Benton Ag Plus - January 16, 2021

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A farmstead’s red barn offsets a snow- and frostcovered landscape Jan. 9 near Mayhew Lake. Mother nature’s rime ice turned central Minnesota into a winter wonderland during the first full week of January.

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Sauk Rapids Herald | Saturday, January 16, 2021

Participants receive annual payments for land enrolled WASHINGTON – Agricultural producers and private landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program can sign up for the program now until Feb. 12.

Administered by United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, CRP provides annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes.

“This signup for the Conservation Reserve Program gives producers and landowners an opportunity to enroll for the first time or continue their participation for another term,” said Richard Fordyce, FSA administrator.

“This program encourages conservation on sensitive lands or low-yielding acres, which provides tremendous benefits for stewardship of our natural resources and wildlife.”

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50-year toy tractor collection fills Monroes’ basement

Features John Deere, International Harvester tractors

BY JAKOB KOUNKEL STAFF WRITER

FOLEY – Ken and Char Monroe have a relationship founded on their spirituality, faith and love – and collectible toy tractors. For 53 years, the Monroes have been married, and for about that same amount of time, they have been collecting tractors together.

One might be able to tell the Monroes are interested in antique collectibles just from passing by their house on Broadway Avenue in Foley. Drivers can see the four antique gas pumps at the corners of their garages, and an inquisitive mind might venture that one of their garages is extra space for collectibles.

It is.

However, unseen to the hundreds of cars that pass by every day is an extraordinary collection of toy tractors, 50

PHOTO BY JAKOB KOUNKEL

Ken and Char Monroe demonstrate, through a small portion of their toy tractor collection, the logistics of farming at their house in Foley Jan. 13. The Monroes have been collecting toy tractors for 50 years.

years and thousands of miles in the making.

For Char, her fascination with collectibles came from growing up on a farm; for Ken, he frequented his aunt and uncle’s farm in the summer growing up. They share the idea that the sentimental value is more important than

the monetary, as their favorite pieces are those that they remember using as full-size machinery on the farm.

“After we got married, when I went home and started cleaning out some of my stuff, I had a couple of toys that were mine, and we brought those (to our house),” Ken

said. “It kind of just started to take off from there.”

The collection features hundreds of collectible toy tractors – John Deere and International Harvester among the most prominent.

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Some are unassuming items that can be commonly found in collector magazines or online, but some are as unique as they are valuable – in monetary and sentimental value.

In the 1960s, John Deere attempted to break into the suburbs with a line of what became known as patio tractors, but they did not sell well because they did not don the vintage green the company became famous for.

The bodies of the tractors were white, and customers could choose the color of the hood and seat. They could get patio red, sunset orange, spruce blue or April yellow.

When the dealers were pushing the patio series, at the time known as the custom color series, they released a promotional toy set of the four colors of the tractors, which the Monroes got their hands on 45 years ago from a Brainerd-based dealer for $8.

The set of toy tractors, now in vogue partly due to the patio series tractors’ lack of success, could now sell for as much as $4,000, Ken said.

“That’s probably the most valuable thing that we have,” Ken said, unsure of the total value of the entire collection.

Even though they have traveled to Brainerd, and they are no strangers to going even farther for toys worthy of their collection, they have also bought locally. Char thinks one set of tractors they acquired in Sauk Centre is exceptional.

“We have five tractors (in our collection) that are made out of wood,” Char said.

“These were made by a man who lived in Sauk Centre, and every winter he would make a different one out of wood.”

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PHOTOS BY JAKOB KOUNKELr

Ken and Char Monroe stand in their basement Jan. 13 at their house in Foley, flanked on both sides by a portion of their toy tractor collection. They have been collecting tractors of this kind for 50 years.

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The wood set was made up of Farmalls, a Case steam engine and Allis Chalmers branded toy tractors.

Another one of the older and more special pieces they have is also made of wood.

It is modeled after a Minneapolis-Moline, though Ken said it does not look like a Moline except for the colors.

Those collectibles were released during World War II. Char said it was important the couple was fiscally responsible with their collection, especially because they had seven children to raise. For the wooden pieces in Sauk Centre, Ken and Char drove to pick up the tractors individually as money allowed.

Ken even worked on gardens and plowed snow for what they called tractor money.

