Annual Meeting March 9, 2017 6pm

Madison County

4H Building

$5 pp (pay at the door)

Madison County Soil

and Water Conservation

District Newsletter

FEBRUARY 2017

Urban Soil Health Specialist Kevin Allison of Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District in Indianapolis will join us to share his work on urban agriculture and water conservation. Kevin works to assist small farmers and gardeners with cropping systems that regenerate soil and conserve water. He encourages a suite of conservation practices that includes soil testing, cover crops, reduced soil disturbance, mulching, and native plantings. The goal of these no-till gardening practices are to improve soil health, infiltration,

storage, crop productivity and nutrient efficiency. Kevin will be sharing the SWCD’s and growers' techniques and experiences. Carolyn Moreland will be providing our wonderful dinner. Please RSVP so we can have an accurate attendance to provide to Carolyn. To reserve your spot,

please contact Brandi

Frazier at

(765) 644-4249 ext. 3

IN THIS ISSUE

InField Advantage

Program

River Friendly Farmer

Heartland Backyard

Conservation Program

Cost Share

Women Caring for the

LandSM Event

INField Advantage: A Nitrogen Saving Tool

By Meg Leader, ISDA

INfield Advantage (INFA) began 2016 by holding a Winter Meeting to discuss the 2015 growing season. While there was much from the 2015 weather patterns that many wanted to forget, the discussion was productive and lively. Led by facilitators, Meg Leader, INFA State Coordinator, and Hans Kok, consultant, the participants came away with some ideas about their crop management. In fact, the Madison County SWCD has personally spoke with two farmers who have changed their management as a direct result of the data they received from INFA.

INFA continues to be one of the largest adaptive nutrient management farmer networks in the country, while continuing to grow in 2016. This year we added five new local groups, bringing our total number of groups to thirty four state-wide. Nearly 1,000 fields, or over 70,000 acres, were monitored using the INFA tools. In 2016, we also saw the creation of a pilot project with Indiana Pork to study fields that had hog manure applied.

The Delaware/Madison group continued working in 2016 towards our goal of improving nitrogen use efficiency in corn. This year, we had thirteen local growers participate in INFA. Our local group is part of the state-wide program coordinated by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA). More information about the program and previous years’ results can be found at: www.INfieldAdvantage.org

INFA uses aerial imagery and the Corn Stalk Nitrate Test (CSNT) to determine nitrogen use efficiency in each field enrolled. Producers are not restricted on tillage,

rotation, nitrogen form, timing or rate, and may enroll multiple fields. The basic level of the program is called Guided Stalk Sampling (GSS). Growers may also use INFA to conduct on-farm research using Replicated Strip Trials (RST). At the end of the year, INFA supplies each grower with the imagery and CSNT results from each field. Any fields with a Replicated Strip Trial will also have an RST report. Each grower also receives a regional report, with each field assigned an anonymous ID number.

Our 2016 working group consisted of thirty eight GSS fields and two RST fields. INFA costs are funded through Indiana Corn Marketing Council/Indiana Soybean Alliance (ICMC/ISA) checkoff funds, and is offered free of charge to producers. The total value of the imagery and lab work to our producers in 2016 was $ 12,338. Our program is possible due to the coordination and support of local Indiana Conservation Partnership staff. We also received additional support from ISDA’s INFA State Coordinator and ICMC/ISA. This in-kind support is roughly valued at $3,500.

The Delaware/Madison Group reconvened for their INFA Winter Meeting on January 31st, with even more success stories from the 2016 season. Our group formed over five years ago, and we’re now seeing the payoff. As mentioned earlier, two of our growers have decreased nitrogen use with the data they’ve received from INFA. We hope to see that continue in the near future.

2017 INFA registration forms will be available by February 15. If you are interested in enrolling fields as either GSS or RST, please contact the Steve Schmidt, at (765) 644-4249, ext. 3, or by email at stephen.schmidt@in.nacdnet.net.

Mike Shuter Awarded River

Friendly Farmer of Indiana

Mike Shuter, of Shuter Sunset Farms,

was named one of Indiana’s River

Friendly Farmers in 2016. Since

1999, key conservation and

agricultural organizations have

sponsored the River Friendly Farmer

Program. It recognizes farmers, who

through production management

practices, help keep Indiana’s rivers,

lakes and streams clean.

The Madison County SWCD has

worked with Mike the last four years

to research and promote soil health

with the funding from the

Conservation Cropping Systems

Initiative. Each year, we’ve visited

Mike’s field four to five times to

sample both the plants and soils.

This data shows the benefits of

installing best management practices

on the overall soil health of a field.

Mike has been an innovator in the

use of cover crops to help preserve

nutrients in his fields, as well as

reduce erosion and runoff making it’s

way to Indiana’s waterways. We look

forward to more successful years

with Mike and Shuter Sunset Farms.

Congratulations, Mike!

Landowners Take Advantage of the Heartland Backyard Conservation Program

In 2016, the Madison County SWCD, along with Hamilton, Hancock and Marion Counties, began our fourth year of our partnership on

the Heartland Backyard Conservation Program, and some Madison County residents took advantage. In past years, most of the grants

we’ve worked with focused on agricultural land. This program is geared towards residential areas, where residents could install

conservation practices in their own backyards.

