Getting Conservation Closer to Ground Level

Despite some doubting minds (mine included) spring has finally sprung and that means more to some of us than just the blooming flowers, singing birds, sunshine and blue skies.  To the educators of our area it means the school kids are finally able to venture out of the classroom on some much anticipated field trips.  Pulaski County Soil and Water Conservation District was lucky enough to be invited to design multiple education programs throughout the year.  But nothing beats being able to expose young hearts and minds to the wonder of our surrounding natural resources.  This spring allowed us to participate in 3 major outdoor learning programs. 

The first was a 4^th grade field trip to the Tippecanoe River State Park.  A quick survey revealed only about 15% of the 125 children had ever visited this gem of a park a mere 5 miles from their school.  Even on a less than spring like day (40 degrees was our high with a constant drizzle) the kids’ enthusiasm and excitement at being in a new and interesting place was infectious. 

Each class visited 6 stations consisting of Forestry taught by District Forester James Pothoff; Erosion and Bank Stabilization taught by Purdue Extension’s Natalie Daily and Chad Rushing; Park History taught by Pulaski County SWCD’s Barb Rausch and yours truly; Mussels, Macros and Otters with Pulaski County SWCD Educator Kathy Wyatt; and finally, the overwhelming favorite of all the students, Community Service led by ISDA’s Julie Morris and Deb Jimison.    The kids even participated in a word scramble over their lunch break to solve the clue “Preserve. Guard. Protect.”.  After finding all 12 letters hidden around the park students successfully spelled “Conservation”! 

Barb Rausch retells the Potawatomie Tribes story of why the Tippecanoe River is so curvy.  (The fur hat on her head is for more than just effect, it was cold!!) 

Kathy Wyatt braved the rain to show the kids how important otters, macros and mussels are to indicating the health of local waterways.

Deb Jimison and Julie Morris were so proud of the hard work done by little hands.  Each 4^th grade class learned how to identify and remove invasive species from the park.  The brush pile pictured is one of many containing autumn olive, garlic mustard and bush honeysuckle. The kids had to be practically dragged away from their workstations to move on to other sessions!  But what 9 year old doesn’t love going to work with hand saws and giant pruners? 

A few days later, and thankfully about 30 degrees warmer, found us at the Rausch Family’s National Wetland with 120 2^nd graders. The almost 40 acres of wetland and forest provided the perfect outdoor experience for these young minds to learn about animal tracking, furs, birds, forestry, macros, and measurements.  Each class brought with them a large water filled jar that had been the home of the class tadpoles for a few weeks.  The tadpoles were released into the wetlands and were cheered on by the young stewards as they ventured into their new homes.

Taking Measurements with Mrs. Wyatt and 

Ms. Jimison

Animal Tracks & Scat with Mr. Rausch, Forestry with James and Birds of the Wetlands with Julie Morris

And, of course, what would a field trip be without a fun lunchtime game of “Turtle, Turtle, Otter”?  For those who don’t know, that is the twist us SWCD folks put on the traditional “Duck, Duck, Goose”. I mean, who doesn’t love saying, “Turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, turtle, OTTER!”?  (Although, for some reason, I can never get anyone in the office to chase me; no matter how many times I tap the top of their head and say “You’re the otter!!” They really aren’t amused when I run around and try to sit in their seat, especially since they typically never got up to chase me.)

Thankfully the beautiful weather held out for yet another field day, this one organized by Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Jody Wilson and located on the beautiful grounds of the Kankakee Marsh County Park in Lake County.  Jody teamed up with Rensselaer Schools 8^th graders, bringing them out to learn about this long gone marsh from visiting speakers Rose Morgan (Newton County SWCD), James Pothoff (DNR), Sarah Wolf (ISDA), and myself! Jody was even able to recruit Jeff Manes and Jim Sweeney local history experts, as well as, writer and contributor to the documentary “Everglades of the North”. 

I was given the opportunity to teach these young adults about animals both currently living in and extinct from the grand marsh.  Many had never even seen some of the animals we had pelts for.  The students even played along (with minimal groaning and eye rolling) in a game to exemplify the importance of using our natural resources wisely. 

None of the students believed beaver pelts were used as currency for early settlers.
Buying groceries with beaver pelts? Crazy!

Every day we come in to the office with a mission, get conservation on the ground.  So we focus on our agricultural producers, promoting cover crops, advising on responsible irrigation, encouraging conservation program sign up, water testing, and the list goes on.  We can’t forget an important part of that mission is our young people.  They may not currently be active stewards of the land but if we are lucky more than a few of the 400+ students we exposed to the beauty and value of our natural resources this past week will grow up to care as much for this land as we do.  And even at their young age they can pass on our message to friends and family.  After all, it is much easier to get conservation on the ground while you are still as close to ground level as these small folks are.


