Author: GCSC

Grant County Soil Conservation District
Spring 2024 / Volume 31— Issue 1
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks”
- - John Muir

Inside this Issue:
Pg 1 Seeking Treasurer Seat on Board of Supervisors
Spring Health and Horticulture Night
P 2 Welcome, Annah Belisle to NRCS
Pg 3 Windbreaks for Snow Management
Pg 4 Try This— Grow a Tiny Tree
Recipe—Easter Deviled Egg Chicks
Movies to See
Pg 5 Flower for April—Daisy
Seasonal Hiring Information
Pg 6 What have we been up to
New Tree Establishment and survival
Pg 7 NRCS Update

Calendar of Events:
April 16, 2024—Board Meeting
April 22, 2024—Tree planting training day, Minot
May 21, 2024—Board Meeting
May 27—Memorial Day—Office Closed
June 18, 2024—Board Meeting
June 19th—Juneteenth—Office Closed
Hidden Object to find
“Note: This is an example of what you’re finding”.
Congratulations to our Winter Newsletter winner, Sharon Miller. Thank you to all who participated! Once again, if you can find the little plant within the newsletter, you will receive a gift card to a local business! It may not be the same color, but it is the same shape and could be upside down! Once you have found the plant, please mail-in, email, or message us on Facebook where you found it!
Happy Spring!!!

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS & STAFF
Jacob Tatro, Chairperson
Eric Friesz, Vice-Chair
Wes Frederick
Alan Maier
Treasurer - OPEN
Jaymie Hertz, District Clerk
Shelly Moore, District Technician
NRCS Staff
Greg Smith, Jr. , District Conservationist
Abigail Roth, Management & Program Analyst
Annah Belisle, Secretary
Bryce Anderson, Agronomist
Jacob Dummer, Rangeland Management Specialist

Treasurer Seat on Board of Supervisors.
We are currently accepting nominations for this position.
If you are interested or know of someone interested in this position, please contact Jaymie Hertz, District Clerk, at 701-622-3381, Ext 114.

Welcome, Annah Belisle to the NRCS Staff!

Hello, I am Annah Belisle, the new Secretary of the NRCS, I am excited to begin this new journey! My mom, Brittany Belisle is originally from here, so we always came back to visit my grandparents, and help grandpa with his cows, which I loved those weekends, spending time with cousins and helping in wrangle in the cattle! My family officially made the move to Carson in 2011 which is crazy to think it was that long ago! My little family consists of my boyfriend Brett, kiddos Hayden and Keltynn, and our cat!
In my free time I enjoy being outside, reading, writing, spending time with my family. I am an aunt to two littles, and I love seeing them as much as I can as well!
I am excited to see where this new position takes me and eager to learn new things day by day as well!

Windbreaks for Snow Management

Design versus desire
In areas of high winds and blowing snow, windbreaks serve the dual purposes of modifying climatic factors and providing methods for managing snow. In open areas, wind lifts, carries, and deposits snowflakes just as it does soil particles. By modifying wind flow, blowing snow can be distributed over a field or deposited within a given area.
A dense multiple row windbreak or living snow fence will pile snow in a restricted area, reducing the need to plow highways and driveways. Dense windbreaks on rangelands provide protection for spring calving and lambing areas and reduce mortality of newborn livestock. Living snow fences located on the windward side of stock ponds deposit snow in the pond area and can provide significant amounts of water for summer use by livestock. Controlling blowing snow with windbreaks can prevent large drifts in the living and working areas of farmsteads and feedlots and reduce the labor and energy needed for snow removal.
Snow Control on Fields and Pastures
In areas where snow provides a critical source of soil moisture for crop and forage production during the next growing season, windbreaks help capture the moisture available in snow by keeping it on the fields. On average, yields of winter wheat are increased by 15 to 20 percent. In northern prairie areas, croplands protected by field windbreaks trap blowing snow on the fields resulting in improved crop yields. On average, yields of winter wheat are increased by 15 to 20 percent. These increases are a result of increased moisture due to snow capture and to the protection of the wheat crop from winter desiccation.
Snow Control for Farmsteads and Feedlots
The main objectives of farmstead or feedlot windbreaks are to reduce the force of the winter wind on the activities within the sheltered zone and to enhance the microclimate on the leeward side of the windbreak. An additional benefit of these windbreaks can be the management of blowing and drifting snow.
With no windbreak protection, farm houses and other buildings act as solid barriers to the wind, resulting in swirling wind currents around comers or structures. Driveways and work areas may be subject to snow-drifting, become inaccessible, and require additional hours of labor to remove the snow. A properly designed windbreak can catch and store most of the snow, reducing the need for snow removal.
One purpose of feedlot and livestock windbreaks is to maintain an area relatively free from deep snow where hay and other feed are stored. These windbreaks provide a haven where livestock can get out of strong winds and driving snow. This reduces animal stress and decreases feeding requirements, resulting in better animal health, lower death losses, and lower feed costs.

