 Nutrient Management – Manure Management – what is this stuff all about? Well, since the Venango Conservation District spends a lot of time on nonpoint source pollution solutions, then it’s a good bet that the management of nutrients and specifically manure would be a good place to address these solutions. Excess nutrients can enter local waterways via stormwater and can cause water quality impairment.
Nutrient Management Plans can help agricultural operations to utilize nutrients on their farm, while utilizing practices to reduce any pollution that might be running off their farm via stormwater. Concentrated Animal Operations are required by law to develop and implement nutrient management plans. Five to ten percent of farms in Pennsylvania are estimated to fall into the Concentrated Animal Operation category. The other 90% of agricultural operations are encouraged to develop and implement nutrient management plans on a voluntary basis. Pennsylvania requires anyone who land applies manure or agricultural process wastewater to develop and implement a Manure Management plan. Even if a farm does not apply manure mechanically, but might have pastures or Animal Concentration Areas, they still need a manure management plan. The Venango Conservation District can help operators with their Nutrient Management Plans and their Manure Management plans. The VCD works to seek out funding to help operators install and implement best management practices to assist in implementing plans. The district holds workshops to educate operators on plans and how to get one. Contact the Venango Conservation District at 814-676-2832 to get more information.
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 What we at the Venango Conservation District call the “Polk Farm” is land owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that was once working farmland. Students of what was originally known as the State Institution for Feeble-minded of Western Pennsylvania established in 1893 worked to learn manual dexterity. Students cleared stones and brush, grew crops and cared for livestock.
Eventually the school discontinued farming the property. The Venango Conservation District entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commonwealth to manage 450 acres of school land. Thanks to our cooperator, Sandy Valley Farms, this property has been transformed back into a working farm. Modern farming practices such as no-till planting, contour strips and vegetative buffers are utilized. A great benefit of the farm is the opportunity to showcase these practices as an educational tool. The VCD sponsors a field day event on a regular basis where the public is invited to learn more about land management and conservation practices. We’ll be holding a Field Day event on Thursday September 17th 2015. The Venango Conservation District, in conjunction with the Mercer County Conservation District will be sponsoring an Agricultural Field Day. We’ll have presentations on many agricultural practices as well as information from many sponsors of the event and even pesticide credits. Here is a closer look at the presentations that we’ll be offering:
COVER COP BENEFITS – Joel Hunter, Agronomist for the Penn State Cooperative Extension will be talking about the benefits of cover crops. Cover cropping is one of the most rapidly growing soil and water conservation strategies. It is an accepted environmental practice and in fact, NRCS has set a goal to increase the acres planted nationally in cover crops from 2 million to 20 million by 2020. The benefits of cover crops are increased carbon and nitrogen in soils, erosion prevention, increased beneficial soil fungus colonization and weed suppression. RAINFALL SIMULATOR – Tim Elder, Grazing Specialist for the USDA-NRCS will provide a demonstration consisting of five soil samples such as traditionally tilled soil and no-till soil and soil collected from a forest. He will simulate a heavy rain event and explain how tillage affects soil erosion and water absorption. INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS – just before lunch we’ll hear about USDA-NRCS programs and their benefits to producers. We’ll hear about the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management and Manure Management programs and we’ll learn about the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP). VISIT WITH THE SPONSORS – this year, there are many sponsors to our event. During lunch, participants will have an opportunity to visit displays from sponsors and cooperators to gather information on how each one can benefit farming operations. STREAM BANK STABILIZATION SITE VISIT – Lance Bowes, District Manager of the Venango Conservation District will lead a field visit to a nearby stream bank stabilization site. He will explain how work at this site has reduced nonpoint source pollution to the stream and saved the agricultural field from washing away during storm events. MANAGING CORN FOLIAR DISEASES – Kevin Fry, Field Agronomist of DuPont Pioneer will give a presentation on managing diseases with DuPont’s foliar health program OPTIONAL PRESENTATION – after the conclusion of the day, we welcome you to stay a bit later to participate in a presentation on Agricultural Management Solutions (AMS) Ike Vorisek of Elder’s Ag & Turf will give a presentation on this latest GPS technology for agriculture.  The Venango Conservation District, in conjunction with the Mercer County Conservation District will be coordinating and Agricultural Field Day on Thursday September 17th from 10am to 3pm. The event will be hosted by the Mike Ohler family of Sandy Valley Farms located at 632 Valley Road, Polk PA 16342. This Agricultural Field Day event will provide an opportunity for local farmers to attend an event at a localized level to learn more about the importance and benefits of agricultural practices that help conserve farm land, and ultimately prevent and/or limit nonpoint source pollution.
