Blake Willeke of the Ada FFA Chapter received the organization’s highest achievement as he was presented with the American FFA Degree on Saturday, Oct. 28 during the 90th National FFA Convention.

The Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association toured four Washington County sheep farms as part of the annual Hardin County Sheep Management Tour held Oct. 21-22. A group of active and retired sheep producers traveled to sites in southeastern Ohio near Marietta.

MOUNT VICTORY — The members of the Ridgemont FFA who will be competing this week in the organization’s national convention in Indianapolis are on their way to the contest today. For the tenth year, Ridgemont has been named one of the top ten chapters in the nation.

The Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (MGV) brought back two state awards from the Ohio MGV Conference held Sept. 29-30 at The Ohio State University in Columbus. ‘Invasive Species Media Series’ was recognized as state winner for the Invasive Species Outstanding MGV Project award category for medium sized groups at this annual conference.

COLUMBUS – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced Friday, Nov. 17 as the deadline to submit applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in Ohio.

REYNOLDSBURG – The next round of funding is now available through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), as part of a five-year, $17.5 million program funded by USDA’s Natural Resources Conser-vation Service (NRCS).

Kathy Barrett (right) is presented a certificate from Mimi Garringer from the United States Department of Agriculture Ohio State Office in recognition of Barrett’s 30 years of dedicated service to the agency.

During the month of September, Extension volunteer rainfall reporters received an average of 1.77 inches of rain. The most rain for this month, 2.92 inches, fell in Goshen Township, as measured by Brien Brothers Farm.

Members of the Benjamin Logan FFA Officer Team joined more than 100 FFA members from six counties to participate in the Fall District Officer Training at Greenon High School on Oct. 3. The students went through a series of sessions emphasizing leadership, the focus of FFA, and how the FFA has changed and progressed through the years.

During the past week soybean harvest has kicked into high gear. The extended dry period has allowed farmers an uncommon opportunity to harvest non-stop. In some fields they are having trouble staying ahead of the drying beans – grain moisture dropping as low as 10 percent, increasing the chance of shattering before harvest.