Ashland SWCD Summer Wrap Up

It’s hard to believe that the end of summer is right around the corner. Ashland SWCD has been busy wrapping up projects of Summer 2019. Including our MWCD cover crop cost share applications which totaled near 4,800 acres within the county with approximately 4,000 approved acres to receive cost share. Monday the 9th of this month we completed our first county wide aerial cover crop seeding, we were able to cover approximately 550 acres of farm fields. We anticipate these programs coming back for 2020, if you are interested, we encourage you to contact our office and get on the list for a reminder call when sign up starts next year.

This week we also hosted five schools from Ashland and Holmes county for the Ashland county FFA soils judging contest. It was a great opportunity for students to test their knowledge and gain hands on experience in the field.  Staff from Ashland SWCD, Holmes SWCD, and Ashland NRCS were able to talk with students about what to look for when judging soil pits and tests holes and answer any questions. We greatly appreciate Bill Baldauf our host for the event, Ron White, Rocemi Morales NRCS, Rachel Lumpcik NRCS, Joe Christner Holmes SWCD, and John Lorson Holmes SWCD.

As fall approaches and it’s a great time to think about soil testing. Ashland SWCD is now offering on farm soil testing to producers in Ashland county. You must provide staff with a list of fields you would like sampled and we will come out and pull those samples for you and provide you with results and a voluntary nutrient management plan for each sampled pulled. The cost is $20 per sample with a minimum of five samples. Don’t forget! If you are interested in having a lawn or garden tested, we can send those sampled to the lab for you and go over results with you.

Ashland SWCD was recently awarded a watershed coordinator grant that allows us to work in the Jerome fork watershed to encourage a watershed wide approach of conserving and improving the resources within the area. A part of this grant allows us to write 9-element watershed plans. This year we are focusing on the Lang Creek watershed, of which is the most degraded watershed within the Jerome fork. The Lang Creek includes areas such as the City of Ashland and parts of Milton and Clear Creek township. The goal of an 9-Element Plan is to identify challenges and needs of the watershed and prioritize what needs to be done to optimize water health and quality. We are looking for volunteers to provide input on what you think is important within the watershed, whether you are a resident of the area or a business owner we encourage you to reach out to Ashland SWCD. For more information on any of our programs please contact our office at 419-281-7645. Check out our facebook page at AshlandSWCD.

About the Author

Erica White started as the district technician in our office in 2018. Erica graduated from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in 2017 with an Associate of Applied Science in Crop Management and Soil Conservation with a specialization in Crop Management and an Associate of Application Science in Business Management with a specialization in Agricultural Business. She grew up in Norwalk on a hobby farm and currently lives in Wellington. Erica’s life moto is “life is always better in the barn.” She enjoys spending time with her family (especially her nephew Granger), riding her horses, and playing with her two dogs Ruffus and Jager.