WARREN COUNTY, Ohio – The Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District held their 77th Annual Meeting on Aug. 25 at the Warren County Fairgrounds Event Center. This year’s event was joined by numerous community partners including the Warren County Park District, Ohio Department of Natural Resources staff from Caesar Creek, Warren County Ohio State University extension 4-H and Little Miami Watershed Network. The annual elections for the Board of Supervisors were also concluded, welcoming Bruce Goodwin and Samanatha Steiner to another three-year term.

Three distinguished conservation awards were also bestowed on local residents that exemplify conservation stewardship of natural resources. We thank Rep. Scott Lipps and Sen. Steve Wilson for their commendations of these achievements.

Educator of the year: Jamie Dicks, 4th grade math and science teacher at Mason City Schools. Recognized for her commitment this past school year as the online content designer for all the 4th grade Mason Elementary online students. She created the content for 4th grade online instructors to use with their students and also had an online class of her own. With the challenges of online learning, she made a point to seek out connections between students and the community by setting up Zoom calls with scientists and other experts around the country. Jamie has given students an opportunity to seek positive change in our own ecosystem and educate others about the impact one organism can have on everything around us.

Conservationist of the year: Dr. Sakthi Subburayalu, research assistant professor of soil science and agronomy at Central State University. Subburayalu holds B.Sc. agriculture and M.Sc. soil science degrees from Tamilnadu Agricultural University (Coimbatore, India) and doctorate from The Ohio State University. Prior to his work at Central State, he worked as a research scientist at OSU with projects in digital soil mapping, water quality and urban forestry. Presently, Subburayalu is a project lead for a soil health and water quality project in the Great and Little Miami watersheds in Ohio. His research interests include soil and water conservation, data science in digital agriculture, application of machine learning and remote sensing for precision agricultural management. He is a partner with the Caesar Creek Collaborative, working to improve water and soil in the Caesar Creek Lake Watershed.

Cooperator of the year: Howry Farms. Rick and Roger Howry moved to Harlan Township in the late 1960s and began a small farming operation on the original 85-acre farm after graduating from OSU and Wilmington College, respectively.

Over the years they have steadily expanded their operation by incorporating new technologies, adding new crop acreage and at times also raising livestock. Conservation-mindedness is an apt description of the Howry Farm operation. Cooperators with Warren County SWCD, the Howrys have installed numerous conservation practices over their nearly 50 years of operation. They have installed practices such as grassed waterways, WASCOBs (Water and Sediment Control Basins), tile drainage, cover crops and no till/minimum till. Conservation innovation continues to be a hallmark of their operation, driven in no small part by the inclusion of Rick’s son Brent in the family operation. The Howrys continue to improve the quality of their farm with erosion control, expansion of their cover crop acreage and direct injection of fertilizer aiding in the goals of water quality and soil productivity.