Ohio Farmer

Ohio Bits: Fertilizer facility to open in 2024; conservation education grants available; 4-H fundraiser planned at Leeds Farm.

September 19, 2022

4 Min Read
Recon flying farm car
NEW VIEW: Ryse Aero Tech, an Ohio-based startup, has created a unique machine that can be flown without a pilot’s license and offers a new way to see a farm or ranch. Courtesy of Ryse Aero Technologies

Field demonstrations at this year’s Farm Science Review will feature the traditional harvest demonstrations, as well as new technology ready to make its debut to the agriculture industry. The show is slated for Sept. 20-22 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center.

Companies joining the field demonstrations lineup this year include Ryse Aero Technologies and Agri Spray Drones.

Ryse Aero Tech is the manufacturer of an ultralight electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, the Ryse Recon. This vehicle will enable farmers to have a bird’s-eye view when scouting their fields, eliminate compaction to the soil while scouting and get them from point A to B faster.

Related: Ryse Aero Technologies lets farmers take to the sky

Ryse Aero Tech’s initial goal was to “bring flight to people with a purpose,” says Mick Kowitz, the company’s CEO. “We wanted to serve a market with a need for an application like this where people can use it in difficult terrain to be able to scout crops or travel places and save them time doing it.”

Agri Spray Drones, the only company to operate heavy drones as part of custom application services, will be bringing its technology to the show as well. Visitors will see drones capable of applying liquid or granular products in action.

In addition to these new additions to the field demo lineup, the traditional harvest demonstrations will run every day of the show. See the complete Trotter Field demonstration schedule below:

Tuesday-Thursday, 12:30 p.m.: Tillage; strip-till; nutrient application tillage; ag innovations

Tuesday-Thursday, 1:30 p.m.: Harvesting, corn immediately followed by soybeans

All day: OLICA field drainage installation

Another exhibitor-favorite feature of FSR is the Ride and Drive area, where Can-Am will be offering test-driving opportunities, featuring its utility vehicles designed for any farm terrain. Visitors will have the opportunity to get inside the latest models and drive through a test track.

For a complete schedule of events, visit fsr.osu.edu.

New liquid fertilizer facility planned

Tessenderlo Kerley Inc. recently broke ground on a new liquid fertilizer facility in Defiance, Ohio.

The 50,000-square-foot production facility will occupy 50 acres and is set to become operational in 2024. The facility will service the eastern Great Lakes region through its distribution partners and will include terminal load-outs for rail cars and tanker trucks.

Tessenderlo Kerley will produce its liquid sulfur-based crop nutrition brands such as Thio-Sul, KTS and K-Row 23, as well as sulfite chemistries for the industrial market.

"Nurturing crop life is at the forefront of all that we do," says Russell Sides, executive vice president, Tessenderlo Kerley. "This facility creates more certainty in the region by ensuring farmers have access to the nutrients they need for their crops to thrive."

The facility reaffirms Tessenderlo Kerley's support of the region with its expert team of crop vitality agronomists and specialists, Sides says. This team shares more than 100 years of knowledge in crop fertility and soil nutrition. It is dedicated to providing detailed solutions for today's most complex nutrient management systems, Sides adds.

"We look forward to joining the Defiance, Ohio, community and providing stewardship to the farmers in the region," Sides says. "It is important that we all work together to grow the crops required for our country to flourish."

Apply for forestry conservation education grant program

The Ohio Forestry Association Foundation is supporting educational projects throughout Ohio by offering small-scale grants designed to assist an organization with a project, with a maximum individual grant amount of $2,500.

Applications will be accepted until Oct. 14, with grant awards being selected and announced by Dec. 1 for funding to be used in the following calendar year.

Examples of past grant recipients include:

  • $750 to support a wood art festival

  • $1,000 to help fund development, printing and distribution of invasive species calendars

  • $1,000 to help fund the purchase of a portable sawmill for a natural resource class at a career center

  • $1,000 to sponsor a forestry station at a state envirothon

  • $1,000 to help fund an educational trip for college forestry students

  • $1,500 to sponsor a 4-H woodworking day at a state fair

The Ohio Forestry Association Foundation is a charitable, nonprofit organization. Learn more at ohioforest.org

October 4-H fundraiser returns to Leeds Farm

The Ohio 4-H Celebration of Youth will return to Leeds Farm in Delaware County on Oct. 6. Festivities will begin at 5 p.m. with a theme of "Honoring Our Past and Zipping Into the Future.”

To support Ohio 4-H youth development, adults 21 and older are invited to join the Ohio 4-H Foundation and its board of trustees for a casual evening of fun, fellowship and fundraising.

At last year’s Celebration of Youth, the Ohio 4-H Foundation raised more than $137,000.

Before dinner, guests will have the opportunity to participate in the annual silent auction, as well as numerous activities such as hayrides, a zip line, a pumpkin jump, slides, pedal cart racing and more.

Dinner will conclude at 7 p.m. Guests can then watch pig races and participate in the live auction before the evening wraps up about 8 p.m.

Register to attend, buy a ticket or become a sponsor. For more information, visit go.osu.edu. All money raised supports Ohio 4-H programming and operations. Leeds Farm is located at 8738 Marysville Road, Ostrander, Ohio.

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