Well, I'm going to call the meeting to order. Um, one of the first things I want to do is just do quick introductions, couple faces, and make sure everybody's familiar with everybody. So, you want to start the room. James, if you want to, uh, James,
right? Uh, district one supervisor for the Homestead County SWC. Uh, Dave Sanjum. Uh, I'm a board appointee to this amateur. What else I am?
Homes County Board. Glen Zavo Shakan Water. Josh Olsson, County Commissioner for Winona. Ross Graden, uh, soil and water district, Winona County. Don Bernal, the Minnesota Department of
Egg and Sheila Harms, the wershed coordinator. Good. All right. I'm going to call public comments. even nobody's here, but we'll call it once, twice, and three times. So, move on to uh hearing none.
We'll move on to number three, approval of minutes. Move approval of the May 27th minutes as published. Second motion by Dave, second by Ross to approve minutes. So, those sign by saying I I
motion carries. On to approving the agenda. There's any changes? No changes. Okay. I move to approve. Second. Motion by L, second by James to approve the general. In favor signify by saying I. I. Motion carries. On to approved
consent item. Sheila. Any change in there? Nope. No change on that. Uh check to Winona County for my time with the Whitewater for the auditor. Um and also for uh domain renewal for a website.
Pretty simple. Any discussion on that? Hearing none. Do we have a motion? So move. Second. Motion by Ross, second by Lynn. Approve the consent items. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Motion carries. Board reports. James.
Uh well, mostly well ceilings. um grass waterway and uh well it's not really something that SWCD's
approving or voting on um figured out there's something like 260,000 uh cover crop payments for June July
that's acres dollars dollars do uh off guard the uh Jones County Board has uh agreed to once again pursue
$9 million of uh of legislative support for the soil health thing that we were involved in last year. So, we continue to press on with that, I hope. And uh and I believe we got some money out of the LCCMR on soil health. I shouldn't
even mention it because I can't remember how much but soil health is, you know, obviously continues to be a for our county. And actually, we were talking the other day about how do we how do we amplify
that interest with other companies? We haven't kind of figured that out, but we need more help with the capital. Good. We got missed my last soil and water meeting in Canada visiting my wife's
relatives. But the next green one we've got coming up in a few days. Seems like there's a few glitches with the cover crop things about how long it can go or who gets it and maybe some board members have different ideas. So we're going to
have a discussion this next meeting and try to fine-tune that somehow. You mean the the continuence of paying out year after year? Yeah. along, you know, the best benefit to ensure that people would like to probably continue with it, you know, or
get used to it or whatnot. Well, and I said since the inception, again, I always go back and say I've been talking about the cover crop since nobody wanted to listen. But I always said even on these taxpayer funded, you know, these subsidies for that, the idea was always
teach a person, you know, show them the results, take them off the tax, you know, and that's where the three-year thing, I think, came into play that by year three, we should this should become a practice, you know. I think where the hiccup is is that it's promoted on
every, you know, trying to get every acre and it becomes overwhelming. And what I've promoted for years, hey, if you did 10% of your farm in 10 years, you've done the whole farm at least once, that's better than doing nothing, you know? So, and for a crop farmer, that's a little more easier to
stomach. So, I think the message needs to be clear that don't make it overwhelming. Well, the other thing like is uh you know is no till enough that's what some people are wondering you know well in my situation sometimes
there's no choice if you want to grow grain for seed like you do with the seed company you can have cover crop because then you're out there pulling rye out of boats or whatever with 10 people which it's hard to get 10 people now
I I I get it totally Yeah. Yeah. And that's where and that's where you say it's the I always, you know, the purist wants to see it everywhere all the time and it becomes overwhelming. So the farmer just quits and says, "Well, this is too hard to meet the standard. This is too hard to public perception." So
that's where I go back and encourage do it where you can have good discussion. Ross, I just wanted to share I I just received the Monday, September 8th, so one week this coming Monday, no, one week from
Labor Day. Monday, September 8th is a soil health day at the Soil Health and Technology Day at Ken Burglar's Farm, I believe. Um 11:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. on Monday,
September 8th. Ken Merller's Farm uh 27876 Gilmore Ridge Drive, Winona, Minnesota. So I I uh did not hear about that. I just saw the the the share from Winona County SWCD website.
