Tuesday, December 31st, 2013
Versailles native new ag coordinator at Lake Campus
By Nancy Allen
A Darke County native and fifth-generation farmer is the new agriculture program coordinator at Wright State University-Lake Campus.
Greg McGlinch, Versailles, starts the new, full-time position Monday. He will step down from the nutrient management specialist position at the Darke County Soil and Water Conservation District to take the new post. He's worked at the SWCD office for seven years.
"I've just done a lot of education in the past and it was always an interest of mine," McGlinch said of why he pursued the job.
With SWCD, McGlinch worked with livestock farmers on pollution issues and helped them install manure storage structures to balance their farm's nutrients. He said he has stressed the importance of managing manure and other nutrients and helped develop the SWCD's soil fertility nutrient management course offered to farmers. He's also worked on ag-related water quality issues and urban stormwater management.
Lake Campus Professor Greg Homan, who helped start the ag program in 2009, said the position was created to help the program grow after students expressed an interest in more course offerings.
"He'll help build the curriculum, create new courses in areas of need, particularly in agronomy and ag economics," Homan said. "He will bring wide expertise in farm production, cover crops and agronomy."
Mercer and Auglaize counties, where many Lake Campus students are from, are home to hundreds of farms. Mercer County has ranked first in farm income among the state's 88 counties for several years.
Homan said McGlinch will coordinate marketing efforts to reach out to high schools and area employers on the skills they need in potential employees. He also will set up tours of area agribusinesses for students in the program.
McGlinch, 33, has a bachelor's degree in agriculture and a master's degree in agronomy. He and his wife, Janet, farm about 450 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and cereal rye with his parents, Gary and Sharon, and his brother, Mike. For the last two years the family has raised cereal rye for a whiskey distillery in New Carlisle.
"I'm looking forward to taking on the new position," McGlinch said.
Funding for the new Lake Campus position was included in the last state budget, Homan said. The funds were leveraged by Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina, and State Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville.
