Narrative Report
The following is our report on the 1954 activities of. the Holt Soil
Conservation district. We hope the report will prove interesting, in
formative and inspirational.
The following table shows the accomplishments of the technical
staff for the year, the total amount of each practice applied todate
in Holt county and the amount estimated that is remaining to be done.
Amt. to
Practice Unit 1954 To Date Be Done
Contour farming .Ac. 215 2,922 92,728
Cover cropping .Ac. 2,951 98,728 284,553
Strip cropping .Ac. 1,816 103,321 247,601
Conservation crop rotation .Ac. 1,882 112,520 320,413
Proper use, grazing .Ac. 9,071 204,269 800,504
Deferred grazing .Ac. 4,321 100,489 904,284
Range seeding .Ac. 1,212 16,414 120,704
Interseeding meadows .Ac. 395 9,165 166,252
Pasture seeding .Ac. 2,780 2,959 12,226
Tree planting .Ac. 314 11,020 12,070
Wildlife area improvement .Ac. 21 2,564 7,075
Drainage .Ac. 314 11,020 12,075
Terraces .Mi. .8 40.3 5,276
Diversions .Mi. 1.6 6.9 182
Waterways .Ac. 51 245 5,177
Pond construction .No 13 152 59
Livestock wells .No 47 1,149 317
.*
study ui uit? duuve uuui. wm
show that some of the practices
such as tree planting are about
half completed. Ponds and wells
are fairly well established where
needed, but much remains to be
done on such practices as terraces,
waterways and proper use of graz
ing land and seeding of grass.
Cooperation with Other Agencies
Commendable teamwork mark
ed the service and district’s rela
tionships with other agencies. The
local soil conservation service
personnel again had an active
part in the agricultural conser
vation program (ACP). The SCS
men were required to inspect and
approve most of the docket prac
tives in 1954. These duties were
not as heavy as previously due to
a light sign-up in 1954. However,
a greater sign-up was attained for
1955. SCS will be responsible for
determining need and feasibility
for grass seedings, and will also
supervise and check all perma
nent practices listed in the ACP
docket. Although not required by
state directive the county com
mittee requested that SCS person
nel make seeding recommendations
and feasibility determination for
all seedings in the 1955 docket.
We are pleased that they saw fit
to give the district this increased
responsibility and believe that it
exemplifies excellent cooperation
between the agencies.
In 1954, the state game, foresta
tion and parks commission, with
the district as a “go-between”,
planted several wildlife areas, a
few of which included the addi
tion of cedar trees to the north of I
existing shelterbelts. The same
practice wil be followed for 1955.
Bruce McCarraher of the com
mission, stationed in the new dis
trict office at Bassett, has been
working with many cooperators in
improving their fish ponds.
The extension service and the
district cooperated closely on sev
eral events in 1954. Most note
worthy was the joint annual meet
ing in March. To many, this meet
ing seemed to be the high point
in a series of very successful joint
annual meetings. Main speaker
was the world - famed Everett
Mitchell of NBC radio. Other note
worthy events in which the dis
trict gave the extension service
its support were the grassland
days at Stuart, crop improvement
tour and the irrigation tour. The
crop improvement tour covered
scattered points which showed
marked results from fertilizer
used on native grassland.
The agreement of state and
county highway officials to pro
vide adequate culverts, properly
located for drainage problems of
cooperators, still holds.
District Equipment and Labor
Any employer can testify to the
difficulty in securing a competent
employee, acquainting him with
his duties and then retaining this
competent employee. Such was
the case when the district lost
the services of Virgil Laursen,
who went into private business in
June. Duane Gray was hired to
replace Mr. Laursen and has been
fairly busy with various opera
tions of the district equipment.
