2017 Affiliate Membership Survey
______ $25.00 First Tier Affiliate Membership Donation Enclosed.
❑ Yes, I plan to attend the meeting – How many? _________
❑ Sorry, I am unable to attend the meeting
______
$125.00 Second Tier Affiliate Membership Donation Enclosed.
Please provide us with a business card or a business card size ad layout for Grass Roots.
❑ Yes, I plan to attend the meeting – How many? _________
❑ Sorry, I am unable to attend the meeting
AFFILIATE INFORMATION
$_________ Other Donation Amount
Grass Roots
for Conservation
www.stormwaterelkco.org
Vol. 41
37
December
March 2012
2016
www.elkcoswcd.org
ElkhartCounty
CountySoil
Soil &
& Water
Water Conservation
Elkhart
ConservationDistrict
District
17746-B17746-B
County County
Rd. 34Rd.
~ Goshen,
IN 46528
~ Phone:
574-533-4383,
ext. 3 [email protected]
34 ~ Goshen,
IN 46528
~ Phone:
574-533-3630 [email protected]
Name
Elkhart County Soil and Water
Conservation District invites you to the
2017 Rollercoaster Conservation Series
Company
Address
“Make Your Soil Great Again”
City, State, Zip
Saturday, January 14th
PhoneFax
10 am - 12 pm
Email
Return this survey to:
Attention: Lora Callahan, Secretary/Treasurer
Elkhart County SWCD
17746-B County Road 34
Goshen, IN 46528-9261
ck It Out!
e
h
C
December 19 SWCD Board Meeting: 5:30 PM, Purdue Extension
Conference Room, Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds, Goshen.
December 26 Christmas Holiday Observed: The SWCD & NRCS Offices
will be closed for the Christmas Holiday.
2017
January 2 New Year’s Holiday Observed: The SWCD & NRCS Offices
will be closed for the New Year’s Holiday.
January 6 Elkhart County SWCD/MMG Tree Sale:
Early Bird Order Deadline is Today!!!
January 14 Build-A-Barrel Workshop: Learn about rain barrels and
then construct your own! First come, first serve until the
class is full for Elkhart County Residents only…
To register call (574) 533-4383 ext 3. ~ or email
Deb Jimison at [email protected].
January 16 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: The SWCD & NRCS Offices will
be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday.
January 18 PermiTrack Workshop: Purdue Extension Conference Room
at (Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds) 17746 County Road 34
9-10am. Call to register since there is limited space.
(574) 533-4383, ext 3.
February 28 2016 SWCD 75th Annual Meeting: We are celebrating
a special Annual Meeting this year with our guest speaker
being Jane Hardisty, State Conservationist, Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS). You won’t want to miss hearing
her speak, call the office (574) 533-4383, ext 3 to make your
reservations now!
March 1 “Make Your Soil Great Again”: Sponsored By:
Elkhart SWCD, USDA-NRCS, and Purdue Extension Elkhart
County. 8:30 am-3:30 pm, ECCC Bldg, Elkhart County 4-H
Fairgrounds, Goshen, IN. CEU Credits for CCA’s are pending!
Lunch will be provided. To register contact the SWCD
office at 574-533-4383 ext. 3.
No.
No.12
3
For Office Use Only:
Cash__________ Check #__________
Receipt #__________ # Reservations__________
SWCD - NRCS CONSERVATION
PARTNERSHIP DIRECTORY
17746-B County Road 34, Goshen, IN 46528-9261
Ph. 574-533-4383, ext. 3 • Fax: 855-408-4690
www.elkcoswcd.org   www.stormwaterelkco.org
Printed on paper produced using conservation practices
consistent with the Forest Stewardship Council.
Board of Supervisors:
Tom Kercher, Chairman Alex Wait, Vice Chairman
Dale Leer
Dean Rink
Darrell Shover
Associate Supervisors:
David Bontrager
Joe Brown
Brian Campbell
Gary Kauffman
Keith E. Miller
SWCD Staff:
James Hess, Program Manager
Jordan Beehler, Conservationist
Lora Callahan, Secretary/Treasurer Deb Jimison, Conservationist
NRCS Staff:
Amanda Kautz, District Conservationist
All programs and services of the Conservation Partnership and the Soil and Water Conservation District are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status or handicap.
Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds
Sheep/Swine Arena
Learn about rain barrels
then construct your own!
Fixtures and
tools provided
by the
Greater
Elkhart County
Stormwater
Partnership
Painting
Instructions
Available
Limited Availability!
Register Early!
