Environmental science
The environment is important to everyone, but especially farmers. Farming depends on healthy soil, predictable climate and planning. These pieces highlight ways that data is informing farmer decisions, engineering is helping farmers solve problems, and science is affecting crop yield and best management practices.
External link
External link
A global pandemic doesn’t stop water quality research
Every state that touches the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico or one of the Great Lakes has a Sea Grant Program. Sea Grant Programs are modeled after Land Grant Institutions, and take the research results and disseminate the information …
unit
unit
Barges, trains and trucks: Logistics and moving soybeans
Why is transportation for commodity crops so critical? Infrastructure is critical to the functions of the country, in particular the shipment of commodity crops such as soybeans. This unit introduces students to several types of infrastructure that are …
External link
External link
Bio-stimulants for higher yields and carbon
Bio-stimulants include both bacterial and fungal inoculants, various types of compost, and organic adjuvants that stimulate plant growth and improve yield.
Video
Video
Bioproducts
Ohio is a leading producer of soybeans and polymers which means thousands of job opportunities! Learn about the production of bioproducts and the many related career paths.
article
article
Comparing nozzle spray rates for smart farming
How do different nozzles affect application rates on crops? Dan Schmiesing of Upper Valley Career Center used the activity Managing nutrient and pesticide needs in agriculture with juniors in his Ag Power and Technology Class to show them! …
External link
External link
Controlling corn and soybean pests
Controlling pests of corn and soybeans can be difficult. Most farmers rely on seed treatments and broad-spectrum insecticides which terminate the pests but also takes out the beneficial natural predators.
article
article
CRISPR may save chocolate!!
Reid Rice, research scientist for Pioneer, shared information about current seed research projects with the teachers at Ohio Soybean Council-sponsored Ag Biotech Academy. The participants learned about biotech in seed science. Rice said, “Trait …
unit
unit
Dinner and data and drones, oh my!: technology in agriculture
What technologies are used to help farmers become more productive and more sustainable? Drones (or UAVs-unmanned aerial vehicles) are taking to the skies. What are they doing up there? What other technologies are there that help growers become more productive, yet more thoughtful about …
article
article
Drone demo at dinner
Alex Ryan of OSU Precision Ag came to the Ag Biotech Academy industry dinner and demonstrated his drone to the teachers gathered there. He was able to fly the drone over the fields around the dinner area and display the video on a computer screen. …
External link
External link
Earthworms enhance soil tilth and fertility
Every farmer loves to see earthworms in their soil because it indicates good soil health and productivity. Earthworms, cover crops, and no-till together are a great way to improve your soil.
unit
unit
Engineering solutions in agriculture
How does modern agriculture use engineering to address soil compaction? Looking for an activity that combines robotics, coding, and engineering with a real life problem? This unit uses MakeBlock parts, Scratch programming, and modeling to help students design a solution …
Video
Video
Global aquaculture
Have you considered a career in aquaculture? Watch and learn more about this fast-growing, global career.
External link
External link
Healthy soils suppress pests
Farmers who improve soil health increase the amount of soil carbon being stored, and recycled. The increased carbon flow increases microbial numbers and efficiency leading to improved plant photosynthesis. The entire soil ecosystem functions at a …
External link
External link
How does flooding affect soybean germination?
The recent heavy rains have created flooded conditions in many areas and producers need to understand how the standing water will affect their soybean fields.
unit
unit
Living the hive life: honey bees and pollinators
How important are honey bees to our food supply? What’s happening to honey bees? This unit contains three different ways to learn about honey bees and pollinators: a video for all to learn more about bees and how to successfully keep them, a …
unit
unit
Maintaining our yield: assessing biotic and abiotic factors
How do biotic and abiotic factors affect populations? Create experiments to test how abiotic factors impact soybean germination, go into the field and laboratory to determine the impact of aphid populations on soybeans, and experiment with aphid …
Video
Video
Managing plant pathogens using integrated pest management (IPM)
Do you like to work outside? A Plant Pathology and Microbiology Scientist talks about scouting for pest problems in a soybean field. Thank you to PBS Learning Media for providing this video. Credit: This module was designed and produced by Iowa …
External link
External link
Not your grandparent’s soils
“You are not farming the same soils your grandparents farmed,” said Hans Kok, Program Director for the Conservation Technology Information Center in Indiana. Over the past 100 years, farming practices employed in America have led to a deterioration …
External link
External link
Plant nutrient availability
Plant nutrient availability is dependent on several factors including soil moisture, temperature, microbes, pH, chemical nutrient form, and plant root proximity.
