Free stewardship presentation offered by Washtenaw Conservation District

submitted by Pam Labadie, Huron River Watershed Council

A free "farm talk" presentation, "Improving Profitability Through Land Stewardship: Lessons from Washtenaw County," is being sponsored by the Washtenaw Conservation District, the Huron River Watershed Council, and the River Raisin Watershed Council from 10-11:30 am on Saturday, December 11 at the Saline Township Hall, located at 5731 Braun Road in Saline.

Small- to large-scale agricultural producers will learn about industry trends and how Washtenaw County farms are uniquely positioned to profit from them. You may attend in person, or view the live recording at the Conservation District's Facebook page.

Ron Doetch, Founder of Solutions in the Land (SITL), will share his experience from a long career in the agriculture industry and his most recent ten years of working with the farming community in Washtenaw County. His talk will explore industry trends and how agricultural producers can transition to a long-term outlook that promotes conservation and profit.

Ron has been serving as the agronomist for the Huron River Watershed Council’s Whole Farms for Clean Water project. Ron has worked in agriculture his entire career with past employment that included John Deere, Itochu International — a Japanese trading company, and Director of the Michael Fields Ag Institute. Ron has been designing farms for profitability through SITL for the past 10 years. Washtenaw County has been a special region of activity for SITL since 2012. In 2013, SITL rented a 275-acre farm near Saline to implement a Whole-System Farm Plan. Local farmers were contracted for field operations to produce soybeans that could be used directly to make fish feed. Another crop was hard spring wheat for Zingerman’s Bakehouse. Numerous conservation plans were put in place with the assistance of Washtenaw County NRCS to bolster the bottom-line profits. From these efforts, the client list for SITL grew from small hobby farms and community supported agriculture to large scale corn/soybean producers wanting to tweak their operation for profitability and improved health of the farm.

Contact the Washtenaw Conservation District at (734) 302-8715 with questions, or email info@washtenawcd.org.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.