The Fulton County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) uses various tools to inform the public about soil and water conservation issues. Aside from the daily operations of the office, we worked with various conservation partners throughout the year to provide information and education to the public.
FEBRUARY: Held a 3-county “Healthy Soils” winter meeting, this was attended by 29 area producers.
MARCH: Assisted Arrow Head Country RC&D Education Committee in the 2013 “Envirothon,” where students work in teams attending classes and completing tests on five subjects: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, wildlife, forestry, and a current environmental issue which changes each year.
APRIL: Provided bookmarks to county libraries in support of Conservation Stewardship week.
JUNE: Celebrated Norman Farms as the recipient of Indiana’s River Friendly Farmer Award. Mike’s hard work and dedication to conservation is getting noticed!
JULY: Created a display booth at the Fulton County 4-H Fair, to encourage farmers to plant cover crops to conserve soil & water resources.
AUGUST: Mike Norman and Matt Harsh attended a
Chair and Vice-Chair workshop in Indianapolis.
SEPTEMBER: Supervisors and staff participated in the annual River Rafting event sponsored by Arrowhead Country RC&D. Up to 100 students per day attend conservation classes and complete tests throughout the five day event. Beginning with a lesson and a test on watersheds, students then spend about three hours on the river, learning about the history and the importance of the Tippecanoe. A stop is scheduled where students can scale a steep bank, with the assistance of a rope, to follow state foresters from the DNR into the woods and learn about forest management, tree identification, and wildlife. Then it’s back on the river until the next stop, where stations are set up for water quality testing and identification of macro-invertebrate life in the river.
Later in September Fulton and Marshall County SWCDs held a Cover Crop Field Day at Mike & Leisa Norman’s farm, with approximately 60 attendees. Barry Fisher, from the Technology Staff for NRCS was the guest speaker. He represents NRCS in the Conservation Cropping System Initiative which advances the technology of quality no-till, nutrient and pest management on crops, and precision technology for successful system integration.
In addition:
• Assisted two Fulton County households in getting their failing septic systems replaced through the USDA Rural Development’s 504 repair loan and grant program.