Environmental Professionals Network Breakfast

The August EPN breakfast will be a field trip program, Agricultural Conservation and Nutrient Management. Participants will depart from OSU by charter bus and travel to the Der Dutchman in Plain City or meet us in Plain City (more details below). Presentations include Conservation on Farms – Tackling Issues, Seizing Opportunities: 4R Nutrient Stewardship and other Outreach by SWCDs to Ohio’s Ag Community, Mindy Bankey, CEO, Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts; and My Philosophy, My Farm – From Community to Country, Fred Yoder, National Agricultural/Conservation Leader, and past president, National Corn Growers Association.

Productive soils, abundant rainfall, proximity to population centers, and innovative, hard-working farm families and businesses have allowed agriculture to prosper in Ohio, forming many rural-urban community connections in the process. The vast scale of agriculture on Ohio’s landscapes also brings issues of nutrient runoff and water quality, biodiversity and pollinator impacts, now in the face of a changing climate. But each of these issues brings opportunities for agricultural producers, often in partnership with those in urban areas, to provide a range of ecosystem services that enhance our environment and sustainability, and also help keep agriculture in all forms and scales economically prosperous.

After the breakfast and program we will visit the Yoder farm, a corn, soybean, wheat farm nearby. Yoder presented at the January 2016 EPN breakfast. While most will travel by bus from OSU, the event can accommodate up to ten vehicles with up to twenty people traveling directly to Der Dutchman then the Yoder Farms. The bus will return to OSU no later than 12:15 PM.