A total of 43 teams from across Northwest Ohio competed in the 2018 Area 1 Envirothon competition recently at the Blue Creek Conservation Area in Whitehouse. The Area 1 Envirothon consists of Allen, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Lucas, Marion, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert and Wyandot counties.

Each year, the area’s agricultural community and area businesses celebrate National Agriculture Week during the month of March. This year, National Ag Week was held on March 19-23. The Wyandot County Ag Week Steering Committee sponsored a poster contest for the fourth graders in Wyandot County.

In order to comply Farm Service Agency program eligibility requirements, all producers are encouraged to visit the Wyandot County FSA office to file an accurate crop certification report by the applicable deadline. The following acreage reporting dates are applicable for Wyandot County:

FOSTORIA — One of northern Ohio’s largest lenders for farmers, rural homeowners and agribusiness recently declared a patronage refund of 30.03 percent for 2017, resulting in $24.1 million refunded to its member borrowers. This patronage payment provides a refund to the lending cooperative’s shareholders of 30 cents for every dollar they accrued in interest on their loans for the past year.

This is an opportune time to take another look at farming operations and determine if there are areas that could benefit from the establishment of one or more conservation practices. For instance, does a farm have a ditch or stream running through that needs a filter strip?

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency encourages dairy producers to consider enrolling in the new and improved Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy), which will provide better protections for dairy producers from shifting milk and feed prices.

FOSTORIA — AgCredit, one of northern Ohio’s largest lenders for farmers, rural homeowners and agribusiness, has announced the formation of the AgCredit Mission Fund. The Mission Fund will fund AgCredit’s Joe Leiser college scholarship program along with grants to organizations who meet the objective and focus of the fund.

MARYSVILLE — The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association recently awarded 16 Best of the Buckeye scholarships at the Ohio Beef Expo, including one to Alexis Watkins, of Carey. The Best of the Buckeye program is coordinated by OCA and held in conjunction with the Ohio Beef Expo and Ohio State Fair.

This spring, 32 students from the Upper Sandusky FFA competed in the State Spring Career Development Event Contests (CDEs). Upper Sandusky had seven different contest areas that students participated in: agronomy, equine management, general livestock, nature interpretation, poultry, wildlife management and dairy cattle.

With spring planting quickly approaching, the Wyandot County Farm Service Agency encourages farmers to report failed crop acreage that will not be brought to harvest to their FSA office. Failed acreage must be reported to the FSA before destroying and replanting to allow time for a field check.