First come, first serve until the class
is full for Elkhart County Residents
To register or for more information,
please call 574-533-4383 ext. 3
or email [email protected]
A meeting and trade show on decision making
in cover crop management
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
8:30am - 3:30 pm
Elkhart County Community Center
Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds, Goshen, IN
Featured Speakers include…
Jane Hardisty (IN State Conservationist, USDA-NRCS),
Dave Brandt (Soil Health Advocate, Carroll, OH),
and Panel Sessions with Area Ag Professionals,
Conservationists, and Farmers
FREE EVENT! LUNCH PROVIDED!
CEU Credits for CCA’s Pending!
To register contact the SWCD Office at:
574-533-4383 ext 3
nnual Meeting
A
5
7
th
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m.
Martin Room • Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds
17746 County Road 34, Goshen, Indiana
Make your reservation by calling, or
stopping in our office. There is no ticket fee,
but please consider supporting the
Elkhart County SWCD with a
donation or an Affiliate Membership!
TION:
N
E
T
T
A
se
All Tho g
ttin
Submi
Rule 5 on
specti
Site In rts
Repo
PermiTrack
Introductory Workshop
Workshop Date and Location
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
9:00-10:00 am
Purdue Extension Conference Room at the
Elkhart County Fairgrounds, 17746 County Rd 34, Goshen
All site inspection reports for Rule 5 active construction sites will be submitted to the Elkhart County Soil
and Water Conservation District through PermiTrack, a new online system, starting next year.
For this reason, attendance by a company representative at one workshop is strongly encouraged.
This workshop is free.
Registration is appreciated. Please register at
least a week in advance of the workshop date.
Introduction to PermiTrackESC
The Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership is
introducing a new way for site inspections of Rule 5 construction sites to be reported to the Elkhart County Soil
and Water Conservation District. The District is in charge
of accepting reports from active construction sites. PermiTrackESC is a project and inspection management system
that is being put in place next February.
PermiTrackESC is an on-line system that site managers
and inspectors will use to report existing erosion and sediment control at construction sites and keep track of the
effectiveness of the best management practices at each
property. This allows anyone at any location in the county to report qualifying rain events, weekly inspections or
emergency conditions to the appropriate agency.
With the use of a smart phone or tablet in the field, pictures and reports can be uploaded, submitted and reviewed
by any of the parties involved. Pictures are a particularly
handy way to show actual site conditions. Users view all
active construction project’s key information and saved
inspection records. If a problem is reported, PermiTrackESC
immediately alerts the responsible person to conduct a site
visit to or complete other actions to maintain permit compliance. This saves time and money, always a good thing.
All participants will view the same information, eliminating problems with interpreting vague descriptions, allowing
for assessment of the same information at multiple offices
simultaneously. This also will reduce the ever-accumulating
paperwork hauled around in contractors’ vehicles as they
try to keep track of the required weekly reports at their
active sites. Each company will pick their self-inspection
personnel, keeping the site scheduling current by receiving
overdue alerts, and see changes needed or progress made
by viewing the inspection history. This system also allows
for Public access and feedback at problem sites.
The partnership is holding a few meetings in the next
couple of months at various locations around the county to
introduce this new way to report inspections. The program
is predicted to be implemented in early 2017.
To register, or if you have any questions, please
contact Deb Jimison at 574-533-4383 ext. 3
or [email protected]
Coming
Soon!
Elkhart County
Waters Calendar
2018-19
Submit Your Photos by July 31, 2017
(JPG digital format, 300 dpi, 11” x 8 ½”
Limit: 12 photos per photographer)
It is that time again!
If you would enjoy seeing your favorite photo on
the Stormwater Partnership’s bi-annual calendar,
please send a copy to us.
We are looking for photos that show recreation
along Elkhart County’s waterways; local wildlife;
stormwater control practices like rain barrels
and rain gardens; all four seasons; agricultural
conservation practices; and scenic shots of
our local rivers, streams, and lakes.
We also include some shots of pollution, so send
those too if you have a “good” bad example.
For more complete details and forms,
contact us at the SWCD office:
[email protected] or 574-533-4383, X 3.
“Make Your Soil Great Again”
with David Brandt
David Brandt farms 1,150 acres in central Ohio’s Fairfield
County. He began no-till farming in 1971 and has been using
cover crops since 1978. David has participated in yield plots
for corn, soybeans, and wheat into various covers. This information has been used by seed growers, as well as county
agents and universities, to encourage other farmers to adapt
no-till practices on their farming operations. He plants various blends of cover crops to find out what benefits they provide to improve soil. Brandt may like the nice, green color his
fields take on after one of his cover crop mix emerges but he
also likes to see another kind of green, the color of money.
