Sheridan County Conservation District 2024 Snapshot
Happy New Year from the Sheridan County Conservation District Board and staff! As we embark on 2025, we want to take a moment to share some highlights from 2024.
In March, Sheridan County Conservation District Board Supervisors Nathan Shackelford and Jeff Wivholm traveled to Helena to testify at the Water Policy Interim Committee. They provided an overview of the Conservation District’s work in monitoring the Clear Lake Aquifer in Sheridan County.
Our field technician, Amy Yoder, successfully completed a pump test for a new irrigation well. This extensive process involved pumping the well wide open for 72 hours while taking manual measurements every minute for the first 10 minutes, then every 2 minutes until 20 minutes, every 5 minutes until 40 minutes, and finally every 10 minutes until it had been pumped for an hour and a half. After this period, measurements continued to be taken hourly, and at the end of the 72 hours, the process was repeated for another 72 hours. The manual measurements were tracked alongside those from a flow meter. This data was compiled and sent to the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology for further review and processing.
We also received a grant to create a cost-share program for leasing soil moisture monitoring probes for irrigated cropland. During the 2024 growing season, we deployed four probes and plan to add more in 2025. This program provides producers with valuable data on soil moisture, disease, salt levels, ground temperature, and more, all accessible on their phones, allowing them to make timely decisions about irrigation and crop management.
At our booth during the Sheridan County Fair in July 2024, we held a poster contest. Winners each received a certificate and a Dairy Queen gift card. The posters were displayed at the county library for the month of August and later competed at the state level at the Montana Association of Conservation Districts convention in Great Falls, MT, in November. Advancing to the national poster contest are Kenneth Wagler of Westby and Violet Peters of Outlook, who will be judged in February 2025 at the National Convention of Conservation Districts. Additionally, we hosted four Rolling River demonstrations at the county fair, with assistance from NRCS District Conservationist, Libby Olson, and former agricultural teacher, Keturah Moberg. These demonstrations were a great success, as children learned about erosion, the continental divide, and the importance of riparian areas.
We welcomed three new associate members to the Board of Supervisors in 2024. Tahnee Benson, former District Administrator for the Conservation District, joined as an associate board member in February. Zane Spoklie, a multigenerational farmer from Antelope, MT, became an associate member in November, along with Keturah Moberg of Redstone, MT, a former agricultural teacher at Medicine Lake Public School.
In November 2024, board and staff members traveled to Great Falls, MT, for the Montana Association of Conservation Districts convention, where the Sheridan County Conservation District was honored with the 2024 Conservation District of the Year award during the awards banquet. Featured L to R is District Administrator, Grace Wagler, Board Chairman, Nathan Shackelford, and Field Technician, Amy Yoder.
