By: Patrick Troyer, Education Specialist
Recently, the Paulding SWCD held its 68th Annual Banquet & Supervisor Election “A Community Conservation Celebration”. The community came out to celebrate a year’s worth of many great accomplishments for the Paulding Soil & Water Conservation District in the areas of technical assistance, educational programming, nutrient management, ditch maintenance, and overall district achievements. The evening began with the election of supervisors with three candidates competing for two spots on the board of supervisors. Candidates included incumbent Bryce Mills from Payne, Joe Barker from Antwerp, and Tom Wannemacher from Payne. Bryce Mills was re-elected to a new term to commence January 1, 2018 while Joe Barker was elected to a new term beginning January 1, 2018.
The Paulding SWCD would like to thank all the businesses and individuals who donated towards the evening and or provided fantastic door prizes. Sponsors included Mercer Landmark, Past Time Café, Pendergrast Farm Drainage, Baughman Tile Company, Cooper Farms, Haviland Drainage, Pond Seed Company, Schlatter Plumbing & Heating, Williamson Insurance, Ag Credit, First Federal Bank, Fortman Insurance, Trishe Wind Farms, Hubbard Company, Bradford Excavating, Dangler Excavating, MacDonald Portable Welding, Pond Seed, and Mumma Drainage.
Prior to dinner, Patrick Troyer, Education Specialist, welcomed everyone in attendance and introduced Soil & Water and Ditch Maintenance Staff, as well as, distinguished guests. Dinner was prepared by Shayna Delong and Kim Grubaugh from Van Wert, OH and served by the Paulding FFA Officer Team. The Dessert Bar was graciously donated by VanCrest of Payne. A big thank you goes out to these individuals for a job well done!
Following dinner, staff presented a highlight of achievements for the Paulding SWCD over the last year. Patrick Troyer, Education Specialist, spoke on work completed throughout 2017. Troyer noted that in the last year up to now, Paulding SWCD has reached over 4,442 students through 201 classroom presentations, 5th Grade Field Day, visits to the Black Swamp Nature Center, and contests such as the Area 1 Envirothon, summer camps, and educator conferences just to name a few. Over 981 adults were reached through 55 programs as well. In 2017, Paulding SWCD received a $2,792 grant from the Ohio EPA to purchase three different Enviroscape models to cover topics on drinking water, non-point pollution, and wetlands! Through displays at field events around the county, including the Paulding County Fair, 350 people were reached. We also have an active presence with our newsletter for teachers “Conservation in the Classroom” which reaches teachers each month and our recently established SWCD Newsletter “Spotlight on Conservation” as well as an active presence on social media keeping residents up to date on the latest in conservation news. Weekly newspaper columns reach 54,688 people every week and inform readers of the latest in conservation and happenings of the Paulding SWCD. Our fish and tree sales were also successful for 2017 with $1,982 in tree sales and $3,471.50 in fish sales. Troyer said to look for new information out on these sales soon! Improvements have also been made to the Black Swamp Nature Center with all trails trimmed back for everyone’s enjoyment, stone/mulch placed on trails, and picnic tables/ fishing pole racks built by Travis Couts as an eagle scout project.
Patrick Troyer also spoke on a promotion that SWCDs in the Western Lake Erie Basin are working on with OSU Extension to provide information on Best Management Practices (BMPs). A website has been developed to provide this information and can be found at www.agbmps.osu.edu. The intent is to empower farmers/landowners with the knowledge necessary to identify the high- risk situations that exist in their farm fields and the ability to know when to seek professional help for implementing cost effective conservation. A handout was provided to every in attendance highlighting resources the website provides.
Next, Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) Nutrient Management Specialist Manuel Lay provided an update. Lay mentioned that he joined Paulding SWCD in August and serves Paulding, Defiance, and Williams County. He mentioned that one of the biggest happenings in manure management was the Manure Science Review we hosted in August. This tri-state event was hosted by Paulding SWCD Board Chair Matt Stoller & his family with over 231 producers and ag professionals in attendance! For this event Paulding SWCD partnered with Ohio State University, Seneca SWCD, Cooper Farms, Ohio Department of Agriculture, and Ohio Farm Bureau. This event provided sessions on using manure nutrients effectively, regulations updates, edge of field studies, BMP’s for manure application, and a cover crop panel. The afternoon consisted of field demonstrations on smoking subsurface tile drainage, in addition to applicator demonstrations for poultry litter, side dressing for liquid manure, frac tanks, and drag hose on growing corn. Otherwise, there have been manure complaints to follow up on while also working with producers answering questions. Manuel noted that he has produced a pamphlet of frequently asked questions about manure hauling and stockpiling with can be found on the Paulding SWCD website www.pauldingswcd.org or by stopping in the office.
District Technician Daniel Foust highlighted technical assistance that has been provided over the last year. Foust noted that 2017 has been a busy year for him when it comes to technical assistance in Paulding County. For the year to date, there has been 6,262 acres worth of variable rate nutrients placement based off soil test put into practice. Cover crops have also been popular in Paulding County for the year with 6,986 acres of cover crops planted by producers through cost-share programs. Soil testing for proper nutrient application has been strong in 2017 with 8,963 acres worth of soil testing completed in Paulding County. Drainage has been a priority for the Paulding SWCD with 39 tile drainage control structures and 3 blind inlets funded and installed through cost share programs. Lastly, there have been 2 sites for manure storage constructed in the county to bring producers in compliance with manure storage regulations. Altogether, the Paulding SWCD has paid out $554,214 in technical assistance to the producers and landowners of Paulding County to get conservation practices on the ground!
Foust also spoke on an initiative Paulding SWCD is promoting with OSU Extension on a manure application toolbar available to producers. The grant is to get livestock farmers to use a manure application toolbar to do one of three things: Incorporate manure in the spring and later plant corn between the rows of corn; side dress newly planted or emerged corn (up to the V4 stage) with liquid manure; or apply manure in 30-inch rows in the fall with the idea of planting into the manure strips the following spring.
Ryan Mapes and Sam Smith with Ditch Maintenance (DM) had a busy year as well full of annual ditch inspections, vegetation management, erosion control, dip outs and reconstruction. In 2017, DM did 51,140 feet (9.7 miles) of bottom cleanout, 30,500 ft. (5.75 miles) of Spoil Dirt leveled, and 70-80 loads of CHF hauled and installed at no additional cost to Ditch Maintenance. They have done erosion repair on multiple maintenance ditches throughout Paulding County, primarily on Marie-Delarme and Blue Creek.
Deb Hubbard, District Administrator, concluded by reminding everyone to stop by and visit our offices located at 900 Fairground Drive across from the Black Swamp Nature Center. She also informed everyone that the Black Swamp Nature Center is available for rent and to call the office for their next rental. Deb Hubbard thanked the Paulding County Commissioners, the Board of Supervisors, and the community for their support over the last year. For entertainment, Kristian Charles from Cincinnati, OH wowed the crowd with his magic & comedy routine full of amazing tricks and plenty of laughter.
Awards for Educator of the Year and Cooperator of the Year were handed out to distinguished individuals in the community crucial to spreading the conservation message. Kathy Sinn, 5th & 6th Grade Science Teacher at Grover Hill Elementary was awarded the Educator award for help in writing a letter of support for an Ohio EPA Grant to purchase education models on water quality and for encouraging student participation in the Paulding SWCD poster contest. Ken Gordon of Payne was awarded the Cooperator award for his active participation in the conservation programs offered at Paulding SWCD.