“When we started collecting, we didn’t have extra money to go out and just buy these,” Char said. “We made up our mind. We’re not taking out of anything that’s going to affect our bill paying, our raising our kids, our budget for food and electricity.”

Despite their successes in securing the collection, the Monroes have put an unofficial moratorium on buying newer collectibles of the same ilk because of how complicated the process has become.

In a garage outside their house in Foley Jan. 13, Ken and Char Monroe have around 105 toy pedal tractors to add to their collection that starts inside their house. Some are one of a kind, and others are more common among collectors.

Char said sometimes a store like Fleet Farm will reintroduce an older model that might interest the avid collectors, but they have mostly stopped bringing on new toys – partly because they are running out of room to put them.

Despite the value of the pieces, the Monroes b never bought a single tractor because they hoped it would one day appreciate for selling purposes. And, none are for sale. It was a form of entertainment for the couple, a means of strengthening an already impermeable bond, though that was not their original intention.

The Monroes do not hunt or fish, nor do they travel much, other than the miles they have driven to surrounding states to pick up the collectibles. Their main form of entertainment was something they both found a passion for, and it is something they can forever look back on with favor.

Even though their accumulating days have mostly come to an end, the tractors serve a litany of purposes to this day. Each tractor has its own journey, its own story of how it got into the Monroes’ collection.

They remind Ken and Char of their days on the farm. They also serve as a history lesson for those who visit.

Most of all, though, the Monroes enjoy the collection for themselves.

All-in-all, over 300 toy tractors sit in a room in their basement – the room dedicated solely for toy tractor display.

They have 105 pedal tractors that line the walls of one of their garages. Around their house, more tractors can be found as decoration.

That is not even counting 55 full-size, functional tractors the Monroes have stored away.

BENTON AG

SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 | Page 3B

The Business of Farming

by Roger Strom

million people is in the worst condition, with little chance of recovery, followed by the aquifer under northern Africa and the Indus Basin aquifer which supplies much of India’s water needs.

Jay Famiglietti, a water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California said the situation is quite critical, and the water table is dropping all over the world.

Of those water

sources for the United States, California’s Central Valley Aquifer is in the worst condition.

Also in trouble is the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Aquifer which is under the southeast coastal states and down into Florida.

The good news is the three aquifers supplying water for those of us in the middle of the country are in pretty good shape.

Not only have the water sources changed, but they determined some of those underground water supplies may be smaller than earlier estimates.

What is not known is how much water is in those aquifers. The satellite data can only measure change not volume.

As for the Central Valley Aquifer, it is estimated that over 100,000 wells are

Extension to offer farm safety webinar series

BY EMILY KREKELBERG UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION & ANGIE JOHNSON NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION

ROCHESTER – University of Minnesota Extension is partnering with North Dakota State University Extension to offer a series of farm safety webinars this winter.

Most people have been impacted in some way by an accident, injury or fatality that has occurred on the farm. These events are devastating to communities and impact the livelihoods of those we know and love dearly. The purpose of these webinars is to empower communities and individuals to prioritize safety on the farm. The webinar series will be at 11 a.m. Thursdays January through March. Each webinar will last one hour.

Jan. 21 – Grain Bin Safety.

Featuring a panel moderated by Angie Johnson, farm and ranch safety program coordinator and extension agent with NDSU Extension.

Panelists include Rich Schock, captain of the Sheyenne Valley Technical Rescue Team, and Ken Hellevang, agricultural engineer with NDSU Extension.

Feb. 4 – Tractor and Equipment Safety. The session covers power takeoff use and safety, roadway safety and a conversation with North Dakota farmers Scott and Elizabeth Huso and their employee, Chase Frederick, who was in an accident on their farm in the past. They will be joined by David Kraft, safety consultant for North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance.

Feb. 18 – Youth Farm Safety.

Featuring a panel discussion

moderated by Emily Krekelberg, farm safety and health extension educator with UMN Extension. The panelists include Marsha Salzwedel with the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, Jana Davidson with Progressive Agriculture Foundation, and Diane Rohlman with University of Iowa College of Public Health.

They will cover various resources and programs available for families with young farmers.

March 4 – Livestock Safety.

UMN Extension Cattle Production Extension Educator Joe Armstrong, DVM, will discuss and demonstrate proper animal handling in both confinement and pasture systems.

March 18 – Mental Health.

