“Surviving the Drought of 2024 and Beyond”

ZANESVILLE, OH – The Muskingum Soil & Water Conservation District is getting ready to host an event for pasture and grazing farmers affected by the drought.

The event is called “Surviving the Drought of 2024 and Beyond” and will take place on Monday, Sept. 30th at 7PM.

Lisa Crock, an Administrator with Muskingum Soil & Water, said this free event is sponsored by their office, as well as the Southern Ohio Grazing Council, the Eastern Ohio Grazing Council, and the East Central Grazing Alliance.

She also said that you can attend this event in person or watch from the comfort of your own home.

“We are actually doing this one of two ways, people can join us virtually via Zoom or you can actually come to our live watch party, which we’re holding at 6 PM, with a lite dinner at Rolling Plains Church,” Crock said. “We’re also going to be bringing in Bridgette Briton from OSU who’s going to do a little bit on helping manage stress and agriculture in these difficult times.”

The event will also feature a talk from Jim Gerrish, a man who spent 22 years at the University of Missouri Forage Systems Research Center, authored or co-authored four books and had monthly columns in the Stockman Grass Farmer.

Crock said Gerrish has had experience with the droughts down in the lower states and hopes he can share some ideas and solutions with area farmers.

“There are approximately 1,300 farms in Muskingum County and of those 1,300, approximately 600 of them have cattle, another 80 some have sheep, and there are untold numbers of horses, goats and other grazing animals out there,” Crock said. “So, [Jim] specializes more in pasture and grazing and these farms are going to be affected more than just this summer. We’re looking at long term effects, what they’re going to be doing next spring and what happens if this proceeds into next spring, how has this affected their plantings.”

If you are interested in signing up for the “Surviving the Drought of 2024 and Beyond”, you can head to the Soil & Water Conservation District’s website.