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Serving rural Benton County, Morrison, Mille Lacs & Kanabec counties.
BENTON AG Plus
Sauk Rapids Herald
THURSDAY, FEB. 16, 2017
A new chapter for siblings Webers W eb join F FA as senior, FFA ffreshman res BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Sauk Rapids-Rice senior Hannah Weber and her sophomore brother, Jacob, are both members of the school’s FFA chapter. Hannah joined this past year, whereas her brother became a member as a freshman.
SAUK RAPIDS — Jacob Weber has always had an interest in agriculture. So when he entered his freshman year at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, he knew right away he wanted to join FFA. But that was not the case for his older sister. Hannah’s interest developed later; she decided to join the agricultural club her senior year. “Part of the reason I joined this year is that I Ànally had room in my schedule to actually take an ag class,” Hannah said. “You need to have an ag class to participate in CDEs [career development events].” Hannah kept herself busy the Àrst three years of her high school career with other electives such as band, choir, Spanish and advanced placement courses. Her attention was drawn to FFA when she began learning more about science, biology and crop genetics. In addition to her busy schedule, the future graduate
was hesitant about joining the organization because she was unfamiliar with the variety of activities and the diverse peer group involved. “I didn’t know the kids who joined FFA were kids like me – who weren’t necessarily living on a farm. Finding that out made me more interested,” she said. The National FFA Organization is an intra-curricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. The letters “FFA” stand for Future Farmers of America, but the group has grown to reÁect the growing diversity and opportunities in the agriculture industry. FFA encompasses nearly 650,000 seventh through 12th grade student members throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although both Weber siblings plan to pursue careers in agricultural Àelds, neither grew up on a farm, as many might assume. Yet, the surrounding Benton County farming community has inÁuenced them. “Crop science is what I’ve grown up around. It has been the talk of the house my whole life. If you look around, besides the north side of our house, we are surrounded by
Àelds,” said Hannah, who plans to attend Iowa State University for agronomy. The Webers’ parents, Steve and Jill, both grew up on farms; and Steve was employed as a farm laborer when the children were younger. Both Hannah and Jacob experienced riding in the tractor when they were young. Jacob took it to the next level and began driving tractors himself in third grade. “It was fall and I was driving grain cart alongside the combine,” Jacob said. “We had radio communication and could talk between the machines, so if I ever had a question or anything I could just ask.” Jacob, one of the FFA chapter’s ofÀcers, is now employed at a neighboring crop farm, working after school in spring and fall and about 40 to 50 hours in the summer. He is responsible for spreading fertilizer and manure, using the rock roller, driving the grain cart and various other yard jobs. He enjoys being able to drive the large machinery, as well as the advanced technology Àltering into the ag industry. “Spreading fertilizer seems like a mediocre task,” Weber: page 6B
Mandatory action with choices Samac offers productive options for buffer law BY JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER
ROYALTON – In less than a year, public waterways, including streams, lakes and wetlands, will require a perennial vegetative buffer because of the Minnesota Buffer Law. “That means planting has to be done this growing season,” said Deborah Samac of the November 2017 start date. By November 2018, buffers will be required around public ditches, too. Samac works for the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDAARS) as part of the plant science research unit at the University of Minnesota. During the annual Tour de Forage meeting held Feb. 1 in Royalton, Samac spoke of the requirements of the quickly
approaching law and how landowners can abide with the regulations but limit the amount of land taken out of production. The purpose of the law is to protect the state’s water resources from runoff pollution, Samac said. This will be done through establishing hundreds of thousands of acres of perennial vegetation, with public waters having an average 50-foot buffer while some ditches only requiring 16.5-foot buffers. Local watershed districts are available to work with landowners to create the correct sized buffer. “The law is very broad, but it’s here to stay,” Samac said. “What can we do to make it work for productive farmland?” For landowners, there is a variety of single and mixture grass species that are compliant with the law and also suitable for hay and grazing. Currently, Samac and her team are conducting research to develop an alfalfa plant that could be used for buffers, but also harvested as a protein source for animals; the USDA is funding this research.
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COYNE
Deborah Samac describes the Minnesota Buffer Law during the annual Tour de Forage meeting Feb. 1 in Royalton.
“Alfalfa has the most protein per acre than any other crops – hands down,” Samac said. The crop absorbs moisture and prevents soil movement, making it ideal forage for a buffer. If well maintained,
alfalfa can be harvested conventionally twice within a one-year period. Stems and leaves can be separated and processed for energy and animal feed, respectively. “The leaves can be further processed as a good
nutritional component to heifer diets,” Samac said. Further research will determine if this forage could be an economical feed source for Àsh, including yellow perch, Atlantic char, catÀsh and even trout. “Right now, protein Àsh
meal is not sustainable,” Samac said. “[Alfalfa] could be the holy grail – it’s a viable protein supplement with amino acids for that good Àsh skin color, and it doesn’t lodge as easy as other crops.” In addition to traditional productive forages, landowners may also consider intermediate wheatgrass, native seeds, elderberry, black chokeberry, hazelnut and decorate woody Áorals for buffer strips. I n t e r m e d i a t e wheatgrass, also referred to as Kernza, is a forage gaining popularity for its dual purpose – being planted in the spring and used as a vegetative source for the remainder of the season. The crop could be used for hay and grazing and also grain production for baking, distilling and animal feed. “Restaurants want these grains because of the positive ecological production more so than wheat or other grains,” Samac said. Dan Martens, with the University of Minnesota Extension, envisioned this Samac: page 6B
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