Newsletter

Director Election: To all owners and occupiers of lands lying within the boundaries of the Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District, notice is hereby given that an Election will be held on the 22^nd day of February, 2008 from 7:00 a.m., until 6:00 p.m. at the Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District office, 338 South 36^th Street in Quincy. Three (3) Directors will be elected to serve the Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District of the State of Illinois.

All persons, firms or corporations who hold legal title or are in legal possession of any land lying within the boundaries of the said district are eligible to vote at said election, whether as lessee, renter, tenant or otherwise.

Only such persons, firms or corporation are eligible to vote.

Absentee voting may be conducted in person at the District Office commencing on February 17 and concluding on February 21, 2008.

Brent A Clair, Chairman Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT: We, the Nominating Committee, submit the following for election as Directors of the Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District: Joe Holtschlag, Bernie Woodworth, David McCleary

Respectfully submitted: Don McCleary, Jim Balzer, and Scott Bruenger

13^th ANNUAL NO-TILL SEMINAR
The 13^th Annual No-Till Seminar will be held on Tuesday, January 29, 2008, at the Quincy City Center, 201 South 3^rd Street in Quincy (former Holiday Inn). Registration starts at 9:00 AM. The seminar will start at 9:30 A.M. with “Seven Wonders of the Corn World” by Dr. Fred Below, University of Illinois Extension. Other sessions offered throughout the day include:

Managing Continuous Corn – Dr. Fred Below, University of Illinois Extension
Cover Crops/Soil Quality – Dan Towery, Ag Conservation Solutions
Weed Resistance Management – Dr. Gordon Roskamp, Western Illinois University
Year in Review – Mike Roegge, Crops Specialist, Adams/Brown County University of Illinois Extension
Marketing & Outlook – Dr. Abner Womack, Director Food & Ag Policy Research Institute, University of Missouri
Technology – Keith Fuller, Fuller Fertilizer
Farmer Panel – Alan Koch, Brown County producer, Ronald Downs, Schuyler County producer, and a producer from Missouri
Fungicides – Dr. Suzanne Bissonnette, University of Illinois Extension

Reservations are requested by Monday, January 21^st, to Adams County Soil & Water Conservation District by phone at 217/224-9305 Ext. 3, or by email acsw@adams.net. The cost is $12.00 per person, which includes lunch and proceedings. Certified Crop Advisor Credit hours are offered. For more information, contract the Adams County SWCD, or Adams/Brown Extension Unit at 223-8380.
The seminar is sponsored by the University of IL & MO Extension, Soil & Water Conservation Districts, IL Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Services of Western IL & Eastern MO, and agri-businesses.

CONSERVATION 2000 PROGRAMS

Sign-up for financial assistance for the Conservation Practice Program, Well Decommissioning Program (sealing abandoned wells) and Nutrient Management Plan Program is February 4 - 15, 2008 at our office, 338 South 36th Street in Quincy. Applications are also available on-line at www.adamsswcd.org. This is for work to be done in the fall of 2008 or spring/summer of 2009, and is the only sign-up period for these programs.
For those who signed up for FY 2008 projects that were not funded, call the office, or e-mail us at acsw@adams.net and we will include your request for FY 2009 funding. If you do not call, your project will not be considered for funding.

Adams County SWCD Fish Fingerling Order Form
Delivery Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008, at 1:00 PM - Please be prompt - the truck will only be here for a short time!
SWCD Office: 338 South 36^th Street, Quincy, IL – West Parking Area
ORDER GRASS CARP BY April 3^rd, ALL OTHER SPECIES BY April 10^th

NAME: _________________________ADDRESS: ________________________________________________

IF ORDERING GRASS CARP, COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:

Township: ________________________________ Section:______________ Water Surface Area:_____________

We will call to remind you of the delivery date & time. Return order with payment to:
Adams County SWCD 338 South 36^th Street Quincy, IL 62301
Orders not picked up on April 17^th will forfeit 25% of the cost.

