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Marion County Local Work Group Meeting Minutes

February 23, 2009 minutes by: Barbara Bellows

Attendees

Les Bachelor NRCS/LWG-Chair 503-399-5741 ext. 122

Barbara Bellows NRCS 503-399-5741 ext. 117

Leland Hardy Marion SWCD 503-581-9272

Bob Koenig Bob Koenig Farms 503-769-6517

Jane Keppinger Marion SWCD 503-399-5741 ext. 124

Kirk Metteer FSA 503-399-5741 ext. 114

Steve Vaught ODF 503-945-7393

Vic Schneider Ernst Irrigation 503-710-0128

Gary Butler Butler Farms 503-932-0500

Steven Keudell Keudell Farms/NSWCD/chair 503-881-3009

Sheila Ault ODA 503-986-4707

Scott Eden Marion SWCD 503-399-5741 ext. 118

Barbara Dusicka Energy Trust-Oregon 503-928-3207

Doug Huedos Energy Trust-Oregon 503-928-3207

Gayle Goschie Goschie Farms/Hops Research Council

Meeting Notes

Les Bachelor started the meeting at 10:00 AM with participant introductions.

Farm Bill Program Update - Les Bachelor reported NRCS field offices have not yet received the 2009 practice payment schedules (PPS) required to write EQIP contract for FY09. NRCS is in the process of ranking EQIP application in order to start contracting as soon as the PPS arrives. The EQIP manual is still in draft but we expect the EQIP manual to be released soon. Les handed out information on the history of NRCS funding practices in Marion County since EQIP started in 1997 and through the 2002 Farm Bill.

Review priority resource concern

Les review priority resource concerns that were identified by Marion County stakeholder meetings and LWG approval. Starting in 2002 and carried through 2008 the top three priority resource concerns were:

1. Water quantity-aquifer overdraft, inefficient water use on irrigated land

2. Water quality- Ground & Surface water contaminants-pesticides, nutrients, & organics

3. Soil Erosion-sheet and rill, & irrigation induced

Open discussion / New-Resource Concerns

Water quantity and recharging ground water restricted aquifers, water quality and practices to protect streams and improve the condition of 303d listed streams, soil quality (condition) Organic matter depletion, need to be enhanced soil condition through cover crops and no-till. Address contaminants from residual pesticides. Air quality from dairy odors and grass burning. Energy conservation & energy initiative and how NRCS can assist our clients to calculate energy savings with the implementation of specific conservation practices. Carbon sequestration, green house gases, and how EQIP would impact climate change concerns.

Marion County EQIP 09 Application ranking/funding/time line

This was discussed earlier in Farm Bill Update. NRCS is in the process of ranking EQIP application in order to start contracting as soon as the PPS arrives and funding is available.

Review Local Funding Pools specific to Marion County.

Marion County is currently managing three funding pools.

1. Animal Feeding Operation (AFO)/Confined AFO (CAFO)/Comprehensive Nutrient Mgmt. Plan(CNMP)

2. Irrigated Crop

3. Soil & Water Quality

Addressing local resource concerns

AWEP. Les described a new program initiated through the 2008 Farm Bill, the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP). This program effectively replaces the Ground and Surface Water Conservation (GSWC). Unlike the GSWC which only focused on water conservation, AWEP is not strictly focused on water quantity but allows other practice to enhance water quality such as pest mgmt, nutrient mgmt. riparian forest buffers, ect. While 10% of EQIP funds are allocated to this program, proposals for project work are generated by project partners. Les said that he sent out information regarding this program to various organizations in the area and encouraged them to apply.

Scott Eden described an AWEP proposal that he is writing on behalf of the Marion SWCD. This project would focus on the Zollner Creek Area. Collaborators will include OSU Cooperative Extension, ODA, Energy Trust, and local farmers. Cooperative Extension personnel are planning on conducting trainings on integrated pest management (IPM) and spray drift reduction. The Marion SWCD’s Landowner Assistance Program (LAP) will also focus its activities in this watershed. Application deadline is March 2nd 2009. Scott passed out a map of the Zollner Creek AWEP proposal area. The overall objective of this proposal is to address resource concerns on the total reach of the 303d listed Zollner Creek Area stream working towards cleaner surface water and future delisting Zollner as 303d stream.

Work Group Discussion

Energy Conservation. While NRCS currently does not have energy savings as a component of their conservation goal, Les said that he wants Marion County to be on the cutting edge of working with producers to address energy savings. Several programs exist to provide farmers with economic incentives to enhance their energy use efficiency. Our irrigation conversions have saved considerable amount of energy by converting from high pressure to low pressure, conversion of high HP electric motors to lower HP electric motors. NRCS can contract variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps. Energy is a specific ranking question for National and State ranking questions, but local questions did not include this as a point advantage ranking criteria. A local energy ranking question was discussed in depth and it was felt this may be added in future local ranking questions. Vic Schneider noted that all pumps are required to meet energy efficiency standards by 2011, so this program helps producers meet these requirements. Since VFD pumps are able to ramp up slowly and operated at a variety of power level, these pumps are most practical when they are set up to run two of more types of equipment requiring differing levels of power.

