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SWCD
holds 61st annual meeting
Osgood family presented farm award
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WANDA
ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTOS
Pictured above from left are members of
the Huffmeyer family who received the 2010 Ripley County
Conservation Farmer of the Year award last Tuesday: Kenneth
and Jane Huffmeyer, Larry, Charlene and son, Bill Huffmeyer.
Pictured at left are: Brian Evans, left, giving the oath
of office to Jeff Meinders and Danny Geisler to serve on
the SWCD board.
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Wanda
English Burnett
Editor
The importance of farming was highlighted at the Ripley County
Soil & Water Conservation Districts 61st annual meeting
held February 22 at the Jac-Cen-Del Elementary School. The meal
was catered by Waynes Meats of Milan.
Keynote speaker Fred Whitford, Purdue Extension, kept the crowd
on the edge of their seats as he demonstrated how things are seen
in a different light, depending on the person looking at it.
Whitford talked about the importance of protected water, soil,
and sustainability, and the farmer. He said the farmer helps everybody
in the community and everyone helps the farmer too. The bottom
line was that everyones job is important, from the farmer
to the truck driver who delivers the food, to the person who buys
and ultimately consumes it.
The Larry Huffmeyer family were honored for being the 2010 Ripley
County Conservation Farmer of the Year by the Soil & Water
Conservation District (SWCD).
The Huffmeyer family farm belonged to Larrys parents, Kenneth
and Jane Huffmeyer, who purchased the farm in 1952. It has been
farmed ever since. Son Larry and his wife, Charlene, who have
been married for 32 years, are very active in all the farming
aspects on the Osgood property. Their son, Bill, 25, also helps.
The couple has a daughter, Sarah, 28.
Some history of the Huffmeyers farming practices was announced
at the meeting just before the award was given. The Huffmeyers
bought their first no-till planter in 1974 and still plant most
of the 1300 acres of row crops using this method. The Huffmeyers
also raised livestock - beef cattle and hogs - until the early
1990s.
Larry and his son, Bill, work hard to keep the ground erosion
free. They have placed many acres of the farm under the Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP). Nearly 11 acres of waterways have been
installed with 6.7 acres of filter strips on his land. He has
13.6 acres which is used for quail habitat.
The Huffmeyer farm has approximately 150 acres placed under the
Continuous CP and General CRP programs. Larry is also very involved
in the application of cover crops on the row crop fields. In 2009
Larry incorporated turnips and radishes into the cover crop mix.
Now almost 775 acres are put into cover crops each year.
Besides farming, Larry is a member of the Farm Bureau Board and
of the St. Johns Lutheran Church.
Larry is hailed as a model farmer for conservation,
due to his no-till practices, waterways, filter strips, cover
crops, and wildlife habitats. He is doing his part to conserve,
the SWCD noted.
Kim Jolly, Tim Schwipps, and Steve Franklin gave overviews of
the 2010 year with SWCD. Some projects of the SWCD include a poster
contest for all K-12 students in area schools, Ag Day at the Ripley
County Fairgrounds Park, a new event in 2010, the career fair,
which was held at South Ripley High School and 4-H.
Adult education in the county includes the no-till breakfast,
spring cover crop field day, tree sale, fish sale, and equipment
rental. Federal programs such as cover crops were highlighted.
Brian Evans served as master of ceremonies and thanked the Farm
Service Agency for their continued help. Steve Thurnall accepted
a plaque honoring their service. Thurnall noted that their agency
took a hit this year when Melody Arney, program technician died
suddenly on January 7 from a brain aneurism.
A seedling fund for The Melody G. Arney Memorial Scholarship has
been formed through the Ripley County Community Foundation. The
group needs to raise $5000 in the next five years for this to
mature. Anyone interested in making a tax deductible contribution
to this scholarship may do so by sending a check to Ripley County
Community Foundation, Inc. For the Melody G. Arney Scholarship
Fund, 4 South Park Avenue Suite 210, Batesville, IN 47006.
This scholarship will benefit a student from a Ripley County school
who will be studying in an agriculture related field at college.
They may be a graduating senior or a current college student.
They must have lived in Ripley County during their enrolment in
high school.
The SWCD held their annual election with Danny Geisler and Jeff
Meinders taking the oath of office from Brian Evans.
Guest speaker Whitford encouraged farmers attending to tell people
what they do. He said most people will never meet a farmer.
The evening ended with numerous door prizes given out from businesses.
Jolly invited people to come to next years event and bring
someone with them.
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