There were numerous participants with projects that ranged from rain gardens and bioswales, to pond edge enhancements that

discourage geese congregation. The partnership approved cost share for small prairie plantings and tree and shrub plantings. Not

only do these practices increase wildlife habitat in an urban setting, they help water quality and soil health.

One of Madison County’s highlighted projects involved planting understory shrubs in an established woods. The landowner spent

hours upon hours removing bush honeysuckle, an Indiana invasive, that had taken over the understory. New shrubs, that tolerate

shade, were planted in the areas where the invasives were removed, and the understory was rejuvenated.

Another project focused on forage and honey bee habitat on her small chicken and turkey farm. Flowering plants and shrubs were

planted just outside her chicken pen. Fruiting plants were planted close enough that the chickens were able to eat the fruits off of the

plants. An acre pollinator prairie mix is going to be planted in the spring to increase honey bee habitat. She took it a step further and

planted a wind break on the west side of her property with pine trees.

In all, it was a very successful year for the Heartland Backyard Conservation Program. These are just a small sample of what cost share funds can be utilized for. If you have ideas on creating wildlife habitat or have questions about what you can do in more of an urban or residential area, contact Brandi Frazier at (765) 644-4249, ext. 3, or by email at

brandi.frazier@in.nacdnet.net.

Hello Madison County! I am

very excited to be the new

Watershed Coordinator for

the Madison County SWCD. I

was born and raised in

Alexandria and have actually

never lived outside of

Madison County. I currently

live in Alexandria with my

husband of 17 years, Jessie,

our son, Kolton, and daughter,

Brooklyn. My family and I are

avid sports fans. Of course we

love the Colts, Purdue and the

Chicago Cubs, so, you can

imagine how excited we were

when the Cubbies finally

broke the curse this year! I

love watching Kolton play

football, and Brooklyn started

basketball this year. Other

than running the kids to

practice and games we enjoy

swimming, boating and

spending time with family and

friends. I have enjoyed

learning this new industry, as

I am looking forward to

participating in the Master

Gardner Program and the

Watershed Leadership

Academy in the coming year.

I want to thank Steve for all

his knowledge and patience

this year with me being new

to the conservation world. I

look forward to meeting

everyone! Please feel free to

email me at

brandi.frazier@in.nacdnet.net

or call (765) 644-4249 ext. 3

MEET OUR NEW STAFF!!

I grew up in the fast-growing city of Nashville, Tennessee. My family’s roots are in Western Tennessee. This is where I gained a love for being outside and learning about agriculture. My grandfa-ther had a swine operation and I would spend every summer there. As a child I took an interest in farming, how crops grew, and what it took for crops to grow. With most of family attending Ten-nessee State University and majoring in Agriculture, I naturally decided I wanted to go in a different direction. When I started college in 2005 I majored in Computer Science at Middle Tennes-see State in Murfreesboro. Although it was a good experience, I wasn’t able to avoid my interest of agriculture. Therefore, I trans-ferred to Tennessee State University and completed a degree in Agricultural Business. Before coming to Indiana NRCS, I was of-fered an internship in Spencer, Iowa while in college through the SCEP program with NRCS. After spending the summer in Spencer, Iowa I interned in Tennessee for about nine months. After graduating I was offered full-time soil conservationist position in Donnellson, Iowa where I worked for three years. In 2015 I transferred to Americus, Georgia spending about a year and a half there before coming to Indiana. Well I’m a very competitive person, so in my spare time I like to play sports, board games, card games, etc. Basically anything I have a chance at beating anyone at, you can count me in. I also enjoy singing, writing music, exploring new things, spending time with the people I love, and traveling. What I’m looking forward to most in this position is creating new part-nerships and be able to help farmers of Indiana protect their soil.

Madison County SWCD

182 W. 300N. Return Service Requested

Anderson, IN 46012

Standard Mail

U.S. Postage

Paid Permit No. 20

Anderson, IN

Attention Women Landowners

Interested in maintaining

productive land, while conserving your natural resources?

Join us for an event developed specifically

for female landowners and farmers interested in learning more about

conservation. Women Caring for the Land

SM is a women-only, peer-to-peer,

informal discussion about conservation, individual land stewardship goals and

information sharing. Female conservationists will be available to

facilitate discussions and share resources.

April 13th 2017

9:00am—3:-00pm Madison County Fairgrounds

Alexandria, In

We will provide a continental breakfast, lunch and an afternoon field tour which will

allow participants to speak with a local producer and view conservation practices

in the area.

Please RSVP by April 7th at 765-644-4249 ext. 3 or

brandi.frazier@in.nacdnet.net This session of Women Caring for the Land

SM is a collaborative effort involving the

Delaware County SWCD, Madison County SWCD, Madison County Purdue Extension, Women4theLand, and the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.

For more information contact: Delaware Co SWCD (765) 747-5531 ext.3, Madison

Co SWCD (765) 644-4249 ext.3 Madison Co Purdue Extension (765) 641-9514