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Dodge County Forage Council Minutes Thursday March 19, 2009 – Noon Gingers
- Horicon Present:
Ron Wiskerchen, Jered Hildebrant, Jason Sterr, Paul Roemer, John Mersch,
Joe Hasslinger, Matt Hanson Call
to order by President
Jason Sterr at 12:56 pm Secretary’s
Report - Review Dec 16, 2008 minutes Moved
to adopt by Paul Roemer, Second by Joe Hasslinger, PASSED Treasurer’s
Report Checking
- $823.70 Savings
- $463.75 Old
Business:
Hay
Auction update ·
Ron Wiskerchen ran
the NIR machine for the last two loads of hay last month after being
trained by Matt ·
Waupun Equipment has
been providing the skid steer loader for the hay sale.
That partnership is much appreciated ·
Discussion of hay
sale location ·
Discussion of the
Forage Council to contribute a hot meal for the highway shop employees for
recognition of their support in 2009. ·
Dan Ritger is asking
whether we can help promote advertising in the future ·
Discussion about
private hay sales that Dan is conducting on the side that includes the
no-sale hay lots during the auction ·
We are providing
liability coverage at the hay sale through MFA ·
We need to continue
to evaluate this arrangement . ·
Hanafeld trucking
(Dave) by Minnesota Junction would be another potential site for a sale. ·
About 15 people work
at the Trenton Hwy shop. ·
Brian Field
mentioned that we could show an appreciation of thanks as long as it’s a
minimal contribution. ·
We need to plan a
special meeting with Dan Ritger probably the day after the sale to discuss
the final sales. Review what
happened, what we’d like to do to continue. ·
Dan sounds like he
might want to start in November this fall. ·
Try to find someone
in the area to run skid steer loader ·
Ideas of local
trailer owners in the area that can haul hay if needed include Brian
Schmitt, John Merfeld, Russ Warmka, Glenn Kern and Dennis Greler ·
Discussion that
perhaps only hay that is guaranteed sale can be unloaded.
Otherwise, if hay is unloaded and not sold and picked up within a
day, it will be removed ·
We’ll try to get a
meeting set up on April 16 or 17 with Dan regard hay sale Review
Annual DCFC meeting ·
Good topics, timing
was good, good feedback. Will
push promotion and advertisement harder next year to get more people to
attend the meeting. ·
Consider new methods
to get the word out regarding the meeting. Radio, newspapers, newsletter. Farm
Tech Days demonstrations/research ·
We have a $500
budget for plots/research ·
Interseed oats and
alfalfa around early to mid April if weather holds ·
We may consider
obtaining the plot seeder from Arlington ·
Plots of oats,
barley, other cover crops, teff, or other grasses ·
How about emergency
forage to fill in winterkill areas? ·
Alfalfa potato
leafhopper damage in cages. New
Business: Forage
Council Twilight Meeting ·
Fond du Lac county
is hosting this year at Mark Ryans farm. We need a date, time and location confirmation.
Likely the 17th or 24th of June. ·
The twilight meeting
is well attended and brings a great sense of community. ·
We might want to do
an award ceremony during the twilight meeting to show appreciation. Review
Forage Council scissor clip/drydown locations ·
John Mersch, Ron
Wiskerchen, Paul Roemer, Jason Sterr and Matt Hanson will collect Scissor
Clip data Other
research to participate in? ·
Plant tissue test of
alfalfa for sulfur, and micro-nutrients. We can collect scissor samples during the regular scissor
clip sampling. Perhaps post
the results at the FTD show. ·
Sod fields turning
over to corn – conduct pre-sidedress N tests to see how long it takes
for N to become available for the crop. Future
Meeting Dates April
16th with Dan Ritger, otherwise hold a June meeting June 10 17 or 24th DCFC meeting - May coincide with the Forage Twilight Meeting Evening meeting in Juneau. August
5th DCFC meeting Dodge
County Fair August 19 to 23rd with Entry day on Aug 18th
August
28th Fall Burndown Field Day - Tentative October
14th DCFC meeting December
2nd DCFC meeting January
6th DCFC meeting to finalize the annual meeting if needed Feb
5 or 12 will be the DCFC Annual Meeting Move
to adjourn at 2:49 pm by Paul, second by Ron |