“I’m kind of a greedy farmer. If I plant something, I want to
make some money, so our cover crops have to make money
also”. Brandt has turned his bottom-line approach to evaluating cover crops into a science. Currently, David is working with Ohio State University’s Randall Reeder and Rafiq
Islam on reducing input costs of fertilizers and herbicides
using various cover crops, in order to improve soil health.
He is also working with the regional Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soils lab in Greensboro, N.C.,
on the benefits of cover crops to improve soil health. David
has received numerous awards for conservation practices,
including the Ohio Conservation Educator Award from the
Ohio No-Till Council, Ohio State University South Center’s
Supporter of the Year, Ohio Agriculture’s Man of the Year, the
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, and Ohio NRCS Soil Conservationist Partnership and State Volunteer Awards. For more information
about Brandt, feel free to look at his web page www.walnutcreekseeds.com. David Brandt will be our keynote speaker
at our “Make Your Soil Great Again” meeting on March 1,
2017 at the Elkhart County Fair Grounds. To RSVP please
contact the Elkhart County SWCD at 574-533-4383 ext. 3
NRCS Announces Deadline
for EQIP Applications
January 20th, 2017 will be the application deadline for the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in Indiana.
You can sign up for EQIP at any time throughout the year,
but to compete for the upcoming funding period, you must
submit an EQIP application by the deadline.
Many applicants have shown interest in EQIP to help them
improve soil health and address soil erosion, air and water
quality, wildlife habitat, and other resource concerns on cropland, forestland, pasture land, and livestock areas. In addition to conservation practices like cover crops, no-till, manure storage structures, and fencing, EQIP provides funding
for the development of plans, such as Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans, Grazing Plans, Drainage Water
Management Plans, and others.
“I want to remind farmers that a conservation plan must be
developed for the area that is included in an EQIP contract,”
said Jane Hardisty, Indiana NRCS State Conservationist.
“When farmers develop a conservation plan for their farm, it
speeds up the application process and oftentimes practices
are applied more strategically.”
Farmers who have never worked with NRCS before and
who want to make improvements to the land they own or
lease can find out more on the Get Started with NRCS webpage http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/na
tional/home/?cid=stelprdb1193811.
Don’t wait until the last minute to contact your local NRCS
field office about signing up, as it takes time to develop a conservation plan and get the application entered. The sooner
you get the process started, the better it is for everyone! The
Elkhart County NRCS office can be contacted at 574-5334383 Ext. 3 for more information about the program or to get
an application.
On World Soil Day, Astronomy Meets Agronomy
with an ‘Out of This World’ Message
When it comes to soil, most of us think agronomy not astronomy. But a new public service campaign featuring astronomer Laura Danly, Ph.D., suggests there’s a universal connection between the stars, the soil, and all of the residents
of planet Earth. It’s a connection that is especially significant
on Dec. 5, which the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations has deemed World Soil Day. Danly is the
curator of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California,
and a former NASA astronomer.
“The more I learn about our amazing universe, the more
I realize what a special home we have within that universe
– right here on planet Earth,” Danly said. “One of the things
that makes planet Earth such a special place is its living soil.”
“Unfortunately, soil is our one natural resource that’s often
overlooked, under appreciated and too often abused,” said
Indiana NRCS State Conservationist Jane Hardisty. “Especially on World Soil Day, it’s important to recognize that
healthy soil is the gift that keeps on giving and could very
well help us address some of planet Earth’s biggest challenges,” she said.
“Not only does soil feed and clothe us, but we now know
that improving the health of our soil can help us mitigate
the impacts of extreme weather, improve water quality and
quantity, increase food production and improve wildlife and
pollinator habitat,” Hardisty said. In Indiana our farmers have
been leading the way in the soil health movement, not only
working to stop soil erosion, but to improve the overall functioning and health of their soil. Indiana is the leader nationally in acres of cover crops planted, and this practice continues to grow.
Through NRCS’ “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil” campaign, Hardisty hopes those living in the city will become
more aware of the role soil health plays in their environment,
food, lives and futures. “We are already working with farmers out in the countryside who are adopting soil health management systems, such as no-till and cover crops to rebuild
and regenerate their soil, which is good for the farm, the environment and the farmer’s bottom line,” she said. Through
implementing the same type of practices on a smaller scale
in gardens and other areas on urban properties, the same
types of benefits can be achieved.