TRANSPORTING FISH
Pre-bagged Fish – NO WATER NEEDED
1-2" hybrids 1-2" Bluegill 1-2" redear 2" crappie Fathead Minnows Grass Carp

PLEASE BRING CONTAINERS WITH WATER TO HAUL OTHER FISH
Gallons of pond or well water needed to haul 100 fish safely – NO CITY WATER
4-6" Catfish, 15 gallons 3-5" hybrids, 20 gallons 6-8" Catfish, 20 gallons
3" bass, 15 gallons 8-10" Catfish, 30 gallons 5-8" bass, 30 gallons

CHANNEL CATFISH - 100 to 200 per acre without feeding or up to 2000/ acre if feeding. When feeding, one needs to feed 100 lbs. of floating feed per 100 fish/year.
HYBRID SUNFISH – 500 to 1000 per acre. Hybrids are 93% male. Largemouth bass should be stocked with the hybrids. The bass will not grow very fast, but will prevent the survival of the few offspring by the hybrids.
BLUEGILL – 500 to1000 per acre. Bluegill can take the place of hybrid sunfish. Bluegill will result in better bass growth, but may overpopulate and fail to produce cacheable bluegill. (Stock at ½ rate with redear.)
REDEAR – 500 to1000 per acre. Stock with bluegill for better bass growth. Redear are a bottom feeder and difficult to catch. (Stock at ½ rate with bluegill.)
LARGEMOUTH BASS – 50 to100 per acre. When bass are present, you need to stock larger fish – 3-5” bluegill or hybrids, & 6-8” or 8-10” catfish.
BLACK CRAPPIE – 100 to 200 per acre. Recommended for lakes of 20 acres or more. They tend to overpopulate in smaller ponds.
TRIPLOID GRASS CARP – 5 to10 per acre for weed control, based on aquatic weed growth. Triploid grass carp are sterile and will not reproduce. A permit is required for grass carp – the hatchery will take care of this for you. If grass carp do not completely control vegetation in 2 years, one needs to stock more.

Plan to attend an Open House to review the
GREATER BEAR CREEK AREA WATERSHED PLAN
A meeting to gather input from the public on the Greater Bear Creek Area Watershed Plan will be held on Thursday, January 10, 2008 from 4:00 -7:00 P.M. at the Loraine Fire Station. The meeting will be an “Open House” format, so feel free to stop by and review the draft plan and offer your comments. At 6:00 P.M., a short presentation on soil erosion and nutrient runoff in the watershed will be given.

The Greater Bear Creek Watershed area includes parts of Adams and Hancock Counties. The watershed area drains approximately 152,000 acres in Hancock County and 213,000 acres in Adams County. The mission of the plan is to foster active cooperation from landowners/stakeholders to improve and protect natural resources in the Greater Bear Creek Watershed through education and financial incentives.

A local planning committee consisting of representatives from a variety of natural resource organizations has developed a draft plan to help protect and improve the natural resources in the watershed area. They were assisted by a technical advisory committee made up of agency representatives. Concerns identified in priority order are:

Soil Erosion
Nutrients and Pesticides
Stream Bank Erosion
Livestock Waste Management
Invasive Plant Species
Human Waste
Timber Management
Urban Sprawl
Pasture Management
Information/Education & Landowner Involvement
Wildlife Management
Wetland Management
The draft plan will be available for review at the public meeting, along with maps showing soil erosion rates, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff rates in the watershed, highly erodible pasture and wooded acres, and stream bank erosion areas. The open house format will allow those attending to ask questions and provide input to improve the draft plan. At 6:00 PM, there will be a short presentation on soil erosion and nutrient runoff in the watershed area.
The goal of the planning committee is to be able to provide the needed technical and financial assistance to landowners in the watershed to address the resource concerns listed above. A watershed plan will enable the planning committee to pursue grants special project funds, or assistance from any agency or organization.

A plan summary and the entire plan can be viewed on our web page at www.adamsswcd.org after January 7, 2008.

January 10, 2008 Greater Bear Creek Area Watershed Public Meeting 4:00 PM-7:00 PM

January 30, 2008 Annual Ryegrass Seminar – check our web page for more information

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT: We, the Nominating Committee, submit the following for election as Directors of the Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District: Joe Holtschlag, Bernie Woodworth, David McCleary

Respectfully submitted: Don McCleary, Jim Balzer, and Scott Bruenger

TOTALS