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About Us
County Impact Statements - Washington County
On-Farm Demonstration Day Makes West Fork - White River Watershed
Efforts a Success
In 1998, the West Fork - White River, located in Washington County, was
placed on the impaired stream list and placed on the state 303(d) list due to
excess sediment loading from point and non-point sources. The Environmental
Protection Agency funded a grant for Extension to educate agricultural
landowners about the impairment of this stream. The primary focus is educating
producers about best management practices on farms to reduce the displacement of
sediment and nutrients into the streams.
Since the implementation of this grant, several residents have received
assistance with soil sampling, forage analysis, forage establishment and other
pasture related activities. However, the need was present to impact a larger
population of watershed producers.
In order to make area producers aware of watershed opportunities and work
done with this project, an on-farm demonstration was established at the Reynolds
Ranch outside of Greenland. This demonstration site was established to cover
such topics as soil fertility, proper weed control with use of integrated pest
management (IPM) tactics, forage, and farm pond management.
To promote the demonstrations, an On-Farm Demonstration Day was held on July
17, 2001. Twenty-three producers received training in soil sampling and analysis
interpretation, weed identification, thistle IPM control, legume persistence
under herbicide treatments, cost analysis of pasture herbicides, sprayer
calibration and pond weed management. It was the first time for 65% of the
attendees to participate in any West Fork-White River watershed activity since
the project began in 2000.
Julie Speight, County Extension Agent - Agriculture, shows
producers how to properly calibrate a boom sprayer.
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Impacts
- 404 producers live in the West Fork - White River watershed
- 57 producers have attended educational meetings
- 34 producers have utilized Extension’s soil sampling services to receive
recommendations on 1,924 acres of pastureland.
- 13 producers overseeded with winter annuals to extend the grazing period
of their pastures
- 8 producers planted warm season grasses
- 23 producers implemented a weed control program utilizing proper
spraying techniques
- 2 producers had poultry litter analyzed for nutrients
- 1 producer had hay tested for protein levels
- 1 producer had water tested for bacteria and nutrients
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