We finished our West Ohio Agronomy Day with another 90 people at our “evening portion” last Tuesday. Another great meeting! The facility at the Days Inn was very nice! Yes, it takes a lot of support to put on these programs …

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a public “thank you” to all of the companies who chose to sponsor West Ohio Agronomy Day this year. One of the ways we can provide the “good Food,” and “Lots of Information” is by this support. The 2016 Sponsors are the following: Precision Agri-Services Inc.; New Ag Horizons; Lena Ag Center LLC; Bambauer Fertilizer and Seed Inc.; Cargill; Farm Credit, Mid-America; VanTilburg Farms Inc.; Fertilizer Dealer Supply; Precision Agri-Services, Inc – Planter and Technology Service; Seed Consultants Inc.; Personal Crop Insurance; Shelby County Farm Bureau; Otte AG, LLC; Shelby SWCD and Loramie Valley Alliance; Paradise Energy Solutions; Dallas Ag, LLC; and Trupointe Cooperative.

Of course, it takes a lot of people “behind the scenes” to make a program such as this possible. Special thanks go to Tim Berning, Bill Lemkuhl, David and Dawn Reinhart, Dave Slagle and Laura Norris for helping with the set-up on Sunday. Thank you, also, to the Junior Fair Board members who came Monday afternoon to help tear down and clean up! You were good!

And, I’d be very remiss if I didn’t mention all the help from our local OSU Extension office. Keeping track of registrations, etc. ahead of time, plus helping with check-in at the meetings were Judie Gaerke, Laura Norris and Lydia Rinehart. Once again, Dave Slagle was at the daytime program on Monday handling the sale of publications. Thank you, all!

Now, if you missed these two meetings and still need to recertify your Private Pesticide Applicator’s License, there are two more (kinda) near-by programs this week: Mercer County will be holding their program tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Celina Eagles Lodge (1400 E. Market St.). The pesticide program is from 9 a.m. to noon; FertCert will be held 1 to 3 p.m. (419-586-2179). Champaign County’s programs will be on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at their OSU Extension office in Urbana (1512 S U.S. 68). Once again, Pesticide training will be 9 .m. to noon with FertCert from 1 to 3 p.m. (937-484-1526).

The Shelby County Cattlemen’s Annual Banquet is just around the corner!! This event, held on “Fat Tuesday” each year, will be on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Houston Community Center. Check-in is at 6:30 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m. This year’s speakers include Frank Phelps from the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association and Sheriff John Lenhart. Advanced reservations/tickets for this event are $25. Walk-ins that evening will pay $30. You can send an email to [email protected] to reserve your seat. Get your reservations in by Thursday, Feb. 4, to save that $5 per ticket! (This also helps to ensure enough food!)

If you’re interested in the 2016 Corn College being held in Darke County on Wednesday, Feb. 10, the registration deadline is Feb. 3. This program will be held 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Andersons Marathon Ethanol, 5728 Sebring Warner Road, Greenville. Some of the topics will be Market Outlook, Agronomic Practices that Optimize Profitability in Corn Production: Perception vs Reality, and Darke County On-Farm research Results.

The cost for the program is $50 per person, which includes breakfast, lunch, and materials; pre-registration is required! You can find the registration form at darke.osu.edu/events/2016-corn-college-darke-county.

The Second Annual “Growing Women in Agriculture, An Empowerment Celebration” will be held the evening of Thursday, March 17, at St. Michael’s Hall in Fort Loramie. More info later on this “ag girls’ night out” …