several years ago. People from around the world have purchased our express soil quality test kit for instant measurement of soil quality, organic matter content, plant available N, biological activity, and soil tilth. The kit can also be used to help predict crop yields. Farmers typically spend at least $30/year for routine analysis of soil. Our soil quality test costs less than a $1 per year. Collectively, this test can help farmers to save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year spent on commercial lab analysis We are working with the OSU Licensing and Technology Deptartment for patent application on our soil health test kit.

    Applied Research: State, Regional and National Level

    Sustainable soybean production and climate change mitigation

    Using a research grant from United Soybean Board (USB) in collaboration with USDA-ARS Drainage Research in Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama, as well as Penn State University, and the University of Kentucky, we are conducting research to grow soybeans continuously and improve marginal lands with multifunctional cover crops and industrial waste products (flue gas desulfurized (FGD) gypsum). Our research results were presented at the Ohio Farm Science Review, the Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, the National No-Till Conference, and the Farm Show in Pennsylvania with active participation of farmers and coal-based power industries. The production management approach based on holistic and novel integration cover crop and Gypsum in continuous NT has helped to increase soybean yield and expand production on marginal lands in the Midwest.

    Sustainable organic production systems

    Organic production is receiving world-wide attention with the growing demand for healthier foods. The outlook for continuing growth of US organic production is bright. The organic market continues to grow by 10% annually. In Ohio, there are over 500 certified food operations. Ohio produces 25% of the nation’s organic spelt, 8% of its corn silage, and about 3% of other organic produce. Total farm gate organic production is estimated as high as $75 million. However, current organic systems rely heavily on excessive tillage-based approaches, which are not ecologically harmonious and are also functionally inefficient. Ohio farmers have shown a great interest using cover crop blends to improve production and food quality, farm economics, and soil health. However, there are limited research activities focused on helping producers use appropriate cover crop blends to improve organic agroecosystem functionality and services.

    We are impacting (by USDA-Organic Transition funded and CERES Trust funded projects) organic production research in Ohio using an innovative combination of no-till, multi-functional cover crop blends and vinegar (as a herbicide) to assess and maximize ecosystem services. Our 2014 research results have shown that several cover crop blends of winter pea, soybean, radish, carrot, oat, cereal rye, safflower, sun hemp, and pearl millet and Sudan-sorghum act as a weed suppressor, bio-diversifier, N provider, scavenger and recycler of nutrients, compaction alleviator, drainage improver, and soil builder.

    Drainage ditches, BMP and reactive N and P recycling

    Funded by a USDA-NIWQP project for 3 years, in association with the Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering department, our research project, "Integrated and Science-Based Management of Agricultural Drainage Channels in the Western Lake Erie Basin" is impacting farmers, educators, crop advisors, high-school students and scientists. Management of agricultural drainage channels to protect and improve water quality by mitigating sediment and reactive P and N pollution while meeting drainage needs is essential for agricultural production sustainability.

    Renewable energy research

    Currently, we are managing seven bioenergy experimental studies on corn, sweet sorghum (annual vs. perennial), sweet corn, Sudan-sorghum, Miscanthus giganteus, 6-warm-season grasses, hybrid willow, and Arundo donax. These projects were funded/collaborated by the NE Sun grant through the Department of Energy; Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. Hayward, CA; Repreve Renewables (Giant Miscanthus), Soperton, GA; Speedling, Inc. Ornamental and Energy Crop Divisions, Ruskin, FL; Konza Renewable Fuels, LLC, Meriden, KS; and New Polymer Systems, Inc., New Cannan, CT. We are still continuing research on these experiments.

    Our long-term research results have shown that applying sewage sludge @ 5,000 gal and FGD gypsum @ 4 ton/acre significantly increased Miscanthus feedstock production (15 to 20 ton/acre) for cellulosic ethanol (~ 100 gal/ton of biomass) and a valuable use of the waste products (biopolymers or energy pellets). Furthermore, our research has shown promising to use Miscanthus giganteus biomass for controlling soil erosion in new construction areas rather than wheat biomass. Likewise, several biosolids treatment companies are working with us on using Miscanthus biomass as a core matrix for sewage sludge solidification.

