The annual Delaware Ag Safety Conference will be held March 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Commodity Building at the Delaware Fairgrounds in Harrington. It is put on by the Delaware Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee.

The conference, put on in partnership with Nationwide, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA), will feature presentations on health and safety issues.

Presentations will include:

Past conferences have focused heavily on grain bin safety among other topics, but June Unruh, conference chairwoman, says this year’s conference has a different spin.

“This year's conference, I think, is focused on the farmer himself. We’ve always talked about machinery and safety, and this year it’s all about keeping himself safe. He’s got a job to do, and he’s got to keep himself healthy and well. He’s out there feeding the whole world; he’s got to pay attention to his own safety as well. And we feed them! They feed us, so this is our chance to feed them,” she says.

Registration is free and includes the core credit and lunch for participants.

For more information and to register, visit defb.org.

Manure digester series

The upcoming online series, Biogas Systems in Pennsylvania, is a deep dive into biogas systems and opportunities in Pennsylvania. Anaerobic digesters present an opportunity to produce biogas on-farm to use for heat or power, and are poised to become an increasingly important source of renewable energy. This series will share the science of biogas production systems, avenues for profit, opportunities in carbon credit markets and beyond.

The series will also touch on different types of biogas digestion systems that are not as commonly seen in Pennsylvania.

The series runs from noon to 12:45 p.m. on Zoom, April 11-15. For more information or to register, go to bit.ly/PAbiogassystems. 

Special dairy scholarship

In honor of a longtime supporter and advocate of the Pennsylvania dairy industry, and in memory of Susan S. Beshore, the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and Morrissey Insurance have created a one-time Susan S. Beshore Memorial Scholarship for undergraduate students who are pursuing an education in a dairy-related field.

One $7,000 scholarship will be awarded for the 2022-23 academic year. The scholarship opened for applications March 14 and must be submitted online by May 1.

The Susan S. Beshore Memorial Scholarship is similar to the Student Leader Scholarship, but has a heightened emphasis on community service and giving back. The scholarship will provide recognition, encouragement and financial assistance to students who are committed to community service and enrolled in academic programs that support the dairy industry. Undergraduate students and high school seniors entering college in the fall are eligible for the scholarship.

To qualify for the scholarship, students must demonstrate a commitment to working in the dairy industry. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, interest in a dairy-related career, community service, evidence of leadership, character and integrity, and application compliance.

Pennsylvania residents who are full-time undergraduate students currently enrolled in a qualifying field of study or high school seniors who are planning to enroll in a qualifying field of study are given consideration for this scholarship. Qualifying fields include dairy and animal science, agricultural marketing and business, nutrition, food science, agriculture and Extension education, agricultural communications, agricultural engineering or related fields.

To submit an online application, visit centerfordairyexcellence.org or contact Michelle Shearer at 570-768-8316 or [email protected].