Agriculture and water quality flow together. So do Ohio?s efforts to improve them.
The next Environmental Professionals Network (EPN) breakfast program will look at those ties and at new progress in serving the state?s farmers, food and water.
The event, which is open to the public, is Sept. 12 at The Ohio State University.
Food and agriculture combined are Ohio?s No. 1 industry, adding more than $105 billion to the state?s economy every year, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
But that industry also is a contributor to the harmful algal blooms that have plagued Lake Erie and other Ohio water bodies in recent years. Phosphorus runoff from fertilizer and manure can help fuel the pea-green, sometimes-toxic blooms, which can hurt tourism, property values and drinking water safety.
The event, which is called ?Agriculture and Water Quality Issues: OSU Research and Agency Initiatives Guide Farmers? Solutions,? will feature these speakers:
- Cathann A. Kress, who became Ohio State?s vice president for agricultural administration and dean of its College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) in May.
- Libby Dayton, research scientist in CFAES?s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) who leads a phosphorus-monitoring project called On-Field Ohio.
- Kirk Hines, chief of the Ohio Department of Agriculture?s (ODA) Division of Soil and Water Conservation.
