NEW WATERFORD No-till farmer gains recognition

The land Wehr grew up on is now the Wick recreation area.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
NEW WATERFORD -- Myron Wehr's heart is in the soil.
For nearly 40 years, Wehr has been working Columbiana County soil, coaxing it to grow corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and hay.
Planting and harvesting his own crops and contracting to farm for several other area farmers, Wehr has planted and harvested more than 2,000 acres a year; yet he doesn't own a plow.
Wehr is a firm believer in the technique of no-till farming, planting new seed in fields among the corn stubble and other remnants of the previous year's crop.
For his efforts, Wehr has been recognized by the Ohio No Till Council of Columbus as Ohio's No Till Farmer of the Year.
Wehr grew up on a dairy farm and, as did his father before him, earned an agriculture degree from The Ohio State University. The land that was his father's farm is now Wick Recreation Area. His grandfather could remember when the area of Calvary Cemetery, Belle Vista and Mahoning avenues was planted in corn and hay.
Wehr preaches what he practices. State lines are no barrier as he touts no-till farming all over Ohio and West Virginia.
Wehr's son-in-law, Scott Lindsay of Pine Hill Jerseys near New Waterford, milks about 400 Jersey cows and has a cooperative effort with Wehr to apply dairy manure on Wehr's no-till acres.
Manure application
The no-till method goes hand in hand with other conservation efforts, Wehr explained. The remnants of the previous year's crop help hold the soil and its nutrients in place. It also helps keep pesticides, manure and other fertilizers from washing away easily.
Wehr said farmers have a responsibility to be good environmental stewards, and good neighbors to their nonfarming neighbors. Attachments to farm machinery, for example, can work applied manure into the soil instead of leaving it on top.
Not only does that process help prevent the manure from washing away, it also reduces the odor. He believes all farmers, especially those close to residential development, should work manure into the soil. By working manure into a field instead of just letting it lie on top of the soil, he can apply manure to a field a few yards from a residential area, and there is no odor.
Conservation practices
Wehr is active with the farm bureau and Ohio State University and Penn State University extension offices. He plants test plots each year and is involved in an ongoing study with OSU extension in how various methods of manure application affect crop growth.
He participates in conventions and seminars and has frequent visitors to his farm to explain and demonstrate the no-till method and other conservation practices.
Some other conservation practices are leaving unplanted buffer zones in areas near lakes and streams, and leaving some areas between fields unplanted. Both efforts work to reduce soil erosion and runoff and help prevent pollution of watersheds, he said.
Wehr and his wife, Linda, have three daughters and seven grandchildren. He said he loved growing up on a farm. It is especially a good environment in which to rear a family, he said.
Although farming means long 16- to 18-hour days during the growing season and eight- to 10-hour days in the winter, he can't imagine doing anything else.
He said he has tried to slow down some. Younger hands and stronger backs bale hay and do the other heavier work, but Wehr said he plans to continue farming as long as he is healthy and enjoys it. So far, he doesn't show any signs of quitting anytime soon.
tullis@vindy.com