by CrownRandall | Jan 31, 2025 | Agriculture
UNION CITY – On Monday, January 13, the Jackson Friendship 4-H Club held a meeting at the Mississnawa Valley concession area at 7:00 PM. The meeting was called to order by Cadence Burk. Cadence also led the pledges. The roll call question was, “What will you try and do better this year ?’’
The old business was to pass out any remaining fair premium money, give out pins and certificates, and report on a kid and mom who we were helping in North Carolina.
The new business was to sign up for committees, and club dues which were moved by Anna Barga and seconded by Nick Barga and decided that it was going to be $3. Also, the new business was should we, as a club, pick up trash at Eldora Speedway this year? Cooper Nieport moved not to and that was seconded by Ava Nieport. We also voted on whether we should put up the chairs in the grandstand at the Darke County Fair as a community service project this year. Cole Lavy moved yes, and that was seconded by Anna Barga. The enrollment deadline is April 1, and the online website is open. We passed out the member info sheet and allowed 5 minutes to complete and turn it in.
We voted on whether we should have a club project this year. Ava Nieport moved no, and that was seconded by Ashtyn Gower. The members were told to pick up their project books in the extension office.
Then we had the adviser reports. Megan Gower said that there will be no buyer breakfast this year.
Our next meeting will be February 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Mississnawa Valley Concession area. The motion to adjourn was by Cooper Nieport and was seconded by Cole Lavy. The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 PM.
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by CrownRandall | Jan 31, 2025 | Agriculture
VERSAILLES – Congratulations to Versailles FFA Officers for all three receiving gold-rated office books at the District 5 FFA Evaluation held on Jan 27th.
Gold-rated officers for Versailles FFA included: Secretary Paige Gehret, Treasurer Luke Kaiser and Reporter Maggie McGlinch. All three of these officers completed very detailed officer books to meet the rubrics set forth by Ohio FFA.
The Secretary books created by Paige Gehret contained all the minute agendas, committee and officer reports, thank you notes and chapter correspondence. The Reporter book created by Maggie McGlinch contained all the articles sent to local newspapers, pictures and copies of the Facebook and website pages.
Luke Kaiser’s Treasurer Book contained all the chapter’s receipts, income, FFA membership and fruit sales information.
Congratulations to Paige, Luke, and Maggie and thank you for all your hard work in preparing these books for evaluation.
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by CrownRandall | Jan 31, 2025 | Agriculture
I hope this Newsletter finds you well. It hasn’t been quite as cold this past week, but you can still certainly feel winter in the air. Darke County continues to have sufficient moisture at this time (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?fips_39037). Continue to be safe in these winter conditions.
For those needing to renew their pesticide or fertilizer licenses, there will be one more training session in Darke County to recertify. The training date will be February 20th, beginning with fertilizer training at 4:30 p.m. and pesticide training at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place in the meeting room at Darke DD, 5844 Jaysville-St Johns Rd, Greenville, OH 45331. Please note that these recertification trainings will be taking place in neighboring counties as well, if you are unable to attend in Darke County. If you need to register for one of these sessions, or if you have any questions, please reach out to me.
HPAI in Western Ohio and Indiana remains an important matter. The number of HPAI cases can be tracked using the ODA website at the following link: https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/animal-health/hpai/01-poultry. Continue tracking the number of cases and follow biosecurity principles to best prevent the spread of HPAI and other diseases. Biosecurity practices are important for both commercial and backyard poultry raisers to do what we can to minimize the spread of HPAI. The recording for the recent HPAI webinar can be found at the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/FSbbJWROqvLE845lyQYCVa-2bpIVbfpxi8xWn_g77oceOn2k5-7DGZtdoFUNCmrm.PNKcUUWIpdmvA9Ua. The passcode to join is V!8BYZ=H
I will be at Worch Library on February 13th at 6:00 p.m. to discuss Making Pesticide and Fertilizer Decisions. Here, we will discuss the considerations that go into applying pesticides and fertilizers to your fields and gardens. I hope to see you there!
The next Darke County Ag Breakfast will be February 21st at 7:30 a.m., held at Jack’s Cabin in Greenville.
Let me know if you are interested in a copy of the eFields Report, or if you have any interest in working with OSU Extension on future research projects.
This week’s Newsletter topics include:
· Calf Vaccination Strategy
· Cattle Price Update
· Restoring Tired Pastures
· Scours Vaccine Options
· Successful Recordkeeping on the Farm
I hope you enjoy this week’s Newsletter, and as always, never hesitate to reach out to me and let me know how I can best serve you and all of Darke County.
