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Family honored for conservation
By Marc Kovac
LONDON, Ohio
A Columbiana County family was honored Thursday for conservation efforts on their 80-acre farm.
Kevin and Sarah Swope and their daughter, Hannah, were among five honorees receiving 2011 Conservation Farm Family Awards, presented during the Farm Science Review, a large-scale agriculture trade-and-research show that takes place annually near London, about 20 minutes west of Columbus.
“Twenty years ago, I didn’t even know what the soil and water conservation district did,” said Kevin Swope, whose farm has played host to tours spotlighting soil health, proper grazing management and specialty crops. “And now it’s really become a passion of mine. ... I just think it’s really important that we just pass that enthusiasm and that passion for conservation on to the next generation.”
The awards were started in 1984 and are sponsored by Ohio Farmer Magazine, Ohio Farm Bureau, Hancor Inc. and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a way of promoting conservation practices.
Winners receive a plaque plus $400. More than 145 farm families have been honored to date.
The Swopes grow hay and raise bison and sheep on their farm.
“When they first began operating, most of the topsoil and soil fertility on the farm was gone,” said Tim White, editor of Ohio Farmer, who presented the awards. “As a result, they decided not to crop farm but rather to build and conserve their soils by seeding the fields to pasture and implementing a managed grazing system.”
He added, “They also stopped using commercial fertilizers on the pastures, and their soil life and earthworms have returned with only lime applications and property grazing techniques.”
The Swopes weren’t the only Columbiana County residents on hand for the awards presentation Thursday. More than 70 FFA students from United Local Schools in Hanoverton, where Sarah Swope works as a substitute teacher, traveled to the Farm Science Review for the day, as well.