LONDON, Ohio – The Gwynne Conservation Area, near the Farm Science Review, shows other sides of agriculture – the waters, woods and wildlife.

The area is where Deer Creek flows in the shade of a forest, where bluegill peck the surface of ponds and where the wind rustles through prairie grass. The Gwynne, as they call it, will attract 100,000-plus visitors who are looking for ways to better care for their land.

Farm Science Review totals 2,100 acres. The Gwynne is a modest green corner of the property.

For 362 days a year, the Gwynne is used to demonstrate and teach about farm-related conservation practices, such as ways to aid soils, streams, ponds, forests, grasslands and the creatures that live there.

During the three-day FSR it offers a slate of expert-led talks on the topics (more than 50 in all) plus displays, exhibits and demonstrations.

The Gwynne is divided into four sections: Woodlands, Wildlife & Aquatics, Cabin and Forages & Grazing.

Courtney Anderson, a PhD student at Ohio State University, is working on the Ohio Coyote Research Project and will share her findings in the Woodlands section on Sept. 18.

“Few animals elicit such strong and opposing emotions as the coyote,” Anderson said. ‘They’re an established predator through Ohio. Ohio produces more sheep and lambs than any other state east of the Mississippi River and the average flock size is 36 head, so even the loss of a single animal exacts a disproportionate financial toll on local operators.”

As part of her research, Anderson has learned what Ohio coyotes eat, how their diet changes throughout the year, if male and female coyotes eat the same things, which coyotes are a bigger threat to livestock, how many coyotes are living in a given area and much more. Anderson will share her findings with attendees.

“Our goal is two-part. To provide unbiased data on the extent to which coyotes consume livestock in Ohio and to identify strategies for managing the conflict,” she said.

Anderson and her co-workers formed a partnership with Ohio livestock producers and have collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Wildlife Services and OSU Extension to identify and engage potential partners.

“A main focus of our project revolves around outreach and communication with Ohio’s public,” Anderson said. “We share knowledge about coyotes, listen to public concerns, and ask a lot of questions about how people around the state are interacting with coyotes. All of this guides our research into coyote ecology and their impacts on livestock.”

Other presentations in the Woodlands include Tree Identification, Attracting Wildlife to the Property, Invasive Insect Updates, Woodland Crops, Monarch Butterflies, Invasive Plant Identification, Cultivating Gourmet Mushrooms and Woodland Fungi.

Ticks are always problematic in Ohio and the problem has been magnified in recent years. Tim McDermott, Extension educator and tick expert, will give an update to the problem of ticks during his talk Sept. 17 in the Wildlife & Aquatics portion of The Gwynne.

Since 2010, Ohio has seen a 35-fold increase in cases of Lyme disease. The spread isn’t slowing down. Ohio residents reported nearly 1,300 cases of the disease last year, more than double the year before.

“We’re not seeing a linear increase in cases,” McDermott said, “we’re seeing an exponential increase in cases. First, there are more ticks in the state because of factors like climate change and reforestation. Ohio has more habitat for ticks than it did just a few decades ago. Ticks are thriving.

“We went from one tick of medical importance to humans, companion animals and livestock 20 years ago, which was the American dog tick, to five nowadays, including adding two new ticks in just the last few years,” McDermott said. “Plus a lot of those ticks are carrying diseases.”

Ticks have expanded so rapidly in Ohio, McDermott said research into the parasite hasn’t kept up.

“When we look at the medications that are available to keep companion animals safe, they have great stuff,” he said. “They have any number of things that can use that are very, very affective, but when we look at what we have for cattle, they’re using the same stuff now that they used 20, 30, 40 years ago.”

Other key topics in the Wildlife & Aquatics portion of The Gwynne include Management for Wildlife, Introduction to Fly Fishing, Identifying Ohio Snakes, Managing Deer in the Woodlands, Introduction to Common Aquatic Plants, Best Fishing Species for Ponds, Beekeeping and Nest Boxes for Wildlife.

The Cabin portion of The Gwynne will have presentations on Pawpaw Marketing, Top 5 Pond Issues, Using Prescribed Fire to Manage Woodlots and Wildlife, Grazing Management Plants, Raising Game Birds, Avian Influenza and Determining the Value of Your Forest Land.

The Forages and Grazing portion of the Gwynne will host presentations on Grazing Management, Controlling Multiflora Rose and Autumn, Grassland Ecosystems, What is Killing my Conifers, Attracting Beneficial Insects to the Property, Shrubs for the Landscape, Home Garden Vegetable Trials and Perennials for Pollinators.