WOOSTER, Ohio -- Joe Kovach, an Ohio State University scientist who is studying the best ways to grow food in old asphalt parking lots, will hold free public tours at his test plots in Wooster at 4 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month through August. The first tour is May 31.

The tours are aimed at urban agriculturists in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and other cities, Kovach said. 

“We’ll cover two main points: the basic ecological principles involved, and that you can actually do this,” he said.

“People say parking lots are barren. But you can get more production off of a back parking lot than you ever thought you could do.”

Kovach is growing apples, peaches, green beans, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes and more in an asphalt parking lot behind an old, closed dormitory at Ohio State’s Agricultural Technical Institute.

He’s testing several methods: in pots and raised beds sitting on top of the pavement; in pots suspended on wire mesh fencing, a form of “vertical gardening”; in beds set in trenches cut right through the asphalt; and all three ways both inside and outside of high tunnels.

“We’ll talk about how important biodiversity is,” said Kovach, who has previously developed small-scale, mixed-species polyculture plantings as a way to increase biodiversity together with yields. “We’ve tried to incorporate more biodiversity by having genetic diversity, or polyculture systems; more spatial diversity by having different crops at different heights; and more temporal diversity by having different planting dates and different varieties so you have early, mid- and late-season harvests.

“What we want is ecosystem stability,” he said. “Even on a parking lot you need ecosystem stability.”

The plantings are now in their second full season. A recent visit showed big, healthy-looking blueberry bushes full of just-forming berries; apple trees with trunks thicker than a person’s arm growing in pots the size of a Jacuzzi; long beds of bright-green strawberry plants; and peach trees pushing up close to the roof of their high tunnel.

Also during that visit, Kovach found and examined some tiny, plant-damaging mites, a kind of pest, on the underside of a raspberry leaf; showed the fencing and Plexiglas gate guard he installed to keep out deer, groundhogs and an especially clever rabbit; and said he’s monitoring for the presence of certain kinds of beneficial mites and flies, which he thinks should arrive soon.

He said he hopes to show visitors the importance of a good design. “But nature does bat last, and we’re trying to figure out how nature adjusts to growing food on asphalt as opposed to growing it out in a field,” he said.

“It’s possible. Look at what we’ve done here. But there’s not much data on growing fruit on a parking lot, I can tell you that.”

Meet at the old ATI dormitory at 1427 Dover Road south of Wooster, directly across from the ATI campus and just south of the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, for whom Kovach works.

For more information, call 330-263-3846 or e-mail kovach.49@osu.edu.

The other tours are on June 28, July 26 and Aug. 30.

Kovach is an associate professor of entomology, is head of Ohio State’s Integrated Pest Management Program and holds a joint appointment with Ohio State University Extension.

OARDC, ATI and OSU Extension are all part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Details about some of the college’s other urban farming efforts are at http://go.osu.edu/KaA and http://go.osu.edu/JDw.

- 30 -

Writers

Kurt Knebusch

knebusch.1@osu.edu

330-263-3776

Sources

Joe Kovach

kovach.49@osu.edu

330-263-3846

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Emerald ash borer (EAB), the invasive insect that kills ash trees, continues to spread throughout the state. EAB Awareness Week, May 20-26, is the perfect opportunity to remind Ohioans of this pest's impact and their role in helping to limit its spread.

Ohio and several other states affected by this voracious beetle have marked EAB Awareness Week during the past few years, in an effort to spread the word about its impact on the environment and the economy. Since its discovery in Detroit in 2002, EAB has destroyed millions of native ashes and has the potential to completely erase these valuable hardwood and landscape trees from North America.

EAB infestations have been confirmed in most western and northern Ohio counties. So far in 2012, Columbiana, Guernsey and Muskingum in eastern Ohio have joined the list of infested counties. An EAB infestations map from the Ohio Department of Agriculture is available at http://go.osu.edu/EABmap.

"Even though the entire state of Ohio is now quarantined for EAB, we are still looking for and documenting new infestations in already infested counties and in those where the insect has not yet been spotted," said Amy Stone, an Ohio State University Extension educator who has conducted EAB outreach work since the pest was first identified in Ohio in 2003.

"We are asking individuals to report any suspected findings of EAB by calling 1-888-OHIO-EAB," she said.

As Labor Day approaches -- and with it a new season of camping and other outdoor activities -- Stone reminded Ohioans to consider the fate of ash trees and other important natural resources by not moving firewood around the state.

"Transporting infested or infected firewood can result in a dramatically more rapid spread of EAB and other harmful pests or diseases," Stone explained. "When it comes to firewood, we are asking people to 'buy local and burn local.' Doing that will go a long way in protecting our natural resources."

Learn more about EAB by logging on to http://ashalert.osu.edu and http://emeraldashborer.info.

OSU Extension is the outreach arm of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

-30-

Writers

Sources

WOOSTER, Ohio -- Last year’s mild winter should mean “a grand display of blooms” this spring, said Kelly King, caretaker of Wooster’s Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance, which will hold its free annual open house from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. on June 9.

The garden, which spans three acres and is home to about 1,500 heirloom rose plants, is part of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s Secrest Arboretum, 1680 Madison Ave.

The roses in the garden, which are also called antique, old garden or old-fashioned roses, should be in peak bloom at the time of the event.

“This garden is a one-of-a-kind garden,” King said. “It’s such a peaceful atmosphere. You’ll see birds, lots of flowers and walking paths until your heart’s content.”

