Applicator Recert and Soil Health Workshop Jan 29th

The Butte Soil and Water Conservation District is sponsoring a Soil Heath and Re-certification Workshop on Friday January 29th at the Valley Community Center in Moore.  The program will begin at 9:00 AM and end at 3:00 PM.  Lunch will be sponsored by the Irrigation Center of Arco.  Please contact the Soil conservation District at 208-527-8557 ext. 101 to let them know you are planning to come.  Please leave a message.  The program is FREE.

Presenters for the program include:
Marlon Winger, the National Resource Conservation Service regional soil health specialist who will discuss improving soil health using 5 basic principle.  Cameron Williams is  a Soil Conservationist from the Grace area who has been working with cover crops and livestock grazing with his clients and on his family farm.  Zak Miller, a regional manage for the Idaho Farm Bureau will be discussing farm safety.  Chad Cheyney, University of Idaho Extension Educator will cover avoiding problems with soil active herbicides, while Brad Gamett, Butte County Weed Superintendent will review the pros and cons of residual herbicide use.

Join us on Friday, January 29th for this great program, and pickup 2 units of pesticide re-certification credit.  Please call 208-527-8557 ext 101 and let us know if you are coming!!!

Meet Our Speakers:

Brad Gamett:
Brad is currently employed as the Weed Control Superintendent for Butte County, ID, a position he has held since 2003. He is a life-long resident of the Lost River Valleys. He is actively involved with the Lost Rivers Cooperative Weed Management Area, where he serves as vice-chair.  Brad attended Idaho State University where he received degrees in Business Administration in 2001 and Geographical Information Science in 2010. He lives in Moore with his wife, Lucy, and their 5 children.

Cameron Williams: 

Cameron is a Soil Conservationist for the NRCS in Caribou County for 9 hours a day. The remaining 15 hours he works on the family ranch in Grace, Idaho.  He obtained an associate’s degree in Agronomy from Ricks College and a bachelor’s degree in Ag Economics from the University of Idaho.  He worked for Deseret Cattle and Citrus located in Kissimmee, Florida.  This is one of the largest cattle ranches in America.  He currently is working on growing cover crops to improve soil health, extend the growing season and decrease days of feeding harvested forages.  He has tried growing at least 16 different species of crops.  With mixes of up to 11 species.

Chad Cheyney:

Chad has been the Extension Educator in Butte County since 1985.  Before coming to Butte County, Chad worked as an agronomist in the Sacramento Valley of California for 10 years on 17 crops.  While Extension Educator, Chad also served as Butte County Weed Superintendent until 2002, when the position was transferred to full-time status.  Chad has worked extensively, commercially and experimentally with herbicides. During his tenure as weed superintendent, he presided at the birth of the Lost River Coordinated Weed Management Area. Chad’s favorite accomplishment as weed superintendent was the widespread introduction and establishment of aphthona nigriscutis and other biocontrol agents for Leafy Spurge in the Lost River Valley.;

Marlon Winger: 

Marlon earned a MS and BS degree at Utah University in Plant Science. He grew up on a family owned dairy farm in Dayton, Idaho. Where he found his passion for life (Agriculture). He worked as a County Agricultural Agent for Utah State University Extension Service for 9 years in Price, Utah. He has been working for the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation District- (NRCS) for about 11 years. Previous jobs were area agronomist in Northern Utah and State Agronomist in Idaho. Currently Marlon works for the Regional Soil Health Specialist for WY, ID and MT. He has been spearheading soil health by teaching workshops throughout the region. Marlon lives on a small ranch in Kuna, Idaho, where the family raises alfalfa hay, pasture sheep, hogs, a few calves and a large garden.

Zak Miller: 

Zak has been a Regional Manager for Idaho Farm Bureau Federation for the last 2 years. His responsibilities include leadership development, advocacy, and education of agriculture in Idaho, specifically in the Upper Snake Region. Additional duties include management of Farm Bureau commodity programs. Zak received his BS degree in Animal Science from BYU-Idaho in 2005. Currently Zak resides in Rigby with his wife Marcy and four daughters Hallee, Blyss, Sisaly and Kenzie. Zak enjoys spending time with his family especially on the family farm. Zak is trained in Ruminant Nutrition and still spends time consulting local Ranches in the area.