Farm and Dairy’s week in review: 8/16

Here’s this week’s top stories from Farm and Dairy

1. Pastures and pipelines: projects are not as simple as you think:

Oil and natural gas pipelines pass through acres of farmland, but the installation process isn’t always done as well as hoped by farmers and landowners. There are ways to prevent an unsatisfactory reseeding job, including having an attorney-prepared document detailing the farm’s needs.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Soil & Water Conservation offers specific guidance on farmland reclamation.

2. Ashtabula County Junior Fair auction brings in more than $300,000:

The Ashtabula County Junior Fair auction brought in $306,804.11 in a total of 305 lots. 13 categories of sales ranged from steers and hogs to lamb and poultry.

3. Twenty minutes with organic grain farmer Dean McIlvaine:

Dean McIlvaine operates Twin Parks Organic Farm in Wayne County, which spans 850 acres. Aside from learning how to use nature’s resources to sustain his crops, McIlvaine focuses on meeting the challenges of weeds, soil and adapting to the farm’s needs.

Despite the challenges of organic farming, McIlvaine wouldn’t go back to conventional farming’s struggles and health concerns.

4. Project helping Ohio communities avert bust after shale boom:

The boom of Ohio’s shale industry can affect the area’s economy and environment in years to come. Ohio State University Extension is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to fund 25 eastern Ohio counties with $200,000 to provide long-term support to shale communities.

The funding will include business retention and expansion programming assistance.

5. History is airborne at Moore family farm:

Portage County farmers LaVon and Lowell Moore have a unique feature to their family’s 200-year-old farm: an airstrip. The brothers use ultralight planes to check out their crops, in addition to roadside inspections.

The farm is preserved through the Ohio Farmland Preservation program.