PAGE 1B
Serving rural Benton County, Morrison, Mille Lacs & Kanabec counties.
BENTON AG Plus
Sauk Rapids Herald
THURSDAY, FEB. 16, 2017
A new chapter for siblings Webers W eb join F FA as senior, FFA ffreshman res BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Sauk Rapids-Rice senior Hannah Weber and her sophomore brother, Jacob, are both members of the schoolâs FFA chapter. Hannah joined this past year, whereas her brother became a member as a freshman.
SAUK RAPIDS â Jacob Weber has always had an interest in agriculture. So when he entered his freshman year at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, he knew right away he wanted to join FFA. But that was not the case for his older sister. Hannahâs interest developed later; she decided to join the agricultural club her senior year. âPart of the reason I joined this year is that I Ănally had room in my schedule to actually take an ag class,â Hannah said. âYou need to have an ag class to participate in CDEs [career development events].â Hannah kept herself busy the Ărst three years of her high school career with other electives such as band, choir, Spanish and advanced placement courses. Her attention was drawn to FFA when she began learning more about science, biology and crop genetics. In addition to her busy schedule, the future graduate
was hesitant about joining the organization because she was unfamiliar with the variety of activities and the diverse peer group involved. âI didnât know the kids who joined FFA were kids like me â who werenât necessarily living on a farm. Finding that out made me more interested,â she said. The National FFA Organization is an intra-curricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. The letters âFFAâ stand for Future Farmers of America, but the group has grown to reĂect the growing diversity and opportunities in the agriculture industry. FFA encompasses nearly 650,000 seventh through 12th grade student members throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although both Weber siblings plan to pursue careers in agricultural Ăelds, neither grew up on a farm, as many might assume. Yet, the surrounding Benton County farming community has inĂuenced them. âCrop science is what Iâve grown up around. It has been the talk of the house my whole life. If you look around, besides the north side of our house, we are surrounded by
Ăelds,â said Hannah, who plans to attend Iowa State University for agronomy. The Webersâ parents, Steve and Jill, both grew up on farms; and Steve was employed as a farm laborer when the children were younger. Both Hannah and Jacob experienced riding in the tractor when they were young. Jacob took it to the next level and began driving tractors himself in third grade. âIt was fall and I was driving grain cart alongside the combine,â Jacob said. âWe had radio communication and could talk between the machines, so if I ever had a question or anything I could just ask.â Jacob, one of the FFA chapterâs ofĂcers, is now employed at a neighboring crop farm, working after school in spring and fall and about 40 to 50 hours in the summer. He is responsible for spreading fertilizer and manure, using the rock roller, driving the grain cart and various other yard jobs. He enjoys being able to drive the large machinery, as well as the advanced technology Ăltering into the ag industry. âSpreading fertilizer seems like a mediocre task,â Weber: page 6B
Mandatory action with choices Samac offers productive options for buffer law BY JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER
ROYALTON â In less than a year, public waterways, including streams, lakes and wetlands, will require a perennial vegetative buffer because of the Minnesota Buffer Law. âThat means planting has to be done this growing season,â said Deborah Samac of the November 2017 start date. By November 2018, buffers will be required around public ditches, too. Samac works for the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDAARS) as part of the plant science research unit at the University of Minnesota. During the annual Tour de Forage meeting held Feb. 1 in Royalton, Samac spoke of the requirements of the quickly
approaching law and how landowners can abide with the regulations but limit the amount of land taken out of production. The purpose of the law is to protect the stateâs water resources from runoff pollution, Samac said. This will be done through establishing hundreds of thousands of acres of perennial vegetation, with public waters having an average 50-foot buffer while some ditches only requiring 16.5-foot buffers. Local watershed districts are available to work with landowners to create the correct sized buffer. âThe law is very broad, but itâs here to stay,â Samac said. âWhat can we do to make it work for productive farmland?â For landowners, there is a variety of single and mixture grass species that are compliant with the law and also suitable for hay and grazing. Currently, Samac and her team are conducting research to develop an alfalfa plant that could be used for buffers, but also harvested as a protein source for animals; the USDA is funding this research.
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COYNE
Deborah Samac describes the Minnesota Buffer Law during the annual Tour de Forage meeting Feb. 1 in Royalton.
âAlfalfa has the most protein per acre than any other crops â hands down,â Samac said. The crop absorbs moisture and prevents soil movement, making it ideal forage for a buffer. If well maintained,
alfalfa can be harvested conventionally twice within a one-year period. Stems and leaves can be separated and processed for energy and animal feed, respectively. âThe leaves can be further processed as a good
nutritional component to heifer diets,â Samac said. Further research will determine if this forage could be an economical feed source for Ăsh, including yellow perch, Atlantic char, catĂsh and even trout. âRight now, protein Ăsh
meal is not sustainable,â Samac said. â[Alfalfa] could be the holy grail â itâs a viable protein supplement with amino acids for that good Ăsh skin color, and it doesnât lodge as easy as other crops.â In addition to traditional productive forages, landowners may also consider intermediate wheatgrass, native seeds, elderberry, black chokeberry, hazelnut and decorate woody Ăorals for buffer strips. I n t e r m e d i a t e wheatgrass, also referred to as Kernza, is a forage gaining popularity for its dual purpose â being planted in the spring and used as a vegetative source for the remainder of the season. The crop could be used for hay and grazing and also grain production for baking, distilling and animal feed. âRestaurants want these grains because of the positive ecological production more so than wheat or other grains,â Samac said. Dan Martens, with the University of Minnesota Extension, envisioned this Samac: page 6B
IN MOTION AXLE SCALE FAST ACCURATE ECONOMICAL at about 1/3 of the cost of a full length truck scale
Ticket: Time: Date: Axle Axle Axle Axle Axle
1 2 3 4 5
000000386 01:37:45 pm 11/15/15 = = = = =
Total 75580
LEASING AVAILABLE
FLUEGGEâS AG
9660 15700 15420 17200 17600
TICKET AXLE WEIGHT
âService After The Saleâ ROD FLUEGGE âthe bossâ Farm Material Handling Specialist 2040 Mahogany St., Mora, MN ⢠320-679-2981 WWW.FLUEGGESAG.COM
BA7-1B-JW
Rubes Sponsored by Flueggeâs Ag
Weighs trucks, trailers, etc. âon the roll.â Records weights for silage, manure management, or any products that are delivered to and from the farm.
AXLE NUMBER