Krekelberg will conduct Question, Persuade, Refer Training, a onehour suicide prevention program that helps individuals learn the three steps anyone can take to help prevent suicide. This training is tailored toward agricultural communities.

The farm safety series is offered free of charge. Participants must register by visiting https://z.umn. edu/farmsafetywebinars.

When registering for the webinar series, participants will have access to join each of the five webinar sessions.

Participants can choose to attend any or all sessions.

Questions can be sent to Emily Krekelberg at krek0033@umn.edu or Angie Johnson at angela.b.johnson@ ndsu.edu.

tapping into it. With the continuing drought, many of those wells are drying up, and well drillers cannot keep up with the demand for deeper wells. On average, people and farms would normally rely on the aquifers for about 35% of their needs, but during the California drought, that percentage increased to 65% and remains above average. Some experts predict California will eventually have to get all of its water from an aquifer that has been dropping 2 feet a year in some areas. Californians will not be the only ones to feel the impact.

That same aquifer supplies over 15% of the groundwater for the entire country.

Based on the NASA findings and predictions for the future, maybe now is the time to reevaluate the spending of millions of dollars to see if there was ever water on Mars. Money that would be better spent on developing an economical and sustainable method of removing salt from ocean water so we can be assured of having enough water and food for future generations on the planet we are inhabiting. … just sayin’.

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The world’s underground sources of water, which 2 billion people rely on, are in serious trouble.

Since 2003, researchers from the University of California Irvine have been working with NASA scientists using their Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites to measure changes in aquifers. They have concluded, as the result of increasing human demand combined with global warming, 21 of the world’s 37 largest aquifers are beyond the tipping point and are being drained faster than they can recharge. The Arabian Aquifer System that serves more than 60

Through CRP, farmers and ranchers establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Farmers and ranchers who participate in CRP help provide numerous benefits to their region and the nation’s environment and economy.

CRP general signup is held annually and is competitive; general signup includes increased opportunities for wildlife habitat enrollment through the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement initiative.

New cropland offered in the program must have been planted for four of six crop years from 2012-17. Additionally, producers with land already enrolled but expiring Sept. 30 can re-enroll this year.

The acreage offered by producers and landowners is evaluated competitively; accepted offers will begin Oct. 1.

Signed into law in 1985, CRP is one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the United States. The program marked its 35-year anniversary in December 2020. Program successes include: – Preventing more than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding, which is enough soil to fill 600 million dump trucks.

– Reducing nitrogen and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95% and 85%, respectively.

– Sequestering an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9 million cars off the road.

– Creating more than 3 million acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than 175,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, which is enough to go around the world seven times.

– Benefiting bees and other pollinators and increasing populations of ducks, pheasants, turkey, bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, grasshopper sparrows, and many other birds.

All USDA service centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments. All visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other service center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment.

Service centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors are also required to wear a face covering during their appointment.

Program delivery staff will continue to work with producers by phone, email and using online tools.

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BENTON AG

Page 6B | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021| SAUK RAPIDS HERALD

BENTON AG Plus

We want your As we head into the new year and begin our fifth year of Benton Ag Plus in February 2021, Star Publications would like our readers to share with us their insight on how we can improve. We strive to engage our readers in every issue and are

feedback!

setting goals to continue telling the stories of our area agricultural community.

Typically, in a year not plagued by the coronavirus pandemic, we can have these conversations face to face at business expos, county fairs

and farm shows. shows That was not the case in 2020.

Please help us by sharing your thoughts on the below template or by emailing us directly at natasha@ saukherald.com.

We greatly appreciate your readership.

1. What topics do you most enjoy reading about in Benton Ag Plus? ____________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Is there a type of livestock you feel is missing from our coverage? If so, what? ___________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What non-livestock topics do you wish we covered more of?

(Farm succession planning, regulatory changes, crop disease, etc.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. We cover Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties and some areas of Stearns and Sherburne.

Of those counties, is there an area you wish to read more about? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Do you know of a farm family in your community that we should feature? Why? (Please include contact information if you feel comfortable doing so.) __________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Additional thoughts? ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please send comments to: Sauk Rapids Herald, 2 Second Ave. S. Suite 135 Sauk Rapids, MN 56379 Or, email them to natasha@saukherald.com

L t C a C T p i p t t f p t D S p u v l fi r

a i t t t a s D a B M t

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BENTON AG

SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 | Page 7B

County conservation tour goes virtual Benton SWCD, NRSC present annual projects via teleconference

BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF BENTON SWCD

A diagram shows how a water prescription is applied to a field with a variable rate irrigation system. Melarry Farms in Langola Township converted a center pivot system to the new technology for its efficiency.

standing water; other parts are more sandy loom, kind of a mid-range soil, so a lot of variability in the soil,” Gehling said.

