West Virginia Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society
Fall Meeting
November 17, 2015
Location: Eastern Community College OR South Branch Inn, Moorefield, WV
Registration: $5 for members, $10 for non-members. RSVP by November 13th.
TO REGISTER:
1. Click Below to Register and Pay online
OR
2. Email Jamey Darlington, jamey.darlington@wv.usda.gov. Send check, made payable to WV SWCS, to Jamey Darlington, 133 Hickory Hill Road, Jane Lew, WV 26378
CEUS APPROVED: 4.5 Hrs. of Nutrient Management CEUs, 6 Hrs. of Conservation Planning CEUs, 2 Hrs. Category 1-CF credits from Society of American Foresters
**Attendees are responsible for their own lunch. Light morning refreshments will be provided**
Agenda
8:45 - 9:00 Registration and Welcome
9:00 – 10:00 WV Web Soil Survey
Tim Dilliplane, Resource Soil Scientist, NRCS
To illustrate how to use WebSS regarding areas of limitations, good vs poor suitability of soils, etc. within the context of the area of interest (AOI). The session will cover creating an AOI and configuring reports useful to nutrient management planning and conservation planning, as well as how to discuss these soil maps to the landowner. This session will also demonstrate WebSS’ usefulness in configuring multiple soil reports for the user, with a focus on water management, farmland classification, hydric soils, etc.
10:00 – 10:10 10 minute break
10:10 -- 11:10 Forest Conservation in WV’s Bay Watershed
Herb Peddicord, Chesapeake Bay Forester, WV DOF
One of the focuses of the Chesapeake Bay Program and generally one of the best practices to protect water supplies is the permanent protection of working forests. "Retaining and expanding forests across the watershed is a cost effective strategy for reducing pollution now and maintaining caps on nutrients in the future", says the Chesapeake Executive Council. This session will talk about targeting high value forests for conservation and the issues related to managing these forests over time.
11:10 -- 12:10 Barriers in West Virginia To Organic Farming
Annie Stroud, Staff Food System Coordinator, Downstream Strategies
There are very few certified organic farms in West Virginia. This session will give an overview of organic production, some of the barriers and potential economic gains associated. The session will reference a report conducted by Downstream Strategies regarding WV organic farms with a grant funded by the USDA and will go over some of the key findings as they relate to farm utilization of organic practices and the market and other constraints that are prevalent in West Virginia. The findings discussed will include the top eight barriers to organic production and profitability: weed management, costs of organic production, farm labor, fertility management, Yields, insect pest management, marketing of farm products, and access to organic inputs.
12:10 – 1:15 Lunch and SWCS Meeting
1:15 – 2:15 Google Earth for Natural Resource Providers
Dennis Burns, Conservation Specialist, WVCA
Precision Agriculture has been utilized throughout the country for nutrient management as a way of preventing excessive application of nutrients. In West Virginia, the utilization of this technology has been limited due to the lack of accessibility by the commercial sector to adapt to this trend. In this presentation, an overview will be given of traditional precision agriculture technology. Then an alternative method utilizing Google Earth Pro (a free software) will be discussed. Instructions will be given on a step by step basis to make sure that when participants leave the session they can start utilizing this method both for planning and for application purposes. Additionally, the instruction will also provide information regarding how to upload the geospatial data out of the Google Earth Pro software and into other software packages such as ArcGIS or ArcMap that may be more commonly utilized by USDA personal.
2:15-3:15 High Tunnels
Lewis Jett, WVU
Discussion of suitability of high tunnels for WV producers. Special resource concerns including soil suitability, drainage, and unique resource inputs for high tunnels. Unique impacts on crops grown with high tunnels. Discussion on proper site selection for high tunnel placement, tunnel dimensions, water irrigation, and production systems. Also, discussion of supporting practices for high tunnel implementation: including Grassed Waterway, Irrigation Reservoir, Microirrigation, Surface drainage.
3:15-3:30 15 min. Break
3:30-4:30 High Tunnel Tour with Local Landowner
Elwood Williams
We will travel to the Williams’ high tunnel to hear the experience of installing and working with a high tunnel in the Potomac Valley Region of West Virginia. The landowner will also be present to discuss past crops, as well as lessons learned when growing in high tunnels.
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