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Volume 1, Issue 3 September 2000 |
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A Mountrail Soil Conservation District Newsletter |
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Inside this Issue |
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1 |
Manager Comments Living Snow Fence |
Tree orders for 2001 MSCD Services |
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2 |
MSCD Services cont. From The Library Popular Trees & Shrubs |
Conservation Tillage Corner |
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3 |
What is WHIP? New Employees |
MSCD Statistics Interesting Websites |
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4 |
Keep ND Clean Poster Contest MSCD Services |
Other Tidbits of Information |
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District Manager Comments:
By Tony Meiers-District Manager
I recently attended a National 4-H Technology Conference at the University of Maryland. Here several youth and I represented the North Dakota Technology Team.
It was my duty to make sure our five youth delegates went to the workshops and focus groups and stayed out of trouble. The conference centered on getting computer and Internet access to those who have not been able to get access to this technology. A speaker at a morning assembly talked about a remote tribe in Peru that had e-commerce. This Peruvian tribe had a generator and a satellite link from where they advertised hand made items made by the tribal members.
North and South Dakota are considered the two states that have the least access, to those living within the states, to a computer and Internet. There are a number of grants available to such groups as 4-H to put together a project to bring Internet to the rural and elderly. It is through Internet that these people can access information on conservation and therefore become more aware of its benefits. It can also be a source of income to those living in isolated rural areas.
Living Snow Fence
InitiativeThis is the last year to put trees along county or township roads for free. Landowners should take advantage of this program. With the price of grains, a snow fence will bring more benefits to the land. The main guideline is that the road be a frequently traveled one. Once a site is chosen the quidelines are that minimum of two rows be planted. One row must be a shrub row and the second row is a taller species, usually tall trees. Minimum distance from the center of the road is 200 feet. Cost sharing totals 100 percent of the cost of planting trees and including a weed barrier for long-term weed protection. One half of the cost sharing comes from a continuous CRP contract spread out over 10 years and the other half received from the N.D. Forest Service the year of planting. The deadline for sending in an application is February 19, 2001. Once this program ends it will not be available again.
TREE ORDERS FOR 2001
It is more important than ever to start working on next year's tree planting plans. The last CRP signup included over 50 acres of trees and shrubs to be planted. We estimate this to be almost 80 percent of what was planted just in 2000. The nurseries say there shouldn't be any shortages. Yea right. Sometime in October, the District will send in an estimated order of trees needed for 2001. The Mountrail Soil Conservation District will be implementing a policy whereby trees will not be ordered for anyone who has not prepared their land for planting trees by November 1 of the year preceding their proposed tree planting. The MSCD will be checking on the tree planting projects to see if land is prepared properly prior to November 1st of this year.
Mountrail SCD News
In my last newsletter it had been reported that the District purchased a new grass drill. This spring the MSCD seeded over 880 acres of grass. A lot of hours were put in seeding with a 15-foot drill. The District is ready for this fall's seeding. We are just about booked up for this fall. It would be a good time to get signed up for next spring. We already have some acres ready to do next spring. The District is suggesting that the grass seed mixtures for this fall and next spring have the legumes separate from the rest of the grass seed mixture. The legume seed tends to settle to the bottom of the cool season grass seed box and probably doesn't get as good overall distribution throughout the field.
Also in this part of my newsletter I am going to ask as to what additional services, you as a producer, would like to see the District do. Some additional services being discussed, if the demand is there, are land preparation by roto-tilling, especially around homes; using a smaller grass seeder to seed smaller areas or in between tree rows with grass; leasing of a no-till air drill to county grain producers; leasing out a chemical weed wiper, which is a weed sprayer with a wick system instead of spray nozzles. This would be very effective in between tree rows and against C.Thistle.
.FROM THE LIBRARY
Life has been just to busy, which is why I don't have any recommendations for a book to read. Some of the more interesting reading came along last April. This was the 1999-2000 Northland News from the USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center. This issue offered articles on new Native Forb and Legume releases, Native Forb establishment, an update on Chokecherry diseases, Forage quality and quantity, Native Grass Seed production manual update.
I am going to add something new to this part of my newsletter. Here I will give at least one website of interest to those interested in conservation.
