Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued March 22 at 5:43PM EDT until March 23 at 12:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 73 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE CAMPBELL KENTON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 32 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN HOCKING LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
ADAMS HIGHLAND PIKE ROSS SCIOTO
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, CAMDEN, CELINA, CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LOGAN, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OXFORD, PEEBLES, PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, PORTSMOUTH, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SEAMAN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WAVERLY, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, WILMINGTON, WINCHESTER, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Farmers learn about data-driven eFields program

By Sydney Albert

CELINA - Data are increasingly used to provide insights on better farm management, and The Ohio State University's eFields program aims to help farmers further by providing data from field-scale research.

"In agriculture, you always are hearing about data and how much data we have. Every single piece of equipment you have is creating data; there are apps that are creating data. Hopefully you're keeping your fertilizer and pesticide records and those are data," said Elizabeth Hawkins, an OSU field and agronomic systems specialist.

Data are tools to be used, and properly collected and analyzed data can help farmers with a variety of management choices, such as crop variety selection or seeding prescriptions, Hawkins explained. To use data to their full potential, farmers must know what they want to get out of the data beforehand and then identify what data are needed to make a decision, collect and organize their information and interpret it.

The eFields program, in its third year of operation, can help farmers gather data to analyze their own fields and practices or can give farmers valuable information based on studies conducted at other farms. Farmers can view and download the yearly eFields reports online or request a hard copy with new reports released in January each year.

More than half the trials in the report are conducted in partnership with Ohio farmers. Hawkins said the partnerships give the eFields team the ability to find out what matters to Ohio farmers and what questions farmers would like to have answered and makes the studies more relevant to farmers. All studies are randomized and duplicated to ensure the results aren't just due to soil variation or due to specific conditions of a given year.

The 2018 eFields Report book contains information on more than 95 trials conducted in 25 counties on 5,624 acres. It contains information on variables such as corn and soybean seeding rates and nitrogen rates including economic analysis and the efficacy of high-speed planting and multihybrid planting equipment.

"We've got all this tech in ag and they're advertised to do cool things, so we like to get some of these technologies from companies we work with and test them out and see what they can do," Hawkins said.

Hawkins also showed videos featuring partner farmers and researchers explaining the process and results of their studies. One video discussed the effectiveness of starter manure. Hawkins said applying starter manure helps many farmers sleep better at night because they believe it helps them produce better yields. The case study on the farm in the video, however, showed the farmer was actually losing money for no return by applying starter fertilizer.

To learn more about the eFields program or download the 2018 eFields Report, go to go.osu.edu/eFields. If local farmers want to get involved, Hawkins said they can contact their local OSU extension educator or email digitalag@osu.edu.

Archive of March 8th, 2019

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Division IV Boys Basketball District Semifinal

Comeback Cavs

Frilling's late layup lifts Coldwater past top-ranked Blue Streaks

LIMA - In a matter of 13.1 seconds, Coldwater went from being down four to keeping its season alive.

Jacob Wenning's 3-pointer with 13.1 seconds cu [More]

Subscriber and paid stories on this date

Commissioners OK $5 vehicle license tax

Action will take effect in 30 days

CELINA - Mercer County commissioners on Thursday morning voted to add an extra $5 tax on operators of all motor vehicles used on public roads or highways.

State fire marshal to probe local fire

Vacant mobile home in Montezuma destroyed

MONTEZUMA - The state fire marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of a fire that destroyed a vacant mobile home on Thursday morning.

St. Marys chamber presents annual awards

ST. MARYS - St. Marys Chamber of Commerce officials on Thursday honored several local individuals, organizations and businesses for their contributions to the community.

Division III Girls Basketball Regional Semifinal

Wildcats win to set up rematch with Redskins

VANDALIA - More than half of Minster's roster had flu-like symptoms this week as they prepared for the Division IV regional semifinal against Tri-Village.

2019 State Wrestling

Coldwater's Chmielewski keeps season alive

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

Coldwater senior Brian Chmielewski kept his season going with a win in the colsolation bracket after losing his opening match at the Division III state wrestling tournament on Thursday at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.

All-Northwest District Basketball

Area trio selected to the first team

Three area players - Marion Local's Nate Bruns and Minster duo Ivy Wolf and Courtney Prenger - earned first-team All-Northwest District honors for their bodies of work this season.