So has that been published? I just received an email on it yesterday. So it sounds very appealing and indirectly I think I've been asked to speak at that. Okay. That's what Ken told Josh. He asked me if I wanted to speak at it. So I don't know if we got
should I forward it to the rest of the board? Sure. If you got any money, please. So anyway, the So that that side note, uh kind of um proceeding from your comments with the
cover crop. So I I our Winona County SWCD had conversations two meetings ago. I missed the last meeting because I tried to stay married and went to uh anniversary trip with my spouse. What date was it? It was the 8th. Yeah. One week one week from Labor Day Monday. So, I
accomplished the marriage part. We're still married uh 30 years. So, we took a nice trip, but um missed the meeting. Anyway, uh the two meetings ago, lots of conversation about the cover crops and limited funds and uh the pressure is
coming from the uh I'm going to call them cash crop grain producers who are uh operating below cost of production and there's no profit and there's no extra money and extra funding to to pay for the cover crop. So, we're getting a lot of pressure from land owners. Help
us out and at the same time we're having that conversation. Uh, Commissioner Elsing alluded to it. Uh, the board has a position right now where we want to en encourage firsttime applicants only and
the the others who have uh participated previously are uh lower on the priority list and they will not receive funding until all the firsttime applicants deadline has been exhausted if that makes sense. So there is a lot of controversy there because there's a
definite demand from the land owners who have no uh profit to pay for it. So they are look seeking assistance and we have limited assistance. So there we sit but uh so there's that topic and then uh
the meeting in St. Charles was for oh for the um windlac we had the policy committee meeting. So I attended the windlac meeting with Sheila up into St. Charles and we uh viewed the reconstruction of the uh tributary of
the Whitewater. Is that technically a South Branch or what is that? South. Yeah. Yeah. That as it meanders through town and it was extremely impressive to see the improvements and the flood mitigation and we had just gotten a 4 in rain. They had just received 4 in rain and should
have been decimated and flooded. But because of the efforts to uh I I did not realize this historically the stream bank was channeled and if you channel with steep steep vertical banks you get more uh velocity more it just picks up
speed as it goes. So the bar construction Danny Bar was there was present and reviewed and and shared the I did not realize that they take they excavate the the bank and and and eliminate the steep
part. They they lower it so when the water level rises it spreads out and slows it down. And that's the key uh so it doesn't channel and cut. But the uh the the one thing I did not realize is the excavators physically dig into the bank at strategic points on the
corners and they install berry uh giant root balls of giant oak trees, cottonwood trees and they're burying these root balls strategically on the banks of the rivers and uh reduces the erosion, changes the flow. just 4 in
rain, nothing was decimated, nothing was eroded, very little erosion. So, it was very impressive to see the result. And I was impressed that even in spite of um that newer part that they did, it was not yet vegetated, but it was shaped
and even after that rain, it was no issue. I drive through there about four to six times a day because I live up the hill. constantly and now with the detour, you have to drive through there all the time. So, it was interesting to watch all that and and it did go drastically
over its banks. Um, but when it subsided, I it just it was wet. Obviously, they haven't been able to get in there. They're just actually starting to get in there yesterday and today. Um, I noticed that, but um, you know, it's definitely wet, but again, it was nothing nothing eroded. And I've seen
that creek multiple times over its banks uh flooded back up into the alalfa field up into the trees into people's yards and different spots. And um typically it's a pretty heavenly mess when that happens. And now it just looked like almost like a lake and then it just
subsided down is what it looked like. So So it was encouraging the the design worked flawlessly and they put it in me. It used to be more of a straight cut. Yeah. And they put some yandering turns in it which helps slow that volume down, slow the
current down. So yeah, it was impressive. So that's all I had. It's amazing how far that backs up into the city because the main a lot of people don't understand how many actual underground uh cement culverts go right
through the center of the city that feed into that. So there's a it it takes a lot more. or it takes a lot of the water from the city through there cuz there's two entry points on the north side of the bridge. Um there's an entry point that comes through and that
basically takes all the chneled water from the center of the town all the way over by Mike's food center all the way up through the hill. So it's taking that entire ravine channeling it all the way through the center of the city and dumps it into that just on the other side of the bridge. And then it takes everything
from the fairgrounds, everything past our building, um, clear out into actually to the border of Homemstead County and funnels it back through down there. And that's this that's where it all channels to so people don't understand how much water actually goes
through that little spot right there. So kind of impressive to see that. What you got, Don? Anything? What do you want me to talk? She can talk. You're sitting up here, so you might as well talk. She can give an update on that.
You can. Yeah. Yeah. We can do it on agency reports if you want. So yeah, I will wait until then because to that um our side. Yeah. A couple things. Uh still working on um our uh budget. We
kind of started going on that for the county. Uh we had a very successful family night on the farm out at the Clark Farm. So that was uh that was a good night. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Um you guys have had that before and multiple farms. So it's just
it's fun to get to see see different farms in the area. Um had a very successful fair this year. Um you know, we we had great weather for that for the most part. So well attended again. So it was good to see that. Um and then we're it's the typical kind of county
business. We're still dealing with some LEC stuff and trying to figure out what to do there and uh our strategic planning for our our uh um oh my gosh 10ear plan comp plan. Thank you. Um
still working on our comp plan. Um you know getting some feedback on that. Uh, the other thing I say probably the hot topic that I've received more phone calls on the last month than typically I do on roads has been our the the rifle permit.
