Darke County Extension is holding a five-session workshop series on farm management. This 2016 Farm Management School will be held Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28, and Feb. 4, for two hours each night at Andersons Marathon Ethanol, 5728 Sebring Warner Road in Greenville.
This school will focus on the financial education that goes along with operating a successful farming operation. The goal of the program is to help young and beginning farmers learn how to become financially savvy and how to make their agricultural operations successful. (No, not just “young/beginning” farmers are invited! Anyone can attend!)
Registration for the workshop series is $50 and includes the program, handouts and refreshments. Contact Sam Custer at 937-548-5215 for more information or a registration form. The deadline to register is Dec. 21. Payment can be sent to OSU Extension, Darke County, 603 Wagner Ave., Greenville, OH 45331.
The Dairy Luncheon for December will be on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 11:30 a.m., at the Pizza Hut meeting room in New Bremen. This month’s speaker will be Dr. Gustavo Schuenemann, associate professor in the area of veterinary preventive medicine. He will be talking about management options such as genetic testing and using sexed semen and whether or not these make sense in this time of lower milk prices. He’ll also touch on how labor management can affect milk quality. All dairy farmers, family, and others interested in the dairy industry are welcome to attend. Lunch is “Dutch treat” and the buffet is great!
New Ag Horizons – Mark Eilerman from Minster is a sponsor for West Ohio Agronomy Day, which will be held on Monday, Jan. 11, at St. Michael’s Hall in Fort Loramie. We’ll have breakfast sandwiches, coffee and juice ready by 8 a.m.; the fun begins at 8:30 a.m. with a marketing update from John Leighty (Trupointe) and Jerry Meyer (Cargill). And, then there’s lots of information!
We offer the two-hour Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training for those who already hold a pesticide applicator license. We also offer recertification credits for those with a private pesticide applicator license in the areas of CORE and Categories 1, 2 and 6. In addition, there are CEUs available for certified crop advisers. Yes, we should be done with the program and paperwork by 4 p.m.
We do take a break from 11:30a.m. to 1 p.m. for food and fellowship time! Come, join us! Costs are $35 for the private pesticide recertification credits or $10 “just for the day.”
And, a reminder: Those of you who want to attend the evening portion of West Ohio Agronomy Day need to mark Tuesday, Jan. 19, on your calendar. We’ll have a light supper and the marketing update at 5 p.m. with the Pesticide Recertification and Fertilizer Applicator training and (a short break) after that. We’ll be done with paperwork by 11 p.m. This will be held at the Days Inn, behind the Bob Evans in Sidney.
Yes, the Fuzzy Kids and Babies are doing great. We closed the gate to the cover crops, so now they’re hanging out at the barn, eating hay. It’s so good to walk in and see them all lying there, chewing their cuds! Contentment is the “feel” in the barn!