It should be mentioned here
that the district’s business opera
tions, that is, seed cleaning, com
bining, tree planting, machinery
rental, etc., will be seriously, if
not entirely, curtailed by a recent
IJSDA directive which will pro-:
hibit the local SCS personnel from
participating in or directing any
district business. Even though
they are ultimately responsible
for the district’s business opera
tions, the board of supervisors has
relied very heavily on the local
SCS staff, especially the unit con
servationist, C. R. Hill, in helping
to oversee the district’s business.
In view of the above-mentioned
tendency of good employees to
shift to private business, and with
the probable loss of managerial
help from the local staff, the dis
trict board of supervisors is both
r.on-pleased and disgusted. It is
true the SCS personnel may have
been called upon to spend too
much time supervising the dis
trict’s business but the board
views with dismay the inevitable
curtailment of the tree planting
operation, rental of district equip
ment for grass seeding, and the
district’s activities in general. It
should be pointed out that the
business operations were never
designed to use up the free labor
provided by the SCS personnel,
but rather to promote conserva
tion in the district. The present
board of supervisors sincerely be
lieves that the district’s activities
serve the latter purpose.
Readers of last year’s report
and other district publicity will
recall the remarkable account of
the vetch and native grass plots
on the depleted field south of
Page, along U.S. highway 20. Af
ter a highly successful first year
harvest of vetch seed in 1953,
there was no volunteer growth of
vetch in the fall of 1953 (moisture
conditions being the deterring fac
tor). However, a good stand vol
unteered again in the fall of 1954,
and the native grass seedings
(sand lovegrass, Indiangrass and
switchgrass) give promise of be
coming seed producers next sea
son. The local SCS staff and the
supervisors view the progress of
the vegetation on these plots with
special interest. The project is a
field experiment in the rejuvena
tion of a worn out field with a
naturally light soil. One of the
main objectives was to determine
if vetch should be seeded/ prior to
grass, with grass or after grass
was established. Although results
are not conclusive as yet, it ap
pears that vetch seeded with the
grass or after the grass is estab
lished is superior to seeding the
vetch first and then following with
grass seeding a year later.
The use of this field was made
possible in the spring or 1953
through the efforts of Raymond
Heiss, then a supervisor on the
Holt Soil Conservation district
board.
Less Use of Cleaner
The seed cleaner was used less
than it has been the last several
years. However, about 2,000
pounds of bluestem was harvesled
locally, about 450 pounds of
sw'itchgrass and about 400 pounds
of sand lovegrass were also har
vested.
The Shelhamer Equipment com
pany furnished the district with
a new International fertilizer
spreader at 10 percent of the
list price for the first year’s use.
This machine was used consid
erbly both as a fertilizer spreader
and as a seeder. The skew tread
er and seeder treader also saw
considerable use.
All ~r 4-1 :_i. _ji i.
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the Holt district is operated under
the supervision of the local board
of supervisors. The district em
ployees are paid from the district
funds, not the U.S. treasury, and
are responsible to the board. The
present board of supervisors con
sists of Merwyn French, sr., chair
man; Elmer Allyn, vice-chairman;
Stanley Lambert, secretary-treas
urer; Elmer Juracek, member, and
Clarence Ernst, member.
The local staff provided by the
U.S. Soil Conservation Service
consists of C. R. Hill, Weston
Whitwer and Harold T. Young. C.
B. Crook, soil scientist, was trans
| ferred to Minnesota in December
! and his successor has not as yet
been relieved of his present du
ties so that he can be transferred
to O’Neill. These men are gov
ernment employees loaned to the
local district to carry out the tech
nical phases of the conservation
program.
Educational Activities and
Publicity
All the Holt county newspapers
have cooperated generously in
promoting conservation agricul
ture in 1954. For the sixth year in
a row The Frontier will print this
annual report in its conservation
special edition. The Holt district
board has arranged to have the
weekly newsletter of the Nation
al Association of Soil Conserva
tion Districts sent to every editor
in the county.
