Concluding this year’s Winter Workshop Series is none other than Jay Fuhrer. Jay is a retired Soil Health Specialist with the NRCS Stationed out of North Dakota. Today, he focuses his efforts assisting with Menoken Farms, a demonstration farm set up to display the potential of soil health. This event is a not to be missed opportunity to learn the foundations of soil health from one of the great pioneers of regenerative agriculture. Click on Jay’s picture to learn more about him.

This event will start at 10:00am with lunch served around Noon. Weather permitting, Jay will lead another presentation in the field in the afternoon.

Please RSVP by Monday, April 7th by calling the office @ 620-888-2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

Back by popular demand, Roger McEowen is the Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation at Washburn University School of Law in Topeka and he has agreed to lead us through Kansas Water Law. Roger is an engaging speaker able to help guide others through the nuances of the Kansas legal system.

Come ready to learn Wednesday, March 5th at the Pleasantview Activity Center with lunch served at Noon and Roger to start at 12:30pm.

Please RSVP by Monday, March 3rd by calling the office @ 620-888-2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

Tom Dykstra specializes in the study of insects and as director of Dyskstra Laboratories, he has been able to conduct his studies for nearly 30 years. Click on the picture of Dr. Thomas Dykstra for more information on his knowledge of insects.

We are so excited for the opportunity to bring Dr. Tom Dykstra for the Winter Workshop that we have set up a double feature of presentations on Feb. 26th starting at 10:00am, with a break for lunch around 12:00pm, followed by an afternoon presentation. We would invite you to come for one or both of these talks.

Please RSVP by Monday, Feb. 24th by calling the office @ 620-888-2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

The Cheney Lake Watershed Appreciation Meal and Annual Meeting will be on Thursday, February 6th at 6:30pm at the Arlington Amish Mennonite Church, 15611 W. Arlington Rd, Arlington, KS.

There is no charge to attend, but reserve your meal by Noon on Tuesday, February 4th. Call the office at 620-888- 2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

Roy Pfaltzgraff comes to us from Haxtun, Colorado, near the northeast corner of the state. Even with an average rainfall of 14 inches, Roy has managed to increase his soil health. Even more impressive, every crop planted has a market waiting for it, adding value to every crop he grows. Click Roy’s picture to learn more about PFZ Farms.

This meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 30th at the Pleasantview Activity Center. Lunch at Noon, Speaker at 12:30pm.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 28th by calling the office @ 620-888-2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

Cheney Lake Watershed is kicking off our Winter Workshop Series with Logan Pribbeno. Logan is President of Wine Glass Ranch, a 30,000-acre ranch of crop and rangeland near Imperial Nebraska, that combines conservation and profitability. Click Logan’s photo to read more about Logan and his work at Wineglass Ranch.

This event is scheduled for Thursday, January 16th at Pleasantview Activity Center, 5013 S. Dean Rd, Hutchinson 67501. Lunch at Noon, Speaker at 12:30pm.

Please RSVP by Monday, Jan. 13th by calling the office @ 620-888-2054 or email clwreservations@gmail.com

This event is an opportunity to meet the new Local Advisor team. It will be at the South Hutchinson Community Building 101 W Avenue C South Hutchinson, KS 67505. Lunch is scheduled to start at Noon with a panel of the Local Advisors to follow. Please RSVP by Monday November 4th by calling the Cheney Lake Watershed Office at 620-888-2054 or email at cheneylakewatershed@gmail.com

Join us at the corner of Castleton Road and Halstead Street (near 2499 E Castleton Road Hutchinson, KS) starting at 8:00am to see the results for yourself.

Bob Bacon and Jorge Garibay have begun an experiment to track the importance of bees on soybean production. This field is located at the corner of Mayfield and Stroud. Approximate Address is 4245 Mayfield Rd, 67501 Hutchinson KS. Bob and Jorge will be at the field starting at 7:30am on June 28th to talk about their work.

We have asked Roger McEowen to share his knowledge of Kansas fence law at an event to better equip farmers with what to know when building fences. This event will be held in the South Hutchinson Community Building at 101 W Ave C starting at Noon. To reserve a place at this meeting simply text or call Howard Miller at 620-727-6546 by February 26.

