As proclaimed by Governor Terry Branstad, we are currently in the middle of Iowa Soil & Water Conservation Week, and activities and events will be held across the state over the next couple of days.

Kathy Sheeder is the state secretary for the Division of Soil Conservation and also the secretary for Guthrie County’s soil and water conservation commissioners, and she says they’ve been busy lately to raise awareness amongst area youth about this important week.

“Last week the Guthrie County soil and water conservation commissioners delivered trees to all the 4th-graders in all the county schools–so that would be five schools.  We delivered a total of 217 trees.  The commissioners visited with the kids about Arbor Day and about how to take care of the trees that they delivered to them, and then they also spoke a bit about what it is they do as soil and water conservation commissioners.”

Used as a time to recognize the conservation practices being utilized by various Iowa landscapes, Sheeder explains what the commissioners’ “message” is during this week.

“The message that we try to get out–through this office anyway–is to be mindful of the work you do out there.  We sure encourage the use of cover crops and no-till planting… anything we can do that conserves our soil and keeps our water quality getting better than it appears to be right now.”

To hear more from Sheeder as she discusses Iowa Soil & Water Conservation Week, tune-in to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County on K107 during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours.