Clarke County Soil & Water Conservation District
Osceola, IA
Rental equipment available!!! Fabric Layer and Seeder
IOWATER Water Quality Monitoring now available!!
Office Hours:
M-F 8:00am-4:30pm
2015 EVENTS
Women Landowners Meeting 2015
Clarke County SWCD held its annual Women Landowner's Meeting on Tuesday, October 20 from 9-11:30am. John Baker, attorney, spoke to the attendees about laws concerning trusts, renters/tenants, leasing, and estate planning. There was also information available from the FSA Office and the Clarke County Extension.
Snacks and drinks were provided, along with some freebies donated by local businesses. There was also a drawing for door prizes.
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Farm Bureau: 3rd Grade Field Day
The Osceola Field Office, participated in the Clarke County Farm Bureau's eighth annual 3rd Grade Field Day on September 16th.
More than 140 students from Clarke and Murray Community School Districts participated in the year's event held at the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Osceola.
The students rotated among seven learning stations, including a new NRCS Rainfall Simulator which demonstrates the erosion and runoff potential of local soils with various covers and treatments, along with impervious surface (roofing shingles).
The other stations at the field day included representatives from the local coops, ISU Extension, a turkey hatchery, and the local implement dealership. The Clarke County Cattlemen provided lunch for the group.
As a part of the Livestock Trail Erosion Grant, the Clarke County SWCD will be putting on our second field day on Thursday June 11th at 5:30pm, at the Cummings Farm at 3035 Garst St., Woodburn, IA. The grant was intended to help the SWCD research different ways to fix the erosion issues and possibly prevent them from happening in the first place.
District Conservationist, Dennis Schrodt will be presenting some information about the grant and different issues that arise from erosion caused by livestock trails. There will be informational pamphlets available and the Clarke County Cattleman's will be assisting the SWCD in serving a light meal. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about these practices to attend the field day, share your experiences and hopefully we will have some good discussion about it.
2015 Scholarship Recipient
CDI is partnering with local soil and water conservation districts (SWCD) to foster the higher education endeavorsof Iowa students interested in conservation and agriculture by offering scholarships. Iowa High School Class 2015 Students pursuing programs of study in any field of conservation or agriculture qualifies for the Conservation Scholarship. While this is a wide field and many studies qualify, reference will be given to students pursuing programs of study in conservation. The scholarship must be used for the student’s first year of
college education.
To find your local SWCD Office, select your county on the map by visiting the following website: http://idals.iowa.gov/FARMS/index.php/districtMap.
This year’s deadline was January 30. Scholarships chosen at the County level will go on to compete against others at the Regional and possibly State level. Awards range from $4000 for the top State, $600 in Regional and $250 at County.
This year’s winner at County level is Tiffany McKnight, who currently attends Clarke Community Schools in
Osceola and maintains a 3.52 GPA.
Tiffany received her $250 check at the awards banquet on May 13th.
2015 East Lake Park:
Clarke/Murray 3rd Grade Fishing & Pond Study Day
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Clarke County Conservation Board put on a 3rd Grade Fishing & Pond Study Day on May 12, 2015. Students from both Clarke & Murray schools came out and went for a hike, got to fish and learned a bit about building ponds and water quality monitoring at the pond study.
Clarke County Conservation Board, AmeriCorps through the Clarke County Extension Office and the Clarke County SWCD all participated in the making the day successful.
Gabrielle Hemesath: 2015 American Honey Queen
 Gabrielle and NormGabrielle and Norm, our Vice Chairman for the Commissioners...who suggested we invite Gabrielle. |  Gabrielle speaking to 2nd Graders at Clarke |
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 Gabrielle speaking to 2nd Graders at Clarke |  Gabrielle explaining the three types of bees in a hive: workers, drones and the queen |
 Gabrielle explains what worker bees do |  Gabrielle taking questions |
 Gabrielle explaining how bees are pollinators |  Gabrielle explaining what bee keepers do |
 Gabrielle explaining the importance of the queen bee and her court |  Gabrielle explaining how bees make honey in the hive |
 Gabrielle's interview at KSOI |  Getting things ready to record |
 Gabrielle did two spots that will air on the radio |  Gabrielle speaking to Murray 3rd-6th Graders |
 Gabrielle explaining the hive and speaking about herself |  Murray 3rd-6th Grade |
 Gabrielle explaining what drones do in the hive |  Gabrielle explains how a queen bee is created |
 Gabrielle taking questions |  Gabrielle asking if student would rather be a worker bee or drone |
 Gabrielle explaining how bee keepers remove the honey from the hive |  Answering questions at the end of the presentation |
 Gabrielle speaking to JH and HS students in a Ag and Science Class at Clarke |  Gabrielle explaining what a worker bee does |
 Watching the video of the bee doing a waggle dance |  Watching the video of the bee doing a waggle dance |
 Gabrielle speaking to the Hiz Kidz afterschool program at Clarke |  P4270066.JPG |
 Some local adults who were interested in hearing her presentation |  P4270068.JPGGabrielle explains the many uses of honey |
 Gabrielle explaining how bees utilize a man-made hive |
Gabrielle Hemesath, the 2015 American Honey Queen will be visiting Osceola on April 27th. She will be speaking to area youth about the importance of bees and the many uses of honey.
