Author: Brokaw, Wendy - NRCS-CD, Monmouth, IL

Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District
1st edition 2022 701 North Main, Monmouth, IL 61462 309) 734-9308
Web Site: WarrenCoSWCD.com
Email: warrencosoilwater@gmail.com

PFC 2022 APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED NOW

This Issue
2022 Election Information
Board and Employee Info.
Conservation Xmas Update
COVID Update
Cedar Creek Conservation
Area Update
Partners For Conservation
Program Sign up Information
Ag in the Classroom
Business Directory
Spring Fish Sales
Winter Training Update
Farm Bureau Update
Calendar
Sales

The Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District and the USDA is an equal opportunity
provider and employer.

Page 2 Resource Reflections Edition 1 2022

"Resource Reflections" is a publication of the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District with 2 issues annually. Issues are on hand at the SWCD office at 701 N. Main, Monmouth, Illinois 61462, or by calling (309) 734-8569.
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am - 4:30 p.m.
Friday - 8:00 am - 12:00 p.m.; afternoons by
Appointment
Board Members
Terry Davis Chairman Roseville
Matt Dutton V.Chairman Alexis
RichardYoungquist Sec.-Treas. Galesburg
Ronald Moore Director Roseville
Eric Hanson Director Galesburg
Associate Directors
If you are interested in becoming an associate director, please contact office staff to be brought into an upcoming board meeting and interviewed for that possibility.
District Staff
Shawnee Sheehan Resource Conservationist
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Cathy Froelich District Conservationist
Austin Ramirez Area Engineer (In office 3-4 times monthly)
Regular Board Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the district office.
1:30 p.m. December—March
7:00 p.m. April—May
1:30 p.m. June—August
7:00 p.m. September—November
The SWCD is operated in accordance with USDA policy, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, age, handicap, religion, or national origin. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against should write to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250

SWCD ELECTION INFO
It is that time of year again! On Tuesday February 15th the doors will be open for ballots to be dropped at the USDA Service Center for your next term of District Board Members. This year there are 3 positions open for our board. Our current individuals running for re-election are Terry Davis out of Roseville, IL who has served as our dedicated chairman for several years, Matt Dutton of Alexis, IL; who has also been our vice chairman for several years, and Richard Youngquist of Galesburg, IL for our secretary treasurer; Richard has also served as our secretary-treasurer for several years as well. Each of these three individuals have served on our board proudly and done everything they can to ensure that we are doing our best to conserve the natural resources in Warren County in a timely and efficient manner. We are so grateful for their previous years of service and are humbled by their decision to once again step forward and put their names on the ballots. The voting period will be from 6:30am on Tuesday Morning to 5pm on Tuesday Evening. If you are unable to get into the office based on health restrictions; please call the office to be issued a mail in ballot.
We are looking forward to continued success in our district, building our work-load, and putting forth our best effort to do the best for tomorrows agriculture, TODAY!
Thank you to anyone and everyone who contributes to the level of success we achieve each year and thank you to anyone who shares SWCD Information to other landowners, producers, and community members; without you all, we wouldn't be able to continue to do what we do.

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CONSERVATION CHRISTMAS
This year we were very excited to join together with board members, staff, and producers and enjoy another successful year of conservation practices and hard work. At our Conservation Christmas dinner we enjoyed a delicious meal catered by The Village Bean in Roseville, IL. Pork was donated to the event from Smithfield Foods. The owners of the Village Bean were beyond amazing with their food preparation, signature cocktails, and beautiful table settings. We all enjoyed the delicious desserts baked to perfection for us as well. Not only were we fortunate enough to have a wonderful culinary experience; but we were all thrilled to enjoy the musical entertainment provided to us by Zach Simpson. Following the meal and music we were able to have festive conversation about the years activities and loved being able to chat with one another. We are looking forward to another year of success and hope to see even more familiar faces next year as we celebrate all the hard work we have put into the county and conserving soil and water health. We are always ecstatic to see more faces and hear more feedback each year! If anyone has any questions or recommendations for next years event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Shawnee Sheehan in the Monmouth office.

COVID-19 UPDATE
The USDA service Center is open and operating with employees in the office each day practicing social distancing and taking all safety precautions for our employees. At this time we are seeing producers on an appointment schedule. The FSA, NRCS, and SWCD are seeing producers via their windows still! Please call the office to make appointments for indoor visits during the cold season to avoid standing outside at the windows.
The office will remain operating this way until the county is able to maintain several consecutive weeks of no new cases of the COVID-19 virus.

