Time is Running Out to Sign-Up for the Women’s Conservation Learning Circle

In order to reach the growing number of women farmers and female landowners interested in agriculture, a “Women’s Conservation Learning Circle” will be held next week.

The Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Marshall, Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties have teamed up with the National Resource Conservation Service and the organization Women4theLand to host a conservation discussion and field tour on Tuesday, August 14th.

The meeting will begin at the Potato Creek State Park Nature Center at 9 a.m. and the entire event will last until 3 p.m. The final day to RSVP to attend is tomorrow, Tuesday, August 7th. Continue reading

Community Provides Input to Senator Donnelly at Ancilla Farm Bill Listening Session

On Friday, Senator Joe Donnelly visited the Ancilla College campus to hold a listening session over the farm bill that is currently being written. Before Donnelly talked with group gathered in Cana Hall about business, he got comfortable by removing his tie and greeting individuals in the crowd.

Ancilla President Kenneth Zirkle began the event by briefly discussing the agriculture program at the college, stating that when they started two and half years ago they only had three individuals involved, now that number is up to nearly 50 agriculture students.

Agriculture director Tim McLochlin introduced the senator, but first he acknowledged all the community members who help make Ancilla’s agriculture program so immersive and impactful.

During the session, various individuals voiced their concerns about the needs of the agriculture community. One individual spoke about how the current farm bill does little to help the dairy industry and suggested that more needs to be done with supply and control management. Many people spoke about the importance of family-run farms and asked Senator Donnelly to build the bill with generational farms in mind. Continue reading