Written By: Ashley Brucker, Pulaski County Soil and Water Conservation District

Indiana On-Farm Network

By Sarah Lake

Sarah Lake works for ISDA out of Kokomo and the surrounding four-county area, and is also a leader for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program administered by the state. She grew up in the Fort Wayne
area but an interest in environmental science took her to Purdue. After being graduated, she worked in county government before beginning at the ISDA Division of Soil Conservation.

Over 230 farmers across the state of Indiana are conducting nitrogen evaluations on their own farms through the Indiana On-Farm Network Program.  The goal of the evaluations is to collect data from right here in Indiana that will help producers maximize profit while reducing environmental impacts. 

There are 3 tools used to conduct the evaluations- Aerial Photography, Corn Stalk Nitrate Sampling and Replicated Strip Trials.

Aerial Photography is taken of the fields enrolled in the program while the crop is growing. This is done typically in August.  Many things can be seen from this photography including planter set-up issues, fertilizer application issues and drainage problems. 

Corn Stalk Nitrate Sampling is conducted in late September or early October after the corn plant stops taking up nitrogen.  4 sampling locations are chosen in each field, typically in different soil types.  10 corn stalks are collected at each sampling point.  The stalks are tested to see how much nitrogen remained in the stalk after the ear of corn stopped growing.  A high result indicates that more nitrogen was available in the soil than the plant could use in this particular growing season.  A low result indicates there was the potential the corn plant could need more nitrogen than was available that year.

Replicated Strip Trials are set up for producers who would like to see how their yield and efficiency is affected by using different rates of nitrogen, different forms of nitrogen, different nitrogen application timing or different placement of nitrogen.

Tipton County producers wanted to determine the amount of nitrogen remaining in the soil at the time of the Corn Stalk Nitrate Sampling this year.  Soil testing was incorporated into their On-Farm Network program. 

Producers will meet with other participants in their area this winter.  Producers benefit not only from their own data, but also by sharing information with each other.  There are currently 18 On Farm Networks in Indiana.  Over 600 fields are tested totaling over 40,000 acres.

On-Farm Network was developed in 2000 by the Iowa Soybean Association.  The Indiana State Department of Agriculture was awarded a grant in 2010 to develop the program in Indiana.  The Indiana Conservation Partnership along with the Corn Marketing Council and the Soybean Alliance continue to support and grow this program.

For more information regarding Indiana On-Farm Network go to: http://www.in.gov/isda/ofn/.

Water History Lessons at the Pathway to Water Quality

Sarah Wolf is an ISDA Resource Specialist, serving Jasper, Benton, Newton, and Lake Counties.

The Pathway to Water Quality committee asked me to serve as a Live Interpreter, teaching water history and conservation, during the state fair to celebrate Pathway’s 20^th anniversary.  Visitors enjoyed learning how to wash clothes the old fashioned way, and all the while I was teaching them how water was used 100 years ago.  

The point I wanted to get across to them was that water was often used for multiple tasks in the past, and we tend to waste a lot of water now because using water is convenient.  In the past, because water had to be carried in buckets from the well, water was conserved.  Pioneers would wash clothes with about five gallons, and then use that water to mop the floor or water their garden.  

Now we wash one load of clothes in the washing machine with about 60 gallons, and that water is not used for any other chore before sending it on to the sewage treatment plant or septic system.  The average household of three people uses an estimated 200 gallons of water every day!  

Visitors brainstormed ideas of how to use less water, and hopefully they will consider changing just one water practice in their everyday lives.  Water is a precious resource that needs to be conserved and protected, and together we can make a difference if we are mindful of how we use water!

Educators can find a water history lesson plan that I complied for 5^th grade students (adaptable for younger students) at http://www.iaswcd.org/district_tools/pwq/pdfs/WHC.pdf.

New Water Quality Trading Program reduces the amount of nutrients leaving the farm

Mark Thomas is an ISDA Soil Conservation Resource Specialist located in Southeastern Indiana.  He was raised and still works on his family farm raising corn, soybeans, beef cattle, and hay.  They have used No-till Planting for over twenty years.  Mark graduated from Purdue University in 1986 with a BS in Agriculture.  He has two children and is an adult 4H club leader.  He has been employed in Soil Conservation for 23 years and serves farmers in Franklin, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, and Ripley Counties.

A pilot program between the Electric Power Research Institute and the State Agriculture Departments in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky launched in the summer of 2012.  The Ohio River Basin Trading Project is an interstate trading program that will allow power companies and farmers to work together to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment runoff in the Ohio River Basin.  The five counties in Indiana that have been selected for this pilot program are Wayne, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, and Ripley.