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Cedar Creek Conservation Area
We are happy to continue on with another year leasing our pasture ground to the Jensen Family. In the past they have went above and beyond to complete projects that positively enhance the property and conserve soil and water health. We hope that they have another successful year!
We are also excited to enter another year with corn crib outfitters leasing our other land. The folks at CCO have been amazing tenants and have really done the work on the property to upgrade what was out there upon their contract entry, we look forward to seeing what other ideas they have and what other projects they complete out at their leased location– we wish them a successful spring in preparing for fall hunters.
Important Dates and Reminders

Partners For Conservation (PFC) Sign Ups

Partners for Conservation (PFC) is the state funded program in our county that is administrated by the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The funding for this program is provided to the districts from the Illinois Department of Agriculture and is monitored by them, technical work and contract work is completed by your county district. In Warren County we have had an increasing number of applications which is great– it means that we have people interested in being the best stewards of the land they can be! This year (2022) is funded by our fiscal year 2021. We will be accepting COVER CROP applications until November 2022 for the FY21 Money but the other program sign ups for that fiscal year have been closed.
The upcoming fiscal year 2022 is OPEN for all program applications. If you notice anything on your property that needs addressed, please contact our office to start the application process. With our FY22 Money we can fund waterways, water and sediment control basins, cover crops, etc. and are happy to discuss options with you to help control your soil and water health concerns. PFC22 Sign ups (applications) will be open until JUNE 15TH, 2022. If you are interested please call the office NOW! Following the application and sign up process we will complete investigation, survey, design, and would be prepared for a 2023 construction. Please keep in mind, we use a ranking system– this means not every project or cover crop application gets funded, but we will try our best to continue showing the state our increasing work load, and in return may continue to get increased funding!

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By ANNA DAMOS

2021 has certainly been a year! The first half of the year, I was unable to visit classrooms, but was able to drop off materials and resources. During the pandemic, I was pushed to find new ways to share agriculture education resources, information, and material. Each month, Ag Bags were created and available that included activities, mini-lessons, crafts, and materials for families to have and complete at home. In the Spring, classrooms once again hatched chicks after being unable to in 2020. Helping to supply schools with the equipment and eggs seemed to bring some sense of normalcy, and I was finally able to go into the school buildings once again to assist and then to pick up the chicks. It was wonderful to see the student's excitement again. Over the summer, I enjoyed participating in the Warren County Library Summer Reading program again. Our theme was Bees & Pollinators. This is always a favorite topic, and one I love to teach. We were looking for ways to interact with the community and the Monmouth Farmer’s Market provided us with a great outlet! Each month we chose a topic and set up a table. I had Ag in the Classroom activities & materials for the kids and the Farm Bureau and SWCD had information for the adults. It was a great way to interact with the community and another way we were able to get resources into people's hands.
This fall, I was thrilled to get permission from our school districts to be allowed to visit classrooms again for in-person programs. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- my job was pretty lame when I was unable to be with the students. September always seems to fly by because it is filled with events, Ag Day for 4th graders, Prime Beef Festival, and Farm Safety Day for 5th graders. At the end of September and throughout October, I was thankful for classroom visits at United North, United West, Lincoln, and ICS to teach about corn, harvest, and pumpkins. Once we enter the holiday season, my program themes follow Thanksgiving & Christmas, with lessons about cranberries, turkey farming, and Christmas Trees & evergreens. As we prepared for holiday meals, I try to remind students, ‘Ask yourself, "Where did this food come from? Who grew it or raised it? How many people did it take to get it from the farm to our table?" (And then be thankful for them too.)
The year that I was unable to visit the classrooms, reminded me just how much I love being with students and thrive off their excitement and involvement, so I’m going into 2022 more excited than ever. Thank you to all who have supported our program in one way or another. We would not be able to reach students the way we do without the support from our community.
If you have not already liked our page on Facebook, please do so! I’ll continue to share resources, links, videos, virtual fieldtrips, and much more, so search for Warren-Henderson Ag in the Classroom and Like us! If you know of a group, classroom, or organization who might be interested in a program, lesson, or resources, please contact me at ageducation@hotmail.com or call 309-734-5161.

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Business & Farm Service Directory
The businesses in this directory have contributed to the furthering of the soil and water conservation program of the Warren County SWCD. In recognition of their support, we encourage you to support them by using their services. You can remove this section and put it near your telephone for quick reference. To place the name of your business on this directory, call 734-9308 ext.101.
All Telephone Numbers are Area Code 309 unless listed

Agencies
Farm Service Agency (FSA) ………734-9308
IL Department of Natural Resources
Wildlife Biologist, Victoria………..815-535-2508
Fisheries Biologist, Brimfield…………..446-9143
District Forester, Argyle Lake…..……...776-5271
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Monmouth…………….…734-9308 ext. 170
Pheasants Forever
Olivia LaGrang……………...319-981-3586
Warren-Henderson Agricultural Education Partnership
Anna Damos, ag educator….….. 734-5161
Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau
Gina Long…………………….
Attorneys
Clark and Glasgow, LLC
Monmouth………………….………734-8464
Spears & Spears
Monmouth………………………….734-5105
Banks and Lending Institutions
Compeer Financial
Phone....................................844-426-6733
Midwest Bank (farm management)
Monmouth..........toll free 888-309-2265
or 734-2265