And um, so there's been a lot of phone calls, you know, and for us having our unique territory, we're pretty well established and known Hunter County. So trying to look at, you know, what's right and what other counties are doing
and, you know, how to do that. So, it's uh I was very surprised to hear how many people are pro rifle. I thought it would be the other way around and um so interesting to see where that's going to
go. So, um yep, it's all kind of led the charge on, you know, keeping a child. So, I suspect that's that's Can I make a comment on that? So, uh, I just want to point out that, uh, it's
it's not not widely known, uh, legal harvesting of deer has been taking place in Winona County for at least the last 10 to 15 years. Does everybody know that the legal harvesting? Yeah, legal legally. So, so we applied, we
had, we rented a farm, had a lot of deer depradation, deer damage. We went through the channels of the DNR. We got the deer. They call them depradation tags. Y So we got 10 uh tags to to shoot any deer. This is in July, August when the
damage is occurring. So uh we can use spotlights, we can use rifles, we can use any means that at our discretion. So we used rifles, we harvested 10 deer. Uh we were issued 10 more permits. We harvested eight more deer all with
rifles. That was 10 years ago. So I'm just pointing that out. I'm pro rifle just because we have declining interest and declining uh participation in our hunter participation rate. So just like the the traditional archery was the
compound bow would they now now you can have the crossbow. So the purists didn't like that. But it's the same argument the the purist with the shotgun. You know yes the bullet travels farther. Yes it's potentially more dangerous. But then you
look over to our east to Wisconsin. Rifle said, "So, sorry, rifle is Oh, it's it's too deadly. It's too dangerous." Wisconsin is much further south than Minnesota. They use rifles all over the state. And to to my knowledge, the the research I've done, they have the same hunter
accident rates as we do here in Minnesota with shotguns. So, you would think they would have a much higher rate. They do not. So that I'm just I uh just wanted to point that out that the the rifles have been used here in Winona County for at least 10 to 15 years and
probably longer, but I personally used them 10 years ago. So yeah, so those harvest tags or bonus tags have been around for a long time. Wisconsin has them, we have them. It's, you know, they're pretty common over Wisconsin obviously in the rifles. It's actually a pretty big advantage because
they can kind of go from hillside to hillside versus pop shot across, you know. So, there's a lot of accuracy situations with rifles that are it fixes a lot of the accuracy shots that shotguns can't take. And, you know, I've got rifles, got shotguns, and I I feel
the same. A rifle is a lot more safe than what if done correctly than a shotgun. The biggest thing to me was I was surprised that that opinion wouldn't be as common. I thought we were going to see a lot of push back on it. And actually, I would
say 90% of the phone calls, emails, and conversations I have been proression financial update. Sheila. Okay. So for the three months we have
at the end of uh May uh we had a total of $118,900 and uh June that was 129 260 we had gotten a payment on one of the grants and then in July it was about
the same 12947 But no real drastic changes across the three months. Little money in, little money out. Page 14. Yeah. Any discussion on that?
All right. Move on to the well sealing grants. Okay. Well, the financial reports. Yeah. the audit side of it. Yes, we all have the audit that was ready. This one had to be done um by the end of
June to be able to get submitted to the state auditor and the um the auditor Katie Jacobson went ahead and did that on our behalf and uh so just kind of reviewing um the audit. Um not much
changed from the year before except less well we're getting we're we're finishing up that um that grant um the whitewater drinking water protection grant and that was one of the big things that got I don't want to say dinged but
flagged flagged right um so that grant excuse me ended at the end of December and so that was when the grant ended but there was 10% of the grant grant that yet needed to be paid after the report was
completed and approved. And so we got that final payment in 2025 for a grant that ended in 24. So um the error that I did is I did not
account for that properly using financial procedure. Yeah. Yeah. I I should have um accounted for that differently and I just figure well when the money comes then I put it in and I I should have accounted for it
within the timeline of the grant before that happened but I didn't. So that was $16,921.75 that was not recorded in the right in the proper period of time. Um, but
yet I couldn't account for it until the grant was the paid the report was approved. She and I had this discussion down at the courthouse and basically they said, "Well, it's a little too it's a little bit of slight hand and keep in mind an auditor has to find
something or they're not doing their job." The reality of it is it's a little arbitrary to say one way or the other, you know, that based on your accounting methods, is it correct or incorrect? You know, so to me, I just saw it as well potato a little bit. One person sees to
record it this way, the next person sees to record it the next way. And because it's a yearly audit, it's not a continuing audit. You look at it for what it is in that year. And so you could argue and say, well, it's not accounted for in this year, but it's
accounted for next year. Cuz really what it'll do is next year throw the audit into well, you accounted this. It's a continuation. So the biggest thing is is no duly noted. Thank you, and move on, right? Yeah. So I do account for journal entries.
