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Dennis and Jenell Week Evansville, MN |
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The Douglas Soil and Water Conservation District SWCD Board
of Supervisors has chosen Dennis and Jenell Week of Evansville as the 2007
Douglas County Outstanding Conservationists. Their conservation practices
include tree planting, sediment control, reduced tillage, wildlife habitat,
terraces, delayed haying, and converting to organic. Since taking over the farm in 1980, the Dennis has added shelterbelts and windbreaks to the nearly 12 acres he planted as a FFA participant in high school. Dennis has also built his own tree planting machine. Dennis and Jenell farm some of the heaviest soil in Douglas County so wind erosion is not a major issue, still they work to control wind erosion by using reduced tillage practices, no fall tillage on soybean ground and planting cover crops. Pasture management has always been a priority on the Week farm, since they had 84 dairy cows from 1980-2006 and 30 Angus cow/calf pairs. They have recently converted their operation to organic, including grapes that they will soon be marketing. Dennis and Jenell delay mowing until after July 1 and if possible, destroyed nests are salvaged, eggs are incubated and young are raised and released into the wild. Recently they have installed 1400 feet of terraces and six sediment block structures to help control erosion.
The Weeks were chosen as Area II Finalists and were one of eight finalists for the State Outstanding Conservationists Award that was presented at the MASWCD State Convention in Rochester on December 4th, 2007. At the Convention, the Weeks were surprised with the State Award! Congratulations Dennis and Jenell! www.maswcd.org
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