Day 2 - Payton

On our second day of the 2019 Summer Ag Tour we had three stops. Our first stop on June 19^th was at the Elson Family Farm in Ashland, Ohio. 

Having a little rivalry fun!

Here, Jess and David Elson, spoke to us about the best management practices they use on their farm. These practices include crop rotation, drainage tiles, and header rows. Crop rotation is the practice where one crop is grown in a field, then the next season, a different crop is grown on that field. For example, at this farm they grow corn and soybean, so they switch their fields every season. The purpose of this practice is so that the diseases and pests that attack one crop, don’t attack the other crop. Usually, the diseases that attack one crop won’t attack another, that’s why this method is so effective. Also, different crops require different nutrients, so rotating crops prevents the soil from being drained of certain nutrients. The next practice is drainage tiles. The land in Ohio is mainly clay, so the water doesn’t drain easily and it will just sit on the land. Drainage tiles try to help prevent this from happening. Another practice that they use are header rows. Header rows are at the end of fields and the rows run in the opposite direction of the other rows. The purpose of this practice is so that tractors and other equipment can turn and go back down the rows, yes a few plants are harmed, and however this practice uses all of the land which leads to a higher yield.

Along with explaining their practices, Jess, also explained to us her role at Wellington Implements. In her position, she consults farmers with problems they have with their equipment, she also helps to make these farms more efficient. Finally, they expressed the struggles that they are currently facing. Their main problem right now is dealing with Mother Nature. They have had so much rain in Ohio lately, that there are so many fields that are flooded and cannot be used. This is really effecting farmers’ livelihood, but they are all hoping for the best. I had such a great time here, and found it very educational.

Learning about the corn plant!

Jess helped us to understand more about the process of growing corn.

Our next stop was at TeaHills Farms in Loudonville, Ohio. TeaHills Farm is a family farm that mainly raises and processes poultry, however they also have some lambs and beef cattle. Here, Lindsey Hoover and her Uncle Doug, gave us a tour of their facilities. Before we took our tour, they told us about how they started. Mr. Doug’s daughter was no longer interested in the family dairy business, so she wanted to start a new project for FFA. This is how she decided that she wanted to raise poultry, then they started doing custom processing. Once they got the business going, they advertised at local restaurants and grocery stores, and their business really took off. They currently have over 300 different products. Each year they process 10,000 chickens, 800 ducks, 1000 turkeys, and 1000 Red Rangers. Red Rangers are a certain breed of chicken that take a little bit longer to grow, but are bigger. On this tour, Lindsey took us through their processing plant so that we could understand how the process works. It truly was an educational experience, walking through this plant, and I also found it very interesting. After going through the processing plant, we went over to where the chickens are raised. They have about 300 free range hens that they collect eggs from for sale. The poultry arrive at their facilities when they are one week old, these poultry stay in a room in their nursery until they are four weeks old. Once they are four weeks old they move to a separate room in the nursery. Once they are about five weeks old, they move out to cages out in a pasture where they can eat a variety of grasses. Then once they reach the right size they go to be processed. This was such a great stop that I enjoyed seeing.

               

 

            

     Our last stop of the day was at Herdmark Media in Wooster, Ohio. Here BJ and Marlene Eick, spoke to us about what their companies does. They produce videos for agricultural companies to solve problems such as a low market or to fix image problems, they also advertise products, and advocate for agriculture. They let us tour their facilities and see the cameras and other equipment that they use. They also went through the process that it takes to produce a video. My favorite part was when they showed us some of their videos, they were such high quality and incredibly entertaining. They finished off our stop by giving us ice cream, which we were very thankful for. I enjoyed every stop on our second day, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the tour will bring.

We really appreciate BJ and Marlene Eick showing us a different side of the agriculture industry.