Um, but I don't recall that being an issue because the Bowser grants typically end at the end of a calendar year. And so this is a different auditor than we had previously. So but much cheaper. But much cheaper. Yes. Um Yeah. So the quote that we had
had from the other auditor was for $5,000. And our our bill for this audit was like 2900. So, um, and then I did reach out to Katie Katie Jacobson and asked if, um, I
could get a quote from her for the doing the 2025 calendar year. And she's willing to do that, but she won't have the estimate or the quote done until November. So, which is fine because we don't have our next
meeting till November anyway. Yeah. But anyway, that it was earlier than she was prepared just as long as she could have had it before Thanksgiving. Yeah. And I told her the meeting date and she said that would be no problem. So anyway, that's kind of where we are
at. And uh also what was brought up which is always brought up um by auditors is that because the joint powers board I'm the only one who I
do the quickbooks I do the checks I you know I do everything and there's not a second person looking over my shoulder to confirm things. Although when we when I bring the paperwork, the financial statements to the meetings, you know, I
make sure that they get signed and um and so that's kind of our catchall. But it's still noted that, hey, you got one person doing this and that's a problem. But we do have two signatures on the
check. Um and we're only required to have one, but we do two. And so those are the, you know, and those aren't surprising. I I mean that's that comes up every year. Every year that comes up and our rebuttal to it is thank you. You're doing your job. This is the way we are.
We got a system of checks and balances, right? And so we try to account for that. But but anyway, so that's our audit. So you need to be able to approve or acknowledge the audit for 2024.
Any discussion on that? I mean, just to ask, do we do we do we pay all our bills with a check? Yes, we do. We don't have a credit card. And that kind of can be a problem, but anytime we have invoices that need to be
paid, I let them know when our meetings are and this is when the check will be. You know, typically, cuz even like for example, the bill I got from Katie, um, it says right on the invoice, due in 30 days. And I said, "Well, our next meeting isn't until" And she says, "No
problem. It's they understand that for the most part little bit that we need to do. It's doable." Yeah. Make it work. Step into the realm of a credit card and open up a little can. I don't want to enter that world. Yeah.
Mhm. I just wondering the it must definitely not probably not enough checks to to to worry about terms of having to run all over town trying to get a Yeah.
Any other discussion? We have a motion to approve the audit report. Oh, so moved. Second. Motion by David, second by Lynn to approve the audit report. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion carries. Okay. On to the
Whitewater well sealing grant. Okay. So, we have the Whitewater well sealing grant and um right now that grant officially ends at the end of this year and I had requested with Bowser to
be able to extend that one year until the end of 26. Um and so that's that's why I was hoping Dave would be here today, but he had some other things come up. But anyway, that's what I was hoping is that, you know, I need to if that's what we're
going to do, I need to move forward on that so it's ready, the grant amendment is ready to be approved officially at the November meeting. So that gives us enough time to transition with the amendment. Uh right now the the grant
we've sealed two wells and right now Mstead County has uh one well that needs to be that's contracted with this grant to be done. Um I haven't heard if it has been completed yet, but that's kind of and then last meeting we had switched
over to letting the uh individual SWCDs approve those so that there's quicker turnaround because I we did miss out because of the timing of our meetings um three other well ceilings and so hopefully now we're in a better position
and we'll be able to get that money moved faster. Um but anyway, I'm looking for today to uh approve me to move forward with uh an an extension with an amendment. Um if
that's Let me again how how did we miss them? because um they were situations. The one for sure was I talked with Caitlyn Meyer at Homestead and uh it was
a situation where a farmer purchased land and it had a well on it and um he wanted to get it addressed and sealed before he put in the crops. and um so and it didn't fit
the timing of our you know to bring it here to approve it. So they approved it and got a windlac grant um which was the same amount. Still got done. It still got done. Yeah. Right. But it it just um how it got explained to me is when
when somebody decides they want to seal a well, they want to seal it now. And and it was much easier to do a monthly meeting schedule with the SWC's to be able to accommodate that need. So that's kind of how that came down.
So was that well landlocked then or what do you mean landlocked? where they got so close to the crop there was no access any other time. Um, no. It was just that they it was land that they purchased and decided, okay, I want to get this sealed and done
so that I can put my crop in and not have to worry about That's what I asked though. They blow right over where it was sealed in and plant afterwards. I don't know how. But they leave space anyway. That's what I could understand why it's so critical. Yeah. Well, I I don't understand. I mean the the well's going to be there, you
know, to get it get it done down the road. You know, it's what's the matter if it's November or July seal, right? So, um the other question I had is what has been the average cost to seal these? Has it been 4,000 5,000?
25 to 3,000. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I've seen for the basic run-of-the-mill. Although, I think it was an old when I went to the meeting last month, there was one that went up to 4,500. And that one,
that one was kind of an unusual situation, you know, and you don't know how much it's going to cost until you start to seal it and then you realize I think it was a case where they were going down and then they realized that there was a it was an open cavern and
then they had to put in more cement to be able to um Yeah. So there was and you don't know until you oh there's an open spot. Years ago when I was the mayor of Alterero, we sealed one right up in the alleyway.
