Wyandot farm to be featured on sustainable farm tour

Bishop Family Farms in Wyandot County is to be featured July 23 on the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association's Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series. The event is to include an organic grain transition farm tour and an OEFFA Grain Growers chapter meeting and potluck. Greg and Beth Bishop and their son, Blake, transitioned the 1,300 acres to organic production two years ago. Their five-year crop rotation includes corn, soybeans, wheat, sunflowers and canola. During this tour, attendees will learn about their transition and see their equipment, including an electric weeder. The farm is located at 6362 TR 80, Mt. Blanchard. The meeting is planned for 10-11:45 a.m. and a potluck from 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., followed by the tour at 1 p.m. For more information, call Greg Bishop, 419-306-2934. To register for the potluck, call 419-278-2701 or email dshively@gmail.com. The tour is one of a series on sustainable agriculture topics at about 20 organic and ecological farms and businesses in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, which provide opportunities for farmers, educators and "conscientious eaters" to learn about sustainable agriculture and local foods on the farm. Remaining dates and topics include: • July 16 - Regenerative Grazing Pasture Walk, Canal Junction Farm, a 625-acre diversified livestock farm practicing regenerative farming for more than 28 years in Paulding County. The pasture walk will cover all aspects of the farm's operations, including its dairy program, lamb, pork, broiler chickens and others. • July 31 - Technical Pasture Walk for Multi-Species Meat Producers at Tierra Verde Farms, Portage County, which is owned by Mike and Connie Jones who have raised cattle, hogs, lamb, chickens and turkeys in Portage County since 2010. • Aug. 13 - Community Foodways Farm Tour at the North End Community Improvement Collaborative Urban Farm, The Food Lab in Richland County, is to show the Mansfield Microfarm Project, a community-university collaborative to create economic development through sustainable microfarming in post-industrial urban spaces. • Aug. 26 - Fruits and Family in the Miami Valley Farm Tour, The Narrow Way Farm, Montgomery County, at the 5-acre area dedicated to providing local, responsibly-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers offering farm-produced goods such as jams, jellies and fruit butters. • Sept. 7 - Efficient Systems Design Farm Tour, Old City Acres, Michigan, a four-season, no-till market garden near Detroit that feeds the community year-round using a flexible CSA model. The tour will focus on designing efficient on-farm systems, from wash-pack setup to overall farm layout. • Sept. 18 - Organic CSA, Flower and Vegetable Farm Tour, Christopher Farm, Indiana, a mother-son team organically farming about 2 acres in eastern Indiana using moveable hoophouses. • Nov. 6 - Winter High Tunnel Produce Farm Tour, Roots, Fruits and Shoots, Licking County, a 3-acre vegetable and raspberry farm growing in almost 7,000 square feet of high-tunnel space.