With a conventional center pivot irrigation system, water is generally applied in blanket amounts – with saturated soils receiving the same amount of water as soil which has been depleted of moisture.

Dry areas are potentially underwatered while wet areas overwatered. With a variable rate system, Gehling said the overall water usage is reduced and applied more efficiently to match soil needs.

“The dark blue areas would receive 1 inch of

water, the light blue .7, the green areas would get somewhere between .5-.6 inch, light green .4, orange .3, dark orange .2 and the red areas would get .05 of 1 inch of rain,” Gehling said, explaining a diagram of the new system’s water application rates.

Gehling said the Hacketts have reported reduced energy use since the variable rate system installation. Gehling said the energy use reduction is on account of less water pumping but also because the family replaced a diesel-powered pump with an electric pump that has a variable frequency drive.

EQUIP also helped fund

the pump conversion.

Cost can hinder producers from implementing new technology such as the variable rate irrigation system, Gehling said.

He said EQUIP financial assistance is limited and in a project such as this

placed over a 300-by-57foot manure pit that allows for 12 months, or 1.9 million gallons, of storage.

The pit was constructed with precast sidewalls and a slatted concrete floor, allowing the animal waste to fall into the container from above. The facility can now house up to 500 steers annually.

“For this project, the majority of the work was done in 2019,” McMillin said. … “ It was just finished up. He finally got cattle in it early this winter, early in 2020. And, he’s been so happy with it he’s actually thinking about adding on to it.”

The two projects are only a small look into work completed by Benton SWCD and NRCS in 2020. A larger selection of projects – which include wetland restoration, erosion control, stacking slabs and cover crops – is available to read, listen and view about at soilandwater.org.

The complete 2020 Tour of Practices teleconference presentation, booklet and slideshow, as well as videos shown during the presentation, are available.

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SAUK RAPIDS – Like many events in 2020, the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District’s and National Resource Conservation Service’s Tour of Practices was postponed and modified into a virtual event. The presentation, which typically is a day-long bus tour throughout the county, featured 14 conservation project sites through a two-hour teleconference Dec. 4, 2020. Benton SWCD and NRSC staff presented the information using a slideshow and video while commenting live on the projects and fielding questions from the roughly 40 participants.

“One of the advantages of a virtual tour is it does allow us to tour the entire county rather than focusing on a part of the county like we do on a conventional bus tour,” said Pat Gehling, NRCS District Conservationist, after being introduced by Benton SWCD District Manager Gerry Maciej at the beginning of the event.

One project shared at the event was an irrigation conversion made at Melarry Farms, operated

by Mel and Darlene Hackett and Spencer and Stacey Hackett in Langola Township. In spring 2020, the Hacketts replaced a center pivot irrigation system with a variable rate system as part of a cost-share with the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

Gehling said the variable rate system allows the Hacketts to use a prescription when applying water to their field.

“This is new and unique,” Gehling said. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and only variable rate system in the county.”

Gehling said the United States Department of Agriculture classifies soils based on drainage, ranging from very poorly drained to excessively drained. He said on the Hacketts field most of the soil is excessively drained but that both ends of the spectrum are represented on the plot.

“Parts of the field have

likely covers about 10% of the total project cost.

“Hopefully in time the cost will come down,” Gehling said of the irrigation technology.

A second project shared was a building and manure pit installed

by Mike Hess, who lives south of Gilman. Hess replaced an open 2.5-acre dirt feedlot, where he raised over 100 steers, with the structure to improve animal health and address groundwater and surface water pollution concerns.

The project was assisted by the EQIP program, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture Livestock Investment Grant and landowner contributions.

“Based on the soils out there, there wasn’t a whole lot we could do with what we typically do – filter strips stuff like that,” said Mike McMillin, Benton SWCD technician. “So, what we were left with was abandoning the open lot, moving the animals from the farm they were on to his home farm where they milked and putting in a roof structure and a manure pit.”

A 340-by-74-foot enclosed building was