Heirloom roses are types that came before the first modern hybrid rose in 1867. They feature a wide range of fragrances, plant forms, and flower shapes and colors.

About 500 different varieties are represented in the garden. “You’ll see roses that don’t even look like typical roses,” King said.

There will be self-guided tours, experts on hand to answer questions, dulcimer music, and the sale of a limited number of rose plants, all of them propagated from plants that grow in the garden.

Slated so far for the sale are these varieties (more may be added):

• Chevy Chase
• Queen of the Prairie
• Buff King
• Wind Chimes
• Hanseat
• Rosa Rugosa Alba
• Grootendorst Supreme (red)
• Wildenfelsgelb
• Lillian Gibson
• Henri Martin
• Cardinal de Richelieu
• Thalia
• Violecee
• Crimson Rambler
• Handel
• Dainty Bloomfield
• Berlin
• New Dawn
• La France
• Ardoisse de Lyon 
• Veilchenblaugh
• Thomas Lipton
• Ballerina
• Queen of the Musks

For more information, call 330-263-3612 or e-mail king.1364@osu.edu.

OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

 - 30 -

Sources

WOOSTER, Ohio -- Jack pines, which are common in parts of the northern Great Lakes, need fire to thrive.

So does the rare and endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which nests only in burned or otherwise disturbed young jack pine stands in a handful of locations in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario -- and nowhere else on Earth.

Both are part of the same “fire-dependent ecosystem,” a type of biological community that needs occasional fires in order to persist.

And both and more should benefit from a new federal project based at Ohio State University in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station.

The Lake States Fire Science Consortium, a knowledge exchange network, has been started to connect scientists who study fire-dependent forest ecosystems and how to manage them with the managers who do the managing. The program’s geographic focus, the Great Lakes region, includes parts of New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania and parts of Ontario and Manitoba in Canada.

(Video (2:03): Greg Corace, a forester at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, explains using "prescribed" fire in the refuge and cooperative research with Ohio State.)

The idea is “to ensure that the best available science is actually available to managers,” said Charles Goebel, the consortium’s program director and a forest ecologist with Ohio State.

It’s also “an effort to develop and enhance collaborative ties between managers and scientists, and to identify and respond to any knowledge gaps,” said Goebel, who works at the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in northeast Ohio.

'Best Available Science' for Decisions

Land managers sometimes use fire -- in the form of relatively cool, carefully controlled “prescribed” fires -- to improve wildlife habitat, to conserve or restore native plants, or to burn off brush and built-up fuels to limit wildfires.

But sometimes other methods, such as thinning or clearcutting a forest, can achieve a similar end.

The method a manager chooses, prescribed fire or something else, depends on a number of factors, such as the type of ecosystem involved, the goal of the treatment, and the distance from towns, homes and cabins.

“Implicit in the consortium is that we’re neutral,” said Goebel, an associate professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources. “Our goal is not to promote the use of fire one way or the other. Our goal is to make sure, if you’re a land manager interested in using fire, that you can find the information you need to make a decision with the best available science.”

“Say a manager comes to us and says, ‘I’m working in a fire-dependent system in northern Minnesota, and I can’t use fire. What are my options?’ We want to be in a position to say, ‘OK, this is the best available information we have for the system you’re in, and these are the fire-surrogate practices that you can use to achieve a particular management objective on your land.’”

The consortium’s website features, for example, news and updates about fire science in the region, a list of coming and archived continuing education Web-based seminars, a schedule of tours and workshops, and the latest national wildfire risk forecast (pdf).

There’s an archived “Science Library”; current and past issues of the consortium’s newsletter; details on past studies with such titles as “Characterizing Historic and Contemporary Fire Regimes in the Lake States” and “Effects of Blowdown, Salvage Logging and Wildfire on Regeneration and Fuel Characteristics in Minnesota’s Forests”; and a link for users to “Submit a research need.” 

Forum for Knowledge, Discussion

The program provides better access to more information and “a forum for researchers and managers to discuss the needs and outcomes of research and its application,” said Greg Corace, a member of the consortium’s administrative committee and a forester at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“As a government agency, we’re required to use the best available science in our land management, even while admitting that land management is an art, guided by science,” Corace said. “The consortium aids in communicating what’s known, what’s not known, and what should be a priority for future research.”

“We’re sitting at the intersection between scientists and managers,” Goebel added. “We’re finding out from the managers what they need, and we’re trying to respond to that the best that we can” through new and targeted studies.

Participants in the consortium include Ohio State and OARDC; local, state and federal agencies, including the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; and the nonprofit Nature Conservancy.

Working with Goebel is Robert Ziel, the consortium’s program manager based in Marquette, Mich., who previously served for 31 years as a fire management specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Species Adapted to Fire

The species in fire-dependent ecosystems, which include plants, animals and more, are adapted to living with fire as a regular disturbance. That is, not only do they survive occasional fires, they actually do better. They can germinate and reproduce, show greater diversity, and typically form a more stable community because of them.

Examples of fire-dependent ecosystems around the Great Lakes include oak savannas in the central and southern parts of the region, such as northwest Ohio, and red pine and jack pine forests in the north, including the burned-over or clearcut jack pine stands that are essential to the Kirtland’s warbler.

In fact, the one-time nearly extinct yellow, black and blue-gray songbird is so identified with fire-dependent ecosystems that it’s featured in the consortium’s logo.

Corace, who manages some of the nesting areas of the Kirtland’s warbler as part of his duties, said, “Seney National Wildlife Refuge functions as a de facto land management/research demonstration area, and the Applied Sciences Program at Seney attempts to integrate applied research, land management and tertiary education for the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems.”

