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Ohio State University Extension faculty and staff develop partnerships that connect Ohioans with science-based knowledge to strengthen lives and communities throughout the state. Visit this page to see examples of the impact OSU Extension professionals have in communities throughout the state. Learn more about 2024 impacts.

Join members of the urban ag team for a variety of crop management topics aimed to help your urban ag farm operate more efficiently and profitably. The field day will be held at the North End Community Improvement Collaboration (NECIC) site, which has several types of actively farmed high tunnels and raised bed systems on location. Learn about strawberry production, modernizing your irrigation system, and the benefits of row covers. Each presentation will be 15-20 minutes with time for questions. Bring your production challenges and we’ll discuss how to solve them.

DATE: June 25, 2025, 4-6 p.m.
PRESENTERS: Fernanda Krupek, Jim Jasinski, and Yiyun Lin - The Ohio State University
LOCATION: North End Community Improvement Collaboration, 311 Bowman Street, Mansfield, OH

REGISTRATION: Required for this free event by June 20. https://go.osu.edu/necic25

Complete details and printable/sharable flier.
For more information contact Jim Jasinski.4@osu.edu.

Hold the dates of September 19-20, 2025. The We Are FARMily: 2025 BIPOC Food & Farming Conference will held at Central State University-Dayton. The BIPOC Food and Farming Network Conference Planning Committee is requesting proposals for workshops, skill shares, and farm tour sites. Honorariums of $750 will be provided to workshop and skill share leaders and $1,000 to farmers and food producers who host tours at their growing operations. DEADLINE to submit a proposal is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 20, 2025. Proposal Form Learn more about the conference.

The Ohio General Assembly is currently considering several bills that would affect agriculture, farmers, livestock producers, sellers of homemade foods, landowners, and students participating in FFA or 4-H. Read more.

Sourced from Morning AgClips

As we move further into 2025, the fresh food industry is evolving rapidly in response to consumer preferences, technological advances, and global sustainability concerns. The most successful brands will be those that can adapt to these shifts with authenticity, transparency, and innovation.

One of the most prominent trends this year is the move toward hyper-local and regenerative sourcing. Consumers are more conscious than ever about where their food comes from and look for products grown close to home using practices that restore rather than deplete the environment. Fresh food marketers are leaning into this trend by building strong relationships with local farms and promoting regenerative agriculture practices, such as soil enrichment and biodiversity support. Campaigns that showcase these efforts through storytelling—like farm profiles or videos of harvest days—resonate deeply with eco-conscious buyers. Learn more.

Sourced from Morning AgClips

The first event in the Summer 2025 Webinar Series with the Ohio State Library Research Commons is on Friday, May 16.

Globally, governments and civic organizations are making data about our communities – or “civic data” – available as open data. Goals of government transparency, accountability, civic participation, and research have motivated this opening of data, but meeting these goals has been constrained by data fluency barriers and lack of awareness of data. To support use and advance democratization of open civic data, the Civic Switchboard project works to build capacity in libraries to serve as local data intermediaries, connectors between communities and data about communities. 

This presentation will introduce concepts underlying the Civic Switchboard project’s work - data intermediaries and local data ecosystems - and the guiding premise of our work: that cultivating a healthy local civic data ecosystem depends upon the coordinated efforts of a variety of data intermediaries and that libraries are well-positioned to serve in intermediary roles. The presentation will share examples of data intermediary roles that involve open civic data, strategies for developing local civic data partnerships, and the opportunity to approach open civic data work through a data justice lens. 

The presentation will also highlight adjacent work focused on expanding adoption of and community around the open source technology CKAN, a software program that supports open civic data initiatives internationally.

Register for this Center for Urban and Regional Analysis webinar.

Members of Congress are considering making significant cuts to social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid. To help those seeking to understand how these policy proposals may affect their communities, Urban Institute has published a central repository that serves as a one-stop shop for all analyses of relevant legislative proposals being considered. Many of these analyses contain state-level and congressional-level data breakdowns, along with resources on the policies at the center of the debate.

Explore related nonprofits and philanthropy research

Sourced from the Urban Institute

Soil Health in Urban Sphere Webinar – The Ohio State Urban Ag Team invites interested parties to attend the Soil Health Webinar Series to be presented on April 10, 8-9 am by Dr. Jeff Hattey and Dr. Fernanda Krupek. Attendance is free and registration here is required.

While soil contaminants (heavy metals) are a concern in urban agriculture, the physical and hydrological parameters of urban soils are equally important but less studied or discussed.  Additionally, tunnel systems — curved metal frames covered with greenhouse plastic — are popular in urban settings due to their cost-effectiveness and adaptability, but they require an extra layer of soil management to ensure quality crops. In this webinar, Dr. Jeff Hattey and Dr. Fernanda Krupek will share information, research results, and opportunities for collaboration on ongoing projects for safe and sustained urban soil management. 

 

The organizing committee of the 2025 North Central National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL) Regional Conference is excited to announce that registration for the event is now open. The agenda is full of opportunities for you to engage your urban-serving colleagues from across the region. The conference starts with a welcome reception in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 27. The conference will be held at the Linn County Regional Center on May 28-29. There is a block of rooms reserved at a downtown hotel.

Learn more about the logistical details - including the full agenda - on the NUEL Connect site: North-Central NUEL Conference Registration Open | National Urban Extension Leaders | Connect and be sure to let them know if you’ll be joining on the event page: 2025 North Central NUEL Regional Conference | National Urban Extension Leaders | Connect.

Join the Ohio Food Policy Network for their virtual convening on Friday, April 18, 12-1:30 p.m. Dr. Ian Sheldon, The Ohio State University will examine the outlook for agricultural trade in the context of the current U.S. trade policy and the wider impact of tariffs. Register for the webinar here - bit.ly/OFPN_Tariffs

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