Anyone interested in current research and what they can do to assist with the water quality and nutrient management issues happening in Ohio won’t want to miss ‘Agricultural Conservation, Protecting Water: Keeping Soil and Nutrients in the Field.’

This is the theme of the Hardin County Field Day on Aug. 26. This is the second year for this field day, cooperatively sponsored by the following partners: The Nature Conservancy, John Deere, Findlay Implement, Chris Kurt Farms, Randy Boose Farms, OSU Extension, Hardin & Putnam Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Ohio Farm Bureau/Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network, Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The event location will be approximately one mile south of Dunkirk, Ohio on US Route 68 and Township Road 50. Parking will be at Randy Boose’s property and participants will ride a wagon to Chris Kurt’s farm for sessions.  

Registration will begin at 8:15 a.m., with coffee and donuts provided by Ag Credit.  The field day activities will begin at 9 a.m., following a welcome by Hardin SWCD Chairman Jerry McBride. Trailers will provide access to tents and field demonstrations that address several ag conservation and water quality issues.

Concurrent sessions planned around the day’s theme include Soil Health by Dr. Hans Kok of the Indiana Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative; Phosphorus Removal Bed Construction by Dr. Jon Witter, OSU-ATI Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Soils; 4Rs of Nutrient Stewardship by Joe Nester, owner Nester Ag LLC, an independent crop consulting business and former agronomist; and New Fertilizer and Manure Application Rules for the Lake Erie Watershed by Clark Hutson, Ohio Department of Agriculture Area Program and Western Lake Erie Basin Specialist and Jocelyn Henderson, ODA Pollution Abatement and Resource Management.

Other concurrent sessions planned include two-stage ditches that have been installed in the Cessna Creek Watershed with the aim of reducing nutrient loads by Dr. Christopher Spiese, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Ohio Northern University; Edge of Field Research: Phosphorus Movement in Surface Run-off and Drainage Discharge by Kevin King, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service; Nutrient Management On-Farm Research by Mark Badertscher, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, OSU Extension-Hardin County; and ‘What is Toledo Doing?’ to assist with the Water Quality Issues in Lake Erie by Andy McClure, Administrator of the City of Toledo Collins Park Water Treatment Plant.

During lunch, Dr. Chris Winslow of Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory at Lake Erie will address the ‘Current State of Lake Erie.’  Following lunch there will be field demonstrations of technology and equipment options available from Findlay Implement Company for injecting fertilizer directly into the soil for incorporation using the John Deere 2510H toolbar with a dry fertilizer attachment and a Montag cart. Legacy Farmers Cooperative will provide information about their minimum disturbance strip-till toolbar with a cover crop seeder.

The Hardin County Field Day ‘Agricultural Conservation, Protecting Water: Keeping Soil and Nutrients in the Field’ requires participants to pre-register to ensure a lunch count for the event.  Please call the Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District at 419-673-0456, extension 3 by Aug. 17 to attend this free event.

Originally posted by Ohio State University.