WARSAW — The 18th annual “A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County: A Family Affair” was at the Kosciusko Fairgrounds from 5-7:30 p.m. last evening, Tuesday, April 12, with plenty of agriculture booths, food samples and prizes. As people entered the fairgrounds, their first stop was at the Beaver Dam Stand Welcome Center to receive …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County I have received reports of ticks showing up in large numbers this week. Reports range from numerous ticks on a single dog to several found crawling on people after taking a walk around the property. Most of these ticks have been the American Dog Tick, or …read more.

By TERRI KEIM Administrative Assistant, City of Warsaw Department of Public Works The City of Warsaw Department of Public Works has two more scheduled Saturdays for compost give away. Those Saturdays scheduled are between 8 a.m. and noon, Saturday May 9, and Saturday, May 16. The public is invited to bring trailers, dump trucks, pickup …read more.

By DAVID SMITH North Central Co-op North Central Co-op has awarded scholarships to 12 outstanding students from across Indiana and Michigan who are pursuing higher education during the 2015-2016 academic year. Since 2001, the cooperative has awarded more than 80 scholarships totaling more than $90,000 to deserving post-secondary scholars. NCC scholarships were awarded to students …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County A lot happens in your lawn in late April and early May in Michiana. As the turf begins to wake up from its winter slumber, you will first notice it greens up. This is a response to nitrogen deposited by the winter snow and rain. At …read more.

As a new growing season begins, there will be a new look to the Kosciusko County Farmer’s Market. With improvements and expansion in mind, the KCFM is inviting new members for the 2015 market to be a larger, more varied selection of produce and hand crafted products. This year, we are again inviting residents from …read more.

By KAREN KAUFFMAN Warsaw Christian School Mrs. Dingeldein’s fourth grade class at Warsaw Christian would like to thank the organizers of Kosciusko County Ag Day. There were farmers who presented information and participating businesses provided a wonderful educational field trip about agriculture in Kosciusko County. Students learned about pigs, crops, chickens and eggs, farm equipment, …read more.

By BRITTANY DENNEY Denney Farms The North Manchester Farmer’s Market is soon open for business. Vendors and customers will gather at the Riverbridge Electric parking lot at the intersection of Main Street and Wayne Street. The market starts Saturday, May 2, and continues Saturdays through Saturday, Oct. 31. The Wednesday market begins Wednesday, May 27. …read more.

By KELLY L. HECKAMAN Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Kosciusko County Purdue Extension’s Women in Agriculture committee is now accepting nominations for the organization’s top awards through Friday, May 1. Awards each for leadership and achievement will be given during the 2015 Indiana State Fair in August to women who are leaders and innovators in the …read more.

By KENT POLITSCH Farm Service Agency The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency announced that nearly 2,700 applicants will begin receiving disaster assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program for losses experienced from Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2014. The program, re-authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Over time, an alfalfa stand will gradually go downhill. Since much of the stress that kills the plants occurs in the winter, April is a good time to assess the quality of your stand. The University of Wisconsin has a three-tier recommendation for assessing alfalfa stands. …read more.

By KELLY L. HECKAMAN Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Kosciusko County You and your family can celebrate the diversity of Kosciusko County agriculture at “A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County: A Family Affair” from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds. Diversity truly describes the experience you will have …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Every year, there are fewer acres of wheat planted in the county, it seems. That may be why I am getting more questions about wheat recently, because people are forgetting how to grow it. Many people raise wheat simply for the straw. In fact, there have …read more.

By KELLY L. HECKAMAN Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Kosciusko County Do you have the best chili recipe around? If you do, then you need to enter it in the third annual chili cook-off contest. The cook-off is a part of the “A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County: A Family Affair,” being held from 5 …read more.

  By DONNA BURROUGHS, EdS Superintendent, Triton Community School Systems Triton High School AG seniors visited Triton Elementary fourth graders before spring break to teach them about animal safety, first aid and poisonous plants.

By DONNA J. FERGUSON Communications Coordinator, Indiana Farm Service Agency Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack provided farm owners and producers one additional week, until Tuesday, April 7, to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The final day to update yield history or reallocate base …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County The twilight fruit growers meeting, held every other year at Kercher’s Sunrise Orchard, is always a popular program. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, the Kercher family will once again host Purdue Extension at their business, located at 19498 CR 38, Goshen. The evening begins when …read more.

By KELLY L. HECKAMAN Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Kosciusko County Purdue Extension is sponsoring five workshops throughout the state today through Wednesday, April 8, for fruit and vegetable producers to learn how to reduce the risk of contamination by foodborne pathogens in produce. All of the “Good Agricultural Practices A to Z” programs are free …read more.

By BEN KENNEY Indiana State Department of Agriculture Communications Director Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann announced a new dairy strategy for Indiana agriculture in remarks to the Indiana Livestock, Forage and Grain Forum hosted by the Indiana Soybean Alliance. The strategy was commissioned by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture with the assistance of a national agriculture …read more.

Warsaw High School FFA has received a $2,500 donation from Kosciusko County farmer Jeff Thompson and America’s Farmers Grow Communities, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. The donation will help FFA members attend career development events and provide them with new, up-to-date technology. “We are very excited about this donation,” FFA Advisor Lynnette Markey said. “We …read more.

Dear Editor, Wednesday, March 18, is National Ag Day, a day to raise awareness about agriculture’s contribution of food and fiber to our society. As a farmer, it’s also a day when I reflect on how far agriculture has come since my great grandparents and grandparents farmed, and how far we’ll need to go to …read more.

By KASSI ROWLAND Director of Administration, Tom Farms With the warmer weather of spring comes one of the busiest and most exciting times of the year for farmers – planting season. As farmers head to the fields to plant, farm-vehicle traffic increases on local roads and highways. Local farmers encourage all drivers to exercise caution …read more.

By KELLY BRAUN Truepointe Cooperative Trupointe Cooperative Inc. and Cargill Inc. signed the final agreement to create the joint venture TruHorizons, bringing together their current grain and agronomy operations under one name at Milford, Bremen and La Paz, Indiana. Operations of TruHorizons begin today. The TruHorizons agronomy hub at Milford offers crop nutrients, crop protection products, …read more.

By ROBERT KELLY Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Would you like to learn about tractor and lawn tractor safety? If so, the 4-H Farm Tractor and Garden Tractor clubs are for you. You don’t have to live on a farm or even own a farm or garden tractor to be a member of the …read more.