Because of this, “One of the aspects of the consortium that has benefitted us is to advertise our mission and work to potential cooperators,” he said. “The consortium provides outlets in the form of newsletters, websites and webinars so that our work can be presented to a wider audience.”

Part of a National Network

The Lake States program is part of a wider national network of 14 regional consortia coordinated by the federal, multiagency Joint Fire Science Program, which, according to its website, “funds scientific research on wildland fires and distributes results to help policy makers, fire managers and practitioners make sound decisions.”

“The (national program’s) mission is to make sure researchers are developing fire science than can be used on the ground to affect the management of fire-dependent ecosystems, and what we’re trying to do is help them in that effort,” Goebel said. “Eventually the entire country will pretty much be covered by these regional consortia.”

The regional programs, he said, aim to provide information that is unique, specific and best-suited to their particular geography.

Adjoining efforts include the Oak Woodlands and Forests Fire Consortium stretching southwest from the Lake States region, the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists to the southeast, and the Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium to the west and northwest.

The Lake States consortium’s website is at http://lakestatesfiresci.net/. Learn more about the Joint Fire Science Program at http://www.firescience.gov/.

OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The center works not just on food and farming but also, for example, on biofuels, bioproducts, health, nutrition, sustainability and the environment.

- 30 -

Writers

Kurt Knebusch

knebusch.1@osu.edu

330-263-3776

Sources

Charles Goebel, OARDC

goebel.11@osu.edu

330-263-3789

Greg Corace, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Greg_Corace@fws.gov

906-586-9851, ext. 14

We’ll be spending two weeks driving around the Midwest on vacation this summer. I hate the idea of eating a lot of fast food. Do you have some tips for healthy eating while on the road?

Vacations can really throw your diet a curve. First, unless you’re planning to hook up your refrigerator to a portable generator and tow it behind you, getting your hands on fresh fruits and vegetables won’t be nearly as convenient as it is at home. Second, since you’re on vacation, you may decide to indulge in treats more often than usual. Third, even when you do want to make healthy choices, your options might be limited.

But, yes, there are things you can do that will help. These tips are from a variety of sources, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), the National Diabetes Education Program and the Obesity Prevention Program -- the latter two being part of the National Institutes of Health:

• Bring an ice chest and pack it with resealable plastic bags full of healthy snacks: carrots, celery sticks, pepper strips, broccoli and cauliflower florets, snow peas, hummus, apples, oranges, grapes, single-serving containers of 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, 2 percent cheese, and low- or nonfat yogurt. Be sure to pack some plastic utenstils for foods you can’t eat with your fingers. And be sure to pack some hand sanitizer to use before eating the foods you do eat with your fingers.
• Also, take along a box of items that don’t need to be kept cool but are just as healthy, such as single-serving containers of tuna and canned fruit, whole-grain crackers, small portions of dried fruit and nuts, and bottled water. You can build a great lunch with these items, enjoying it at a rest stop picnic table on your trip. 
• When you do eat at restaurants, try to order first so your choice won’t be influenced by everyone else at the table. And, ask if anyone wants to split an entree with you -- that’s a great way to keep portions to a reasonable size. Stay away from fried foods and instead look for grilled, baked or broiled options. Consider ordering milk as a beverage if you’re not getting much calcium, or stick to water, unsweetened tea or diet soft drinks. Look at the salads offered, but be careful: High-fat dressing, cheese, croutons and other toppings can surprise you with how much fat and calories they contain. When restaurants offer a “healthy” menu, choose from it at least half the time.
• Staying at a hotel that offers breakfast? Choose eggs if they’re available, or opt for yogurt, fresh fruit, juice or low-sugar, high-fiber cereal.  

Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH, 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

-30-

Editor: This column was reviewed by Linnette Goard, assistant professor and field specialist in Food Safety, Selection and Management, in Family and Consumer Sciences for Ohio State University Extension.

Writers

Martha Filipic
614-292-9833
filipic.3@osu.edu

Sources

Linnette Goard
OSU Extension, Food Safety, Selection and Management

In fact, growers statewide have reported finding slugs in their fields causing such significant feeding injury that it requires treatment with baits, said Ron Hammond, who also has an appointment with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. 

“These reports are two to four weeks early compared with most years and is a result of the warmer winter and March,” he said. “The warmer weather and soil temperatures have caused slugs to hatch earlier and are resulting in slugs beginning their heavier feeding earlier.”  

Winter 2012 was the warmest winter experienced nationwide since 2000 and the fourth-warmest winter on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was caused because the jet stream, which divides the cold air to the north from the warm air to the south, settled at a much higher latitude this year, the federal agency said.  

This means that if planting times are normal, slugs will be a bigger and larger threat than normal, Hammond said. 

“For growers who have experienced slug issues in the past, it is critical that fields be scouted now,” he said. 

Hammond said that while the impact is significant for both corn and soybean growers, there are some differences in what farmers should be looking for and planning. 

“With corn’s growing point being below the soil for a few weeks, most of the feeding above ground will be to growing leaves that will be replaced, and not on the growing tip that would kill the plant,” he said. “Because of continued growth of corn that will probably occur, there is some leeway in terms of the time required to make the treatment if needed.” 

But, Hammond cautioned, growers should keep in mind that corn is still relatively much smaller than when feeding would normally occur and so presents a much more serious situation. 

In the case of soybeans, the growing point is between the cotyledons as they emerge from the soil, he said. 

