By Jim Lake
Jim is a District Support Specialist in the northeast area of Indiana. Jim has been working in conservation for over 40
years, in which time he has not only dutifully served ISDA’s Division of Soil
Conservation, but also has played a formative role in creating the national
Conservation Tillage Information Center.
In his many years of dedication to conservation, Jim has also aided nearly
every state in the US in creating plans for addressing non-point source water
pollution. He has managed the Allen
County Soil and Water Conservation District and has been a leader at Purdue
University’s agronomy department as a Soil and Water Conservation Education
Specialist.
Each of the last two years the St. Joseph River, Upper
Maumee River Watershed Project and St. Mary’s River Watersheds Groups have
joined forces with the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and
cooperating agricultural producers and equipment dealers to provide educational
displays at the Ft. Wayne River Fest.
This year’s River Fest held Saturday, June
22 on the shoreline of the St. Joseph River at Fort Wayne’s Indiana-Purdue
University Campus. The River Fest drew over 15,000 people. The River Fest is marketed as a
family fun and educational day and primarily draws city and suburban residents
of Ft. Wayne and suburb areas.
I like to ask visitors to the
equipment display what they think the equipment they are looking at costs. For
example, when I ask what they think the combine costs many respond with a guess
of about $100,000 and I tell them $450,000 including the grain head. They are
shocked at the costs and the amount of money farmers have invested just in
equipment. I think it very important
for those of us engaged in agriculture make efforts to educate our urban and
city neighbors on the many aspects of agriculture including the conservation efforts Hoosier farms use in their day to day operations.
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