07 Jan 73rd Annual Meeting of the Wabash County SWCD
The Wabash County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) 73rd Annual Meeting will be held Friday March 2, 2018 at the Heartland REMC Touchstone Energy Center, Wabash location. Registration and morning refreshments will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the program to start at 8:00 a.m. Wabash County SWCD is very excited to have Mike Werling, Fred Whitford and Curt Campbell as guest speakers.
Mike Werling is a multi-generation farmer on his grain operation. The farm is located six miles northwest of Decatur. He uses a three-year rotation following corn with soybeans then wheat or oats. He practices no-till and uses cover crops because he doesn’t like soil erosion. It pays off because he was a 2012 winner of the River Friendly Farmer of the Year Award for his conservation efforts. The biggest benefit from his no-till / cover crop mix has been an increase in organic matter in the soil, and improvement in soil life and health. Mike says healthy soil has better water infiltration, less run off, and he uses less fertilizer, and sees better yields. Werling has plans for test plots to measure the value of no-till, conservation tillage and cover crops. The on-farm research is exciting because “that’s real life. These are practices that could be used on a larger scale.”
Fred Whitford is the developer and coordinator of the Purdue Pesticide Program with the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. His expertise includes pesticide safety education, pesticide registration, regulations, insurance, and environmental and safety audits. At the Annual Meeting he will be teaming with Curt Campbell, of the Wabash County Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, to conduct the Dicamba certification and the Pesticide Applicators Recertification Program (PARP) Presentation.
Also speaking will be Adam Jones, NRCS District Conservationist, on 2018 program updates and Eric Armentrout, FSA County Executive Director on his agencies updates. We will also hear from Salamonie River Watershed, Wabash River Defenders and Eel River Watershed groups. Rob Shellhamer, chairman of the Wabash County SWCD will preside over the election of a new board member. Awards will also be presented for the 2018 Wabash County SWCD Conservation Farmer of the Year and the River Friendly Farmer Award.
Wabash County SWCD would like to thank the following corporate 73nd Annual Meeting Sponsors. Advanced Ag. Resources, Ag. Venture-McKillip Seeds, Agra Warehouse LLC, The Andersons Inc., CFC Distributors, Central Indiana Ethanol LLC, Crop Fertility Specialist, Crossroads Bank & Trust, Farm Credit Mid-America, First Farmers Bank & Trust, First Merchants, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Manchester Farm Center, New Holland Logansport Inc., POET Biorefining, Rupley Farm Equipment, SPNC Corp, Wolfe Tax & Financial Services Inc., and Yagel Grain Systems.
Lunch will be catered by Poole’s Meat Market and tickets are now on sale for $5.00. You can make your reservations by calling the Wabash County Soil and Water Conservation District at 260-563-7486 ext. 3.
Wabash County Soil and Water Conservation District 73rd Annual Meeting
Plus PARP Credits and Dicamba Certification
Location: Heartland REMC Touchstone Energy Center, Wabash location
Friday, March 2, 2018
Agenda:
7:30-8:00 a.m. Registration
8:00 a.m. Welcome
8:10 a.m. Adam Jones-NRCS District Conservationist
Eric Armentrout-FSA County Executive Director
8:20 a.m. Fred Whitford-Purdue Pesticide Programs Coordinator-What Have We Learned from Equipment Accidents
9:20 a.m. Curt Campbell-Wabash County Purdue Cooperative Ext.-Dicamba-PARP
10:20 a.m. Break/Elections
10: 40 a.m. Salamonie River Watershed update
Jen Rankin Wabash River Defenders Update
Herb Manifold-Beargrass Creek Watershed Update
11:00 a.m. Mike Werling- “Penciling Out” the Benefits of Cover Crops & Soil Health
12:15 p.m. Awards/Election Results
12:30 p.m. Lunch