Stories by Contributing Writers

Is your herd ready for summer?

Thursday, April 3, 2008 by Contributing Writers

CANTON, Ohio — A good coach will prepare his team for the next competitor. Cows are great athletes, so as a dairy manager, you are a cow coach and need to prepare your cows for the summer season.

Mapleton FFA says farewell to its graduating seniors, bestows honors

Thursday, April 3, 2008 by Contributing Writers

Nearly 300 Mapleton FFA members, family and friends gathered to celebrate their successful year of working the fields of agriculture.
Numerous certificates, awards and recognitions were presented during the evening activities held at the Ashland University Convocation Center. The officer team presided over the evening, including President Jonni Rohr, Vice President Christine Ritchie, Secretary Paige […]

Ashland Co. herds among top in state

Thursday, March 27, 2008 by Contributing Writers

JEROMESVILLE, Ohio — Two Ashland county dairy herds have been ranked among the top 5 percent of Ohio herds and they were among those recognized during the Ashland County Dairymen’s Banquet March 1 at Hillsdale High School.
Awards
Among operations milking three times per day, Ayars Farm, Inc., is among the top 5 percent of Ohio herds […]

Farm school welcomes students to the real world with real experiences

Thursday, March 6, 2008 by Contributing Writers

It is the middle of February. The chickens are all cooped up, the cows are shaggy and the nanny goat has just presented the farm with a tiny kid. The sheep look warm.
The pipes to the barns froze when the electricity failed, so youngsters are hauling buckets of water twice a day. Stalls are being […]

Don’t take our technology: Farmers talk to legislators

Thursday, February 28, 2008 by Contributing Writers

TOWNVILLE, Pa. — The brisk, single-digit temperatures of the winter morning didn’t deter farmers, legislators or the media from gathering at Apple Shamrock Farm to learn about the impact of technology on modern-day agriculture.
Crawford County Farm Bureau invited state and federal lawmakers and the media from Erie to Butler to a forum to show and […]

Orchard pruning requires that human touch

Thursday, February 28, 2008 by Contributing Writers

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Anybody who believes that apple or other orchard-fruit growing is a seasonal job with a winter vacation would be surprised if they went out to the orchards and saw the work going on in the dead of winter.
Orchard fruit growing is about nine months of perpetration and maintenance and three months […]

Ohio farmland preservation in limbo

Thursday, January 31, 2008 by Contributing Writers

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio - The economy of Ohio depends on the $93.7 billion industry of agriculture with its employment of hundreds of thousands of workers.

Two generations earn SWCD award

Thursday, November 29, 2007 by Contributing Writers

WOOSTER, Ohio - For Harold Mann and his son, David, conserving the soil and conserving the farm go hand in hand.

Conservation comes with the territory

Thursday, November 29, 2007 by Contributing Writers

WALNUT CREEK, Ohio - For the Bob Hunter family, conservation is a heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation, just like the 150-acre farm, known as Ancestor Acres, that has been in the family since 1875.

Horse trainer just doing what comes naturally

Thursday, November 15, 2007 by Contributing Writers

BURTON, Ohio -