The website chosen this time is the USDA webpage located at
Popular Windbreak Trees and Shrubs
Then Nanking Cherry is a medium sized suckering shrub with attractive glossy foliage and cherry-like fruit. Edible fruits which are tart and dark red, excellent for pies and jelly. Leaf type and shapes simple, ovate-elliptical. Leaf surface is smooth and glossy with a leaf length from 3/4 to 2 inches. Leaf width is 3/8 to 1 inch. Flower color is white with 2 or 4 flowers. Fruit type is a dark red, cherry-shape. Growth habit is upright to rounded and dense. Crown height and width is from 3 to 6 feet. The root system is medium in depth and spreading. It fits in with most windbreak suitability groups through number 5. Nanking Cherry takes full sun only and is not drought tolerant. Cold Hardiness is to USDA Zone 2. These shrubs are used for farmstead windbreaks, riparian plantings and highway beautification. The fruits are relished by many songbirds and also provides nesting cover for a variety of songbirds. In an urban setting Nanking Cherry are used for screen, hedge, border and group plantings. For further information on varieties of trees and shrubs in North Dakota visit the NDSU Extension Service website
www.ext.nodak.edu.Conservation Tillage Corner
A new Agricultural Research Service (ARS) computer model helps eliminate uncertainties that lead many farmers to over-apply nitrogen in the spring for "insurance fertilizer" to compensate for nitrogen losses over winter. Alan E. Olness, a soil scientist, says "mostly farmers need to know only the clay and organic matter content of the top 6 inches of soil, as well as the soil pH and data from a local field weather station. The farmer sends in a soil sample for a Pre-Plant Soil Nitrate Test." This test solves the problem of estimating nitrogen losses over winter by sampling for nitrogen just before planting. Farmers then can apply only the amount of nitrogen lacking if any. This model will then predict nitrogen content for up to 90 days after planting. The model uses soil and weather information to predict how much nitrogen will be produced, after spring planting, by microbes. By adding this natural production to the amount measured at planting, the model tells farmers exactly how much nitrogen will be available to plants during the critical 60-day uptake period. Olness says his model can also help farmers time the microbial production of nitrogen to meet plant needs at various growth stages. This research is part of Integrated Crop Production and Protection Systems, an ARS National program (#305) described on the internet at
www.nps.ars.usda.gov then go to Programs, then to crop productions programs systems (cppvs).·What is WHIP
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.WHIP is a voluntary program that helps landowners develop and improve wildlife habitat on private lands. Interested landowners seek help from NRCS and other federal, state, and private organizations to develop conservation plans that improve wildlife habitat. NRCS helps participants prepare a wildlife habitat development plan in consultation with the local conservation district. The plan describes the landowner's goals for improving wildlife habitat, includes a list of practices and a schedule for installing them, and details the steps necessary to maintain the habitat for the life of the agreement. USDA and the participant enter into a cost-sharing agreement the generally lasts from 5 to 10 years. Under the agreement the landowner agrees to install and maintain WHIP practices and allow NRCS or its agent access to monitor the effectiveness of technical assistance and pay up to 75 percent of the cost of installing the wildlife habitat practices. All lands are eligible for WHIP except: Federal Land, land currently enrolled in Water Bank, CRP, Wetlands Reserve Program, or other similar programs, land subject to an Emergency Watershed Protection Program easement and land where USDA determines that impacts from onsite or offsite conditions make the success of habitat improvement unlikely. WHIP funds are distributed to States based on State wildlife habitat priorities, which may include wildlife habitat areas, targeted species and their habitats, and specific practices. Further information can be obtained from your local NRCS office.
·WEBSITES OF INTEREST:
http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov
releases, plant fact sheets, technology development
Native plant journal
comprehensive search engine for plant related websites
MSCD STATISTICS 2000
A total of 3324 hand plants were sold this spring to various customers.
About 112334 feet of trees were planted.
Last fall approximately 66000 feet of trees had casoron applied for weed control.
Weed barrier was put down on 10166 feet of tree rows.
Thanks to Larry Crowder and Hjelmer Nelson for tree planting. Also Evan Meiers, Nate Beckman, Jeremiah and Brad Swenson, Doug Evenson, and Cole Dennis for weed barrier help.
Thank you to Jeff Lapica for doing most of the grass seeding this spring.
The Soil Conservation building received a new paint job this summer. It is now white with green trim. Thanks to Evan Meiers, Nate Beckman, and Dallas Grabow for their help in painting.
·Keep ND Clean Poster Contest
Kids from the New Town, Plaza, and Parshall schools participated in the Keep ND Clean Poster Contest. Tree or shrub seedlings are given to the first through third place winners. The following students received a seedling for their posters: Roddora Duchaine and Destiny Baker from Edwin Loe Elementary in New Town; Courtney Lester and Jace Haddeland from the Plaza Public School; and Fawn Fettig from the New Town Middle School.
·Mountrail
SCD ServicesTree Planting-$17/100ft-1000foot minimum, price includes trees, subject to increase depending on percentage of shrubs
Weed Barrier Fabric-$50/100ft installed. 500 foot minimum
Treflan Application-$5.00/100 feet plus chemical unless chemical is provided.
Casoron Applications-Cost of chemical plus a $50 per hour for the first hour $30 per hour after application charge.
Undercutter Rental-$2.00 per acre.
Grass Seeding-$10.60 per acre, includes tractor and operator, producer provides grass.Rate will increase for 2001.
Tree Row Cultivation-In the row cultivation with tree-row-weeder, $50 first hour,$50 min. charge
OTHER TIDBITS
As of August 10, 2000 all payments for Water Bank have been issued, except for individuals who have not returned the Certification of Compliance for WBP or are in the process of changing ownership. If a returned the Certification of Compliance for WBP or are in the process of changing ownership. If a producer has a question on Water Bank please give a call to the Devils Lake Area Office # 701-662-7967.
Two new native legumes have become available for Conservation use in the Great Plains. Partridge pea and Bundleflower were released to meet the demand for locally adapted native legumes. Both species can be used for rangeland seedings, wildlife habitat improvement, critical area treatment for erosion control, and on roadsides, parks, and recreation areas.
The following information is taken from the Commission on the Future of Agriculture in ND 1998.
Ninety percent of North Dakota's land is in farms, making the state fourth in the nation in the percentage of total acres devoted to agriculture. North Dakota also ranks fourth in the nation in the percentage of economic base derived by agriculture.
At 38 percent of the total, agriculture is the largest sector of the state's economic base and generated more than $3 billion in revenue in 1997. North Dakota ranks 10th in agricultural exports in fiscal year 1996.
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