Nine films on conservation were
shown at the Atkinson and O’Neill
schools during the year. Two
meetings were held with the At
kinson vocational agriculture class
and a grass judging and identifi
cation contest was held with the
Atkinson group last fall. Soil Con
servation Service technicians ap
peared and assisted with Boy
Scout work for the camp at At
kinson and the one held at Goose
lake. At Atkinson tree planting
was discussed and the district
furnished a few trees that the boys
planted in the Atkinson park. At
Goose lake the boys were taken on
a tour of the surrounding area and
emphasis was placed on grass and
plant identification. The district
plans to carry out an all-conserva
tion day program for the seventh
and eighth graders in the county
in 1955. As originally planned
this is a biennial affair held in
connection with the students’
study of geography of Nebraska.
A tape recording was made with
Mrs. Willa Schollmeyer and her
pupils and was used on one of the
broadcasts over WJAG. Mrs.
Schollmeyer had previously at
tended the Doane college conser
vation short course and is doing
a marvelous job of teaching con
servation in rural schools. Regular
broadcasts were made each month
from February to September over
WJAG, covering a variety of sub
jects.
In November a member of the
board attended a soil conservation
banquet in Sioux City sponsored
by the Sioux City Journal-Tri
bune and the Sioux City Chamber
of Commerce where plaques and
certificates of merit were-award
ed to farmers and ranchers in the
Sioux City trade area. The Sioux
City group sponsors a contest
based on permanent soil conserva
tion. In our district certificates of
merit were awarded to Leonard
Juracek of O’Neill, E. J. Revell of
O’Neill and Richard Trowbridge
Page.
The district carried on no spe
cial drive for associate member
ships this year. However, one af
filiate membership was received
from D. E. Bowen of Page, former
board member, at our annual
meeting in March. A more con
centrated effort to bring in asso
ciate memberships of business
men will be carried out this
spring. These membership pro
ceeds will be used for scholarships
and other promotional purposes.
Highlights
It is hard to name one outstand
ing occurrence in the Holt dis
trict’s year of activities. Perhaps
the one highlight which gave the
board of supervisors and office
staff the most satisfaction was
that of receiving the -Goodyear
soil conservation award. The dis
trict received a handsome plaque
and each supervisor received a
shield which bears his name in
gold letters.
Goodyear sponsors a contest
based on soil conservation board
activity. For the purpose of this
contest, Goodyear divides the
United States into 50 areas with
two areas in Nebraska. The Holt
Soil Conservation district won
first in the western area of Ne
braska and the grand award was
an all-expenses paid trip to the
Goodyear Farms at Litchfield
Park, Ariz., for one member of
the board and one outstanding
conservation farmer. The board
chose E. J. Revell of O’Neill as
the farmer and Elmer Juracek of
Star, the member of the board, to
make the trip. There were 100
farmers at the Goodyear Farms
from all over the United States.
When they arrived at Litchfield
Park each farmer was given a
complete outfit of western clothes
to wear, including levis, shirt,
belt, tie and a 10-gallon hat. The
clothes then were given to them
to keep as souvenirs.
Goodyear deserves much credit
for promoting conservation of our
most important natural resources.
Goodyear has reclaimed about 16,
000 acres of desert land, they
have 70 irrigation wells and they
now raise some of the highest
yields of crops per acre in the
United States. The county that
Goodyear Farms are in is now
the second richest agricultural
county in the United States. How
ever, all those irrigation pumps are
lowering the water table 10 feet a
year, so you can see their future
is very limited unless' they can
brings in water from the Colo
rado river, which they are trying
to do to supplement their water
supply.
Another higmignt ot 1954 was,
of course, the joint annual meet
ing with the extension service.
Those present will long remem
ber the stories of our speaker,
Everett Mitchell. He brought to
the listeners an intimate under
standing of agriculture and people
in the many lands he had recent
ly visited.
