The dairy beef feeder queen contest in open to all girls 14 years and older (as of Jan. 1), that are currently enrolled in 4-H or FFA with a dairy beef feeder project. To be eligible to compete for this honor, a member must fill out the application, complete the essay and participate in an interview. Applicants will also be …

With the announcement from the Ohio Department of Agriculture that there would be no poultry shows this year in the state, organizers for the Hardin County Agricultural Society and the OSU Extension are attempting to determine what to do with 4-H/FFA members who were planning to show their chickens, ducks and turkeys at this year’s fair.

Avian influenza virus has been infecting backyard poultry and commercial flocks in 20 states west of Ohio. The disease is highly contagious in poultry flocks.

For the time period of April 15-30, Extension rainfall reporters recorded an average of 1.06 inches of rain in Hardin County. Last year, the average rainfall for the same time period was 2.21 inches.

Hardin Northern's pop a cappella group Awakened Commotion placed first in the talent show at the 87th Ohio FFA State Convention held in Columbus on May 1.

Spring planting season started in earnest this past week in Hardin County. Farmers were in the fields doing tillage work, spreading fertilizer and manure, spraying for weeds and termination of cover crops, as well as planting corn. Warm dry temperatures aided in this progress, with the exception of some fields that were not quite fit to begin field work.

COLUMBUS – Growers who want to make sure they get their corn crops off to a good start this season should make sure they perform tillage only when necessary and under the proper soil conditions, cautions a field crops expert with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

COLUMBUS – While cold weather and cool soil temperatures have made many Ohio corn fields unsuitable yet for spring planting, growers who haven’t begun planting shouldn’t worry because there’s still time to plant and expect good yields, said an agronomist with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

WOOSTER – Large populations of black cutworms reported last week in Indiana and Kentucky means Ohio farmers can soon expect to see the migratory moths in the Buckeye State, an entomologist with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University said.

COLUMBUS — There’s a growing army working to improve Ohio’s water quality. Since last fall, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University has provided fertilizer applicator certification training to 6,439 Ohio growers responsible for farming some 927,000 acres of Buckeye state farmland, and the numbers continue to grow.