A special publication of
Monday, January 21, 2013
2013 Tree Order Form page
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Pasture Rent and Lease page
Rain Barrel Order Form
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ct Conservation
rvation Distri Fillmore Soil & Water Conse
PRSRT STD ECR WSS US. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 70 MADELIA, MN 56062
the Fillmore County Journal
Feedlot/Nutrient Update
Fillmore SWCD Scholarships page
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Chronicles
Duschee Hills Dairy receives n award at MASWCD conventio
of pasture. Conserva- ed on 70-80 acres530 acres of rep- 2012 Outstanding Pat and Chris Troendle, Farmer Maga- They also operate acres Dairy tionists. The cer- cropland; of which 300 slope resenting Duschee Hills zine supports the awards from has greater than 6 percentin the LLC, of Lanesboro, attended of emony with sponsorship and nearly 80 acres are these the Minnesota Association the Minnesota Corn Growers They protect Soil and Water Conservation Association. Duschee Hills floodplain. their corn-hay Annual named an sensitive areas in Districts (MASWCD) on Dairy LLC was also MASW- rotation with 250 acres of hay Convention in Minneapolis to winner by the of The Farmer receiving Area connected strips particito Troendle with Paul Mohr with a in contour December 4, 2012 Photo submitted of water- Pat and Chris CD and was presented them as the an extensive networkMinimum award. pate in the annual Outstanding and plaque recognizing buffers. Conservationist Luncheoncere- Outstanding Conservationists ways and nutrient which tillage, cover crops, Award Ceremony. This for the Southeast Area and integrated mony recognizes Outstanding includes the counties of Hous- management, that around Free- pest management ensure Conservationists from ton, Fillmore, Mower, productive remain will nominated land were the that Olmsted, the state Water born, Steele, Dodge, generations. Comby their local Soil and The Winona, Rice, Goodhue, and for future their commitment with Districts. bined Conservation comHills Wabasha. is a to educating the non-ag they Troendles operate Duschee Ben Duschee Hills Dairy agriculture, Dairy near Lanesboro with were fourth-generation farm near munity about the conservation 200 are leaders in and Darla Taylor, who Lanesboro. They milk cows community. unable to attend the ceremony. Fill- Holstein and Crossbred stock. Congratulations to Duschee They were selected by the and have 200 young cows are rotat- Hills Dairy! more Soil and Water Conservatheir Heifers and dry tion District (SWCD) as
d Farm near June 28 Field Day at Willfors of no-till Harmony highlights benefit damage from soil erofarming system. off-site
Chris and Pat Troendle,
POSTAL PATRON
and Darla and Ben Taylor Photos submitted
investment Windbreaks: a long-term with environmental benefits but also
the No-Till conventional tillage Bob Joachim, NRCS District Of particular concern were sion with be difficult to quanneed to which can Conservationist at pH balance and the of trace tify. A No-Till Field Day held address the availability Travis Willford was joined the Arden and Travis Willford elements to enhance the tranand John Rick Grooters, Conservation soil qual- by Rick Christianson farm southeast of Harmony nowell sition to improved Bruihler, in a panel of local no- Specialist on June 28th was very In many parts of Fillmore ity in the no-till environment. discussing their force of attended with over 50 farmers Nick Heronimous of Syngenta till farmers They explained County, the constant condiattenin operations. till people resource Minnesota and transition wind exaggerates weather and Seed of Rochester, of how they made the in these dance. The Fillmore Soil explained the importance to to no-till, and gave advice to tions and makes living it relates Water Conservation District the seem unbearable. Cost with seed selection as operators wanting to make of areas assist (SWCD) in cooperation share is now available to no-till farming and provided The consensus the Natural Resources Conser- some examples of how seed transition. was summarized by landowners in the establishment sponA windbreak led to improved the group vation Service (NRCS) Willford “that anyone of a windbreak. rows of both speak- technology has sored the event. Guest and performance and pest resis- Travis 3-8 to of consists make the transition ers, a no-till farmer panel, soil tance. Finally Gary Thome, could they want to make the conifers and deciduous trees of if at 16-24’ apart. in-field demonstrations field economist and instructor at no-till spaced are agreed all which They system work.” windbreak not quality highlighted the Riverland College in Austin, their economic bottom A well designed wind and proday. the summarized ten that conslows as only good Minnesota as least prono- line was at Three guest speakers years of economic data on tillage, and that the vided information on fertility, till vs. conventional tillage. His ventional in soil loss, sustained a very mini- reduction seed genetics, and economics and improveJim findings showed as it relates to No-Till. with mal advantage to conventional soil productivity, soil quality acre), ments to overall Fasching, soils consultant tillage (less than $5 per fig- were benefits that are very real, these Mid-West Labs of Plainview, on and concluded that long term but often difficult to quantify MN, instructed attendees ures did not include or See FIELD DAY Page 4 the importance of soil amendin losses of soil productivity placement their and ments
vides snow control, conserves energy of livestock for along with providing habitat SWCD wildlife. The Fillmore of trees has an excellent selection that are suitable for windbreaks. windIf you are interested in a office break, please stop in our call at in Preston or give us a Remem3. (507)765-3878 ext term ber, a windbreak is a long value investment which will add a to your property and provide you healthier environment for and future generations.
