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Ohio Hosting
North American Manure Expo Aug. 3-4
From Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County
The North American Manure Expo is about to land in Ohio.
The big event, covering the serious business of using farm animal
manure to help grow crops, while doing it safely and greenly, is Aug.
3-4 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, about 25 miles
west of Columbus.
“Manure is an excellent source of nutrients for the crops we grow in
Ohio and is probably one of the oldest forms of recycling we have,”
said a co-chair of the event’s planning committee, Amanda Douridas.
She’s an agriculture and natural resources educator in the Champaign
County office of Ohio State University Extension.
Expo attendees will dig into a trade show, three tours, field
demonstrations and about 40 educational sessions on 13 main topics.
Some of those topics will be new technologies, new water quality
protection efforts, and new handling and application methods for solid
and liquid manures.
See latest technology, research
Taken together, the event offers an “in-depth, hands-on opportunity to
learn about the latest technology and research that are making manure
application even more sustainable and environmentally friendly,”
Douridas said.
OSU Extension and the Caren center, which also will be the site of
September’s Farm Science Review trade show, are both part of The Ohio
State University and its College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences.
The college is co-hosting the annual expo, which rotates among states
and to Canada, together with the Ohio- and Indiana-based Midwest
Professional Nutrient Applicators Association. Last year’s event was in
Pennsylvania and drew about 2,000 people. The last time the expo was
held in Ohio was in 2008 at the Caren center.
The event’s educational sessions will be a “huge draw because attendees
can hear from so many experts in just one place,” Douridas said. Those
experts will come from the college, other universities, agencies and
industry. A complete list of the sessions and speakers is at
manureexpo.org/expo-overview.html.
3 tours, 90 vendors, lots of new ideas
The tours, meanwhile, will give attendees a chance to see other
operations’ successful practices — and to take home ideas to use
themselves. Details on the tours are at manureexpo.org/tours.html.
The trade show will have more than 90 vendors, while the field
demonstrations will offer side-by-side comparisons of equipment and
practices.
‘Sustainable farms for the future’
“We’ve made a lot of improvements in understanding the value of manure
and meeting crop nutrient needs by recycling manure back onto farm
fields,” Douridas said. “It’s crucial that we protect our environment
while feeding our neighbors.
“That’s how we develop sustainable farms for the future.”
Admission to the expo is free and open to the public, but
preregistration is suggested. There’s a $20 fee for the tours, and
preregistration is required to attend them. Online preregistration for
the expo and tours is available at go.osu.edu/2016ManureExpoReg.
Earn continuing ed credits
Attendees will be eligible for credit under a half-dozen continuing
education programs: Ohio Department of Agriculture Certified Livestock
Manager; Certified Crop Advisor; Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois Level
2 Applicator Certification; Pennsylvania Act 49, Manure Hauler and
Broker; Pennsylvania Act 38, Nutrient Management; and Ohio Professional
Engineer. Full details are at go.osu.edu/2016ManureExpoCECs.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture, Van Wert-based Cooper Farms,
Michigan State University, Purdue University and the University of
Wisconsin also are helping present the event.
The expo is owned by the Professional Nutrient Applicators Association
of Wisconsin and is managed by Ag Annex, publisher of Manure Manager
magazine.
For more information, go to manureexpo.org.
For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke
County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu or the OSU Extension
Darke County Facebook page.
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