Hide Article Text (OCR)
Washburn County boosts no-tillSpoonerWashburn County apparently isn’t one to rest on its conservation laurels.Last fall, the northwestern Wisconsin county received the Wisconsin Land Conservation Association’s Superior Service Award for its 1983 program of conservation work.The award, sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, recognized the county’s Land Conservation Committee for the following conservation efforts in 1983:•Purchase of a Tye-Drill seeder for leasing to farmers for no-till pasture and hayland renovation.•Leasing of three tractors and no-till corn planters from area implement dealers, with which farmers planted about 800 acres of no-till corn and soybeans.•Sponsoring the fourth annual Conservation Field Day for 60high school students from eight schools in Washburn, Burnett and Polk counties.•Sponsoring the Junior Land Conservation Board and assisting it with fair booths, speaking contest and conservation poster entries and a tour of area conservation practices.•Distribution of soil and water conservation materials to all area churches for Soil Stewardship Week in May.The county’s conservation tillage activities continued last year, with continued renting of the Tye-Drill and assisting 29 farmers in planting almost 1,000 acres of no-till (466 acres) and reduced tillage (516 acres) corn, according to John Donlin. SCS district conservationist in the county, who assists the county in its conservation program.Twelve of the farmers used their own planters and 17 leased a machine from Bar-H Ranch of Stone Lake, Mr. Donlin explained. About 10 county farmers used the no-till Tye-Drill last year and an equal number used the machine in neighboring Barron County, he said.The county also employed a field scout last summer, who checked yields and scouted fields for insect pests and disease problems. The scout gave the report to Mr. Donlin or UW Experiment Station Superintendent Bob Rand, who could give advice on spraying, if needed.Corn yields under reduced tillage or no-till ranged from 65 to 115 bushels an acre, according to the scout’s reports, but on the whole yields were close to the county’s normal average corn production of 80 to 90 bushels per acre, Mr. Donlin said.More important, an estimated 3,500 tons of soil were saved by using reduced tillage on those 1,000 acres last year, the conservationist reported.John Donlin
Newspaper Details
Country Today
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Feb 06, 1985
Page 34
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 13 Jan 2025
Other Publications Near Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire Telegraph
New North Wisconsin
Eau Claire Evening Free Press
Chippewa Anzeiger
Eau Claire Daily Argus
