With the stay at home order put into place by Gov. Mike DeWine and the effects of COVID-19, Ohio State University Extension has continued to work diligently to offer programming to clients.
Southwest Ohio Virtual Ag. Coffee Talk is a weekly opportunity for you to meet, discuss and ask questions virtually about issues that are affecting agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekly, virtual meetings on Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. are being hosted by county agriculture and natural resource extension educators and field specialist from Clinton, Fayette, and Greene counties. The meetings, which began April 9, have been and will continue to be related to issues that farmers are currently and could be facing on their farming and agricultural businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most recent meeting on April 16 highlighted Dee Jepsen and Lisa Pfeiffer from The Ohio State University and Doug Anderson from Anderson Equipment in Washington Court House.
The speakers discussed the many changes farmers will need to make in the next few weeks as planting season begins to ramp to full throttle. Jepsen and Pfeiffer discussed the many resources that are available to farmers and the definite need to create a contingency plan, should one or more members of the operation become ill and unable to work. Anderson discussed how his business has already made several changes and he mentioned after hearing from the others he would need to investigate additional changes.
The presentation, Navigating COVID-19 on the Farm, is also available for viewing at greene.osu.edu under the “Featured County Programs, Agriculture and Natural Resources.” Also, located at that same location is a list of resources that were shared within the presentation from various state and national agencies to help farmers and agricultural businesses.
I believe the takeaway from the April 16 program is: “Be patient with each other. We are all experiencing new protocols and procedures in how we conduct our daily routines on the farm and in business, to keep ourselves, our families and our employees safe and healthy.”
To participate in the weekly Southwest Ohio Virtual Ag. Coffee Talk you can access the meeting through a Zoom teleconferencing tool by two methods: computer or tablet, or by calling from any type of telephone. The computer link is https://go.osu.edu\swohcoffeetalk. Or call 1-253-215-8782 and use meeting number 458-381-886. If you have trouble connecting, email me at [email protected] and I can help you get connected.
A key aspect of our weekly virtual meeting is that we would like to hear from you, our clients, about topics, questions and discussions that would help you with your farm, family, or business. We have also created a link: go.osu.edu/TalkTopics for you to easily leave us your topics, questions and discussions so that we can plan and bring you information that will address those matters.
If you have any questions about this or any other extension program, please go to our website, greene.osu.edu, call our office number at 937-372-9971 or send an email to [email protected]. Even with the physical extension office currently closed, the Greene County Extension staff is still available to help.
