Highlights from the NACD Summer Meeting

Steve Hedstrom, Montana’s NACD representative, along with conservation district staff Kay Webb and Chris Evans, attended this year’s NACD Summer Meeting in Bismark, ND. The Summer Meeting was held July 15-19 and included workshops, meetings, speakers, and tours in the area.

Speaking at this year was NRCS Chief Terry Cosby, FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux, and North Dakota’s Lieutenant Governor Tammy Miller.

Takeaways from our attendees was that the many of the committees need more representation from our Montana. Some committees such as the District and Partner Relations committee allows more than just supervisors so if anyone is interested they can join!

However, the main highlight of this year’s meeting were the tours. On Monday participants visited The Black Leg Ranch. On Tuesday, participants visited the Ag Research farm where they talked about 40 years of records, and toured the Ag Research Ranch. This unique partnership with scientists of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory has been providing 35 years of conservation research for family farmers of the northern Great Plains. The farm serves as a focal point for improving sustainability of dryland cropping systems through a team-focused, systems-orientated research and technology transfer.

Later that day they toured the Menoken Farm. Together these site visits were inspiring, and for Chris Evans of Lewis and Clark CD, underlined a lot of what is possible with a district’s Conservation Center.

The visit to Menoken Farm, which is owned and operated by the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District, is a 150 acre demonstration farm located just east of Bismarck. The focus of the Menoken Farm is to address areas of concern with soil armor, minimal soil disturbance, plant diversity, continual live plant/root, and livestock integration. The systems approach management at Menoken Farm enhances erosion protection, sunlight harvest, plant diversity, carbon, pollinators, beneficial insects, wildlife, salinity control, and livestock forage.