Clarence Ernst, Elmer Juracek,
Merwyn French and E. J. Revell
attended the state conference in
Lincoln from November 30 to De
cember 2. Recognition of the Holt
district’s winning of the Goodyear
award was given at this meeting.
A slight change in the state con
ference meeting was planned with
towns more centrally located se
lected for meeting places in the
future years.
Still another highlight of 1954
I was the attendance of the North
ern Great Plains Area meeting at
Sheridan, Wyo., by Mr. and
Mrs. Elmer Juracek. This was a
meeting of soil conservation dis
trict supervisors from six states.
There the problems of soil and
water conservation were compar
ed, national legislation and state
laws pertaining to soil conserva
tion districts were discussed and
recommendations made. Elmer
Juracek carried to the Sheridan
conference an authorized and
well - planned invitation from
the O’Neill Chamber of Commerce
for the area conference to consid
er O’Neill as its 1955 meeting
place. To our great pleasure, El
mer returned to Holt county with
the acceptance of this invitation.
The National Association of Soil
Conservation Districts is made up
of 2,597 local soil districts like
our own from all over the United
States. No supervisors, not even
the national president, get any
wages or salary. Their reward is
seeing conservation of our basic
resources being applied. The Unit
ed States is divided into seven
areas. We here in Nebraska are
in the Northern Great Plains area.
This area is made up of six states
—Kansas, Wyoming, Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota and
Nebraska.
The Northern Great Plains area
meeting this year will be held at
O'Neill June 1, 2 and 3. This is a
meeting of the soil conservation
, district supervisors from all these
states. However, this is an open '
meeting and we invite and urge
everyone whose welfare is de
pendent on agriculture, which is
everyone, to attend all or any part
of this meeting. We especially in
cite you to attend the banquet on
the evening of June 2.
The O’Neill Chamber of Com
merce and the Holt district super
visors will do their utmost to leave
a good impression of this section
of Nebraska and its people.
Methods and Accomplishments
Personal contact, as always, is
the missionary’s best means of
making a convert. Such is the case
with the local staff in their en
deavor to convert Holt county
farmers and ranchers to conserva
tion practices and confirm them
in that way of treating their soil.
As before they will appreciate,
whenever possible, contacting
small groups and even large ones
in an effort to make more total
gains in conserving our natural
resources.
Since 1900 the percent of farm
population has dropped from 90
to 12. In other words, 12 percent
of the people feed themselves
plus the remaining 88 percent.
How much more can this shrink?
What will be the effect of this
shrinkage on farm legislation, the
national economy, and basically
what effect will it have on the
conservation of our soil? It is our
beliefs that only by having an ac
tive part in the local self-govern
ing organization (the Holt Soil
Conservation district) and a
large voice through the state and
national associations that proper
emphasis will continue to be
placed on agriculture. Who is not
dependent on agriculture? Yet
how few realize the basic meth
ods of conserving the soil? We
have a moral obligation to our
Creator to leave this land (which
we use for a term of years) in a
condition to provide livelihood
and food products for untold gen
erations.
Technical Services
The local staff is year-by-year
being given more responsibility
in the agricultural conservation
program. In additon to aiding in
the annual farm program sign-up,
the soil conservation service men
are to lay out, check and approve
all permanent docket practices re
quiring engineering assistance.'
Most other permanent practices
become a concern of soil conserva
tion service personnel, too.
Now the U.S. government’s
“task force” on inter-government
al relations suggests disrupting
the relationship between the soil
conservation districts and their
soil conservation service staffs.
This trend is toward placing all
soil conservation efforts under
each individual state. In view of
the need of nationwide promotion
of soil conservation and because
of the inability of the states to
finance a conservation program,
the Holt district board of super
visors wishes to express displeas
ure at this tendency to belittle the
specialized evonservation effort.
At the same time we shall favor
the state and federal government
economizing wherever possible to
avoid wasteful overlapping of the
various agency duties.
This annual narrative report is
respectfully submitted by your
Holt Soil Conservation district
board of supervisors.
