Ohio Offers Agricultural Business Development Courses COLUMBUS, Ohio People developing new agricultural busi ness ideas or diversifying existing operations often wonder if they have what it takes to make these ventures successful. Two upcoming workshops could provide some answers, said Ron Overmyer, agriculture, nat ural resources and community development agent for Ohio State University Extension’s Ag ricultural Business Enhancement Center in Bowling Green. Agricultural entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to explore their innovative ideas and busi ness development skills at two “Tilling the Soil of Opportunity” workshops. A northern Ohio, 11-week course is sponsored by the Ohio Small Development Center at the Bowling Green State University Training Cen ter, the Ohio State University Ex tension Agricultural Business Enhancement Center and the Ohio Department of Develop ment. The course will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays from Jan. 9 through March 20. The meeting location will be the College Park Building, Room 2, on the Bowl ing Green State University cam pus in Bowling Green. The second set of training ses sions is for IQ weeks, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.qi. on Tuesdays from Jan. 9 through March 31, and will be offered in southern Ohio. Train ing locations are the Ohio State University Learning Center East in Caldwell, Ohio University in Athens, the Ohio State Universi ty Centers at Piketon, Shawnee State University in Portsmouth and the Southern State Conunu- Boosts Your Efficiency and Products with these Innovative Products... -pi .-filing system grows chicks into FINISHED broilers efficiently. Start chicks with the feeder resting on the floor and the feed pan entirely filled. The Pax QUICK-START™ pan provides easy access to plenty of fresh feed - with no accumulation of stale feed in the drop tube - attracting even the smallest chicks to begin feeding right away. WINCHED ON THE FLOOR With »»feeder ratting tuba autometteely tow* an to your pra —iacNd inaNng level prawn feed tn the entire pan vrtheu over Ming Hka oVtai typical Hood feeders Zeiset Equipment .11, r 4 2187 North Penryn Rd., Manheim, PA 17545 >Ph<W* (717)<665r4056 F*jc (*l7) |Bss>£349< ? nity College Southern Campus in Sardinia. “Participants will learn a prac tical hands-on approach to solv ing the problems and issues aris ing from the development of an agricultural business,” Overmyer said. Some of the questions the courses will address include: “What is the market potential for my product?”; “Who will be the end users?”; “How will the product be distributed?”; “How does the cash flow through the entire operation?”; and “Will I receive a fair return for my time and investment?” Answering these questions and addressing other important busi ness development issues will help entrepreneurs determine if their agricultural business venture will be economically viable, Overmy er said. The northern workshop in structors will be Pat Fligor, direc tor of the Ohio Small Business Development Center at BGSU; Overmyer; and Mary Donnell, Ohio State University Extension horticulture agent at the Agricul tural Business Enhancement Center. Resource people with specific expertise will participate in selected workshop sessions. A team of two instructors one business specialist and one agricultural specialist will be at each of the five southern train ing locations. Video conferencing will allow interaction among par ticipants at the five sites. The $275 fee for the northern Ohio course includes a work book, snacks, and a parking pass. The registration deadline is Jan. 2. For more information or Feed Storage and Delivery Systems Flexible Auger tor Low Volume, Standard Volume, High Volume, kjk as well as High Moisture (up to 25°) /wfj and pellet applications. ” to register, contact the BGSU Of fice for Continuing Education, International and Summer Pro grams, at (419) 372-8181 or toll free at (877) 650-8165. The fee for the southern Ohio course is $lOO thanks to schol- Low-Technology Plastic Greenhouses, Called High Tunnels, Could Help Farmers Extend Growing Season For Many Crops UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Buying fresh local toma toes in June or July and cultivat ing spinach and other leafy greens year-round could become a reality if farmers adopt a low cost, low-tech, high-quality, high yield plastic technology called high tunnels, according to a team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “High tunnels can be used as a side enterprise to a larger farm operation, or you could start a large operation using four to six commercial-size high tunnels,” said William Lamont, associate professor of vegetable crops. “You can use these for gourmet or specialty crops, or for organic, farming. You even can put small fruit trees such as figs inside the structures.” High tunnels are single-car ga rage-size structures covered with clear plastic sheeting to manipu late soil and air temperatures using the energy of the sun. During the next five years at Penn State’s horticulture re search farm, Michael Orzolek, Grandrib 3 9 PLUS Buy the Best from A company that only sells Quality. II this adds up t 0... Grandrib 3® PLUS is backed by an industry leading: 35 Year Sidewall & 30 Year Roof Paint Warranty 25 Year Sidewall Corrosion Warranty 20 Year Roofing Corrosion Warranty 10 Year Edge Rust Warranty 717-866-6581 761 E. Linden St. Richland, HI 17687 v t »V< tV 7/ W Ml Vi t Vi arship funding made possible through the USDA Rural Devel opment Office and the Ohio De partment Agriculture. Group dis counts also are available. The registration deadline for the southern training sessions is Dec. professor of vegetable crops, and Lamont will conduct a series of growth trials in 24 research high tunnels, which are 36 feet long, 17 feet wide and 9 feet high. The structures are built by stretching plastic sheeting over a tubular frame. Three separate sheets of plastic form the roof and sidewalls of the tunnel. Farmers can raise the sidewalls to ventilate the structure. The endwalls are constructed so the one-piece section has a doorway, but it also is designed so that two people can lift the section and place support poles under it so that a tractor with attachments can be used inside. As temperatures drop in the fall, farmers can use other plastic technologies inside the structure such as low tunnels (small plas tic-covered frames shaped like a Quonset hut), floating row covers made from various plastic poly mers, and thermal covers, which use reflective surfaces to trap heat around the plants at night. Orzolek, Lament, and other researchers are conducting grow ing trials for a variety of vege Complete Building Packages, Trusses And Glue-Laminated Timbers Siaina f <* * y A RIGIDPLY... For more information, contact Julie Fox at the Ohio State Uni versity Centers at Piketon at (800) 860-7232 or e-mail her at fox.264@osu.edu. tables, including tomatoes, pep pers, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, okra, ornamental gourds, cauli flower, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and cut flowers. Commercial-size versions of high tunnels, which are 96 feet long, also protect plants from in sects, diseases and wind damage, virtually eliminating field loss, which can run as high as 25 per cent for some crops. Construc tion costs for a commercial high tunnel are from $l,BOO to $3,000, compared to $15,000 to $20,000 for a production greenhouse. High tunnels have been used in Europe and Japan for dec ades, but Lamont said Penn State has the largest high tunnel research program in the United States. In addition to the research tunnels, Penn State Cooperative Extension agents in eight coun ties operate demonstration high tunnels. Within the next three years, Orzolek and Lamont hope to complete a high-tunnel operat- ing manual for producers that can be printed or posted on a Website. . . >♦ ** * » 's * Best Metal Warranty 10 Layers of Protection Up to 50% Stronger Thicker 29 Gauge* Steel Mm Galvanized Coating s T wl " "CT *-i t • * t .v 1 .v:T ; .fe. 301-334-3977 1283 Joni Miller Rd. Oakland, MD 21550 V ‘A* «A ,V. A* -A
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