“Thus, the slug is easily able to reach and feed on both the cotyledons along with that growing point, making it much easier for slugs to kill the soybean plant as it emerges from the soil,” Hammond said. “This fact makes immediate treatment of soybeans perhaps more critical if no leaves have yet emerged and expanded.”     

Growers should look for telltale signs of leaf feeding if their plants have emerged and have leaves, he said.   

“But for soybeans not yet or just now emerging, or yet to be planted, care should be taken to determine if slugs are present and lying in wait,” Hammond said. “This latter situation could require a bait application just prior to emergence. 

“Use your own past experiences with soybean stand reductions caused by slugs to determine whether an early treatment should be made this year.” 

Growers can use one of two available baits that contain metaldehyde (Deadline MPs and others), and those with iron phosphate (Sluggo), he said. 

More information can be found on OSU Extension’s slug fact sheet at http://ohioline.osu.edu/ent-fact/pdf/0020.pdf .   

“If they’ve had problems before and those soybeans are starting to emerge and slugs are there, they need to treat immediately,” Hammond said.

Writers

Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
turner.490@osu.edu

Sources

Ron Hammond
330-263-3727
hammond.5@osu.edu

Thanks to warmer, drier conditions this year, the 2012 growing season is providing a prime opportunity for growers to evaluate marginal alfalfa stands following the first harvest, said Rory Lewandowski, an agricultural and natural resources educator for OSU Extension. 

In fact, growers still have time to plant corn for silage if they determine after the first cutting that their alfalfa stands are questionable, he said.  

“Last year, we had so much rain that everything was behind and even if growers wanted to rotate out, they couldn’t do that because the fields were just too wet,” Lewandowski said. “This is one of those years that the weather has cooperated enough to open up the opportunity to do this. 

“Growers should look and see if the stand is productive enough to meet their production goals. But if not, with the weather we’ve had, they can rotate out and get some more production out of that land.”

Alfalfa is typically rotated into corn, Lewandowski said.  

“But occasionally the question comes up regarding whether it is possible to plant alfalfa back into these old alfalfa stands to either thicken up the old stand or to start over with a new seeding,” he said. 

This practice is not generally recommended due to autotoxicity potential, which is an allelopathic effect that inhibits the germination of new alfalfa seedings and/or inhibits the root growth of new seedlings, Lewandowski explained.

“The general recommendation is to rotate out of alfalfa for one growing season,” he said. “But growers who do decide to rotate have to also consider what they are going to rotate to?  

“Corn silage is good this time of year, or another annual crop for forage.”

Growers can use two basic methods to evaluate stand productivity: evaluate the stand density in terms of plants per square foot; or evaluate by counting the number of stems per square foot, Lewandowski said. Older stands naturally have fewer plants per square foot, but older plants, if they are healthy, produce more stems as compared to a younger plant. 

“Regardless of the method used, sample at least 4-6 random areas within the field to arrive at a decision,” he said. “Both of these methods assume that the objective is a pure or nearly pure stand of alfalfa.”

Growers should also determine the number of plants per square foot immediately after a harvest or any time before a harvest. 

Criteria to consider when evaluating alfalfa stand productivity based on plants per square foot include:

• Alfalfa stands that are over three years old should have a minimum of six plants per square foot to remain in production.  
• Growers should dig up the plants in some of the sampled areas and split the roots lengthwise to evaluate the health of the plants.  In healthy stands, fewer than 30 percent of plants will show significant discoloration and rot in the crown and taproot.  
• Healthy plants will have vigorous crown shoots distributed evenly around the crown.  If over 50 percent of the plants show signs of root and crown rot, the stand should be rotated to another crop.

To evaluate a stand based on stems per square foot, the recommendation is to wait until there are at least six inches of growth. The guidelines for alfalfa stand evaluation based on counting the stems per square foot are: 

• Greater than 54 stems: no yield reduction.
• Forty to 54 stems: keep the stand but expect some yield reduction.
•  Less than 40 stems: consider replacing the stand because yield reduction is significant.

Writers

Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
turner.490@osu.edu

Sources

Rory Lewandowski
330-264-8722
lewandowski.11@osu.edu

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Increasing the reproductive efficiency of dairy cattle -- getting the highest possible number of cows pregnant in the same period of time -- has always been a challenge for this industry. Ohio State University specialists are working to reverse this trend through the development of new reproduction techniques and training that emphasizes proper management.

Currently, the national pregnancy rate for dairy cows is only 16 percent, while the benchmark rate set by industry experts is 10 points higher, said Gustavo Schuenemann, Ohio State University Extension's state dairy veterinarian. Ohio’s rate is about the national average, he pointed out, so there's room for improvement.

Lower pregnancy rates are an issue for the dairy industry because they translate into reduced herd growth and potential loss of profits, said Mike Day, an animal scientist with the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). "Dairy cows work hard every day," he said. "That makes it more difficult for farmers to increase reproduction rates."

One way dairy farms can boost their reproduction efforts is the use of artificial insemination (AI) and estrus (heat) synchronization techniques. Working with industry partners, Day and his research team have pioneered a new fixed-time AI protocol -- known as "5-day CO-Synch + CIDR" -- that better synchronizes a cow's estrus cycle so that AI can be administered when cows are more fertile.