It's actually very interesting. Well, it used to feed down to the turkey store and stuff and there was an underground wooden shoot and everything. It's kind of crazy. And we found it. It was amazing. I'll go with a shovel one day and uh and I remembered at the time the state was had grants for $10,000 to
single oil. And I said, "Boy, that seems awfully high. I think we could do a lot more wells, you know, for $10,000 than one, you know, but that's what they said they were going to cost to seal it." So, yeah. And and I think that's kind of high. All of I talked to Scott Hansen
yesterday and in October they're going to increase that from 10 to 15 because some of the wells that they're trying to seal are difficult ones and they just want to make sure that it's covered and that the
land owner doesn't acrew any expenses that are unexpected. Gotcha. So we have a request request to amend grant extend till December 31st which will need a board action. That'll be at the next meeting. Yeah. At the next one. Yeah.
Um just to move forward on that local advisory team Elgens. How's that coming? So my counterpart Mike Cruz is technically oversees that one but we work together on everything. But um so
Elgen just had a meeting 13th 13th and um participation good. It was okay. There was probably less people at this meeting
than there have been in meetings past. But um that's kind of the run-of-the-mill with all the lats. you get good participation the first few meetings and then you get over so many and
that's with any meetings but um they are at the point where they basically went through the the the proposed BMP list and
um now that list Mike is working on finalizing all the documents that will be sent up to the commissioner and um that that internal team will have to approve or make suggestions to that list
if something needs to be changed. The anticipated timeline is for that BMP list to be published yet this year for Elgen. And then after it is the BMP list is published the producers within that DWISMA get three growing seasons to
adopt the BMPs. However, Elgen is different than any other DWISMA in the state actually because of the longest lag time or the shortest lag time calculating. Thank you
so much. is act they're actually going to get 10 years to adopt this BMP list cuz of the time of travel. Um that's written into like the rule and stuff. It's the only it's the only one in the state like that.
The time of travel it's the the the shortest calculated leg time there is um greater than 3 years. It's actually like 10 minutes. Um it just has to do with the geology of it there. So
interesting in in all in every other case thus far at BMP list that's published the farmers are getting three growing seasons to adopt it but algen is going to be different. Now they will do like
um BMP surveys basically within those 10 years to help uh promote and the adoption of the BMP so when it comes time for the official evaluation you know we're not lagging behind.
It is suggested that they follow the 0.1 MRTN for rate in the list. So if that gets approved, that's what the rates. Um there is, you know, we've been talking a
lot about cover crops in this meeting and stuff and in these level two DWISMA, the Department of A does have funding for practices um cover crops and delayed termination is a part of that
for cover crops. It's um the maximum a person can receive is $5,000 a year for this grant and that's like 125 acres of cover crops is I know that just off the top of my head but
um hasn't been any bites really yet in Elgen on that. But Alura and Udica um I think I'm up to over 400 acres. So, uh, there was people last year that did
it and people this year that are doing it in those, too. How are you seeing the majority of the cover crops applied? Are you seeing a bulk spread? Are you seeing them drilled in? Mostly drilled. Yeah. Yeah. Is there a especially, you know, when you look at the I would say more of the
conventional type farmer that may not have even the drill or an air seed. You got Wes, you got a lot of your sceneries. Um, are they renting it, hiring it, or they Most people I worked with have been doing it on their own or they have somebody that they know has.
So this this money you a person can use every year. This doesn't have to be new acres. And so, you know, we you talked a lot about that three-year time frame and then moving on, right? Well, I think mindset might have to change a little
bit or we have to think a little bit in these dismas that are under the groundwater protection rule that it might be more of a mindset of paying for water quality improvements like overtime and and enabling that funding to stay
there in the long term to help in those specific areas. But so this money it it it can be um it doesn't have to be new acres. It can be the same acres every year because you're working with the same exact acres and the same farmers
every year in these level two. Um so that is available for people in Elgen. And um also uh to go back on
like Winona and Wabashaw County SWCDs, the department of egg has funneled some funding there for uh nutrient man nutrient management positions like so the two techs that work there manager I can never pronounce her last name.
um part of their time is to work on writing manure and nutrient management plans and calibrating spreaders and and stuff like that. So there's a grant with them through department of a um for part of their time to go to that and they have been
writing some plans and we've been uh working on them. the the lead nutrient management specialist is Sarah West at Filmore SWCD and she kind of helps oversee the two of them and um uh make
sure the plans are written properly and kind of approves them too. That's kind of the path we're going down. Uh I've talked a lot about the onfarm trials in the past meetings. Uh we have the the university one right outside of
the Elgen Disma. I'm hoping to put together just a very informal small walk through field day for the producers. I would like to just invite the um LAT members and then I'll probably and
extend it out to this board as well um because we kind of overlap with some of our some of our work. uh if we get too many people that walking through that plot gets a little difficult, but um I really want to
extend it out to the LAT members because it's right there. And um every year Jeff Bch pre presents data from those research plots at winter crop meetings and he usually
uh it's usually recorded and and we usually the university usually puts it up on their YouTube channel at the end of the year too. So there's multiple ways that that data will get distributed. Um this is just a very small scale field walkthrough that I try
to get um some people to. And last year and the year before, we held meetings in each of the DWISMA down here and had the Minnesota egg water quality
certifier talk about that program and hand out applications to farmers that are interested. And um we have had two people get egg certified. I know um in
the up around the Ultra of Disma and there are certified farmers within the Utica Disma and um I'm not sure if anybody
has finished certification for um in in the eligible one yet or not. So, but when we had those three meetings, everybody took applications and had some interest. So, um I thought that was really good, but it, you know, it takes a while to
get certified, but we're kind of at that point where some have uh the department of egg is also now working in the high testing townships um voluntary
bring, you know, talking to farmers and um either forming lats or in In the southeast, we're approaching it differently by farm walkovers. And um Bob Scanland is a you say I testing is that nitrates? Yep.
