Amazing grazing and lots of John Deere green

Amazing grazing and lots of John Deere green
                        

At first glance Jan. 27 doesn’t hold a lot of significance locally or even nationally. No famous births are commemorated with a day off school; no federal offices are closed in remembrance.

Of course, if you dig around a little, you’ll find there are several noteworthy events that took place on this date in history, like the founding of the first public university in the United States (the University of Georgia in 1785), the granting of the patent for the incandescent lamp by Thomas Edison in 1880, the first meeting of the National Geographic Society in 1888, the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp (by the Soviet Army in 1945) and the release of Elvis Presley’s first hit song, “Heartbreak Hotel,” in 1956.

In 2022 there are two local events that will still make Jan. 27 an exciting day, even if they might not make it on the list of notable events on a “This Day in History” page.

The Holmes SWCD staff is excited to head to two community-supported events that both provide great educational and fellowship opportunities. They both happen to fall on Thursday, Jan. 27, but that just means if you’re looking to talk to someone about conservation opportunities, you’ll find us in either place.

The Ohio Grazing Conference will be held Jan. 27-28 at the Mount Hope Event Center. In its 21st year, the conference continues to be a fantastic gathering that gets everyone thinking thoughts of the greener pastures of spring. Holmes and Wayne SWCDs will host booths and welcome questions regarding our programs or ways to tackle natural-resource concerns at home or on the farm.

This is the second year the Mid-Ohio Shepherd’s group will offer a panel and several breakout sessions focused on sheep and lambs. Due to the increasing local interest in raising sheep, the Holmes SWCD booth will have a sheep-grazing focus, with information on the practices and programs we offer to help a sheep grazier get established or to overcome some of the obstacles in their operation.

Our other big event of the day is the AgPro Expo being held at Harvest Ridge from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A wide array of topics will be covered by vendors and speakers at this open house, from recertification and training programs to timber-harvesting guidelines, canning venison and farm-transition planning.

We’ll start the morning off with a presentation on cover crops including information on the programs and services available to Holmes County producers, as well as resources and data for the farmers who are coming from farther away. We’ll have a booth here as well, so if you need to touch base with us about anything else, you can find a member of staff throughout the entire event.

To top it off, either event will be a great chance to greet our new conservation specialist Trevor Berger, who joined the office staff last month. Trevor will work on many of the projects our longtime technician Joe Christner had implemented before retiring last year, as well as inspiring and informing new projects. As 2022 unfolds, we know we have more opportunities than ever to work with the residents of Holmes County to find solutions that keep our water, soil, forests and farms healthy, and we are very happy to have more people on the team working to make that happen.

One last thing to keep in mind is both events offer a meal to the attendees, and if you’re stuck trying to decide which dessert to pick, why not celebrate another Jan. 27 “holiday”? That’s National Chocolate Cake Day.


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