Mike Day (middle) works closely with industry partners, including Select Sires of Plain City, Ohio. (Photo by Ken Chamberlain)

A recommended practice within the beef cattle industry nationwide, this protocol has been successfully tested on beef cows, resulting in 60 to 70 percent of animals getting pregnant within one day -- a 17.5-percent increase compared to industry standards. Day and colleagues calculated that if 5-day CO-Synch + CIDR were implemented with just 10 percent of Ohio's roughly 500,000 beef and dairy cows, the total economic benefit would easily surpass $5 million in savings and increased production.

This protocol is now being studied in dairy heifers and cows by researchers at various locations across the country, Day said. The hope is that this approach will increase fertility in dairy cattle compared to current protocols, giving farmers another tool to inch closer to their reproductive goals.

While technology is an important factor in boosting reproductive efficiency of dairy cattle, it's not the solution by itself, according to OSU Extension's Schuenemann.

"There's no magic bullet," said Schuenemann, who develops and coordinates research-based, practical training workshops for dairy producers, personnel and veterinarians throughout Ohio. "There are many tools out there -- from synchronization protocols to heat detection to measuring cow activity -- but regardless of the tool a farmer may use, proactive management practices at the farm level matter when it comes to reproduction."

One of the things Schuenemann emphasizes in his training programs is proper management during the transition period, which is three to four weeks prior to calving and approximately one month post-calving. This, he said, is  "key to reproductive success." Some of the issues that dairy farmers need to address during this crucial period include avoiding overstocking of animals and commingling (mixing together) of mature cows with heifers; making sure cows get balanced food rations; and having a reliable and well-trained group of workers who can properly handle calving and identify and assist cows that experience difficult births as well as sick cows after calving.

Proactive management also involves choosing the right tool or set of tools to maximize reproductive success.

"The choice of reproduction protocol needs to match the particular conditions of each farm, its resources, its objectives and the skill of its workers," Schuenemann explained. "All dairy farmers are unique, even if they are only a mile apart from each other. So it's very important to assess human resources on the farm. Some may adopt techniques that are more time-sensitive and cost more in synchronization hormones, but which have the potential for higher pregnancy rates. Others may do better with heat detection and trying to take advantage of normal estrus.

"You don't want a farmer to fail because he picked a technique that doesn't work for his conditions. Every farm is an integrated system; decisions made on one area of the farm will have an impact on other areas of the farm."

Ohio State resources for dairy farmers are available at http://dairy.osu.edu and http://vet.osu.edu/extension/dairy-resources.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

-30-

Writers

Sources

WOOSTER, Ohio -- An $8.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund an international team of scientists focused on finding new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent a critical global health problem: malnutrition in infants and children.

Linda Saif, a Distinguished University Professor at Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), is involved in the research, which will be led by Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The project seeks to discover novel dietary and microbial therapeutics that can be targeted to infants and children living in countries with rampant malnutrition.

Severe malnutrition has long been thought to stem simply from a lack of adequate food. But now scientists understand the condition is far more complex and may involve a breakdown in the way gut microbial communities process various components of the diet.

"A complex relationship exists between diet, gut microbial communities and the immune system in severely malnourished children," said Gordon, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director of Washington University's Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology. "We now have a way to tease apart these influences. Recreating the human gut ecosystem in mice gives us a way to control these variables. The lead compounds derived from these well-controlled, pre-clinical studies can be considered for future clinical trials in malnourished infants and children."

Saif's role in the project includes the evaluation of new ways to improve the effectiveness of vaccines against rotavirus -- the leading cause of childhood diarrhea. For unexplained reasons, she said, current rotavirus vaccines fail in children in impoverished countries where malnutrition and diarrhea mortality are highest. Led by Saif, Ohio State researchers Anastasia Vlasova, Gireesh Rajashekara and Kuldeep Chattha will use a germ-free piglet model to complement the studies in mice.

"Studies at OSU using germ-free piglets will complement and extend results from initial comprehensive evaluations of the transplanted human gut microbe collections and the interventions tested in germ-free mice," said Saif, an internationally recognized virologist and immunologist who studies infectious diseases that can sicken both animals and humans.

Linda Saif has used germ-free pigs to study a variety of infectious diseases that affect both livestock and humans. (Photo by Ken Chamberlain)

The community of intestinal microbes and its vast collection of genes, known as the gut microbiome, are assembled right from birth and influenced by babies' early environments and the first foods they consume, such as breast milk. As part of the Breast Milk, Gut Microbiome and Immunity Project, project scientists will evaluate the relationship among first foods, the developing community of microbes in the intestine and the developing immune system.

The new research builds on ongoing clinical studies in Africa, South Asia and South America of malnourished and healthy infants and children and their mothers, which also are funded by the Gates Foundation.

As part of the new project, scientists will evaluate the function of gut microbial communities in malnourished and healthy infants and children living in multiple countries where malnutrition is prevalent. They also will characterize the nutritional content and immune activity present in breast milk samples obtained from the children's mothers during periods of exclusive and supplemental breastfeeding. In parallel, the scientists will use a preclinical discovery pipeline recently developed in Gordon's laboratory to identify next-generation probiotics and nutrient supplements or combinations of the two (synbiotics) that may promote healthy growth in infants and children.

The investigators also will transplant communities of intestinal microbes (obtained from stool samples) from both malnourished and healthy children into germ-free mice raised under sterile conditions. These mice will essentially harbor collections of human gut microbes that mimic those found in the children, and they will be fed the same diets as the children.

Then, using the mice, the scientists can carefully evaluate how various nutritional interventions influence the workings of the gut microbiomes obtained from these children. They will be able to determine which microbes respond, how they respond and how they affect the overall function of the gut microbiomes. The researchers also will evaluate certain aspects of childhood development.

