Rice County Conservation District

02/27/2026

Please join us for a free meal and great discussion on the natural resource concerns you have for Rice County. A sealed auction will be held for our 2005 Polaris ATV.

05/12/2025

Did you know we've started hosting a monthly webinar? Join us on May 29th for the Kansas Soil Health Partnership Forum. You can register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__VQKMWykSmS5LwfTlFnrGQ
You can watch recordings of previous webinars by visiting our website: https://kssoilhealth.org/resources/

05/12/2025

A Tough-to-Beat Invasive Species 🌲Eastern Red Cedar is one of the most aggressive and resilient invasive species on rangelands.

Here are some facts:
🌲Planted in windbreaks since the 1930s Dust Bowl to reduce soil erosion.
🌲Tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, from rocky and dry to wet.
🌲Can withstand extreme heat, cold, and drought.
🌲Male and female trees. Female trees produce seed that impacts up to 26 acres.

Management Strategies:
🔥 Prescribed fire is effective for trees under 3 feet tall. Larger trees may need to be cut and stacked and prepared to be consumed by a prescribed burn at a later time.
🪓 Larger trees should be cut below the lowest branches to prevent regrowth.
🌱 Healthy grasslands through proper grazing management and prescribed burning can help prevent spread.

Continual scouting along ownership boundaries where seed sources are present is vital.

05/12/2025

A recent study showed that female monarchs laid 2.5 times more eggs when they were surrounded by multiple milkweed species instead of only one. This result highlights the importance of including a variety of milkweed species in monarch habitat restorations. https://monarch.ent.iastate.edu/news/2018/new-research-adds-insight-about-nine-native-milkweed-species

05/02/2025

Native flower of the week

This is a full and comprehensive profile to Showy Tick Trefoil, Desmodium canadense. It contains all information including:01:19 - What is Showy Tick Trefoi...

03/11/2025

Click on the link or scan the QR code, to take a survey on cover crops whether you use them or not. This will help build better plans. https://kstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZmbxKImWhjkXQ2

02/28/2025

Hearing that 1,200 Natural Resource Conservation Service employees have been eliminated nationwide is heartbreaking.

02/28/2025

02/25/2025

The Marion Management Unit Local Work Group has been scheduled for Thursday, March 6th at the McPherson Extension Office.

02/23/2025

The federal funds for the
Farmers for Soil Health
Cover Crop Initiative have been frozen.
New enrollments for this cover crop program have been halted.
If you are enrolled and have questions please contact the Kansas TA's representative: Jennifer Simmelink jennifer@kssoilhealth(dot)org or by calling 785-545-5628

02/17/2025

PLEASE NOTE - Due to the impending weather again - the Marion, McPherson and Rice Counties local work group meeting will be postponed for the second time. As soon as a new date has been set, we will be getting that information out.

02/10/2025

In honor of President's Day, the USDA Service Center will be Closed Monday, February 17, 2025.