The Science of Farming
Ohio State hosts the 44th Farm Science Review, a "smorgasbord of agriculture"
Flash 8.0 required to view video. Read a transcript.)
Quick: Picture a farmer.
Did you think of a simple, low-tech kind of guy who doesn't concern himself with computers?
If you did, you've got an antiquated vision of farming, says Bobby Moser, dean of the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences.
“Farming in this day is really very high tech," Moser says.
That was evident at Ohio State's three-day Farm Science Review.
“The name itself depicts what we’re trying to get at: the Farm Science Review. It’s not just a farm show, it’s the Farm Science Review," Moser says. “It’s all about bringing the latest in technology here.”
It's also about teaching.
The review gives Ohio State the opportunity to teach a wide variety of people--farmers and their families, school children, and teachers--about agriculture. Throughout the event, workshops and seminars were offered: traditional reports on grain and livestock; classes on how to use global positioning systems on the farm and how to start a winery; and lectures on the economics of green farming initiatives.
“We have educational programs going on as a part of our outreach effort," Moser says. "That’s one way we fulfill our Land Grant mission.”
The review drew about 600 exhibitors. Among their wares was self-guided equipment: "tractors that drive themselves, combines that drive themselves. And so you’re in the combine, and you can do other things while this combine is going down the field harvesting the soybeans," Moser says.
Last year, the review drew 120,000 people--proof that in Ohio, farming is still big business.
“It’s very important to the Ohio economy," Moser says. "It’s the largest industry in the state. It’s about an $80 billion industry. It generates about a million jobs a year.”
Related links:
Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Ohio State Farm Science Review
(video/text: University Marketing Communications)