Must Manage to
Get Grass You Want
By L. F. BREDEMEIER,
Range Conservationist, SCS
(North Platte)
You can have the kind of grass
you want if you manage for it. An
increasing number of ranchers in
Nebraska are conscientiously and
effectively managing their grasses
in such a way as to give them the
kinds they want. In the final
analysis, most ranchers want the
kinds of grasses that will enable
them to market the maximum of
livestock at a minimum cost.
One Way
An outstanding example of the
effect of management on the kinds
of grasses was observed last year
or the Wolfe brothers’ ranch in
Wheeler county. Two pastures
contained an abnormal abundance
of porcupine grass (stipa spartea).
This is the larger of the two
reedlegrasses in Nebraska which
have sharp needlelike seeds and a
long awn. It is a bunch-forming
grass that grows in cool seasons,
namely early spring and late fall.
It is relished by livestock and is
readily grazed. If permitted, cat
tle will graze it so much that it
will begin to disappear. Heavily
grazed pastures seldom contain
this grass. Yet these pastures in
Wheeler county contained it in
profusion. The amount of grazing
and the degree of intensity was
such that the abundance of porcu
pine grass could not be justified.
Consideration of the time of graz
■ng pointed to the cause.
The Wolfe ranch runs steers
which are not turned on the pas
tures until around May 15. They
are taken off the pastures and
marketed the latter part of Aug
usl and the first part of Septem
ber. This grazing program allow
ed the porcupine grass to produce
a good amount of leaves in the
spring before being grazed. It also
permitted this grass to make a
growth in the fall after the cattle
had been sold.
Grass Feeds Grass
The time or season of grazing
is only one of the management
techniques that can be used to
influence the grasses. Their be
havior under grazing is closely
associated with a simple physio
logical process of plant growth.
All plant food is manufactured in
the leaves of plants. The plant
takes the elements for plant food
from the soil and the air. In the
green leaf it transforms these el
ements into plant food which it
uses for its growth and reproduc
tion.
A perennial grass that is allow
ed to keep enough of its leaves to
manufacture more food than it
needs for growth is strong, vig
orous and very productive. It
stores the excess plant food in its
roots for future growth, building
up a reserve storage much like
some people build up an endow
ment fund.
The grass whose green leaves
are grazed off as soon as they can
be nipped by livestock never has
a chance to manufacture food.
Such a grass must keep drawing
food from the roots. If very little
had been stored the previous year,
there is very little to draw from.
Soon the reserve is depleted and
the grass is so weak that is cannot
compete with less palatable or
shorter grasses. These less pal
atable or shorter grasses begin to
take over and frequently the pre
ferred grass is so severely weak
ened that it dies.
% -
What Happens
Tall, medium and short grasses
grow in mixtures on the range
land in Holt county. In heavily
grazed pastures the cattle will
take 60 to 90 percent of the leaves
of the tall grasses and 30 to 60
percent of the short grasses. This
weakens the tall grasses propor
tionately more than it does the
short grasses. At the same time it
I™ " ~ —..
reduces the forage production ac
cordingly.
Whether you want a certain
kind of grass or whether you want
more forage per acre and, in turn,
more pounds of beef from your
ranch, the way you manage your
grass offers you these possibilities.
This approach has the added ad
vantage of requiring no large fi
nancial expenditures. Take .care
of your grass and your grass will
take care of you.
Monday Callers— s
Mrs. Mabel Shobe and Marjorie
of Paige were Monday afternoon
guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. G
Kraft.
I
1. Feel the extra pull-power that comes 4. Boost pull-power up to 45 per cent
from teaming 33Y4 drawbar hp* with sure- on-the-go with new years-ahead Torque
footed traction! Amplifier!
2* Count the time savings of back-click- Harvest non-stop in rank, heavy crops
and-go hitching... seconds-fast job switch with new, completely independent pto.
with new Fast-Hitch!
