Extension Calling: advice for the farm, garden, and home Karen Cox and Dan Lima
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- Education
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Your source for research-based information for the farm, garden, and home. These mini-trainings will give you entry to mid-level information that is easily digestible. If you are looking to improve your health, the health of your farm or garden, or simply better understand our food system, tune in.
We bring Extension education to your pocket in 30 minutes or less.
We need your feedback! Please share your thoughts and ideas at: https://bit.ly/ExtensionCallingEvaluation.
Recorded by Karen Cox of WVU Extension (karen.cox@mail.wvu.edu) and Dan Lima of OSU Extension (lima.19@osu.edu). If you would like a transcript of an older show, please email us your request.
Programs and activities offered by the West Virginia University and Ohio State University Extension Services are available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, and marital or family status.
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Managing the Woodlot
If you have more than a few trees in your backyard, you may be wondering what you can do with them. A lot of what you can do is determined by what you want to have in 50 or 100 years. Trees and forests take time to grow and one mistake can last generations. Start off on the right foot by listening in!
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Silvopasture: Can livestock production really coexist with trees?
Silvopasture is not a new concept. However, our methods of implementing it have changed. There are indeed ways that cattle can coexist with timber management, but there are significant limitations. We touch on some of those concepts, but if you want to get mooving, we recommend digging deeper by checking out: https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2018/07/six-key-principles-for-a-successful-silvopasture-2/ and joining some great groups like: https://www.appalachianforestfarmers.org/.
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Getting Out Of the Weeds
In the last epsisode we reviewed the importance in identifying the weed you are trying to control. This time we will focus more on the variety of control methods available. It is important to use multiple techniques or an integrated approach. This will help prevent your weed problem from getting worse while also protecting the environment and your pocketbook.
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Getting into the weeds
Weeds are a challenge regardless of whether you are growing a lawn, flowers, pasture, or row crops. The broad variety of weeds means we need to have a variety of treatment methods. Integrated Weed Management is the combination of multiple activities to gain better control of those pesky weeds. This segment discusses how the differences in weeds can be used to help improve your results.
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What comes after?
Planning for the future is hard enough without thinking of your own mortality. However, it is critical to make a sound, legal, plan for just that. Will the farm stay a farm after you are gone is a critical question to discuss with your family, one that doesn't have a lot of easy answers. More questions to ask include planning for retirement and long-term care. We recommend working through this fact sheet series with your family: https://ohioline.osu.edu/tags/basic-estate-planning regardless of your age or well being, plan ahead.
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Is your business making money? Are you sure?
In this second to last installment of our business planning series, we talk about how to know if you business is making money. While you may be showing positive income on your balance sheet, that's not always the whole picture. There are many factors to consider. We dive into enterprise budgeting to help you see which aspects of your farm are making money and where you are losing money.