Kirk Reese brings an abundance of experience in the agricultural industry to his new role as the program manager of Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network. In this new role, Kirk said his goal is to “change the conversation around stewardship with research.” …

With on-field research in hand, several farmers in northwest Ohio are using funding from both the H2Ohio water quality initiative and Natural Resources Conservation Service programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to voluntarily implement subsurface nutrient placement on their farm…

Significant research and conservation efforts are ongoing across the greater Western Lake Erie Basin to develop and implement strategies to reduce nutrient loading and improve water quality in Lake Erie and other agricultural tributaries. One such particular nutrient getting attention from water quality resea…

A saturated buffer is an edge-of-field conservation practice that is intended to remove nitrate and other potential nutrients from subsurface field tile drainage in farm fields before it enters ditches, streams, and other surface waters. It’s a critical conservation practice that’s capable of reducing nut…

Sealing Abandoned Water Wells Abandoned or unused water wells can be found almost anywhere: on farms, industrial sites, and in urban areas. While they may have once served a purpose, they are often abandoned when access to groundwater is no longer needed, when homes are connected to community water supplies, …

Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutrients all living things require. However, an overabundance of these nutrients in both ground and surface water can lead to dense plant and algae growth in lakes and other bodies of water, resulting in toxins in drinking water and excessive nutrient richness in lakes t…

Near the shores of Grand Lake St. Marys in northwest Ohio, you’ll find a series of peaceful walking paths winding around panoramic wetland areas that dot the landscape. You’ll most likely see a native flycatcher perching over the water, spot a painted turtle basking on a log and hear the soft crackle of c…

To demonstrate the potential of in-crop manure application as a replacement to purchased fertilizer, Duane and Anthony Stateler of Stateler Family Farms in McComb, Ohio, conducted a field trial in partnership with The Ohio State University Extension to compare the outcomes of an in-crop manure application to …

Chad Penn, a research soil scientist with the USDA-ARS, is evaluating the water quality effects of using steel slag, a byproduct from steel manufacturing, as an alternative to limestone in blind inlets to remove dissolved phosphorus, nitrogen and herbicides. …

Creating an optimal environment in which microorganisms can convert organic material into compost that can be used as a soil amendment or fertilizer relies heavily on the construction of the facility. Stateler Family Farms worked with the Ohio Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to plan and constru…