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Home > Reports / Minutes > 2009 Minutes (Wachapreague, VA)

 

 

Steering Committee Meeting

SERA-IEG 20

Tuesday July 20, 2008
Island House Restaurant
Wachapreague, VA

 

Presiding: Mark Reiter, Chairman
Notes: Sara Reiter

Attending:

  • Mark Reiter (Virginia Tech)
  • Dan Pote (ARS-Boonville, AR)
  • Kirk Iversen (Auburn University)
  • Alan Franzluebbers (ARS-Watkinsville, GA)
  • Harry Schomberg (ARS-Watkinsville, GA)
  • Joy Schomberg (Southern SARE)
  • Jonathan Pote (Mississippi State)
  • Alan Meijer (NC State)
  • Richard Roseberg (Oregon State)
  • Pawel Wiatrak (Clemson University)
  • John Aigner (Virginia Tech)
  • Cathy Fleming (Virginia Tech)
  • Mandy Phillips (Eastern Shore Community College)
  • Sara Reiter (Virginia Tech)
  • Chad Kellam (Virginia Eastern Shore Clam Farmer)
  • Annette Kellam (Virginia Tech)
  1. Read notes from 2008 minutes in Tifton, GA and approved (M. Reiter)
    1. Schomberg and J. Pote motioned and seconded, respectively.
  2. Awards report (Schomberg)
    1. Service Award – The purpose of this award is to reward a person’s commitment to the SCASC and enhancements of the program. Award was not given in 2009 due to a lack of nominees. Only one nominee was generated.
    2. Champion Award – This is a new award developed over the last 3 years for persons raising awareness of the conservation systems program on a broad/national level. This would have been the 1st year to give it out. No nominees were received. No award was given in 2009.
    3. Current awards committee: Raper, Behring, Busher, Matocha, Schomberg, and Whitman. Contact a committee member if you are willing to serve.
  3. Conservation Tillage Production Guide (Iversen and Schomberg)
    1. Kirk Iversen, Randy Raper, and Jason Bergtold are the leads for the project.
    2. The aim of the project is for farmers and professionals to have a one-stop source for recommendations in conservation agricultural systems.
    3. Chapter authors are currently submitting their work.
    4. The hope is for the publication to be available July 2010. Will be published by the Sustainable Ag Network.
    5. Fundraising is being done to help bring down the cost of the books. You can also pre-order to help defray costs. We need about $15,000 more to meet the fundraising goals of $30,000.
    6. Free copies will be available via pdf format on the website.
    7. Getting Started was written a couple years ago. Some of the chapters will be rewritten using material from the Conservation Tillage Production Guide and will also be available online.
  4. Renewal of SERA-IEG-20 application: Nobody was present to give a report. However, M. Reiter noted that one panel has approved the packet and another panel is currently reviewing the application.
  5. Overview of 2009 SCASC (M. Reiter)
    1. Thank you to Butch Nottingham and Bill Shockley for their help with the conference planning (Field Tour and Crab Steam).
    2. Attendance is down from 2008, but we are not in conjunct with another conference like 2008. Should conjunct events be pursued during future conferences?
      1. 27 oral presentations
      2. 10 poster presentations
    3. Registrants so far: 32 Virginia Tech Extension Agents/Specialists/Graduate Students/Staff, 23 University Researchers/ARS, 11 governmental agencies other than ARS or University, 14 farmers, and 5 agribusiness. We hope to have significant registrations at the door from local producers.
  6. Location of future meetings (M. Reiter)
    1. Reiter stated that more time is needed for planning meetings. Agreeing to host a meeting in March of the same year is not enough time to established relationships with sponsors and the University at the host institution. Schomberg agreed and stated that traditionally the meeting locations were planned for two years (in 2009 we should be picking the 2011 location, not the 2010).
    2. Expanding the focus of the meeting was helpful, especially for the Virginia location. Maybe we should have the meeting in a state that has not had the meeting in several years since there is no “preconceived connotation” about the scope of the meeting = more diverse group.
    3. Maybe we should expand to the Midwest, etc.
    4. Regardless, we need to have a location designated within 30 to 60 days (by the end of September).
    5. From the 2008 steering committee agenda, it was noted that Alabama may host the 2010 meetings.
      1. Iversen from Auburn University stated that they do not think they will be able to host the meeting in 2010. Maybe in a future year.
      2. Iversen also stated that USDA-ARS-NSDL in Auburn, AL is going through reorganization, and do not want to commit to a date at this time.
    6. Previous minutes (from 2007) state that Texas A&M would host the meetings in 2010 or 2011. However, John Matocha may be retired and we do not know if they are still interested in being a host since no representative from Texas was present.
    7. Possible location in Milan, TN to coincide with the No-Till field day rotation. We believe this is in 2010. Schomberg agreed to call Don Tyler to inquire about interest.
      1. Iversen – Let’s talk to Don Tyler first. He may be close to retirement and will lose his chance until 2012 if they deny the 2010 opportunity.
      2. John Pote – Maybe Mississippi in the future. He will check for interest upon his return. Arkansas was nominated for a future host. Randy Raper has moved to that location and Arkansas has not hosted for several years.
    8. Karen Scanlon from the CTIC wants to be involved in hosting the conference in future years.
      1. Is on a fee basis.
      2. Hosts the website, collects registration, sends notices, and handles papers.
      3. Does an excellent job as demonstrated by past conference events.
  7. Clarification on the chairman’s role was discussed. M. Reiter will be chairman of SERA-IEG 20 until the 2010 conference since he hosted the conference in 2009.
  8. SERA-IEG 20 needs a better database system for conference hosts to pass information on from year to year. This is the best way to spread information regarding the conference, call for papers, etc. The SERA site can send email announcements to their lists; however, many of the past conference participants are not on this list.
    1. Iversen agreed to help maintain a list of conference attendees.
    2. M. Reiter suggested that the list be updated every year with the current year’s presenters, sponsors, and attendees.
  9. No further business was discussed and the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.