News & Notes July 2005

Snyder County Farm Tour Highlights BMPs

It's a sunny Thursday in June and Snyder County Conservation District is holding an Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMP) Tour. The purpose of the tour is to promote BMPs to farmers and municipal and government officials through visits to local farms with recently installed BMPs that reduce nonpoint source pollution. Farm tours are an important educational tool. The show and tell format allows farmers to see how BMPs are implemented and encourages interaction among producers who share similar environmental interests and concerns.

Barry Spangler, the district's Agricultural Conservation Technician, leads the group of 22 people including farmers, a representative from Senator Rick Santorum's office, representatives of local officials, and other partners.

The first stop is Bob-Kat Farm in Middleburg. This dairy farm's BMPs were funded by Act 6 and the Chesapeake Bay Program. Andy Hibbs, Chesapeake Bay District Engineer for Union County Conservation District, explains the placement of the new dry manure storage area. How the improved concrete barnyard and vegetative filter keep nutrients out of the nearby stream are also shown. The host, Bob Waite, thanks the conservation district staff for the BMPs they installed on his farm and for caring about their work.

After a short bus ride, the tour arrives at WindView Farm in Port Trevorton. This farm is owned by Morrill "Mac" Curtis. Mac, who is a district director, raises turkeys. The new covered manure storage area is shown along with mortality composters which have been efficient at nutrient recycling.

"These manure storage buildings are good for nutrient management, bio-security and financial reasons too," said Jack Clark, Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist. Mac said not only has the new structure added equity to his farm, it has made it easier to sell stored and dried manure than before when the manure was exposed to rain.

Andy Hibbs, Chesapeake Bay District Engineer at the Union County Conservation District, explains his design for the new barnyard at Bob-Kat Farm in Middleburg, PA.

A variety of successful BMPs are highlighted on this tour. Participants can see first hand how nutrients are kept from running off agricultural lands and into waterways. The importance of having a nutrient management plan (since it is the first step in getting funding) is emphasized.

The tour ends with participants completing evaluation forms. The district not only gathers feedback on the tour from participants, they gather information from farmers who attended on their interest in installing BMPs on their farms.

While the district's event was successful there are few changes the staff are considering to help boost farmer participation on future tours. Spangler recommends offering a meal and scheduling a farm tour at a different time of year, possibly in later summer or fall. To help save money, he recommends renting vans rather than chartering a bus.

This tour was partially sponsored by PACD through the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Leadership Development Seminars:
How to improve district board member recruitment

Are you serious about improving district board member recruitment? NACD has designed an enlightening and interactive new workshop, "Outreach for Success," that addresses diversity in all aspects of conservation work as it relates to board recruitment and retention and customer outreach. The PA Leadership Development Committee has arranged for this workshop to be presented in four locations in Pennsylvania in September.

The "Outreach for Success" Seminars will be held:

September 19 - Holiday Inn, Denver
September 20 - Portabella, Bloomsburg
September 21 - Holiday Inn DuBois
September 22 - Ramada Inn, Somerset

The hands-on workshop engages the interaction of all participants and covers the following content: motivation/attitude assessment or self-assessment of participants; demographic analysis of the population in their district and their communities; community assessment in areas such as social capital; skills assessment evaluation so participants understand the needs of their board; leadership identification processes and techniques; and recruitment and retention techniques. Through the process, participants will develop a recruitment/retention plan for their own boards and identify needed customer outreach strategies specific to their communities.

Deb Bogar, NACD Regional Representative, will lead the seminars. Registration information and beginning times will be sent to the districts and posted on the PACD website as they become available.

Page 4>