Tri-Basin NRD Tours East Half of District
Holdrege, NE (August 8, 2023) – Tri-Basin Natural Resources District (TBNRD) staff, directors and guests spent the morning of Tuesday, August 8th touring sites within the eastern half of the district. TBNRD’s regular August board meeting is held at a location around the district following a tour of conservation projects and sites of interest. The 2023 tour visited PlanterWorx, a District-sponsored Nitrogen Fertilizer Demonstration Plot, Sorensen Groundwater Recharge Weir, and Pioneer Village.
PlanterWorx LLC staff highlighted their facility near Funk and talked about their rapidly expanding precision planting equipment business. Chase Wohlgemuth, Cody Robinson, and Heath Robinson spoke about different aspects of their business from innovation to production. When asked about the benefits of starting a business in the area, Wohlgemuth said that a benefit has been strong community support.
TBNRD, USDA NRCS and UNL Extension have teamed up with local producer, Matt Grimes, to create a Nitrogen Fertilizer Demonstration Plot east of Minden. The field has plots with agronomist recommended nitrogen rates, and various reduced rates. The field also has side by side plots with and without Pivot Bio, a commercial seed treatment designed to supply nitrogen.
In 2019 TBNRD constructed a recharge project in southeast Kearney County, south of Norman. The project involved constructing a weir to assist with groundwater recharge in the area. Terry Sorensen, local producer and landowner, welcomed the group to view the project.
Alan Farlin and Larry Wilcox shared their perspectives on the progress of renovations at Pioneer Village in Minden. They highlighted projects that the community and various skilled volunteers have completed such as repairing many of the roofs around the village. There are other projects that are ongoing like the carousel restoration. Some of the future projects include the windmill and water tower restorations. Pioneer Village has a long history in Minden, and they are working hard to preserve and ensure the future of the museum.
The tour concluded at the Windmill Event Center in Minden where the group had lunch and heard from Kevin Raun of Minden. He explained a project in which he helped distribute single seed planters to subsistence farmers in Nigeria through Rotary International. OSU faculty and graduate students developed the Greenseeder Hand Planter.