    Academic research (graduate studies)

    Yogendra Raut (Yogi), Jim Hoorman and Michael Brooker, students in the Environmental Science Graduate studies program of the Ohio State University School of Natural Resources are conducting their Ph.D. research experiments at Piketon research sites and/or with us involvingour projects. Yogi is emphasizing his Ph.D. work on management of CRP land, Jim is conducting his Ph.D. research on reactive P and N fates in post-manure applied soil, and Mike is involved in Ph.D. research with us on soil biogeochemistry of under two-stage ditches.

    Applied Research: International level

    Over the years, the OSU South Centers has developed a national and international reputation in soil, water and bioenergy research. As a result, internationally funded graduate students, scientists, scholars and professionals as visiting students, scholars/post-docs from Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine, have joined our program for research and educational activities. In 2013-14, we have hosted 3 scientists from Turkey and Ghana as Fulbright scholar, a Tubitek scholar (Turkey Government), and a Norman Borlaug scholar. All of them have successfully completed their work and returned home. Drs. Ekrem Aksakal, Kenan Barik and Emmanuel Amoakwah had their high-quality research works published, and presented and displayed at the International Research Exposition of Ohio State University, World Food Prize Award, American Society of Agronomy/Soil Science Society of America/Crop Science Society of America, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Newsletter, and Monsanto Newsroom (http://news.monsanto.com/news/sustainability/world-food-prize-panel-highlights-impacts-climate-change-food-production, www.asa.org, www.fas.usda.gov).

    Rafiq Islam, Alan Sundermeier and Jim Hoorman visited the Peoples Republic of China at the invitation of the Jiamusi Branch of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences from July 24, 2014 to August 5, 2014 to initiate collaborative research and educational programs with China. Based on our acquired experience on Chinese agricultural management practices and in-depth discussion, we set-up a long-term field research experiment entitled "Tillage and Cropping Systems Impact on Ecosystem Services" for academic and applied research activities at the research farm of the Jiamusi Branch of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences. We are expected to visit China every year to further strengthen our collaborative research and educational programs.

    Extension Impact

    State, regional and National level

    We have organized several field days, train-the trainer workshops, and annual meetings/conferences at different locations in Ohio (6) and Michigan (1) on "Eco-farming, biodiversity and soil health: A systems approach to enhance organic and natural agro-ecosystem services" OFEEA (~ 100 participants), OSU organic field day at Harzel farm (~40 participants), farmer’s forum with NC-SARE (~ 76 participants), Piketon SWR field day (~ 65 participants), and Ohio no-till farmers association (~ 100 participants). At Kellogg Biological Research Station, University of Michigan, we organized a train-the trainer workshop (15 participants) on "Bioenergy feedstock production, ecosystem services, and bioenergy and bio-based products."

    We have also actively involved and supported the Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference and Ohio No-Till Farmers Association annual meetings. We have delivered 25 presentations, published 6 peer-reviewed papers and several newspaper articles.

    International level

    We participated in two international meetings and workshops. One of the workshops was held July 28-29, 2014 at Jiamusi with the Chinese National Academy of Sciences on sustainable agriculture and ecosystem services. We have outreached to more than 60 professors, farmers, educators and scientists in China. As part of our participation, we delivered two presentations, one on "Developing educational and research collaboration" between the Ohio State University and the Chinese National Academy of Sciences and another one on "Sustainable Agriculture and Ecosystem Services." This year, our farm manager, Wayne Lewis and I will visit China. Wayne is expected to provide hands-on demonstration and training to Chinese technicians for maintenance of farm equipment and sustainable farming practices.

    Results from our experiments were presented at the 2014 Balkan Congress. I delivered 2 professional presentations at the meeting. Our Fulbright fellows, Drs. Celal Yucel and Derya Yucel delivered 2 professional presentations and four poster presentations on Extension and demonstration research.

     

  1. Title: Watch This!
  2. Title: SBDC success
  3. Title: SBDC Progress