Mark your calendar now for the Hardin County Precision Ag Field Day to be held Aug. 23 at Kellogg Farms, 17392 Township Road 50 near Forest.

Bill and Shane Kellogg have committed 305 acres to the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network in cooperation with Ohio Farm Bureau and USDA.

Existing edge of field research shows that placing nutrients below ground dramatically decreases potential for nutrient losses. This farm utilizes subsurface placement of nutrients using strip tillage techniques. Cost savings and yield benefits that can be achieved by improving nutrient efficiencies by subsurface nutrient placement are being measured.

In addition, various crop rotations are being compared while testing how to best implement cover crops and reduce tillage in those rotations. This farm is testing technologies that will help improve crop input efficiency, lower cost of production, while protecting our water quality.

The Hardin County Precision Ag Field Day will start with registration at 8 a.m. Presenters from Ohio State University Extension, USDA, ODA, Farm Bureau, and private industry will be on the program which will offer 3 Hours of Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training credit.

Certified Crop Adviser credits are also planned. This field day will be one of the last opportunities to gain Ohio fertilizer certification before the Sept. 30, deadline for all operators who apply fertilizer to 50 or more acres of crops for sale.

Topics planned include Blanchard River Demonstration Farms overview, Edge of Field monitoring nutrients for water quality, variable rate fertilizer technology, managing big data on the farm, outfitting sprayer tanks with precision ag technology, nitrogen management, and use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) on the farm.

Field demonstrations from precision agriculture equipment vendors are being planned for the afternoon as well as other topics and information that you won’t want to miss.