Dill Starts Internship at Ohio State Extension, Darke County

Taylor Dill is a Junior at Wilmington College, majoring in Agronomy and Religion & Philosophy. She is from Hollansburg, Ohio, and graduated from Tri-Village High School. Taylor grew up on an 1100 acre farm. This spring and summer she is interning with The Ohio State University Extension office in Greenville. The program with which she is involved is the new A.C.R.E. program. The acronym stands for Agronomic Crop Research Experience. With this program she will be assisting the county Extension Office and the University with field research.

Taylor went through a two day training in Wooster, Ohio, at the OARDC research center. On her first day at the Extension Office she met some of the farmers with whom she will be working with and took soil samples of their fields. Extension Educator, Sam Custer, and Taylor set up some of the research plots as well. Later in the season she will be scouting fields looking for insects and diseases.

Some of the research that Sam and Taylor will be doing is finding what factors are limiting better yields for soybeans in the state of Ohio and cold front effect on corn and soybean yields, which will find whether a cold front during planting hurts the yield at harvest. Another is nitrogen response in corn, this will compare the use of Starter Fertilizer, Farmer Applied Typical Rate, Tri State Fertility Guide, Ohio State Economic Model, and Green Seeker. These research projects will help our Ohio farmers to produce better yields.

For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu, the OSU Extension Darke County Facebook page or contact Sam Custer, at 937.548.5215.