External link
External link
Practices that promote birds, bees, and butterflies
The ideal farm setting for bee and butterfly conservation are smaller fields (10 acres) separated by fencerows or buffer strips. A diversity of flowering plants throughout the growing season offers these pollinators refuge and extra food.
Video
Video
Precision agriculture
Matt Liskai the President/Co-Owner of Green Field Ag talks about his career in precision agriculture.
External link
External link
Promoting beneficial insects
There are three major ways to fight harmful insects: chemical insecticides, good plant nutrition from soil health, and by promoting insect predators.
External link
External link
Reducing nitrogen runoff
Healthy soils keep our nutrients recycling, plant available, and result in less nitrogen pollutions (less N runoff or N lost as atmospheric gases).
External link
External link
Roots eat bacteria
Do plant roots really eat bacteria? The answer is Yes (sort of!). In the last 5-10 years, our understanding of how plants acquire nutrients has changed dramatically.
unit
unit
Smart farming: using data to make decisions
What kind of data do farmers use to make decisions? Where does that data come from? Become a "farmer" on a journey from pre-planting to harvest to see what decisions farmers are making every year as they farm. Growers across the country are gaining access to more and more data about …
article
article
Summit students tackle food security
Food security—it’s a BIG issue! The Ohio STEM Learning Network’s 2019 Design Challenge is to work as a team to imagine, design and prototype a solution to increase food security in your life, community, or world. Students across Ohio are considering …
External link
External link
The dirt on soil health
“Farmers need to grow the ‘herd’ of organisms below the soil surface, and help regenerate the soil,” said Brown. There are a number of factors that go into growing the ‘herd’ or organisms. The use of cover crops is one key to feeding the organisms.
External link
External link
The smell of rain and microbes
Rain on healthy soils may decrease stress and improve your mood by 60%. The human nose can detect geosmin at 5 part per trillion or very low levels. That’s why a good rain can be so refreshing to human mental health and is related to healthy soil …
External link
External link
Waste management not really that different for the city and the farm
Ever since the harmful algal bloom (HAB) of 2014 developed in the Maumee Bay of Western Lake Erie and impacted the water intake and treatment plant for the City of Toledo, the question of who is to blame has been center stage. Unfortunately, as …
e-learning
e-learning
Water quality
What factors are used to judge water quality? What human activities might lead to cultural eutrophication and harmful algal blooms? Students will learn about the process and effects of cultural eutrophication and describe ways to reduce risk.
unit
unit
Water quality and human impacts
Why is water quality important? How is water quality measured? The US EPA has set water quality standards in accordance with the Clean Water Act: Water quality standards are important because they help to protect and restore the quality of the Nation's surface …
unit
unit
Watersheds, wetlands and water quality data analysis
Why is water quality important? What factors impact water quality? This unit will discuss the importance of water quality, describe several impacts to water quality, and include a data analysis activity that students complete to determine how wetlands play a role in …
unit
unit
Where does our food come from, anyway? Sustainable ag systems
How do growers’ decisions affect the sustainability of agricultural systems? Understand and appreciate food producers through this case study and determine what decisions must be made on a yearly, monthly, or daily basis to maintain an environmental system that will continue …
article
article
Working on water quality: touring a demonstration farm
The environment matters to everyone, but especially to farmers—they make their living from the land! So when water quality in Lake Erie is compromised, farmers want to do their part to help. Teachers at the recent Ohio Soybean Council-sponsored …