Farmers enter into contracts with their Soil and Water Conservation Districts to create water quality credits by installing Best Management Practices including Heavy Use Protection Areas, Hay Planting, and Cover Crops.  Several of these practices have been installed this summer. 

       

Another farmer has installed a Heavy Use Area Protection pad to help collect the nutrients   from a beef cattle feeding area.

For more information, contact the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Cautious Harvest

By Chris Gardner
Chris is a Resource Specialist/CREP leader in the Tippecanoe watershed. Chris works to promote CREP, inspect possible CREP sites, complete conservation plans/maps/state CREP paperwork for CREP projects, meet w/ landowners to discuss their CREP projects and other conservation needs, administer CREP paperwork, survey and design structures, waterways, and other conservation practices as needed. Chris works with contractors and landowners on project installation, assist with other conservation as needed. Areas of Interest/Expertise :No-till farming, cover crops, filter strips, waterways, WASCOB’s, irrigations (travelers), nutrient management, animal waste management, an interest in grazing.

Last night I was reading a post made by a fellow farmer I follow from western Iowa, and was reminded that a wet spring keeps on giving.  A wet Iowa spring gave way to very dry Iowa summer (sound familiar?) and now this Iowa farmer is pushing to chop a dying corn crop to salvage what he can.  In opening up a customer’s field, he finds a large gully which had developed after planting and bent his 12 row chopper head bad enough the dealer said it was totaled.  Now it turns out this farmer’s son is a wizard with a torch and a welder and they’ll be back at it tomorrow, but the lesson here is to keep a keen eye out for the unexpected this harvest season.  

I know in our part of northern Indiana, some gullies have already been pushed shut 3 times this season to get over the fields to spray, detassel seed corn, and allow irrigators to operate safely and these spots still need work.   As you push to bring in this season’s harvest, be mindful of unexpected hazards in your fields.  

Should you find yourself in need of assistance on erosion, cover crops, or other conservation related issues, don’t be afraid to contact your local SWCD or ISDA Resource Specialist for assistance.  We’re here to help you develop a plan of action to meet your conservation needs!

Red Gold Stewardship Award

 by Julie Harrold

Julie is a Resource Specialist Team Leader/CREP Leader in the north east part of Indiana. Julie's areas of Interest/Expertise include surveying; design of waterways, wetlands , structures, and working with landowners and SWCD’s. 

In 2009, the ISDA Division of Soil Conservation began working with Red Gold, Inc. to create a Conservation Stewardship Award Program for their tomato growers.   The program was established to showcase and recognize the conservation efforts taken by Red Gold Growers.  The goal of this award program is to highlight the current practices already undertaken by conservation minded-growers and to stimulate a proactive approach among all growers to evaluate their farm management practices and make improvements.

All Red Gold growers are eligible and encouraged to complete an initial application and all growers are provided an application form.  Once the initial applications are submitted, the applications are ranked based on the same criteria for every participant.  They are based on stewardship practices used to reduce soil erosion and improve soil and water quality, and practices used to reduce nutrient runoff and/or leaching and pesticide runoff and/or leaching.

At the end of May each year, the applications are due from all the growers who want to participate.  Then begins the process of reviewing and ranking those initial applications.  The top-ranking applications, typically the top 5, are chosen as finalists.  Each year in early July, I get the opportunity to visit 5 or 6 farms and visit with these producers that grow tomatoes for Red Gold.  I get to hear and see first-hand how they operate their farms and what good stewardship practices they are doing on their farms.  Through the past 5 years that ISDA has done this program with the growers, I have seen a lot of improvements in tillage practices, and in the use of more cover crops.  After I complete the farm visits, a ranking is done based on these visits and interviews. 

Tomato field

Chemical Storage Handling Facility

Filter Strip on ditch with tomato field in the background

Hay in cropping rotation

 In late July or early August, Red Gold has a field day for their growers followed by banquet serving a delicious pork chop dinner.  This year’s field day was held near Elwood, IN and featured several cover crop demonstration plots and some equipment demonstrations. 

Cover Crop plots at Field Day

At the field day, Barry Fisher from NRCS and Greg Downing from CISCO Seeds talked about cover crop benefits, types, termination, etc. and also showed soil pits in the cover crop plots.  Fred Whitford from Purdue did a presentation on tire and road safety for trucks and trailers, and insurance.  Ben Puehler from McDonnall Harvester did a presentation on tomato harvester equipment adjustments for improving tomato quality.

