Mark Badertscher of the Hardin County Extension Office provided the Icon with the following announcement concerning water quality problems in Lake Erie and it's relationship to Hardin County. 

The announcement follows:

As a result of the water quality problems in the western basin of Lake Erie, funding has been made available to Hardin County farmers who have land in the Lake Erie watershed. 

This is basically land north of State Route 309.  Funding is available through the Hardin SWCD/NRCS until Tuesday, Aug. 26.  This funding is to plant cover crops, install blind inlets and drainage control structures. 

See Megan Burgess at the Soil and Water Conservation District office to find out if you qualify.  Some programs are first come, first served with a one page application while others are more involved and require a competitive process.

July rain

In the month of July, Extension rainfall reporters recorded an average of 2.85 inches of rain in Hardin County.

Last year, the average rainfall for July was 7.4 inches. With the exception of three townships, this past month was a dry month as rainfall was 1.31 inches below the 10-year average rainfall for the month of July. 

100th anniversary celebration

Finally, I would like to invite everyone to our 100th Anniversary Celebration of Cooperative Extension program which will be held Sunday, Sept. 7.  This event will highlight the past, present, and future of Extension work and will take place in the demonstration area of the Community Building from 2-4 p.m. during the fair.