Ron Wilson will be the featured speaker for the 2024 Cheney Lake Watershed Annual Meeting and Appreciation Dinner on Thursday, February 15th at the Pleasantview Activity Center, 5013 S. Dean Road, Hutchinson, Kansas.  Soup and an assortment of pies prepared by the church Youth Group will be served at 6:30 pm with Wilson’s presentation at 7:00 pm.  There is no charge to attend, but reserve your meal by Noon on Tuesday, February 13th by calling or texting Howard at 620-727-6546.  

Jay Young will be presenting about his experiences regenerating soil using no-till, cover crops, grazing management, and more recently, compost extracts from a Johnson-Su Bioreactor. Please RSVP by January 29th by Calling or Texting Howard Miller at 620-727-6546.

Ray Archuleta will be our speaker at our soil health workshop on Thursday, January 11 starting at 12pm. This event will be hosted at the Pleasantview Activity Center. Please RSVP by Tuesday, January 9 for this event by texting or calling Howard Miller at 620-727-6546.

Kingman County Conservation District will be hosting a tour of local grasslands followed by a steak fry on the evening of September 13. Please contact us at the Kingman NRCS office (620-532-5731) or the Kingman County K-State Extension Office (620-532-5131) for tickets to attend.

Our next field event is coming up on Friday, July 14 at 8am and will be with Marlin Miller at 7305 W Morgan Ave west of Hutchinson looking at watering systems for grazing cover crops.

With the weather warming up we have chosen to take the April Farmer’s Meeting into the fields. Jim French has offered to host this event on Thursday, April 20 with the location to be determined. We will plan to gather at 8am. More will be posted about this event as soon as we know more.

Brian Fuchs comes to us from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln Nebraska. Brian will help us look at how dry we really are and what the potential for moisture looks like in 2023. While Brian doesn’t have a crystal ball to forecast what the future holds, he does have access to many different forecast models. If you are interested in learning more about our current weather cycles and what the future weather patterns look like, come join us for lunch and learn from Brian.

Willie Pretorius, Soil Health Consultant for Ward Laboratories, is our speaker on Thursday, March 2nd at the Pleasantview Activity Center. Lunch will be served at noon with Willie to follow at 12:30. Willie and other scientists have cited how mining the carbon from the soil has broken the hydrological, or water, cycle which is leading to more and prolonged dry periods. If you want to learn more about how you can do your part on your farm, and at the same time improve your soil health, come join us for lunch and then we all get to learn from Willie.

This year’s Reno County Conservation District Annual Meeting will be held February 23rd, 2023 at 6:30 PM in the Arlington Amish Mennonite Church (15611 W Arlington Rd, Arlington KS 67514). Cost of meal: $5.00 for Adults, $3.00 kids under 10.

This succession planning workshop is complimentary to the Ron Bolze event in January. Curtis Overton, Senior Wealth Advisor with RCB Bank will be covering wealth management and farm succession through trusts and estate planning. After lunch, we will have local experts available to answer questions and share ideas on how to craft a good transition plan for your farm.  Come with questions and create a legacy for your farm that maintains your conservation efforts.

The Cheney Lake Wateshed Appreciation Meal and Annual Meeting will be on Thursday, February 9th at 6:30pm at the Pleasantview Activity Center, 5013 S. Dean Road, Hutchinson, KS 67501 with Speaker to follow. Please RSVP by February 7th by calling Howard at 620-727-6546 or email cheneylakewatershed@gmail.com

Kicking off our 2023 Winter Workshop Series is Ron Bolze, a professor of Agriculture and Rangeland Management at Chadron University and coordinator for the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition (NGLC). The NGLC has taken steps to promote generational transition as a form of stewardship and the protection of conservation efforts made on the farm and with farms going under every year, succession planning could be the next management practice in your conservation plan.

Since retirement Burke has worked as a contract manager, ranch consultant, columnist, and speaker. Recently, he has joined with Understanding Ag as a consultant, and they have offered to co-sponsor this event with Cheney Lake Watershed Inc. and allow Burke to share some of his experiences with adaptive grazing in different contexts. We are excited to co-sponsor this event and if you have questions about making cattle operations more efficient and less demanding you will not want to miss this speaker.