Search for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture Recognition Program

Mary Griffith
Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources
Ohio State University Extension
Madison

Griffith, M.*1, , Badertscher, M.2, , Barker, F.3, , Brown, C.4, , Chanon, A.5, , Cochran, R.6, , Corboy, T.7, , Culman, S.8, , Estadt, M.9, , Fisher, B.10, , Fulton, J.11, , Hartschuh, J.12, , Hawkins, E.13, , Jackson-Smith, D.14, , Karhoff, S.15, , Labarge, G.16, , Lyon, E.17, , Moneymaker, B.18, , Neal, N.19, , Noggle, S.20, , Nye, L.21, , Raymond, H.22, , Scheckelhoff, B.23, , Shedekar, V.24, , Zoller, C.25,
1 Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, London, OH, 43140
2 Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, Kenton, OH, 43326
3 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Mt. Vernon, OH, 43050
4 Program Manager, Ohio State University Extension, Wooster, OH, 44691
5 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Elyria, OH, 44035
6 Extension Associat, Ohio State University Extension, Paulding, OH, 45385
7 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Xenia, OH, 45385
8 Associate Professor, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, 4691
9 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Circleville, OH, 43133
10 Extension Associate, Ohio State University Extension, Ottawa, OH, 45875
11 Professor, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, OH, 43210
12 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Bucyrus, OH, 44820
13 Extension Field Specialist and Associate Professor, Ohio State University Extension, Wilmington, OH, 45177
14 , Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, OH, 43210
15 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Bryan, OH, 43506
16 Extension Field Specialist, Ohio State University Extension, London, OH, 43140
17 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Steubenville, OH, 43952
18 Extension Associate, Ohio State University Extension, Wapakoneta, OH, 45895
19 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Owensville, OH, 45130
20 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Paulding, OH, 45879
21 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Wilmington, OH, 45177
22 Water Quality Initiative Director, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, OH, 43210
23 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, Ottawa, OH, 45975
24 Postdoctoral Researcher, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, OH, 4321-
25 Extension Educator, ANR, Ohio State University Extension, New Philadelphia, OH, 44663

OSU Extension’s Agronomic Crops Team developed a Soil Health Committee in 2020 in response to increasing demand from stakeholders to know more about soil health. The committee’s first project was a virtual webinar series titled The Dirt on Soil Health: Digging Beneath the Surface. The objectives of the webinar were to provide research-based information to enable producers to implement practices to improve soil health on their farms, and to identify needs for future programming on soil health. The webinar included eight sessions held on a weekly basis with recordings available to registrants who could not attend live sessions. A total 2,858 registered for the webinars, representing 72 Ohio counties, 20 states, and 9 nations. 1,517 attended the live sessions with 1,055 views of the recorded sessions to date. On the program evaluation 95.3% of respondents reported that they learned new information as a result of attending, and 88.7% reported that they plan to use the information they learned to improve soil health on their farm.