Muck Crops Field Day, Building Dedication Slated for July 30 in Celeryville

CELERYVILLE, Ohio - The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center's (OARDC) Muck Crops Agricultural Research Station will host a field day for vegetable growers on Thursday, July 30, complemented by the dedication of new facilities at the Celeryville (southern Huron County) research farm.

Free and open to the public, the event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. OARDC and Ohio State University Extension are the sponsors.

The field day will begin with a Muck Growers Breakfast Meeting at 9 a.m. It will be followed by a 10:30 a.m. dedication ceremony of the $825,000 new facilities, which were recently completed and include offices, a workshop, storage areas, a laboratory, a greenhouse and updated pesticide storage/handling areas. Funding for this work came from the state of Ohio through capital funds.

"These improvements will provide better working conditions for staff and researchers and enhance our ability to do outreach with growers and commodity groups," said Ken Scaife, assistant to the OARDC director for research operations, pointing out that Muck Crops, established in 1948, is the oldest among OARDC's 10 outlying research sites across the state.

Next, at 11 a.m., OARDC and OSU Extension plant pathologist Sally Miller will lead a demonstration of new digital microscopes installed in the station's laboratory - which allow area farmers to bring pest and disease samples and have them identified via the Internet by specialists on OARDC's Wooster and Columbus campuses.

Following the demonstration will be a tour of the 15.5-acre station at 11:30 a.m., during which OARDC and OSU Extension experts will share information about ongoing research projects with attendees. Trials being conducted this year include the evaluation of fungicides against lettuce drop disease and powdery mildew in squash and cucumbers; strategies for control of carrot weevil on parsley, onion thrips on green onions, and flea beetles on salad greens; and new methods for weed control in green onions and leafy greens such as collards and kale.

Lunch will be offered at 12:15 p.m. The field day will wrap up with a demonstration at 1 p.m. on the use of radio frequency to ID vegetables from the field to the consumer's table, led by Ohio State professor emeritus Walter Burnside.

Nestled in the rich, black soils of Huron County, the Muck Crops Agricultural Research Station is dedicated to research and outreach specific to the needs of fresh-market vegetable production. OARDC and OSU Extension specialists conduct innovative studies on unique production issues facing vegetable farming in muck soils - which are high in organic-matter content but experience diseases and weed growth uncommon in other areas.

Research generated at Muck Crops is also vital to farmers growing vegetables in mineral soils throughout Ohio. Additionally, the station is at the forefront of research seeking to reduce the risk of foodborne disease contamination in produce. All of this knowledge is shared with farmers to improve their operations, Ohio's overall economy, and the public's health.

The Muck Crops Agricultural Research Station is located at 4875 State Rt. 103, one mile south of Willard and just past the community of Celeryville. For more information, contact station manager Rick Callendar at 419-935-1201 or callendar.1@osu.edu.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

-30-