TRY THIS!!

MOVIES
Sit down and have fun watching these great movies about trees or the environment with the younger ones!! They may even put a smile on your face!!!
The Lorax
Fern Gully: The last Rainforest
Wall-E

Easter Egg Recipe—Deviled Egg Chicks
12 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled 1/3 cup mayonnaise 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard*, or add to taste 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp salt, or to taste 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced into rings 6 black olives
Peel 12 hard-boiled eggs. With a sharp knife, slice off a very thin layer from the base of the egg – this will give it a flat surface to stand on a platter. Cut off a generous top third of the egg. Squeeze around the egg base gently to loosen the yolk and it should pop right out. Keep the lids paired with their bases.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine 12 cooked yolks and mash well with a fork. Add 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1 1/2 tsp dijon (or add to taste), 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/8 tsp salt, or season to taste. Mash everything together until smooth. Transfer mixture to ziploc or pastry bag and pipe generously into egg bases. Place top 1/3 back over the base and press down slightly to adhere.
For the eyes, poke through an olive with a plastic straw several times then gently squeeze down the straw and the little circles of olives will pop right out. For the beaks, thinly slice a few rings of carrot and cut each ring into sixths. Insert 2 olive spots for eyes and 2 carrot wedges the beak. Set chicks on a platter and garnish with fresh parsley or dill to give them that “free range” feel.

Flower of the Month for April

DID YOU KNOW?!
Bees and Other Pollinators Love Daisies
Bees have a thing for daisies, and Shasta daisies in particular are one of their favorite flowers to pollinate. The flat shape of the flower is especially attractive to bees because there's plenty of room to land on the yellow center to collect pollen and nectar. The center of a daisy also contains hundreds of smaller flowers that combine to create a cluster called an inflorescence, which allows bees to efficiently collect a lot of food from one landing.
They're More Than Just a Pretty Face
Of course, daisies add texture and color to backyard landscaping and make a lovely addition to bouquets and centerpieces. However, daisies also can be used for much more than just their good looks. Perhaps most surprisingly, you can actually eat daisies! The next time you're looking for a unique and pretty garnish for your salad or cake, pluck some daisies from your yard and sprinkle them on top. Daisies are actually closely related to artichokes, so they're a great source of vitamin C. Additionally, daisies also have lots of medicinal properties—they're known to slow bleeding, relieve indigestion, and soothe coughs.
When you think of daisies, you probably picture classic white petals around a bright yellow center, but you may be surprised to learn there are many other varietals that go by the same name (think Gerbera daisy or English daisy). Most types of daisies begin blooming in early summer and keep on going through the fall.
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Seasonal Hiring for Tree Planting
Stop by the office, go to our website or find the link on our Facebook page to find an application!!

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO AT YOUR SOIL CONSERVATION OFFICE