Mhm. So the the department of a had sent out township testing kits a long time ago and then they did a round one and a round two and then uh did a bunch of evaluation. And there's so many
townships in each county down here that are 10% of or more of the wells have tested over 10 milligrams per liter. And so those are considered our high testing townships. We're so we're starting work in Houston County. Bob Skellen with the department
of egg is down there doing some farm walkovers similar to the field the stream partnership if you've heard of that. Um, and he's concentrating on a couple of the townships down in Houston County
right now. Eventually, I think it will work it will work its way out into other townships in this in other southeast counties. So, up here, too. So, just kind of on your radar that that work is happening as well.
Um, so Sheila, you had talked about the groundwater grant. I think you guys did cover crop money through that. Yep. Um, that's a Bowser grant. And is it the drinking water protection grant? Is that
the one you mentioned? That's the one that ended. Yes. Okay. So Bowser will open applications in 2026 for that again. And so funding wouldn't come available
until 2027. So we're going to hit a lag, a year lag here in that. Um Filmer SWC also had one of those grants. And the only reason I bring this up is when we did that one with filmer that had all
had our onfarmm trial work that covered several counties and also there we set it up so we did some nutrient or some nitrogen incentive payments within there. So if you were following the university's recommendation you could get an
incentive for following that. And um that is the only grant that has any cost share towards following rate. Okay. There are no other grants out there. That money has been spent in that grant.
So we don't have that going forward until we reapply for it. Um the plan is for to reapply for it. Um, I bring this up because I don't know if there's if you if this group would be interested in applying for another one of those grants
and setting it up somewhat similar. Um, because you have high testing townships in this area and um, I know we're going to restructure that incentive payment a little differently. Um, but it's just a thought because there
are no other grants out there that put incentives towards following the proper rate. And when you're working with I call it the lowhanging fruit with some very high over application, maybe that would help incentivize towards working
down towards the more appropriate rates. So, um I just bring it up because that will be this would be clean water funds. Yeah. And those aren't Yeah. Apply in 26 for Yeah.
Yeah. Cuz you know to get your foot in in the door working with people that has helped a lot. But that we won't have any money for 2026. So, um,
other than that, the crops look really good this year. Here, here. And like you, I believe my anniversary is tomorrow. Actually, you said that. And I'm 10
years behind you. This is our 20th, I believe. Congratulations. I don't know. I am still trying to recoup from State Fair and the last three years we've celebrated our anniversary at State Fair with a hello and a goodbye as the he comes and picks
up the truck and trailer and goes home and my son and I are waiting to load the pig. So I was like, "Oh, maybe we'll actually do something." But yeah, um
I think for those of you that pay attention to plot work down here, the results might be interesting. I, you know, I think we had a lot of soil mineralization this year. Um the check strips really aren't showing
up that great this year. So that means that you know the mineralization is there maybe some leftover consumption of nutrients in the corn plant itself a little bit again this year not like our drought eaters in the past and the split
application I'm very curious about this year depending on where you are and when the rains hit some of these I think we most for the most part we had timely rains in southeast Minnesota but then there are some areas that maybe got hit a little harder that maybe this flood application won't um outperform
pre-planned, but we'll see. So, that's all I had any question. So, I just want to add to that an observation. Um I was pretty optimistic on yield. I am currently pessimistic on yield because of southern rust, which is
a new uh fungus, right? It's it's a fun new. Yeah. Well, it's new to Minnesota, new to southeast Minnesota. Uh so, yesterday I walked in some fields. of you walk fields like the interior fields. I just don't worry. So, um I was extremely alarmed when I
got inside. So, we apply fungicide at Tassel. So, July 31st, it's an aerial application. We used a drone for the most part and it's supposed to prevent uh fungus problems mostly. Um the black tar spot is what we're trying
to uh protect against. So anyway, this is a new enemy to us is um it's called southern rust. And I walked into the interior of the field. All of the leaves are brown until my chest height. And for this time of year, that's concerning.