“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
Monday, January 21, 2013
Volume 28 Issue 18
www.fillmoreswcd.org
See the Soil & Water Conservation District insert in today’s Journal!
Lost in Spades
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Celebrating music making
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page
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Rushford moves forward with project page
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Chatfield looks forward to 2013 page
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Canton l Chatfield l Fountain l Harmony l Lanesboro l Mabel l Ostrander l Peterson l Preston l Rushford l Rushford Village l Spring Valley l Whalan l Wykoff
An intro to County Engineer Ronald Gregg By K aren R eisner kreisner@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Rushford Foods owners Brad Hoiness (left) and Jim Hoiness (right), receive a certificate of appreciation from Colleen Landkamer, who is the USDA Rural Development State Director. Photo by Jason Sethre
Grocery stores go green, save green By Jason Sethre jsethre@fillmorecountyjournal.com
On January 15, 2013, a crowd gathered back by the frozen foods section of the Rushford Foods grocery store. Representatives from Congressman Tim Walz’ office, Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office, and Senator Al Franken’s office, mingled with Mayor Chris Hallum, City Administrator Steve Sarvi, and Tri-County Electric Cooperative management. In addition, representatives, Adam Czech and Colleen Landkamer, from the USDA Rural Development office were in attendance to make an award presentation. This wasn’t a typical day in the frozen food sec-
tion of the grocery store. Hosting the crowd were grocery store owners Jim Hoiness and Brad Hoiness, along with Rushford Foods Frozen/ Dairy Department Manager Sonia McNally. Since the 2007 flood that devastated the Rushford community, every business has been gone through a process of recovery and rebuilding. One of the staples of any community is a grocery store. If you have one in your town, you’re lucky. Thus, when Rushford Foods was closed in 2007 as a result of floodwaters rising as high as four feet wall-to-wall in the store, the community was left with a void. Fortunately, Rushford’s hometown
grocery store was eventually able to re-open their doors 74 days later. Small town grocery stores seem to be a rarity these days. Since 2008, in Fillmore County grocery stores have closed in Lanesboro, Mabel and Wykoff. That’s why reinvestment in any small town grocery stores should be recognized as a big deal. It’s not just an investment in a store, but a community. Since the days of the 2007 flood, Rushford Foods, Harmony Foods and Preston Foods have all seen investments inside and out. Most notably in the past six months, all three stores owned by Jim Hoiness and his son Brad See GREEN Page 10
The Fillmore County Board, after several months of advertising and interviewing possible candidates, hired the new county engineer, Ronald Gregg. He came on in mid October and worked with the thenretiring John Ronald Gregg Gr i n d e l a n d for a month before he took the reins as acting county engineer on November 19, 2012. Starting on December 31, he has been appointed to a four-year term as Fillmore County Highway Engineer. Gregg earned his engineering degree at South Dakota State, Brookings, S.D. Referring to himself as a city boy that has moved to the country, he was
raised in Burnsville, Minnesota. He worked first as Lincoln County’s engineer for about twelve years, and then as Cottonwood County’s engineer for eight years. Gregg remarked he has gone from flat land or prairie to bluff country. He recognizes the biggest challenge that comes with this county’s topography is the large number of bridges. There are 475 here compared with 220 In Cottonwood County. Gregg and Leann, his wife of sixteen years, are house hunting in Spring Valley to find the right home so they can “plant themselves here.” He hopes to finish out his career in Fillmore County. They have two sons, Andrew (15) and Matthew (13). The boys are active in Boys Scouts. Andrew is working on his Eagle project. Gregg’s life has been a bit complicated since he started in OctoSee GREGG Page 14
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Spring Valley City Council organizes for 2013 By Gary Peterson gpeterson@fillmorecountyjournal.com
It was mostly routine business at the Spring Valley City Council meeting Monday night. There were the usual approval of new year items. The city had recently asked for bids on materials to build a bridge for the trails over the creek by the ambulance building. The city asked for such things as 27 pieces of I Beam and several smaller pieces of I
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Beam. There was 1,860 feet of planking, foundation pipe, there was channel iron cross bracing in the quote as well. To put it all together so it performs in a safe manner it was to be assembled and put in place. The total cost of the project was to be $31,310. The person submitting the bill was Ron Merkel of Spring Valley. “We don’t have that much money in the trail budget,” said Deb Zimmer, City Administrator. There was an exchange of See SPRING VALLEY Page 3
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