During the annual meeting, the
Conservationist of the Year award was presented to Ed Bay. The Guernsey SWCD
partners with Farm Credit, and USDA-NRCS to recognize co-operators who have
shown a commitment to conservation of natural resources. Mr. Bay was presented
with a sign, provided by Farm Credit Services.
The Bay family has a long
history of conservation, beginning with Ed’s father, David, who served on the
SWCD board for 27 years, from 1958 to 1984. In 1985, Dave Bay won the Goodyear
Award, the forerunner of the current Conservationist of the Year award. Working
with the SWCD, the Bays had installed a pond to supply water to the barn for
livestock, build an animal waste storage facility, and developed springs for
livestock water sources. The Bays were the first in the area to use no till to
plant corn.
Following in his father’s
footsteps, Ed has done a great deal to assist in the district’s work; hosting
soil judging contests for regional FFA classes twice in the past 10 years,
demonstrating non-lethal wildlife damage control by using propane cannons to
protect his crops, and offering his alfalfa fields to test the effectiveness of
different types of repellants to deter deer from damaging his hayfields by over
browsing. Most recently, he has been involved in our cover crop program, and
was instrumental this year in encouraging 2 more new landowners to plant cover
crops to protect and enrich the soils in their crop fields.
The Guernsey Soil and Water
Conservation District is a political sub-division of the State of Ohio and
covers the entire county. Soil and water conservation districts were first
formed in the 1940's when concerns of soil erosion and the loss of our most
productive soils became apparent after the Great Dust Bowl. Local citizens
gathered together to form the conservation districts to educate and provide
assistance to landowners in order to reduce soil erosion to tolerable limits.
Conservation Practices such as contour strips, no-till crops, and grassed
waterways have had a great impact on reducing soil erosion.
Over the years conservation
districts have evolved to include issues around land use, water quality,
forestry and wildlife. They work with landowners, land users, other
governmental agencies, and elected officials to solve natural resource
concerns. Your conservation district can be a wealth of information. The
mission of the Guernsey Soil and Water Conservation District is to promote
through education and technical assistance the sustainable use of natural
resources for the benefit of present and future generations.