MORRIS SUN TRIBUNE - SWCD
Morris, Minnesota 56267
Saturday, March 1, 2014 - Page 7
Conservation Day at SWELL
Over 200 fifth grade students and teachers enjoyed a fun day in the outdoors on Thursday, September 26. Students from all schools in Pope and Stevens counties were invited to learn about conservation and the environment at SWELL (Scandia Wo o d E n v i ro n m e n t a l Learning Lab), just east of Morris. This was our seventh year for the event at SWELL. The hands-on interactive learning sessions included “Raptors,” presented by the Audubon Center of the North Woods. The students had a chance to meet live raps tors and learn about their o characteristics & habitats. The raptors included a red hawk, screech owl, great horned owl, and an American kestrel. Other sessions included Mammals, Mirrors of Minnesota, Soils, Wetlands, Waterfowl, Prairie Wildlife, Nature’s Stock Market, and the game “Orienteering.” This year we added “Reptiles and Amphibians,” which was a huge hit with the students. They had a lot of fun working with the frogs, snakes and lizards. The program was coordinated by Judy Johnston of Stevens SWCD. Our
presenters and volunteers that day were staff from: Po p e S W C D , S t e v e n s SWCD, USDA-ARS Soils Lab, North Fork Crow River Watershed, NRCS, US Fish and Wildlife, Audubon Center of the North Woods, and SWELL C o o rd i n a t o r R a n d e e Hokanson. Event sponsors include: Stevens and Pope County Local Water Plan, Hancock Sportsmen’s Club, Pope County Pheasant Restoration, Glenwood Rotary Club, North Fork Crow River Watershed, Glenwood Fire Department, Starbuck JCs, Agassiz Seeds, Ag Country Services, Stevens and Pope SWCD, Engebretson Sanitary Disposal, Eco Water, Stevens County Pheasants Forever and B r o o t e n C o m m e rc i a l Club. Special thanks to the SWCD staff of Stevens and Pope Counties and to our session presenters and volunteers, as well as SWELL landowners Linda and Karl Retzlaff, for making this an outstanding event for our fifth grade students.
Hancock fifth grade students learn about amphibians in a station presented by the Audubon Center near Sandstone during Conservation Day at SWELL. Mrs. Nelson is their teacher.
Morris fifth grade students from Mrs. Millard’s class learn about wetlands and wetland plants during Conservation Day at SWELL
Benefits of cover crops Cover crops are grasses, legumes, forbs, or other herbaceous plants that are established for seasonal cover and conservation purposes. Cover crops are typically planted in the late summer or early fall around harvest and before spring planting of the following year’s crops. Common cover crops used in Minnesota include winter hardy plants such as rye and wheat, and others used include oats, barley, spring wheat, hairy vetch, red clover, turnips, canola, radishes, and triticale. Cover crop selection and management should focus on maximizing both above and below-ground biomass and encouraging nutrient cycling as deep in the soil profile as possible. Choosing a mix of a grass with a fibrous root system and a legume or brassica with a tap root will usually provide the widest range of benefits. Benefits of a cover crop include: • Erosion control
mended seeding • Protection of dates to establish a cash crop from wind successful cover when cash crop is at crop. Seeding can the most vulnerable be drilled, broadstage of growth cast, or aerial ap• Increases soil plied. The EQIP proorganic matter gram provides pro• Conserves soil ducers with a good moisture opportunity to try • Increases nutricover crops on their ent cycling l a n d . P ro d u c e r s • Provides nitrogen for plant use Cover crop of radishes planted in Stevens must have an approved EQIP con• S u p p r e s s e s County in 2013 tract. Payments in weeds • Reduces compaction it will be terminated. All EQIP range from $58 to • Provides supplemen- legume seed is recom- $95 per acre, depending mended to be inoculated. on your scenario. Be sure tal forage for livestock P l a n t i n g a w i l d l i f e Brassicas provide excel- to work with your crop infriendly cover crop such as lent weed control and Ni- surance agent for more debuckwheat or a brassica trogen scavenging poten- tails to make sure the cover and leaving the growth tial. The tap roots are ex- crop will not interfere with and/or the grain can be a cellent at penetrating your crop insurance provery valuable winter food tillage pans and dense soil gram. Stop by the NRCS office in Morris for more insource for a wide variety of layers. NRCS has many valu- formation on cover crops. wildlife and pollinators. Legumes alone or in com- able tools for producers inbination with grasses can terested in trying cover provide quicker soil biol- crops on their operation. ogy/biota restoration and These tools can help proNitrogen fixation. An early ducers determine what summer planted legume species would be best will grow rapidly and fix a suited for their goals with good amount of Nitrogen cover crops, range of seedprior to a killing frost when i n g r a t e s a n d re c o m -
Olson relocates to Iowa as a Soil Conservationist After over two years as the Soil Conservation Technician in the Morris Service Center, Josiah Olson has accepted a transfer and began as Union County Iowa’s Soil Conservationist in the Creston Service Center on Jan. 13, 2014. “I’ve enjoyed being part of this community and helping apply good stewardship and conservation practices on private land in Stevens County.” says Olson “I especially enjoyed working on conservation ease-
ments and engineering projects that reduce erosion and runoff.” The Morris Office wishes Josiah all the best in the next step of his career.
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Location: On the farm 1 Mile North of Heartland Motor Co. • Morris