OSU Extension’s Small Farm Program announces two small farm conferences to be held in March. These conferences are designed for small farm owners wanting to learn more about how to make their farms work better for them.
Through the many topics offered we hope we can help landowners expand their operations or, help them identify ways to more efficiently utilize their acreage. Land owners can attend workshops and presentations on these issues and more during the two conferences: “Opening Doors to Success” and “Living Your Small Farm Dream.”
The two conferences, combined with a trade show, are set up to help participants learn tips, techniques and methods for diversifying their opportunities into successful new enterprises and markets as a way to improve economic growth and development on their farms.
Through the conferences, we try to give participants a smorgasbord of ideas that may interest them and opportunities to learn in-depth about an issue, gain resources, and study how to finance a new venture. Although similar in content, the two conferences are not set up to contain the same sessions nor are they located in the same location.
The “Opening Doors to Success” Conference and Trade Show will be held March 10-11 at the Wilmington College Campus. This conference will kick off Friday afternoon with two really neat hands-on workshops focusing on Poultry Production and Beekeeping for the Beginner.
The Poultry Production program will feature Andy Schneider, Editor-in-Chief of the Chicken Whisperer magazine as well as other presenters focusing on laying and meat production, health and bio security, processing, rules and regulations.
The Introduction to Beekeeping program will be led by Amanda Bennett, the Miami County Extension Educator for Ohio State University and will include other beekeeping producers and experts here in Ohio. Topics for the program will include: Different Ways to Keep Bees, What’s going on in the Hive, The Do’s and Don’ts of Selling Honey, Spring and Fall Hive Management as well as a question and answer period.
On Saturday, the conference will feature 25-plus sessions from Ohio State University and industry experts as well as a trade show for small farmers that will offer information that can benefit a variety of growers.
The “Living Your Small Farm Dream”, Conference and Trade Show will be held Saturday, March 25, 2017 at the R.G. Drage Center in Massillon, Ohio. Participants at this conference will also be able to choose from more than 25 sessions from Ohio State and industry experts as well as question producer speakers on issues related to small farms.
OSU Extension is the outreach arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The overall goal of these events and the mission of the OSU Small Farms Program are to provide a greater understanding of production practices, economics of land-use choices, assessment of personal and natural resources, marketing alternatives, and the identification of sources of assistance.
We encourage you to attend both conferences as they will not cover all the same speakers or topics. We try to keep the two conferences different so we can reach more producers and help them with their operation needs.
Some of the topics (Subject to Change) we plan to cover at the two conferences are:
• Aquaculture
• Lots on Livestock production
• Poultry production
• Farm Business Planning
• Artisan Cheese Making
• Direct marketing
• Organics
• Accessing Land
• Sprayer Calibration
• Utilizing Cover Crops
• Soil Health
• Fertility Management
• High tunnels
• Beekeeping
• Vegetable and fruit production
• Financing/loans
• Estate Planning
• Maple Syrup
• Chain Saw Safety
• and so much more
For more information about these two conferences, session descriptions and registration details please visit http://agnr.osu.edu/small-farm-programs or contact Tony Nye at (937) 382-0901 or [email protected].
Tony Nye is the state coordinator for the Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for 29 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA. Tony and his family also own and operate a small livestock farm in Washington Court House, raising purebred swine and meat goats.