Saif and colleagues at Ohio State will add to the project by using germ-free piglets to assess the impact of human fecal microbiota, native diet and selected prebiotic/probiotic interventions on immune function as it relates to rotavirus diarrhea severity and death. Just like with the mice used in the study, communities of intestinal microbes from humans will be transplanted into the piglets. Because of their susceptibility to human rotavirus diarrhea, Saif said, germ-free piglets are a unique model to evaluate diarrhea interventions and effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines.    

"Representative human gut microbiomes, in concert with the optimized nutritional or probiotic supplements that alleviate malnutrition and promote a healthy gut, will be examined in germ-free piglets for their effectiveness in resolution of malnutrition as well as rotavirus diarrhea and deaths," Saif explained. "Our future goal is to understand the influence of the gut microbiota and diet on responses to oral vaccines so as to implement similar novel interventions (prebiotics/probiotics/synbiotics) not only to ameliorate gastroenteritis, but also to enhance oral vaccine efficacy in children in impoverished countries." 

Other scientists involved in the project include Per Ashorn, University of Tampere School of Medicine in Finland; Kathryn Dewey, University of California, Davis; Michael Gottlieb, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Rob Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder; Kenneth Maleta, University of Malawi College of Medicine; David Mills, University of California, Davis; and Jeremy Nicholson, Imperial College, London.

OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

-30-

Writers

Sources

Thanks to a new production method called plasticulture, farmers can now grow strawberries that have better commercial attributes, including larger fruit size, higher sugar contents and better disease resistance, and that can be harvested as early as the first week of May and as late as October. That’s according to the results of an ongoing OSU Extension research trial conducted by Brad Bergefurd, an OSU Extension horticulture specialist in partnership with the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program. 

Bergefurd will conduct a Strawberry Field Night on May 17 from 6-9 p.m. at the OSU South Centers, 1864 Shyville Road, in Piketon. The program will teach participants all they need to know about the method, in which strawberries are planted in early fall on a raised bed of soil covered with black plastic and results in farmers getting the berries to market at least a month earlier than the traditional matted row production that has been used by Ohio farmers, Bergefurd said. 

The new method, in which the strawberries are planted in September and grow over the winter using plastic to keep the soil warm and suppress weed growth, not only results in larger, sweeter berries but also allows farmers to capture a larger share of the local strawberry market because the berries can be harvested and sold over a period of four to five months, he said. 

That compares to the four- to five-week harvest period for Ohio strawberries using the traditional matted row production method, Bergefurd said. 

The event will cover the following: 

•          Variety selection.
•          Annual plasticulture strawberry production method.
•          Row cover management for winter and frost protection.
•         Summer-bearing variety production method, which can set fruit and be harvested from July through October. 

“Participants will learn production tips including education on planting dates, variety selection, fertility, winter protection, row cover management and overall management,” he said. “We’ll also discuss pest, weed and disease control options that would emphasize the use of Integrated Pest Management scouting techniques and chemical and non-chemical control options as well as production techniques to reduce pests.” 

The OSU Extension plasticulture trial includes about a half an acre of strawberry plants at the OSU South Centers and about 100 acres total on at least 25 farms statewide this season. The trial includes evaluating new strawberry varieties, with breeding coming from Florida, California, and North and South Carolina, Bergefurd said. 

The method includes using row covers during the winter to protect the plants, which aren’t as winter hardy, from frost and freeze. 

The trial, which is in its 11th season and has begun harvesting this week, is now producing the higher-quality, more commercially appealing berries, Bergefurd said. The trial will also, for the first time, produce summer-bearing fruit to allow the strawberry harvesting season to extend up until October, depending on the weather, he said. 

But there are drawbacks to the plasticulture method, he cautioned. 

While plasticulture cuts down on the amount of water, fertilizer and pesticides needed, the initial input costs for farmers using this method are significantly increased, requiring an investment of at least $10,000 to $15,000 per acre, with some of that cost associated with irrigation and more management needed to grow the fields, Bergefurd said. The fields harvest from early May to October. 

That compares to traditional matted row production, which averages about $4,000 per acre in production costs and harvests in June, he said. 

But plasticulture strawberries have the potential to yield 20,000 to 25,000 pounds of strawberries per acre, compared to 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of strawberries per acre using the matted row method. And when you consider that retail strawberries fetch $2.50 to $3.50 per pound, the profit potential is “pretty good,” Bergefurd said.

To register for the event, contact Julie Moose at 740-289-2071 ext. 223, or email her at moose.14@osu.edu by May 16. Registration is $5 per person. Participants should be prepared to walk in the fields, weather permitting. Special accommodations needs should be mentioned when registering.

For more information on the plasticulture strawberry growing method or to view past years’ field research results, visit http://southcenters.osu.edu/horticulture/.

Writers

Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
turner.490@osu.edu

Sources

Brad Bergefurd
740-289-37
bergefurd.1@osu.edu

But this has growers wondering if it is a good thing or bad. 

While cool weather conditions over the last few weeks have worked to slow wheat down considerably, the development of the crop is still at least a week or two ahead of what is considered to be normal in Ohio at this time of year, said Pierce Paul, who is also a plant pathologist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. 

This has left producers questioning whether such early development will have a negative effect on their crop, he said. But there is no easy answer to such a question; it all depends on the weather conditions over the next several weeks. 

“Our big issue is that we are ahead of schedule, causing some concern, understandably so, because most wheat growers haven’t seen wheat head out and flower in early May,” Paul said. “That’s left growers experiencing a fear of the unknown, more than anything else.” 

