Things speed up in the new year

As we round out the year, I would like take a trip to the variety store to share two special retirements and information on two Ohio State University Extension courses to be offered in the new year.
Larry Burt. The close of the year always brings a variety of retirements and this year is no exception. I would like to send congratulations to Larry Burt of Williamsfield, who is retiring Dec. 31. Burt has served as an AI technician for COBA/Select Sires in northeast Ohio for 32 years.
Burt was a fixture on ours and many other farms. We thank him for all he has done for our northeast Ohio dairies and wish him the best for his retirement years.
Hannah Jo Woodruff. Long-time OSU Extension Ashtabula County agriculture and natural resource secretary Hannah Jo Woodruff will also be retiring Dec. 31 after 30-plus years of service to Ashtabula County.
She has been a behind-the-scenes contributor to many of our northeast Ohio dairy management workshops. Her organizational skills, dedication and attention to detail have been appreciated during her career.
We thank her for her dedication to our Extension program and wish her the very best in her retirement years.
Farm women. If you are a women involved in the dairy industry, then you may wish to enroll in OSU Extension’s Annie’s Project.
Annie’s Project brings women together to learn the financial skills and critical information needed to manage the complicated business of running a farm.
Specific topics include: financial record keeping, understanding basic financial statements, financial management tools, goal setting and mission statement writing, commodity marketing basics, crop insurance, family communication, retirement planning, and learning about individual personality types.
The class meets one evening a week for six consecutive weeks. Annie’s Project will be offered in Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Defiance, Erie and Wood counties.
The registration fee is $60 and class space is limited.
For registration information for the Ashtabula County program, contact the Ashtabula County Extension office at 440-576-9008.
Complete registration for all of the programs can be found at http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/calendar/annies.php.
Tomorrow’s dairy. Managers of local dairy farms will want to schedule time to participate in OSU Extension’s Managing the Dairy of Tomorrow workshops this winter. These workshops will be held in five locations across Ohio and will focus on our changing dairy industry, management styles, financial management, business planning and employee management.
The workshops will be held in Mercer County (Feb. 13, 20, 27); Paulding County (Feb. 19, 26, March 4); Ashtabula County (Feb. 25, March 3, 10); Mahoning County (March 12, 19, 26); and Wayne County (March 13, 20, 27).
Complete details of these workshops will be shared in this publication in the upcoming weeks.
To learn more about this workshop, contact Chris Zoller at 330-339-2337 or Dianne Shoemaker at 330-263-3799.