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by CrownRandall | Jan 28, 2025 | Agriculture
COLUMBUS – Recently, members of the Versailles FFA participated in the State FFA Food Science and Technology Contest in Columbus, Ohio at The Ohio State University.
The contest required students to identify aromas, conduct a triangle test, take a written test on food quality and safety, identify safety problems from a customer complaint letter, solve math problems, and identify food processing tools. Students also were given 1 hour to complete a product development plan based on developing a product that was given to them by Ohio FFA which this year focused on developing a plan for a protein bar.
Versailles FFA earned the right to compete in the state contest after placing 2nd in the district. Versailles FFA placed 9th in the state contest and team members consisted of Eden Barga, Greta Broering, Gabe McGlinch and Ruthie Smith. The team was led by Eden Barga.
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by CrownRandall | Jan 26, 2025 | Agriculture
VERSAILLES – On Saturday, February 22nd from 7:30 am until 12:00 p.m., the Versailles FFA & FFA Alumni will be hosting an Omelet Breakfast to recognize the local agriculturalist and promote the agriculture industry. There will be free omelet breakfasts for all in attendance. This breakfast is free but will require RSVP to ensure proper breakfast.
The breakfast will also include: a farm toy show, kiddy tractor pulls, agriculture displays to promote the industry, and farm displays created by the local youth. This event will be open for all of the public to enjoy.
Toy Show Vendors that will be present at the breakfast include: Kris Hinton from Rockford, Kris’s collection includes custom farm toys, small-scale livestock and machinery buildings, Jim Ford of Athens collection focuses on: 1/64 scale farm toys and custom-built farm toys, Tom Barga of North Star collection focuses on custom and scratch built farm toys and 1/64 scale farm toys, Roger Heckman of Versailles with various tools and 1/64 scale farm toys and Winner Farm Toys of North Star with assortment of Ertl and New Ray farm toys from 1/64 scale up to 1/16 scale. Buckeye Farm Toys will be available from Austin Timmerman and he will be selling 1/64th scale farm barns, buildings and more.
On behalf of the Versailles FFA chapter, we like to personally invite and encourage the youth of Darke County to participate in a farm toy display contest. Again, this contest is completely cost-free. Awards and monetary prizes will be awarded for each division sponsored by the Darke County Farm Bureau. All participants will receive a small prize; however, first place in each division will receive $25.00, second place $15.00, and third place $10.00. All displays along with a tag with your name and age must be delivered to the Versailles FFA advisor, Mrs. Dena Wuebker, at Versailles Schools near the Greenhouse door (door 4) from 7:30 am to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 20th. All displays will be judged prior to the breakfast and the Farm Displays will be displayed on the stage of the cafetorium all attendees will be enabled to view the displays. Farm displays can be torn down and loaded out between 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 pm on Feb 22nd.
The rules and regulations for the Farm Youth Display can be received by emailing [email protected] find the information on the Versailles Exempted Village School website under the high school followed by the FFA link.
Please RSVP for the breakfast to either Dena Wuebker at 937-423-2369 or through the above email, or contact Taylor Bergman at [email protected] or 937-621-9136 or contact Versailles FFA President Colin Batten at 937-621- 6909. Please RSVP for the breakfast by Feb 18th.
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by CrownRandall | Jan 26, 2025 | Agriculture
VERSAILLES – Versailles FFA & FFA Alumni Soup & Sandwich Social Set for this Friday, Jan 31st. The Soup and Sandwich Social will be in conjunction with the Versailles Home Basketball Games Varsity Basketball game against Delphos St Johns. Due to scheduling conflicts, the soup and sandwich social will be held on Friday, Jan 31st and we will be serving from 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
The Versailles FFA Alumni & FFA Chapter will conduct their 29th Annual Soup and Sandwich Social this Friday, January 31, 2025 in the Versailles Schools Cafetorium at 280 Marker Rd, Versailles, Ohio. Serving will run from 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm. All the proceeds benefit the Versailles FFA and Versailles FFA Alumni Activities and Scholarships.
The menu for Soup and Sandwich Social will consist of Homemade soups, sandwiches and desserts. Carry-outs are available; make plans to attend the 29th Annual Versailles FFA Alumni & FFA Chapter Soup & Sandwich Social on a new date this Friday, Jan 31st.
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