If cool weather occurs during most of the month of May, it could mean a nice, extended grain fill period, which is significant, considering that Ohio’s grain fill period is relatively short compared to other areas. 

“Which would mean decent yields if the weather stays cool,” he said. “Cool conditions will also reduce the development of foliar and head diseases such as Stagonospora and head scab, especially if it remains dry. 

“But wheat heading or flowering at the end of April or in early May is at greater risk for freezing injury.” 

In fact, two hours or more of exposure to 30 degrees could cause severe damage to wheat at the heading growth stage. Less injury could be expected if plants are exposed to less than two hours of freezing temperatures, Paul said. 

But on the flip side, if the weather gets warmer and wetter, it could also have a negative effect on the crop, he said. 

“Warm, humid conditions favor disease development, and if not managed with a well-timed fungicide application, further grain yield and quality losses will likely occur,” Paul said. “Wheat growers always have to be diligent with their fields because of how sensitive wheat is to the weather. 

“But with this spring having such atypical weather, they have to be even more so.” 

He advises growers to continually monitor their crops and to scout fields for foliar diseases and visit the head scab forecasting website (www.wheatscab.psu.edu) to determine the risk of head scab. 

“If you see foliar disease on the second leaf down and you have a susceptible variety, then you want to use a fungicide,” Paul said. 

“If you don’t protect your crop from disease with fungicides, this could mean lower yields and grain quality, and consequently, lost money. 

“But also if you apply fungicide when you don’t need it, you could also lose money. Growers are going to have to really watch the weather over the next few weeks.”

Writers

Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
turner.490@osu.edu

Sources

Pierce Paul
330-263-3842
paul.661@osu.edu

I’ve been told that I’m “pre-diabetic.” Should I cut way back on fruit? I know it contains a lot of sugar.

First, for individual health-related advice, it’s always best to talk directly to your doctor or, in cases like this, a registered dietitian, who could work with you personally to examine your normal day-to-day eating patterns and help you make improvements.

But if you’re like most Americans, you likely aren’t eating enough fruit. And your question indicates that you have the common misconception that eating sweets causes diabetes. It doesn’t. It’s caused by the body’s inability to handle blood sugar, but that comes from many kinds of foods, not just those that taste sweet.

In fact, a recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care indicates that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables -- and, even more importantly, a lot of different kinds of fruits and vegetables -- may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study included more than 3,700 adults in the United Kingdom and lasted 11 years. The researchers found:

• Eating more fruits and vegetables (about six servings a day) was associated with a 21 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with eating just two servings a day.
• People who ate a wide variety of fruits and vegetables -- averaging 16 different types over the course of a week -- were about 40 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who averaged just eight different types.

It’s important to note that the study doesn’t necessarily prove cause and effect. But it is one more good reason why you might want to incorporate a wider variety of fruits and vegetables into your diet. Here are some ideas to do so:

• Even if you don’t normally pack your lunch, pack a snack to have mid-morning or mid-afternoon. It can be one of the standards: an apple, orange, banana, grapes, baby carrots, celery strips or red pepper strips, or something totally new. Shop the produce section with a fresh eye to see what you might want to try.
• Buy large containers of vanilla or plain yogurt and, as you prepare individual servings, top with one-quarter to one-half cup of fresh or frozen berries.
• Add variety to salads by including spinach with the lettuce and topping with fresh blueberries or strawberries.

For more on the benefits of fruits and vegetables and ideas to include more in your diet, see the Fruits and Veggies Matter website, a partnership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Produce for Better Health Foundation, at http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov.

Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH, 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

-30-

Editor: This column was reviewed by Hugo Melgar-Quinonez, food security specialist with Ohio State University Extension and associate professor of human nutrition in the College of Education and Human Ecology.

Writers

Martha Filipic
614-292-9833
filipic.3@osu.edu

Sources

Hugo Melgar-Quinonez
OSU Extension, Human Nutrition

In fact, growers statewide have reported finding slugs in their fields causing such significant feeding injury that it requires treatment with baits, said Ron Hammond, who also has an appointment with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. 

“These reports are two to four weeks early compared with most years and is a result of the warmer winter and March,” he said. “The warmer weather and soil temperatures have caused slugs to hatch earlier and are resulting in slugs beginning their heavier feeding earlier.” 

Winter 2012 was the warmest winter experienced nationwide since 2000 and the fourth-warmest winter on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was caused because the jet stream, which divides the cold air to the north from the warm air to the south, settled at a much higher latitude this year, the federal agency said.  

This means that if planting times are normal, slugs will be a bigger and larger threat than normal, Hammond said. 

“For growers who have experienced slug issues in the past, it is critical that fields be scouted now,” he said. 

Hammond said that while the impact is significant for both corn and soybean growers, there are some differences in what farmers should be looking for and planning. 

“With corn’s growing point being below the soil for a few weeks, most of the feeding above ground will be to growing leaves that will be replaced, and not on the growing tip that would kill the plant,” he said. “Because of continued growth of corn that will probably occur, there is some leeway in terms of the time required to make the treatment if needed.” 

But, Hammond cautioned, growers should keep in mind that corn is still relatively much smaller than when feeding would normally occur and so presents a much more serious situation.  

For soybean growers, the growing point of soybeans is between the cotyledons as they emerge from the soil, he said. 