The 2024 Spring Tree planting season is coming up soon and we have been preparing for that by placing our tree orders. Letters have been mailed to OHF producers to ready them for the season.
At this time we have 7,825 trees ordered to cover machine plantings, new handplants and replacement trees. We are “tentatively” expecting to have our trees here at the cooler by the end of April. We will be contacting all producers to let them know when the trees will be ready for pickup and scheduling the machine planting dates, also. We will be having our annual tree cooler sale for extra trees and will hope to have a date set soon. We are planning on possibly an early date in June, most likely a Friday and Saturday to try to meet the needs of folks. Sales will be limited to customers in order to provide plenty of planting opportunities to those in the county. More to come on that. Flyers will be posted in various spots around the community, on our website, and we will run a spot in the Carson Press/Grant County News.
Shelly, our District Technician is also working on new soil mapping and tree plans for our 2025 Outdoor Heritage Fund planting. Application deadline is June 30th. There will be no extra rounds this year, as in previous years, so the sooner, the better to get your plans in and finalized. Stop by the office during our normal business hours to discuss your plan. It has been great to get reacquainted and also meet new acquaintances with those that walk through our doors, or call for information. I am looking forward to getting out on some drives to visit with those who would be interested in doing a new planting, or possibly have questions on anything trees and conservation. I am here to help!
Jaymie, our District Clerk, is ALWAYS busy!! She is keeping the office particulars running, and just try to keep up with her!! She and I are planning on some renovations this year in the front of the office building and some more work will be done to beautify the arboretum across the street from our office.
Monthly Board meetings are taking place. Public is always welcome to attend. Please call Jaymie and let us know if you would like to attend.
We continue to attend seminars, trainings, and meetings around the state so we can offer you the best benefits of our soil conservation office.
If you have a special interest in knowing or learning about certain conservation practices please let us know as we would like to plan some events for public interest in the near future.
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NEW TREE ESTABLISHMENT AND SURVIVAL
When new trees are planted, it is extremely important to keep the weeds mowed between rows and watered weekly, especially in a drought season.
What your tree plantings SHOULD NOT look like between rows What your tree planting SHOULD look like between rows
Picture taken 6 months after planting—many trees died out Between row mowing as needed—Great survivability trees are a few years old

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The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has technical and financial assistance available to landowners and operators. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) are two farm bill programs that operate under a continuous sign-up; therefore, applications are accepted on a continuing basis throughout the year and cutoff dates are scheduled to allow for ranking, prioritizing, and selection of applications for funding.
EQIP is the NRCS flagship conservation program that help farmers, ranchers, and foresters to integrate conservation into working lands. Grant County conservation practices include but are not limited to rangeland livestock improvements such as water wells, solar pumps, pipelines, tanks, windbreak, cross fence, grazing distribution, or cropland improvements such as grass plantings on sensitive soils, nutrient, residue, and tillage management.
CSP helps you to build on existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation. Whether you are looking to decrease inputs, make rangeland livestock improvements, develop cropland resiliency, or enhance wildlife habitat we can customize a conservation plan for you.
· The FY 2024 EQIP ACT NOW program has a continuous signup and 3 rounds of ranking deadlines. March 15, 2024, April 12, 2024, and May 10, 2024.
· The FY 2024 EQIP-CIC program cutoff date is March 1, 2024, and has 3 rounds of ranking deadlines. March 15, 2024, April 12, 2024, and May 10, 2024.
· The FY 2024 CSP Classic program cutoff date is March 1, 2024. These applications will be ranked by March 22, 2024.
· The FY 2024 CSP ACT NOW program has a continuous signup and 2 rounds of ranking deadlines. April 5, 2024, and May 3, 2024.
Please give us a call so we can visit about your conservation goals and help find a program that is right for you.
Gregory Smith Jr. District Conservationist

Gregory Smith, Jr.
District Conservationist-USDA-NRCS
Carson Field Office
P.O. Box 257
103 Dakota St.
Carson, ND 58529
Office: 701-622-3240
Cell: 701-301-5093
Email: Gregory.Smith5@usda.gov

Grant County SCD

103 Dakota Street
P.O. Box 257
Carson, ND 58529

Phone: 701-622-3381 ext. 3
Email: grantscd@outlook.com

Find us on Facebook as well! Grant County Soil Conservation District

Return Service Requested
Were on the Web!
Gcscd.specialdistrict.org
We are adding more information to our website, so check us out!!!

NONPROFIT
US Postage Paid
Permit #5
Carson, ND

All programs and services of the Grant County Soil Conservation District are offered on a non-discriminatory basis, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or handicap. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice & TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Please Patronize our Conservation Minded Sponsors! Thank you for your support!

Corporate Office
Agassiz Seed - 445 7th St NW - West Fargo, ND, 58078
Phone: (701) 282-8118 - Fax: (701) 282-9119
Agassizseed.com -chrisk@agassizseed.com

Chris Kappes (Sales)

Volume 31 Issue 1