Barbara Dusicka and Doug Heudos described two types of energy conservation incentive programs available through the Energy Trust of Oregon. The first program is a rebate program where farmers can get paid for practices, such as lighting and nozzle replacements, that they have already implemented. The second program requires application prior to implementation. Incentive payments are based on the computed amount of potential energy saving by making major management changes, such as motor replacement or converting from a high energy using form or irrigation to a method that uses less energy. Barbara responded to questions regarding the efficiency of program implementation by saying that currently they are able to process applications and get incentive checks out to producers within two to three days of receiving applications. The efficiency of this process is enhanced when producers work through member service centers, such as irrigation dealers.

Les noted that dairies are high users of energy. Programs through the Energy Trust of Oregon and energy tax credit will help dairies pay for changes in lighting, fans, pumps, and digesters.

Forestry programs. Steve Vaught said that forest land owners are discouraged to apply for EQIP funds since they feel they would not rank high enough to get funded. Furthermore, with the lack of an NRCS forester, there is very little outreach to the forest landowner community to make them aware of NRCS or SWCD programs. Steve noted that when forest land is sold, the new landowners often are not aware of reforestation contracts that accompany the title.

Les commented that a specific Forestry funding pool was in place in 2007 and 2008 that Steve Vaught and the Salem NRCS office worked on and made it available for small woodland clients, but Marion County failed to get any qualifying applications to fund contracts with forest land owner.

Salem is a prime area for farm and ranchland protection programs designed to provide landowners with easements to keep the land in farm, ranch, or forest production and out of development. While older landowners were interested in easements, Steve noted that many of the newer landowners are less interested since they view land from more of an investment perspective. Meeting participants discussed the process of developing and maintaining easements over time and the ability of organizations holding easements to enforce the objectives of the easement over time.

Marion SWCD activities. Jane Keppinger said that the AWEP, if funded, would be a good complement to existing Marion SWCD activities. The LAP works with farmers having 50 acres or less, typically farmers who are not currently working with the Federal Government or do not rank high enough to obtain funding through NRCS. Typically, projects through LAP address heavy use areas or work with farmers who do not want to go through the government paperwork required to work with NRCS. Funds through LAP are 50/50 match, limited to $5,000 per client. Jane also said that the Marion SWCD is developing an informational spreadsheet listing all the natural resource and energy conservation programs available to farmers. Scott Eden noted that the Marion SWCD is offering special grant opportunities through its web page.

Third party certification. Steven Keudell and Gayle Goschie talked about third party certification of crops. Gayle’s hops fields are certified by Salmon Safe. Steven Keudell is a NORPAC grower. This growers’ cooperative has developed a third party certification process that requires growers to use good conservation practices as well as good labor management practices. Currently one-third of the NORPAC growers, representing two-thirds of the NORPAC acres, are certified.

Miscellaneous information. Gayle Goschie noted that many hops fields may be taken out of hops because of the recent sale of Budweiser. Les and Steven Keudell stressed that farmers installing linear and drip irrigation systems should consider chemigation since this saves energy and chemical use while protecting ground and surface water. Sheila Ault encouraged greater use of filter strips by farmers, especially Christmas tree producers. Kirk Metteer complimented the NRCS and Marion SWCD on their good work and collaboration with FSA. In closing, Les encouraged participants to let their constituents know about the Conservation Innovation Grant program and encourage them to apply to help improve technology in the natural resource area.

Les Bachelor and Steve Vaught will meet again to talk about local forestry question and talk about partner outreach to potential small woodland customers in EQIP.

Concluding Remarks:

Priority resource concern will remain the same for Marion County

1. Water quantity-aquifer overdraft, inefficient water use on irrigated land

2. Water quality- Ground & Surface water contaminants-pesticides, nutrients, & organics

3. Soil Erosion-sheet and rill, & irrigation induced

Public Comment –No public comment. - Les informed the group that advertisement for this LWG meeting was in the Capital Press.

Adjourn – 12:00PM

See Attached:

| |Marion County Local Work Group Meeting |

| |February 23, 2009 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM |

| |Salem Service Center Conference Room |

| |650 Hawthorne Ave SE; Suite 130 , Salem, OR 97301 |

| |

|Les Bachelor – – 503-399-5741x 122 |

| |

|Time |Agenda topics Discussion Lead |

|10:00 – 10:05 |Introductions, |Everyone |

|10:05 – 10:35 |Farm Bill Program Update: EQIP Update |Les Bachelor/NRCS |

| |Review Priority Resource Concerns for Marion County and how we are doing to | |

| |address these concerns. | |

|10:35 – 10:55 |Open discussion / New-Resource Concerns- (Example: Energy Concerns) | |

| | |Les Bachelor/NRCS |

|10:55 – 11:30 |Marion County EQIP 09 Application ranking/funding/time line. |Les Bachelor/NRCS |

| |Review Local Funding Pools specific to Marion County. |Work Group Members |

| |Addressing local resource concerns. Local Work Group Discussion | |

|11:30 – 11:50 |Review Practice Payment Schedule (PPS) (If new one is available for review at|Les Bachelor/NRCS |

| |the time the meeting is held) |Work Group Members |

|11:50—12:00( | Public Comment - Adjourn | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |

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