OSU students receive awards

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Recently, the Ohio State University honored two outstanding students with scholarships, Phillip Siefker of Columbus, Ohio and Cynthia Cantor of Circleville, Ohio.

Siefker, a junior at OSU, has been awarded the Farm Management and Rural Appraisers Scholarship for the 2007-2008 school year.

He is the son of John and Marilyn Siefker and is majoring in agribusiness and applied economics. Currently, he is employed at the OSU Math Learning Center.

A 2004 graduate of Columbus Grove High School, Siefker plans to pursue a career in extension or feed sales.

Cynthia Cantor, a senior at OSU, has recently been awarded the Charles Ingraham Scholarship. Cantor, of Circleville, Ohio is the daughter of Judith and Wade Hill and is also majoring in agribusiness and applied economics. She is active in the Pickaway County Relay for Life and is a member of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer with the American Cancer Society.

The Charles Ingraham Scholarship and the Farm Management and Rural Appraisers Scholarship are both open to agribusiness and applied economics majors at OSU and are awarded on the basis of scholarship, leadership and potential contribution to the agricultural industry.


Ohio State University judging team wins

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Ohio State University Livestock Judging Team won the All-East Contest held recently at Western Kentucky University.

The team of thirteen was led by Ryan Daulton of Georgetown, Ohio, who placed sixth in the three-day event. Joining him in the top ten were Tyler Miller of Baltimore, Ohio and Stephanie Lutmer of Lebanon, Ohio.

Daulton was the high individual in the evaluation division; Miller was second, Sarah Wells of Cumberland, Ohio was third; Lucas Regula of Wapakoneta, Ohio was fourth; Katie Houk of Poland, Ohio was seventh; Lutmer was tenth and Maranda Sauerland of Harrison, Ohio was eleventh. In the beef evaluation division, Sauerland was high individual. In the selection contest, Ohio State as a team placed fourth and in the judging contest, Ohio State was third overall.

Other members of the team included Joel Anderson of South Salem, Ohio; Elizabeth Homerosky of Oak Hill, Ohio; Josh Waugh of Crown City, Ohio; Erin Cole of Mt. Blanchard, Ohio and Brice Acton of Frankfort, Ohio.

The team was coached by Tom Turner and Greg Meyer, professors at the university.


Parkway chapter competes at Ohio FFA Convention

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Parkway FFA Chapter attended the 79th Ohio FFA Convention in Columbus on May 3-5.

Prior to the state convention, Parkway members toured the campus of the Ohio State University. Former Parkway FFA members and current OSU students led the group on the tour.

Following the tour, members geared up to participate in numerous events and contests during the three-day convention. In the Agri-Science Fair, Katlyn Smith received a bronze rating and Dee Dee Knapke, Sam Jackson, Jenifer Thomas, and Eric Shrider all received a silver rating. Travis Guggenbiller and Michelle Thomas worked together and received a gold rating, first place and will move on to the national competition at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. this fall.

In the Career Development Event competition, the Ag Engineering team placed fifth out of 10 and Brett Sheets placed sixth out of 47. Alan Luginbil placed 16th, Paul Brown placed 29th and Mark Sheets placed 32nd.

The Co-op team placed eighth out of 56 and Sara King placed 36th out of 383 as an individual. Lucas Hartman placed 64th, Eric Shrider placed 88th and Katlyn Smith placed 109th.

The Grain Merchandising team placed ninth out of 36 and Melinda Miller placed 19th out of 152 as an individual. Kendra Smith placed 20th, Alan Luginbil placed 49th, and Sara King placed 44th. The Greenhand team placed 15th out of 127 and Corbin Hellwarth placed 28th out of 768 as an individual. Jackie King placed 77th, Zack Searight placed 101st, and Danielle Mathews placed 148th.
To close the convention, six Parkway students received their State FFA Degree.


4-H Farm Day stresses nutrition, source of food

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — Nearly 850 first graders from 11 schools in Christian County, Ky. attended the annual county farm day, where they learned about nutrition and how food gets to their table.

Sponsored by the University of Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension Service in Christian County, the event invited elementary students from across the county to the Phillip and Marsha Garnett farm for 4-H Farm Day. As the students arrived by school bus, they were welcomed by Christian County 4-H Ambassadors and Step Up to Leadership members, who were selected to help on the farm that day.

Where food comes from was the main theme behind this year’s 4-H Farm Day. Each group of students was given a basket to collect farm products as they visited various stations. Students viewed a mother hen and baby chicks and learned about poultry and egg production.

They also saw and learned about goats, beef cattle and horses; and they watched a sheep shearing demonstration.

One of the highlights included an opportunity to milk a cow, but not a real cow. It was a painted plywood cutout of a dairy cow, constructed by 4-H member James Walther.

“Many of the kids only see picture books, but now they can see a tangible thing they can look at and feel,” Walther said. “They actually get to hear what a cow sounds like, smell a farm, and see what a farm actually looks like, instead of just a picture book.”

In addition to learning about farm animals, students learned about vegetable, fruit and grain production.

A milling station was set up so students could grind corn and make cornmeal, as well as produce flour from the wheat. The whole experience was brought full circle when the students made real butter to spread on biscuits that they enjoyed with a glass of milk.

This farm news was published in the May 23, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.