The nomination period for local Farm Service Agency county committees began Friday. It is important for county committees to reflect America’s diversity, and as such, all eligible farmers and producers, including beginning farmers, are encouraged to get involved in this year’s elections.

The United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency recently made several policy updates for acreage reporting for cover crops, revising intended use, late-filed provisions, grazing allotments as well as updated the definitions of “idle” and “fallow.”

In Ohio, each county soil and water conservation district is governed by a board of five local supervisors. Two supervisors will be elected at the Wyandot Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual banquet Aug. 13 and will serve for three years beginning in January 2020.

REYNOLDSBURG — The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation is making farmers aware of funding available to farmers through the Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

BUCYRUS — The Wynford FFA Chapter recently went on a trip to the 2019 National Land, Range, and Homesite Judging Contest in Oklahoma. The Royals took their rural soils team, which consisted on Connor Miller, Jodie Jennings, Thomas Weithman and Lexie Wood. At the contest, they placed 70th out of 102 teams.

Women for the Land, coordinated by representatives from American Farmland Trust, USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service, Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District, Wyandot Soil and Water Conservation District and Ag Credit will hold a Lunch and Learn from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 11 at OSU Spark Lab, Kenton.

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants are responsible for ensuring adequate, approved vegetative and practice cover is maintained to control erosion throughout the life of the contract after the practice has been established. Participants must also control undesirable vegetation, weeds (including noxious weeds), insects and rodents that may pose a threat to existing cover or adversely impact other landowners in the area.

COLUMBUS — The SCN Coalition has launched its next phase of raising awareness of how widespread soybean cyst nematode is in the U.S. but also in how many counties this pathogen is adapting to the primary source of resistance used in cultivars today, Pl 88788.

COLUMBUS — Agricultural producers are reminded to consult with the FSA and NRCS before breaking out new ground for production purposes, as doing so without prior authorization may put a producer’s federal farm program benefits in jeopardy. This is especially true for land that must meet Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions.

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service announced that soybean producers may request a referendum on the Soybean Promotion and Research Order, as authorized under the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. Participation in the Request for Referendum is voluntary, and producers should only participate if they wish to request a referendum on the program.