The Dubois County Soil and Water Conservation District recently held their Annual Meeting on Tuesday, February 3rd at the St. Mary’s Cafeteria in Ireland.
The speaker of the evening was Greg Brann from Adolphus, Kentucky, who spent 40 years working for the Natural Resource Conservation Service with 23 years being the Tennessee State Grazing Land Soil Health Specialist. He spoke about his experience with rotationally grazing cattle, sheep, and goats in one large herd Greg runs.
The Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisors presented multiple awards for the evening, starting off with the Ken McWilliams Memorial Award for Soil Judging Excellence. Each year, the team from Dubois County who scores the highest in the contest is awarded this award. This award was presented to the Jasper FFA Seniors soil judging team, consisting of Claire Linette, Levi Mehringer, Luke Popp, and Jace Wagner.
The second award presented was the River Friendly Farmer. The River Friendly Farmer awards were presented last summer at the Indiana State Fair. The Dubois County SWCD nominated Grant Weyer of Infinity Cattle Company LLC to recognize them for their wise farm management practices. The Weyer family was unable to attend the Annual Meeting.
The third award presented was the Friend of Conservation Award. The SWCD Supervisors created this special award to recognize individuals or organizations for their efforts in conservation.
The Friend of Conservation was awarded to the Ferdinand Parks & Recreation Department. Jill Schipp with the Town of Ferdinand was present to accept the award on the department’s behalf.
For three years now, the department has shown strong commitment to conservation by hosting Weed Wrangle events at Old Town Lake. Their hands on efforts to remove invasive species and support native habitats have had a lasting positive impact on the Town of Ferdinand.
The last award for the evening presented was the Otto J. Bauer Conservation Farmer of the Year Award. This award is presented to a Dubois County Farmer who uses good soil and water conservation practices on their farm.
This year the award was presented to Charles Reutman of Ferdinand. Charlie is the 5th generation to produce corn and soybeans on this Dubois County farm with Charlie adopting 100% no-till planting practices.
Charlie has adopted sustainable agricultural practices with the use of no-till farming, cover crops, and planting green. In addition, Charlie has implemented other practices including several water control sediment basins and grass waterways.
These practices enhance the soil health, the land’s productivity and contribute to the preservation of natural resources. Charlie pays great attention to the care of his land every year which shows his commitment to soil health and environmental stewardship.
The election of supervisor was next on the agenda with Brenda Sermersheim’s term as an elected supervisor having concluded. Up for election was Tabitha Hurst of Ferdinand. As there were no nominations from the floor and Tabitha being the only nominee, a vote was done by a show of hands. The vote was unanimous and Tabitha Hurst was elected to the Board of Supervisors for a three-year term. Alex Hohl, Dubois County Council Member conducted the Oath of Office.
Lastly, SWCD Executive Director, Veronica Helming, spoke on SWCD accomplishments for 2025. Out of the highlights, there is a new Clean Water Indiana grant for county landowners to take advantage of, focusing on the soil health on reclaimed mine ground. For more information, call the office at 812-482-1171 ext. 3 or visit duboisswcd.org.
Helming also presented special recognition to exiting supervisor Brenda Sermersheim. Brenda was the first woman elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2008, and was elected as chair of the board in 2012.
The past eighteen years have been marked by many notable achievements, including playing a key role in securing vital state and federal funding for Dubois County; empowering local landowners to implement conservation practices and improvements. She also guided staff expansion, champion initiative and growth of the Land Stewardship initiative, and was honored as the 2020 Indiana SWCD Supervisor of the Year.
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