She will be speaking at the Murray and Clarke Schools during the day.
Contact our office at 641.342.2917, ext 3 for more information if you are interested in attending.
Click the links below for more information about Gabrielle, the American Beekeeping Federation and the Iowa Honey Producers Association.
This field day is part of our Livestock Trail Erosion Grant that we received in 2014. It is an excellent way to get farmers and producers together to see different ways to prevent and fix the damage caused by trail erosion.
Sargent farms was gracious enough to allow us to have our first field day at their farm, which is an excellent example of preventative measures that can be used to help keep water and livestock from eroding the land around a pond.
Even though the weather wasn't ideal, we had around 15 people attend and discuss the issues with Dennis. We thank everyone who was involved and hope that anyone interested will attend our next field day in the next month or so.
Dennis talking about the grant.
Norm discussing benefits of grant.
Dennis talking about the grant.
2015 Poster Contest Entries
Kindergarten-1st Grade Entries
Left to right; top to bottom:
Colin,
Alexandria, Bryce, Brayden,
Jesse, Jackson, Dylan, Masan, Anthony,
Landon
2nd-3rd Grade Entries
Left to right; top to bottom:
Alyssa, Ryan, Abigail,
Caleb, Kendrick, Aleksys,
Lyla, Christian, Megan,
Abigail, Madison, Gavin,
Brogan, Keithan, Cara,
Drew, Morgan, Mikayla, Brooklynn
5th Grade Entries
Left to right; top to bottom:
Chloe, Hailey Ann, Zoey, Abbegale, Calleigh, Hannah, Brooke, Matthew, Daniel, Tyson, Blake, Savannah, Lexie,
Christian, Korey, Paige, Jadyn, Wyatt,
Payton, Haley, Kennedy, Avery,
Brycen, Breanna
6th Grade Entries
Top left to right:
Christina, McKayla, Kinzee
Bottom left to right:
Megan, Ashlee, Cole
7th-9th Grade Entry
Keara
10th-12th Grade Entry
Rileigh
2015 Spring Regional Meeting: Region 6
Region 6 Director (CDI)
Administrative Office Manager of CDI
DSC Bureau Chief
NRCS Assistant State Conservationist- Management & Strategy
State Soil Conservation Committee- Cities & Towns Representative
Director of Soil Conservation (IDALS)
District Conservationist- Clarke County
Links for the other handouts from the meeting are here...
Region 6: Spring Commissioners Meeting Agenda
Reports
Region 6 Meeting: Secretary Report
Making 'Cents' of Conservation Dollars
Watershed Projects for Results
2015 Annual Contractors Meeting
 Dennis Schrodt |  Welcome |  Aaron Sickels |
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 Jeff Godwin |  Area 4 Presentation |  EEO, Special Projects |
 LunchChili provided by Osceola Foods, along with Subway sandwiches, cookies and drinks. |  Brandon Dittman, IDALS |  Jim Gillespie, IDALS |
 Questions |  Questions |  DOT |
 Questions |  Freebies |  Door Prizes |
 Thank You |  Livestock Trail Erosion Inforrmation |
This year we had 13 contractors attend the meeting out at the Osceola Country Club. Aaron Sickels, Soil Conservation Technician NRCS, spoke about tile design and the new 2015 Cost Share Rates for this year. Jeff Godwin, Area Engineer, gave a powerpoint presentation. Dennis Schrodt, District Conservationist NRCS, spoke about EEO, harassment and some Clarke County Special Project Areas.
Lunch consisted of chili donated by Osceola Foods, and Subway sandwiches, cookies and drinks.
Jim Gillespie, Division Director IDALS and Brandon Dittman, Field Services Representative IDALS, answered questions related to the state cost share changes.
DOT also sent an officer who presented with a powerpoint and a lot of important information to help keep contractors legal on the road and everyone safe.
Thank You for the Donations
Contech Engineered Solutions
Hickenbottom Intakes
American State Bank
Clarke County State Bank
Great Western Bank
Osceola Foods
Precision Intakes
Agri Drain Corporation
2015 Contractor's Meeting Agenda