AGENDA 9:30-10:00 Registration/Visit with Sponsors 10:00-10:15 Welcome 10:15-10:45 Cover Crop Benefits Joel Hunter; Agronomist-Penn State Ext. 10:45-11:15 Rainfall Simulator/Soil Health Tim Elder; Grazing Specialist-NRCS 11:15-12:00 Informational Sessions · NRCS Programs (10 min) NRCS Staff · Nutrient & Manure Management (15 min) Laurel Rush; Western PA NM Coordinator · Resource Enhancement & Protection (REAP)/Farmer Testimony (20 min) Joel Semke; REAP Coordinator 12:00-1:00 Lunch/Visit with Sponsors 1:00-1:45 Steam Bank Stabilization Lance Bowes; District Manager-Venango Conservation District 1:45-2:00 Travel to Field Site 2:00-2:30 Managing Corn Foliar Diseases Kevin Fry; Field Agronomist-DuPont Pioneer 2:30-3:00 Return to Farm/Evaluations OPTIONAL PRESENTATION 3:00-4:00 Agricultural Management Solutions (AMS) - The Latest In GPS Technology Ike Vorisek; Elders Ag & Turf Contact the Venango Conservation District at 814-676-2832 for more information or to register by September 10th. click here for informational brochure  The Venango Dirt and Gravel Roads program, administered by the Venango Conservation District, provides education and funding to municipalities to improve dirt and gravel roads in the county. Trout Unlimited found that sediment from dirt roads can be a major contributor of pollution to streams in Pennsylvania. As a result the Commonwealth allocates millions of dollars statewide annually to conservation districts for its Dirt and Gravel Roads program.
Thanks to Ashley Hazlett, the Venango Conservation District Dirt Gravel and Low Volume Roads Technician, this blog entry will showcase a Dirt and Gravel Roads program project in Victory Township. The Dennison Run Road project spans across 400 feet of a hilly dirt road. The section in question was consistently having drainage issues and was losing road surface during storm events. The funding requested for this project was $13.500.00. This funding helped provide for the addition of three new cross pipes. Ditches and banks were also stabilized and road fill was added to maintain a proper crown and a safe driving surface. The estimated value of the project is $18,913.00. Victory Township anticipates submitting an application for further Dirt & Gravel Roads program funding to continue drainage and road surface improvements to the upper hill area of the road. The Venango Conservation District will be conducting a series of classes and activities for children and their families at Two Mile Run County Park. Classes are free, but class registration is required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. The classes are a series of nature walks where participants will learn about bugs, water pollution, habitat, plants and other environmental topics. The classes will be held on three consecutive weekends in August.
Saturday August 15th, 10:00am at Pioneer Flats – a class on Streams. Participants will learn about how streams are formed and different types of pollution that can impair streams. The class will also cover aquatic life and how they can indicate how clean or polluted a stream might be. Participants should wear boots or old shoes. Saturday August 22nd, 10:00am at the Handicapped Fishing Pier – A program on lakes and wetlands. Participants will learn about why the lake is so shallow compared to 20 years ago. The class will also discuss what can be done to solve the problem. Participants should wear boots or old shoes. Saturday August 29th, 10:00am at the Nature Lodge – a class on forests. Participants will enjoy a nature walk on a trail near the lake. The program will cover topics ranging from trees, forest succession and critters of the forest. Participants should bring bug spray. Classes will be about an hour and one half long. This program is a great opportunity to get the family outdoors and have fun. You can register by calling Devin Lineman at 814-676-2832.  The purple cone flower, like the ones pictured, are native to eastern and central North America. There are an herbaceous flowering plant of the genus Echinacea. They bloom from mid-summer through early fall.