“Thus, the slug is easily able to reach and feed on both the cotyledons along with that growing point, making it much easier for slugs to kill the soybean plant as it emerges from the soil,” Hammond said. “This fact makes immediate treatment of soybeans perhaps more critical if no leaves have yet emerged and expanded.”   

Growers should look for telltale signs of leaf feeding if their plants have emerged and have leaves, he said.  

“But for soybeans not yet or just now emerging, or yet to be planted, care should be taken to determine if slugs are present and lying in wait,” Hammond said. “This latter situation could require a bait application just prior to emergence. 

“Use your own past experiences with soybean stand reductions caused by slugs to determine whether an early treatment should be made this year.” 

Growers can use one of two available baits that contain metaldehyde (Deadline MPs and others), and those with iron phosphate (Sluggo), he said. 

More information can be found on OSU Extension’s slug fact sheet at http://ohioline.osu.edu/ent-fact/pdf/0020.pdf.  

“If they’ve had problems before and those soybeans are starting to emerge and slugs are there, they need to treat immediately,” Hammond said.

Writers

Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
turner.490@osu.edu

Sources

Ron Hammond
330-263-3727
hammond.5@osu.edu

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A low dose of a curcumin extract from the spice turmeric can have a variety of positive health effects on healthy middle-aged individuals, according to an Ohio State University study presented at the 2012 Experimental Biology meeting April 23 in San Diego.

Commonly used in Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern cooking, turmeric -- a deep orange-yellow powder made from the roots of the Curcuma longa tropical plant -- has been proposed to have health benefits ranging from fighting cancer to slowing progression of Alzheimer's disease.  Because of these purported benefits, extracts of curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) have been developed for both clinical trials and for sale as dietary supplements.

"The problem with most of these extracts is that they need to be taken in high doses, some in excess of 1,000 mg, because the curcumin is poorly absorbed by the body," said Robert DiSilvestro, a professor in Ohio State's Department of Human Nutrition and with the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. "Such high doses defeat part of the purpose of taking a supplement."

Instead, DiSilvestro studied an extract containing 80 mg of curcumin mixed with small amounts of natural fat compounds intended to help boost absorbability of the spice extract. The supplement, known as Longvida®, is produced by Verdure Sciences of Noblesville, Ind. Unlike previous trials, which focused mainly on people with existing health problems, DiSilvestro recruited healthy individuals ages 40-60. Nineteen study participants were given a daily dose of the curcumin supplement for four weeks. Another 19 subjects received a placebo. Blood samples were taken before and after the study period.

Robert DiSilvestro, a professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, is the lead author of the curcumin study. (Photo by Ken Chamberlain)

"Our study suggested that this particular curcumin supplement was relatively well absorbed because a low dose produced many good effects on blood and saliva measures," DiSilvestro explained.

These effects included a reduction in triglyceride levels, which are linked to heart disease. Curcumin also increased plasma levels of nitric oxide, a molecule that can work against high blood pressure. Researchers also observed lower plasma concentrations of sICAM, a molecule linked to atherosclerosis, the process of artery hardening.

Some other positive effects of the curcumin related to antioxidant actions, which are thought to help fight cancer and other diseases. For example, DiSilvestro said, the plasma antioxidant enzyme catalase went up after curcumin supplementation.

Curcumin also produced a small decrease in plasma contents of beta amyloid protein, which is an indicator of brain aging, especially in relation to Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, alanine amino transferase readings, which are associated with liver disease, went down with the curcumin treatment.

"The study has two take-home messages. One, a wide variety of potentially health-promoting effects was seen in just four weeks from a low dose of this form of curcumin. Two, this curcumin product may be able to produce benefits in healthy people, not just in individuals who already have health problems," DiSilvestro said.

Verdure Sciences funded this study.

Associate professor Joshua Bomser and research associate Elizabeth Joseph, both in the Department of Human Nutrition, were also involved in the study.

-30-

Writers

Sources

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University Extension and the OSU Income Tax School Program are offering two educational options to tax practitioners who are preparing to take the new Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) competency test this year.

• The first option is a study at home option. Through a partnership with Fast Forward Academy, participants can study at home and access an online test bank of questions. The cost of the materials is $99 for the study guide and access to a 200-question test bank; or $179 for the study guide and access to a 700-question test bank and unlimited practice exams.
• The second option is to attend one of four one-day preparatory workshops -- in Xenia, Burton, Powell or Bowling Green -- in June. Ohio State and Internal Revenue Service experts will be the instructors; the study materials and online test bank will be available as well. The workshops have two registration options: $199, which includes the day-long preparatory workshop, study guide and access to the 200-question test bank; or $279, which includes the day-long workshop, study guide, access to a 700-question test bank and unlimited practice exams.

The workshops are approved by the IRS Return Preparer Office for 8 hours of continuing education credit in the RTRP Test Preparation category. Lunch, program handouts, a Fast Forward study guide, an online test bank and refreshments are included.

Registration is available at http://go.osu.edu/RTRP and must be received by midnight, May 25. There is an additional $20 late registration fee.

As of Jan. 1, 2011, all paid tax preparers must have a Preparer Tax Identification Number, or PTIN. Existing PTIN holders must pass a competency test by the end of 2013. Attorneys, Certified Public Accountants and Enrolled Agents are exempt from the testing requirement. In addition to a competency exam, IRS Registered Tax Return Preparers will be required to take continuing education in the future.

For more information, contact David Marrison at marrison.2@osu.edu or Chris Bruynis at bruynis.1@osu.edu.

- 30 -

Writers

David Marrison

marrison.2@osu.edu