3. Control implements hydraulically with ^b "wTth^'XrfthL ^er!^^
new muscle-saving, instant-acting Farmall J
Hydra-Touch.
Speed cultivation with this front
mounted 4-row! Mount it in min
utes without liftingl
•
Get on the seot and operate the new Farmall 300. Prove to yourself there’s
nothing like it in the 3-plow, all-purpose field. Use the Income Purchase Plan
■—let the 300 pay for itself in use! *Maximum estimated horsepower.
HARLEY HARDWARE
Chambers, Nebr.
• f.y t r
FREE
6 Quarts of
Gillette’s
Pasteurized &
Homogenized Milk
... to the parents whose names
are in the Birth Column in
this paper
Fill out this coupon and take
it to any O’Neill store or use it
as credit on the route.
BOB ERWIN
Phone 320
Name .
Addreses .
10TH ANNUAL
VANDER LUIT and ROSTERS
HEREFORD BULL SALE
PLATTE, S. D. I,
SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1955
SALE BARN 1:00 P. M.
40 HEAD
AH Top Quality Registered Hereford^ of Larry Domino, Pioneer
Shadow, Zato Heir and Battle Pioneer breeding.
FOR CATALOGS WRITE
Harry Yander Luit Albert Rosters, h.
Corsica, S. D. Harrison, S. D.
WEIGHT
PUT TO WORK I
I
-
. . automatically
Power to take tough spots
in stride... Economically
With more than 45 hp from POWER
CRATER engine, plus automatic
Traction Booster to put “total pull”
and implement weight to work, the
great new WD-45 Tractor will turn
the toughest of soils . . . smoothly
and evenly.
And it’s done in regular plowing
gear, too — without gear-shifting or
lever-changing delay. That means
•
the same high efficiency and fuel
economy on hard jobs — economy
for which Allis-Chalmers has long
been famous.
For safety in turning, two-clutcK
power control permits you to reduce
forward motion without sacrificing
engine speed for quick hydraulic lift.
We will be glad to bring a WD-45 to
YOUR farm for demonstration.
POWER-CRATER !» on AllU-CJiolmori trod.moffc.
Srs- ( RILIS'CHIIIMERS
V AND SCKVICe
MARCELLUS IMPL. CO.
Phone 5 West O’Neill
Freedom shall bless Ihe land
"\7ISIONS are elusive sometimes. But they
» have a way of coming down to earth.
This thing called soil conservation on the land
was once a vision—little more than the seed
of an idea, the idea that farmers could work
together to solve their mutual problems.
The seed proved to be remarkably viable,
for the soil conservation district idea has
settled down like a protective blanket over
our good earth.
There is more than physical resemblance
between a contour-stripped field and the red
and white stripes of Old Glory. The soil
conservation district embodies the very es
sence of the rights and freedoms for which
our flag stands. Cherishing those rights and
freedoms, farmers have organized soil con
OLD GLORY is a set oj principles, a
covenant of human rights, rippling in the
breeze. So long as the great body of Ameri
cans respect the traditions and the princi
ples for which Old Glory stands—so long j
shall the flag be a vision of hope, a shield
against the storms.
servation districts that are of local people,
by local people, for local people.
A soil conservation district is composed
of local people who see their own problems
and solve them, who see their own respon
sibilities and shoulder them. They are local
people doing that which they should do,
voluntarily, with no infringement of rights
and liberties, with scarcely a law, rule,
regulation, or tax. The soil conservation
district, in action, is literally a bit of the
freedom of enterprise that made America a
land of opportunity and abundance.
Soil improvement, through good land
use. is a modern vision, a new frontier of
rural America.
-Now on Display
The New John Deere Model “70” Diesel Tractor
. . . being shown all this week . . . holder of the new
world’s fuel economy record. Many new features!
HARRY R. SMITH IMPLS.
Phone 562 — O’Neill
t