They should be green. But the the aerial drone, it's a mist of fungicide and only reaches reaches the top leaves because of the canopy. It does not reach and protect the lower leaves. So from my chest down, they're all brown. Not every field, but a lot of the fields that I
scouted were all brown. Are you seeing that? Yeah. So, actually for us, we're fortunate because I have staff that are clear down to the Missouri border. We have locations down there. Um, warehouses, offices, and stuff. So, we
get to, you know, we go south, east, west from here. So, we actually knew that was coming a long time ago. So, we've been forewarning our farmers to really time their applications accordingly. And um we said I was just up in Moridge and you know a lot of the dairies here. If we get west it's a
different scenario but we actually saw the hook of that come through clear back since the beginning of say end of June beginning of July when Nebula or the timing of that moves obviously based on where you're at in the country. So we
knew it was coming. It's not something that's very common, but I've seen plenty of southern round stuff here before, but this year it's it's it's exaggerated quite a bit. So, we were forewarning our farmers to for plant health. We did a
lot of plant health stuff early on. Uh we went back and uh made sure that you know regardless of who they were buying seed from to uh look over the variety selection to see if there was a southern grass score um to help time uh potentially go to two fungicide passes
if needed to protect the crop. Um so we actually saw the hook start in Missouri southern Iowa and it kind of progressed over to the western side of the state when we do a lot of work in Nebraska. Um so very large growers out there so we began to scout fields. I was scouting fields back in July. Um already seeing
it come in and it kind of made a hook in a round. So we were able to kind of forewarn a lot of people that hey we think this is coming. Um you know we see the same trends with tar spot. We tend to uh be able to predict that to a certain extent that was a little that tends to be more pocket orientated.
Southern dust tends to uh generate large areas. So, and again, you know, it's the nice thing. We kind of can sound the alarm when you see some of these disease coming. It did, it was kind of odd how it did curve around. Um, so we have areas that don't have it. So, it
definitely will defimate a crop to a certain extent. Um, fungicide helps. Drone application can help a little bit because we can see it blow down. Now, the good thing for the crap guys is they're not so concerned about the bottom leaves. If you're dealing with silage, um, you know, that's a different
scenario. So, um, very interesting, you know, been in Evers corn, been in Morgan's corn, side by side. Um, and one variety will have it and one variety won't. So, um, you know, what's the field?
Or it's very little in one and one. No, but like before they say it's actually going to affect yield, how many leaves? Yeah. And so the the bottom leaves are not as crucial in that later stage development of the plant. The tops are
it's why is so bad because it actually rots the lower part of the stock and then it kills the top leaves where that's where 80 90% of your photosynthesis is happening. But they give like a percentage like um defoliation on any plant is a rising it's a it's definitely a rising deal. Um
so you know they start at five and work their way all the way up to 80% defoliation. So, like I said, Southern Rust can be a little bit of a wishy-washy deal depending how it I've seen Southern Rust come in and you know, supposedly it's supposed to take off the top 20% and it doesn't. I've seen it
come in where they say, "Hey, you're going to It depends on at what stage typically how early you get southern stage." It's like a lot of crops, the earlier you get it, the worse it's going to be on the back end. So it's hard to put, you know, hey, 50% of the crop, 50%
of the leaf pattern is covered. Well, if I have that in July versus I have that in August 20th, we got two totally different scenarios. So that's what makes it hard to determine yield out of that disease. Um the trend is the earlier it is obviously the worse it's
going to have the impact. Um when you start looking at full defoliation, what we tend to see is if uh southern rust has a weight to it. It's you can scratch it off. It's there's a material there, right? So it actually can add weight to
a leaf. Uh not to mention it it it kills that leaf tissue making it more susceptible to wind damage, hail damage. Uh so the people that are trying to retain the leaves suffer a lot more than the people who are just trying to produce it here. So it's all over the
board, Don. um even by statistics or university statistics, I've seen where it should fail a crop and it hasn't and I've seen where it it decimated a crop. So, there's definitely going to be a yield drag associated to it. Um you know, I just it's tough to say how
much. I was just happy if we would have got tar spot and southern rust, we would have saw a lot of and there are a few places that have both of them. I've been in some fields. Um the problem with ficide is that it's time selective. It's very sensitive to a certain amount of time and you want a little bit of
protection. So that's why we're forewarning our guys, hey really pay attention to this because that window of application is going to be all the difference between making that fungicide effective and not making it effective. Um it's why we're seeing a lot more talk
about plant health too and variety selection. uh you know a topic that I see when we talk about the soil health thing is I think probably one of the fastest growing sectors of our business
we talk about mineralization for those guys that don't understand what Don was talking about with the amount of water that we've had we're releasing and breaking down organic substances in the soil which takes water to do that and in those compounds we're
releasing nutrients including nitrogen So in the drier years we don't tend to do that. Um so the complexity of a carbon ratio to nitrogen ratio is indicative of the lignifying substance substances that hold the bonds together. And so when you have a wetter year you
tend to release more of those nutrients. The problem with it is you also release next year's reserve. So it it's a catch 22 in a little bit of a in some sort of fashion. We are seeing the onset and coming from
