The Mellinger Farm

In 2002, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees accepted the donation of The Mellinger Farm from Patricia Miller Quinby and the estate of her sister, Virginia Miller Reed.  Three quarters interest in the property now belongs to OARDC; with the remainder to be donated in 2009. While the property remains in partnership, the Farm will continue to be managed by the private farm management company that has been overseeing the farm for Mrs. Quinby. The Killbuck Land Trust now holds a conservation easement that ensures the Farm will remain in agricultural use.

The following concepts and approaches have emerged from faculty, students, staff and stakeholders as objectives for the Mellinger Farm:

• The Mellinger Farm is envisioned as a showcase for the science and technology of sustainable small farms.
• Develop the site as a research, education and demonstration facility for integrated systems of crops and livestock that emphasize the linkages among production, environmental quality, economic feasibility and social acceptability.
• The site will serve as a teaching facility for undergraduates as well as for graduate research projects.
• The Mellinger Farm could serve to help inform the general public, including school programs, about the importance of agriculture to the economic and environmental well being of the community.
• The farmstead will serve as a model for the energy efficient family farm.

Currently, plans for improving the energy efficiency of the farmstead are being researched under a grant from the OSU Institute for Energy and the Environment.

Contact Ken Scaife, scaife.1@osu.edu  for more information.