Soil and Water Conservation District invites public to 'Meet Your Farmer' and highlights outreach after county dust storm

Representatives of the St. Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District on Tuesday updated commissioners on recent outreach and conservation work and invited them to a July 10 "Meet Your Farmer" event at Lee’s Edible Acres in North Liberty.

Misty Sorzovich, the district’s representative, outlined a series of education and community programs launched in the last year, including a stormwater program that supplies community stormwater kits and classroom programs that reached more than 1,200 students in March and April alone. The district also distributed native plant growing kits to schools; Sorzovich said more than 580 students participated in that program last year.

Sorzovich said the county experienced a severe dust event on May 16 caused by dry, overly tilled farmland and high winds that carried soil from fields roughly 200 miles away in Illinois. “This was the worst dust storm the county has seen since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s,” she said, and noted that soil-conservation practices help reduce those risks.

The district reported that farmers and landowners in the county received $643,572 in federal conservation funds last year. The Meet Your Farmer event will be held July 10 at Lee’s Edible Acres, 30135 New Road, North Liberty; Sorzovich invited commissioners and residents to attend or request a farm tour if they cannot make the event.

Sorzovich also announced that Purdue Extension will move its office to the fairgrounds for the pre-fair and fair week period from June 23 to July 6 and that the office will maintain phone and online service during that time.