There are nine species of Echinacea. Some species have been used for medicinal purposes. Native Americans use the roots as a traditional healing herb. Today the roots are used for herbal medicines. Two species are considered by the US Fish and Wildlife as endangered. They are E. Tennesseensis and E. Laevigata. The name “cone flower” is rooted from the Greek echinos which means “sea urchin”. Some Native Americans call them “elk root” because they observed that elk would seek out and eat the roots when hurt or unwell. We call them “cone flowers” because their petals are reflexed. At the Venango Conservation District offices, we planted purple cone flowers because they are a native plant. Our purpose was to provide wildlife food for our garden visitors. Butterflies and bees consume the nectar of our cone flowers, and in the winter, goldfinches eat up the seeds. Cone flowers also have network of root fibers so they can bind soil which protects against erosion.  The Venango Conservation District recently completed repair work to Cherrytree Run that was eroding the stream bank, causing pollution and land damage to a property in Cherrytree Township. Storm water was picking up sizable rocks and depositing them in a new location, which was changing the path of the waterway. The land owner reported loosing several feet of his property.
Staff from both Pennsylvania DEP and the Venango Conservation District was able to visit the property to view the damage in 2014. The group formulated a plan to remove the gravel bar that was forming and re-deposit the material at the original stream bank channel. This work will encourage the storm water to make its way back through the original waterway, thereby reducing erosion and damage to the land owner’s property. In June of 2015, district staff and landowners got together to make this work happen. The work took only about a day. Staff intends to return to inspect the progress of vegetation and stabilization of the work. It is expected that existing vegetation should re-establish easily. The district expects the water flow to be less damaging and that the re-established stream channel should now be more stable. The Venango Conservation District is very pleased with the completion of this project. The district intends to continue stream bank repair at other sites around Venango County that have been causing nonpoint source pollution as a result of high water events. Check back to read more about our progress.  Noticing a bit of hub-bub about rain gardens? The Venango Conservation District has been working to get the word out about rain gardens with news articles, mailings and educational events. The district has been awarded funding to build rain gardens for educational showcases and most recently to build rain gardens for property owners in the Lower Two Mile Run Watershed (Cranberry/Seneca area). Why you may ask?
To reduce nonpoint source pollution. Nonpoint source water pollution is pollution that comes from many different sources, even your back yard. Stormwater runs off impervious surfaces of your property (rooftops, paved driveways, sidewalks etc.). That stormwater run-off causes nonpoint source pollution by adding a large amount of stormwater entering your neighborhood waterway and causing erosion. That stormwater also picks up contaminates on its way to the stream, and so causes additional pollution problems. What is a rain garden? Rather than a traditional raised garden bed, a rain garden is a sunken garden. A ponding area is created and layers of gravel, sand, and a soil/sand mix are added. Then native perennials are. The garden will collect stormwater to allow it to infiltrate rather than run off. Compared to a patch of lawn, a rain garden allows about 30% more rain water to filter into the ground. What are the benefits of a rain garden? Environmental – a rain garden reduces nonpoint source pollution by collecting stormwater, filtering it and allowing it to infiltrate or evaporate. Rain gardens provide food and cover for wildlife. Maintenance – rain gardens reduce lawn area that needs to be maintenanced. Rain gardens themselves are easy and inexpensive to maintain. A rain garden reduces flooding and drainage problems. The Venango Conservation District is partnering with the Oil Creek State Park to host an educational event for children. "Learning to Fish with Mom or Dad" will be held on Saturday June 20th at 9:30am at Two Mile Run County Park. Learn everything you need to know to start catching fish! All gear & bait will be provided, no licesnse needed. Dress for the weather. You may want to bring drinks, snacks, and bug spray. REGISTRATION REQUIRED, Call Oil Creek State Park at 814-676-5915 to register! Meet at the Boat Ramp.
See the OCSP post for more information https://www.facebook.com/events/656798317787199/ |