Barry Fisher speaking at Field Day

Fred Whitford talking to grower at Field Day

  

Following the field day, Red Gold holds an informal banquet to recognize the hard work of their growers and to talk about this years harvest and production.  The Stewardship Award is also presented at the banquet to the top two finalists.  First place receives a $1000 scholarship from Red Gold, a plaque, and one extra load of tomatoes per day during the harvest season, and second place receives a $500 scholarship from Red Gold and ½ extra load per day during harvest.  A Second Chance drawing is then held for the remaining Stewardship Award participants and includes a drawing for one extra load per day.  This year’s winners were both from Michigan.  First place went to Stanton Farms in Sherwood, Michigan and second place went to Iott Farms in Deerfield, Michigan.  

Way to go growers, and keep up the good work of being good stewards of our land!  Thank you to the growers and participants for your commitment to improve our soil, water and natural resources.

Ft. Wayne River Fest Provides Opportunity to Help Educate Urban Residents About Agriculture Production and Ag Environmental Stewardship

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.  

A highlight at the event is the agricultural equipment display. This year, a large tractor, no-till soybean planter, precision sprayer and a grain combine were on display. Jim Lake, District Support Specialists for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, has helped with the agricultural equipment display each of the last two years. The large equipment is a magnet for children who love to climb up into the cabs of the equipment. While the parents are waiting in line to help their children get up into the equipment, we have the opportunity to talk to the parents about agricultural production practices farmers are using to help protect and improve water quality of the river. We use this opportunity to talk about no-till planting and precision farming technology being used by farmers to reduce soil erosion and accurately apply fertilizer and other crop inputs. The folks in attendance, for the most part, have no current connection with farming, and at best remember going to their grandparent's farm when they were growing up.

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.    

Cover Crop Field Day in Allen County

by Cassandra Vondran

Cassandra is an Indiana State Department of Agriculture Resource Specialist for the Division of Soil Conservation in Allen and DeKalb Counties covering the Western Lake Erie Basin and has been with the Division for nearly 18 years.

Many benefits are associated with cover crops:  erosion control, increased microbial activity, increased nutrient cycling, increased organic matter, increased infiltration, and increased crop yields. To educate area farmers, a cover crop field day was held on April 10^th at Ron Miller’s farm north of Woodburn, IN.  The field day was sponsored by the Allen County SWCD as a part of an Indiana Department of Environmental Management 319 grant for the Upper Maumee River Watershed Project. 

Scott Haley and Derek Thompson showing soil health demonstrations

Scot Haley, NRCS Area Soil Scientist, and Derek Thompson, DeKalb County NRCS District Conservationist, kicked off the field day by showing soil demonstrations.  Mike Werling, a farmer and a contract employee through the St. Mary’s Watershed Initiative, provided additional comments.  The demonstrations showed the benefits of utilizing cover crops. Producers then were able to look at soil pits in fields that had cover crops.  

Attendees look on as Scott Haley describes cover crop roots in a soil pit

Soil pits were dug about three to four feet deep to allow producers the chance to see the below ground earthworm activity and the roots of the cover crops.  One field was seeded with cereal rye and the other field was seeded with oilseed radish and oats in the fall of 2012.  Mr. Miller received cost share assistance to try cover crops for one year.

Ron Miller and his son look at the roots of a dead oilseed radish plant

The takeaway message for the event was for farmers to understand the basic mechanics of cover crops and adopt them into their own management system.  Events such as this cover crop field day are giving farmers this basic information.  More cover crop field days are being planned for the future in Allen and DeKalb counties.   

Fall Creek Watershed Partnership Activities and Updates

Post below was submitted by Leslie White of the Fall Creek Watershed Partnership. To have your Indiana conservation district/group news featured, please contact Jennifer at cleanwaterindiana@isda.in.gov. 

Fall Creek Watershed Partnership
Backyard Conservation Program
Planting Conservation Ideas and Practices in 2013

Backyard Conservation Coordinator Leslie White

Hi, I’m Leslie White, Fall Creek Watershed Partnership Backyard Conservation Coordinator working through the Soil & Water Conservation Districts of Hamilton, Hancock, Madison and Marion Counties. It’s my pleasure to share conservation information, address questions, offer suggestions and tailored conservation plans to help you reach your goals for your property. Feel free to email me at leslie-white@iaswcd.org or call 317-773-2181 to discuss conservation options and the financial assistance offered through several cost-share programs.

Wordless Wednesday-Conservation Photos from our Field Staff

ISDA-DSC Resource Specialist and CREP Leader, Julie Harrold, snapped these photos of a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) wetland. The practice was completed two years ago. For more information on CREP, please visit our website: http://www.in.gov/isda/2479.htm