The Review is just around the bend, and Farm and Dairy goes Hollywood

While I was interested to visit the taping of the NBC television drama West Wing when it came to the western Pennsylvania dairy farm of Gary and Jeff McConnell last month, I was more excited to get a call from a Warner Bros. staffer in California several days beforehand.

It seems she wanted permission to use several Farm and Dairy newspapers in a West Wing scene at a gas station/general store. She faxed over a release form that I had to sign and fax back. Who knows if it will survive the editing room cuts, but it’s kind of fun to have Farm and Dairy – the star we think it is – receive some national exposure.

(Actually, we are already “national,” as circulation director Howard Marsh tells me that we have subscribers in 44 states.)

So if you’re watching the show’s season premiere Sept. 25, keep a sharp eye tuned for the Farm and Dairy. I might even forget that the show’s star, Martin Sheen, is a vocal environmental activist. Not.

Get ready for the Review. If it’s September, it must be time for the Farm Science Review. Ohio’s largest outdoor agriculture expo takes place just west of Columbus Sept. 17, 18 and 19.

This is the 40th Review, which is pretty amazing and a credit to the hard-working professionals and multitude of volunteers who championed its cause early on and continue to ensure its quality. This year is also the 20th show at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London. Before 1983, the Review was staged in northwest Columbus at Ohio State’s Sawmill Road farm complex.

If you’ve never been to the Review and think it’s all about huge pieces of equipment, you couldn’t be more wrong. Commercial exhibitors range from small farm equipment dealers to manufacturers of all-purpose scooters for the disabled. And programs on tap this year range from investment advice to bluebird house construction, and from how to direct market farm products to creating a butterfly garden.

The Center for Small Farms, located north of Federation Park, will return this year with special products and seminars of interest to small farm owners. The schedule includes presentations on aquaculture, seasonal dairying, meat goat production, grazing and berry production, just to name a few.

Of course, the running of the big boys – the field demonstrations – will spotlight the latest equipment for soybean and corn harvest, as well as tillage equipment.

We’ll have a full “Review preview” in next week’s paper that will list a complete schedule of demonstrations and seminars and will include a grounds map so you can plot your strategy (believe me, it takes one to ‘do’ the Review).

I’ll be at the Review all three days, although you might not catch me at the Farm and Dairy exhibit – someone’s got to take some pictures and report on what’s new at the Review! Staff reporters Andrea Myers and Kristy Alger will join me at the Review Wednesday and Thursday. And you can also talk to publisher Scot Darling, circulation manager Howard Marsh, and advertising representatives Anne Benner, Billie Sekely, Faye Newcomb and Georgeanne Wolf at the Review. We hope you’ll stop by our tent, located at the corner of Silage and Soybean streets.

Just some words to the wise: I’ve worked the Review when it’s been cold enough to wear gloves and winter coats; I’ve worked the Review in torrential downpours; I’ve worked the Review in hot weather and windy weather. Check the weather forecast and come prepared.