a guy that sells fertilizer every day. We do it a lot different than the co-ops do. But finally also just like cover crops years ago, micronutrients, all these trends, you know, before anybody wants to talk to them or talk about them. We're seeing more and more and a lot of it is to do with high input cost
and low commodity prices. We are seeing an increase in people wanting to understand enzyme technologies, ways, biological technologies, ways to reduce fertilizer inputs and get more back out of the soil. catalysts that create
things like um biocals and and upshifts and different things that are calcium sources or enzyme sources that will release nutrients and keep them from going away going through the water profile washing away whatever it is and
using what we already have that trend in fact I'll be down in southern Iowa doing a meeting here next week about that very large growers we have massive hog farmers down there we work with And uh you know their their program is how do we get more out of this winter? You know
that's their program. And so what we're seeing is the days of people just well we got to put some pod ash on the hay. Those days are gone are leaving because people are saying I got all this potassium out there. What can I do to just extract it? Hey I got all this foss
out there. What can I do to just extract it? And so it's the people are looking for catalysts rather than buying the nutrients or if they already have the nutrients in the case of manure, it's how do we get more out of it and how do we continue to get more out of it? Um so we don't see this
rising bank in the soil. Why why can't we tap into that? So does a soil test lie to you? Um because it's just a plant extraction method as to being what the plant can do. Well, there's other catalysts to pull it out of the soil. So we are seeing a massive rise in those
discussions right now because of high fertilizer prices, low commodity prices. How do I farm with what I have? And so unfortunately for us, we've been doing it for years and years and years. So um I say this politely, but you know the co-op mentality is beginning to fade and
you know these new technologies and new ways. So and it's farmer driven um because they're looking for changes and they're tired of doing the same thing. So just the same as cover crops years ago before they became somewhat accepted and popular, that's the avenue that we're seeing the trend in. And it it is
by farmer driven. It's economic driven, but when you get into these types of times, you start looking for different ways. So it's a good thing. And uh fortunately, there's some phenomenal stuff out there to work with. So there's, you know, save guys a lot of money.
So yeah, Southern Rust killer. been watching it for how long? Fortunate we're able to fend a lot of it off. So, okay. Spongy moth proposal update. Okay. At our last meeting, I think it was
um said they were going to spray for the spongy moth and then because of funding cuts, they said, "Oh, we're not going to do it now." Um well, last week of June got an email. Yep. We're going to spray for spongy mouth this week. I thought so. They wish she was washing.
They Well, I I you know, they they were told they weren't going to have the money and then they were told they were going to get the money, but it wasn't going to be soon enough to be able to That was the big deal. I thought it was timing. Yeah, it was the timing. And but they did did anyway. Yeah. So, I guess that's
good. That was interesting how that flip-flop back and forth, but Okay, that's it. Yeah. So, technically we've done our agency report, right? Any other
comments, suggestions, thoughts? Oh, I think the soil health grant, so like some soil health equipment and stuff that people have done, I believe that closes soon.
Okay. And that's what the SWC is. Yeah, but it's it's the MDA. It's the very competitive one that you fill out an application for through Bay, but you can work with your soil and water on that. I want to say
it was like the 28th or 9th of August. Like it's pretty soon. I remember reading about it in one of the university like Minnesota crop updates that they, you know, email out. Um,
so I know there's a lot of people in the area that have applied for that and got I guess I'll throw one more out there and it's not I'm not trying to plug it because we are my company's going to be taking over the
Midwester bowing facility. They're pulling out of retail. But we have a very neat long-term uh plot with uh Bud Hag at Bud Hags farm. uh right next to dailies. Dies are paying attention to this too, but we have multiple locations
where we've been using uh high calcium fertility um instead of more NPK. Now, we still have that side going out, but showing how we're changing soil structure, showing how we're releasing more nutrients. Um Mr. Pag is blown away by
this and so we're having a field day on the 4th. It's actually a customer appreciation meeting in conjunction with Bow, but this will be Mr. islands last year as we taken over, but they will still be a supplier for us. So, very interesting stuff to see this play out. I believe this is year three on this.
They're going to take a few hay rides over there to show some crops off drone footage pending weather. Um, but it's, you know, they have a silage burndown and things like that, too. But, it's kind of a customer appreciation day/ soil situation. Um, if anybody's
interested in going, just let me know because they do have an RSVP for amount of meals. It's free to go to it. Um, you're welcome to attend and see what they've got going on. But for those that don't know, Glenn has a lot of cattle, you so has a lot of manure and um, so we're showing him actively how you can
and it's pretty impressive when you see it. So, um, and so now obviously the neighbors are paying attention to this too. So there's some supposedly some high fluent people coming in the country for this too. So anybody's interested
just give me a call. Other than that um that's September 4th I had from Yes. September 4th. Okay. Um next meeting November 25th. Any
conflicts with that? Thanksgiving. I think it's the week of Thanksgiving. Yeah. Yes. Same bad time. Same bad. Okay. Any other discussion? I'll have a motion to
send motion by Dave. Second. Sorry. Motion by Dave. Second by James. Those favor sign I. I. Huh?