No-till farming sounds simple. Just don't till the soil, right? Farmers know better. Adopting no-till requires understanding how it affects drainage, soil structure, organic matter, weed control, and the application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, all of which influence both yields and environmental impacts, said Randall Reeder...

The Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District will be holding its 68th election of supervisors at its Annual Meeting on Thursday evening. It is held in conjunction with Customer Appreciation Day from 5 to 7 p.m. at the shelter house, north of the Community Building, at the Hardin County Fairgrounds.

MOUNT VICTORY — For the FFA members at Ridgemont, planning a trip to compete in the organization’s national convention is nearly an expectation. Under the guidance of teacher Stephanie Jolliff, the local chapter has competed at the national level eight of the last nine years and earned national championships for the chapter in 2007 and 2011.

Two upcoming August Twilight Tours will have farmers thinking outside of the box. On Tuesday, Ted Griffith will be discussing how he has inter-seeded soybeans into growing wheat using 15 inch rows.

REYNOLDSBURG – The Ohio Department of Agriculture will be sponsoring a collection for farmers wishing to dispose of unwanted pesticides on Aug. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hardin County Fairgrounds.

Master gardeners, casual gardeners and Amish farmers took a walk together through the fields of Levi Yoder’s Dudley Township home to learn more about fruit and vegetable production Tuesday evening.

The few participants at Friday’s Ag Council breakfast in Kenton seemed to agree, the dry weather has had little impact on the corn crop at this point, but the next few days will be critical. “If we don’t get some rain in the next few days, the corn is going to show signs of distress,” predicted Paul Ralston. “I don’t believe the heat has hurt the pollination, but some do.”

“Agricultural Conservation, Protecting Water: Keeping Soil and Nutrients in the Field” will be the theme of the Hardin County Field Day on Aug. 26. This is the second year for this field day, cooperatively sponsored by the following partners: The Nature Conservancy, John Deere, Findlay Implement, Chris Kurt, Randy Boose, OSU Extension, Hardin and Putnam Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Ohio Farm Bureau/Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network, Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

What is that bug in my vegetable garden? Why do my plants have brown spots on the leaves?

“Duke” Rapp was born to be a farmer. He was born on a farm in Hale Township and has spent nearly every one of his 100 summers farming including working on this year’s wheat harvest at the age of 99.