Raritan State Bank
Raritan...............toll free 877-746-6200
or 746-6200 Abingdon..........toll free 877-462-2220
or 462-2220
Bushnell…...….toll free 877-772-4552
or 772-2345
Security Savings Bank
Monmouth.…………….……..734-9333
Stronghurst.……………….…. 924-1172
Knoxville……………………...289-5541
Galesburg……………………...342-8161
Contractors
Dennis T McClouth Bulldozing and Excavating
Roseville………………..309-255-8873
Olson Brothers
Alexis…………………...309-337-7559
Farm Equipment
A.C. McCartney Equipment, Inc.
Wataga…………………...…...375-6661
Farm Management
Land Management Partners
Adam Martin………………cell: 371-8130
Jared Kunkle…….…………cell: 299-6998
Fertilizer and Chemical Dealers
West Central FS Inc. (seed, fuel, fertilizer, chemicals)
Monmouth..........................................734-4586
Ormonde…………………………….734-8391
Roseville.……………………...……..426-2138
Little York…………………………...729-5111

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Grain
Big River Resources West Burlington, LLC
Monmouth………………………734-8423
Cameron Grain
Monmouth………………………563.-9612
Land Improvement
Hall Enterprises
Monmouth............................cell: 337-2706
or 734-2706
Metal Culverts, Inc., Monmouth Division
Monmouth....................................734-4113
Manure Application
McClure Custom Pumping
Kirkwood…………………………...255-1458
Petroleum
Halcomb Oil Company
Monmouth.........................................734-7797
Jimmy ………………………...cell: 224-3861
Jake……………………………cell: 221-6483
Steve Wisslead, Raritan...…………746-6278
Seed
Elliott Brothers Seed
Monmouth………………………….255-1464
Trucking
Terry Davis Trucking (TDT)
Roseville...…………………….cell: 337-1671
MISC.
Adkisson Auctioneering
Roseville…………………………426-2000

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What happened at Winter Training?
By Shawnee Sheehan
For two days in December of 2021 I was fortunate enough to attend the Illinois Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Employee Winter Training in Springfield, IL. At this training we heard from speakers from DNR, Surrounding counties , Il Department of Agriculture, and more. We were able to hear about changes to our programs in upcoming years– changes for the better– and what we as employees can be doing to have the best and most efficiently run offices in the Nation. We were excited to see our fellow employees and welcomed 31 new employees to the IL Districts. As we have had to approach the last two years so differently than the past, training has been tough to plan– but as we pass these obstacles that have held us back, we are eager and excited for changes allowing us to be more hands on. As a newer employee who came in right at the start of the pandemic, it was especially beneficial for me to attend and get to put faces to the names I have heard throughout all the online trainings over the last couple years and get to interact socially with the individuals who will help me continue to learn and grow in this career field. I look froward to getting to see them at more events and help pass along information to my county from the experts above me.

What is STAR?
Written By Bruce Henrikson
Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources was entirely the idea of two farmers, Steve Stierwalt and Joe Rothermel. They were very concerned about the 2015 report of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and its conclusion that farmers in Illinois are having a negative effect on water quality!
They recognized that if farmers did not make some changes in their management practices, it was likely the government would be forcing some changes… as in other states. Another important factor they considered was the need for changes to be done voluntarily… based on an assumption there would never be enough money from the government to pay for all the changes needed.
Therefore, the primary purpose of this initiative would be to provide a free, simple, and confidential method for farmers and landowners to measure the impact of their field-level practices on improving water quality.
Star
A group of people, now known as the STAR Science Advisory Committee, then developed an evaluation tool called the Field Form. The practices identified on the field form are assigned points and the total points are then identified with a STAR Rating of 1 to 5 STARS. The STAR Rating is provided for each individual field, not for the whole farm operation. In order to participate in State Funded PFC Projects, you must comply with filling out the STAR Field Form.

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Office Calendar
January 18, 2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting
February 15, 2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting and Election
March 15, 2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting
April 19,2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting
May 17,2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting
June14, 2022: Regular Scheduled Board Meeting
June 15, 2022: PFC 2021 SIGN UPS CLOSED

Items for Sale
Marking Flags	bundle (100)	$15.00
Tile Probes	5.0’	$35.00
	6.0’	$40.00
District T-Shirts		$15.00
District Hats		$20.00

Soil Maps On-line
Did you know that you can find soil maps for almost any land in the United States online? By checking out the following site, you can look up soil information on all lands that have been mapped by NRCS. Here’s the website: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov

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