The Farmers of the Sugar River are finalizing paperwork to wrap up a successful first year. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) awarded a Producer Led Watershed Protection Grant to this group of farmers. They have been busy teaching other farmers and the public about no till, cover crops and other ways to minimize soil erosion. The structure of the group is that a board of seven farmers plan events for farmers to learn from. There are no memberships or dues. Farmers are welcome to join one or all events and participate in conservation practice incentive payments.

This first year, the group was able to have a logo created to help create a "brand" and have better group recognition. It features a meandering river of blue, mimicking the Sugar River, with green buffers on both sides of the blue. Shirts and signs were made to promote the logo and name recognition with the group.

Three events were planned and people showed up! There were over 70 people at the first annual meeting on February 20, 2018, at the Albany Lions Club. Jamie Patton was the keynote speaker and put that days' downpour of over 2 inches into perspective as to what was happening to the soil when left unprotected. The DNR gave an update of the condition of the Sugar River and it sounds like it's doing well. Two farmers, John Koepke and Lee Kinnard, shared their experiences with no till and cover crops in their area of the state. Shop Talk was held on March 12th at Dan Roe's shop, south of Monticello. Thirty-one people came wanting to learn more about drills and planters. At the Summer Field Day on August 21st, hosted by Jerry and Barb Daniels, 60 attendees came to see a soil pit in a standing corn field and to see how different land managements held up in the rainfall simulator.

Twenty-three farmers received incentive payments, totaling over $8,700, for planting cover crops in late summer and fall. Those that received payments planted a total of 2,128 acres. Cover crops that were planted included broadcasting rye, drilling oats after corn silage, aerial applying rye and radish into standing soybeans and broadcasting wheat onto bean stubble.

The Farmers of the Sugar River received a $16,500 grant from Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection for 2018, and spent a little 75% of it. The remaining money will carry over into next year. The group also applied for $25,000 in 2019, and has been awarded that as well.

Plans for 2019 are underway. The annual meeting is going to be March 5, 2019, at the Albany Lions Club, with speakers Keith Berns and Ted Bay. It will be centered around economics. Berns was featured in No Till Farmer Magazine earlier this year for coining the term "carbonomics". The shop talk will be held at Helena, north of Monroe, on March 26th, and discussion will be centered around sprayers and herbicides. There will be a Summer Field Day in August - the actual date and location are yet to be determined.

Farmers of the Sugar River would like to recognize and thank the generous sponsors that have helped the group succeed this past year. They include The Bank of New Glarus, Alpine Auto, Pleasant Grain, Jerry and Barb Daniels, Helena, Compeer Financial, L&S Truck Service, Badger State Ethanol, Schwartzlow Fertilizers, Stine and Justin Blum, Baker Precision Planter Works, Al McGuire, MP Services, Colony Brands, New Glarus Brewing Company, Kuhn North America, Super Soy, Albany Lions Club and Insight FS. The support of these local businesses is appreciated.