WILO Ag Day 2026 presented by Skiles Electric.

With support from, Wampler’s Services Inc., The Farmer’s Bank, The Community Foundation of Howard, Carroll and Clinton Counties, Rossville Consolidated School District, Drago Indiana and First Farmers Bank & Trust.

Dr. Michael Langemeier, Purdue Agricultural Economist

Drew Cripe & Jared Stillwell, The Farmers Bank

Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District, Olivia Petrella and Michelle Arvin

Eric Pfeiffer, Hoosier Ag Today

Austin Pearson, Indiana State Climate Office, Eric Pfeiffer

Austin Pearson, Indiana State Climate Office

Amy Webster, Agriculture & Natural Resources Educator & County Director for Purdue Extension for both Carroll and Clinton Counties

Skiles Electric Presents the annual WILO Ag Day program set to hit the airwaves on Wednesday, March 19 featuring numerous special guests who specialize in the agriculture industry, hosted by WILO’s own Melissa Miller and Cody Linville from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

On Wednesday, March 19, community members may tune into WILO 96.9 FM, 1570 AM or Boone 102.7 FM or tune into HoosierlandTV.com beginning at 9:30 a.m. to listen and watch to all things agriculture throughout the day.

Schedule of Guests:

• 9:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.: Cody Linville – ISDA
• 10 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Jared Stillwell – Loan Officer at The Farmers Bank
• 10:30 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.: George Madison – Agronomist Agrigold
• 11 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.: Agri Talk and Farm at Noon
• 12:05 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Alan Dunn – VP Indiana Corn Growers
• 12:35 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Jennifer Wayt-Dunten – Kokomo Grain
• 1:05 p.m. – 1:55 p.m.: Clinton County SWCD
  • District Administrator Olivia Petrella
  • Resource Conservation Specialist Michelle Gilbert
  • Acting County Executive Director and Lead Conservation Program Analyst USDA/Farm Service Agency Alyssa Holt

WILO Ag Day is presented by Skiles Electric.

WILO Ag Day is also brought to the community by:

• Wampler’s Services, Inc.
• Drago Indiana
• Home National Bank
• Boone REMC

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management announced it has extended the application and nomination deadline 2025 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.

Applications or nominations are now due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 16.

This marks the 32nd year the awards have been given to celebrate innovative projects with measurable environmental benefits.

Presented annually since 1994, the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence has become one of Indiana’s most prestigious environmental awards.

This year, IDEM and Governor’s Office will present seven awards, one in each of the following categories:

• Energy Efficiency/Renewable Resources
• Environmental Education/Outreach
• Five-Year Continuous Improvement
• Greening the Government
• Land Use/Conservation
• Pollution Prevention
• Recycling/Reuse

The Greening of the Government category is designed to shine a light on communities and/or government agencies that are making significant strides towards building greener, more sustainable communities or their operations. IDEM recently updated the award criteria to include a wider range of projects that would allow state, county and local government agencies of all sizes the opportunity to have their successful programs recognized.

Citizens, government agencies, businesses, organizations, and educational institutions are invited to submit nominations on behalf of others. Self-nominations are encouraged. Eligible projects must have occurred in Indiana and been implemented in 2023 or 2024.

Awards will be presented in September. A panel of conservation, environmental, and academic professionals review nominations. The awards will be based on project innovation, measurable results, and transferability. Nomination forms and instructions are available at idem.IN.gov/partnerships/governors-awards-for-environmental-excellence.

The latest guides to exploring Indiana’s great outdoors are now available at your fingertips and will soon be available at a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property near you soon.

The 2025 DNR Indiana Recreation Guide is available now at on.IN.gov/recguide.

And the 2025-2026 guide to Indiana fishing, the DNR Indiana Fishing Regulations Guide, is available at on.IN.gov/fishingguide.

The Recreation Guide is the source for information on state parks, state forests, lakes, fish & wildlife areas, nature preserves, state park inns, and other DNR properties. The guide includes a detailed facilities chart and information about accessibility and fees.

Annual entrance passes for state park properties can be purchased in person at the gatehouse or offices of state park properties during business hours or at shopINstateparks.com any time.

Indiana resident state park annual entrance passes cost $50. For individuals 65 years old or older, the price is $25. Annual entrance passes for vehicles with out-of-state license plates are $70. The daily gate fee at most state park properties is $7 per in-state vehicle. More information is at on.IN.gov/stateparks.

The Fishing Regulations Guide contains all rules and regulations for anglers looking to fish in Indiana, along with helpful information on individual species and public waters available to all Hoosiers. This year’s guide highlights the exceptional catches in the Record Fish and Fish of the Year programs, as well as a great new recipe for fish tacos.

Fishing and hunting licenses can be purchased at INHuntFish.com. They can also be purchased at retailers, county clerk offices, and most DNR properties throughout the state.

Community members have been encouraged to save the date for the upcoming Roots of the Future: A Succession Planning Program for Sustainable Land Stewardship through Purdue Extension.

The four-session webinar series, spanning Mondays from March 24 through April 14, will discuss the steps needed to prepare families for the succession planning process. Community members may register at Purduesuccession2025.eventbrite.com.

The series will be $25 per family, and Zoom meeting details will be provided upon registration. Registrants are encouraged to forward the webinar details to their family members to have the whole family participate. Sessions will be recorded for the whole family to view afterward as well.

For further information regarding the webinar series, accommodations or translator requirements, contact Liz Jackson at 765-496-5013 or jackson@purdue.edu by March 19.

Webinar Series Schedule:

• March 24: How to get started and why you should plan
• March 31: Managing family dynamics
• April 7: Family communication and meetings
• April 14: Legal and estate issues

Purdue Extension has announced an upcoming one-day, free summit that includes stakeholders from throughout the crop value chain to explore resilient agriculture with a focus on the tactics that work and how to implement them on working farms.

The Purdue Agriculture Resilient Ag Summit will be held on March 13 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Purdue University Beck Agricultural Center at 4550 US-52 in West Lafayette.

“Whether you have heard it called sustainable, regenerative or resilient agriculture, farmers throughout Indiana are exploring how to be more effective stewards of the land while producing food for a growing population,” the university released.

Registration is required to attend the event, and a hot lunch will be provided by The Juniper Spoon. PARP and CEU credits will be available for those in attendance.

Registration for the event may be completed at purdue.edu/resilient.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, DNR, has confirmed Indiana’s second positive case of chronic wasting disease, also known as CWD.

CWD is a neurological disease that affects deer, resulting in their eventual death. The positive, wild white-tailed deer was a 2.5-year-old male harvested in Posey County. CWD has been detected in wild deer in 36 states, including all states bordering Indiana.

During the 2025-2026 deer hunting season, DNR will enhance its surveillance efforts in Posey County and the surrounding counties to determine the extent of disease in this area. This will allow biologists to develop a targeted response based on the prevalence of CWD in this part of Indiana. CWD testing will be voluntary for hunters in this area.

“The public can help by reporting sightings of sick or dead deer to the DNR, as well as submitting harvested deer for testing during deer hunting season. Through increased awareness and testing, we can work to monitor CWD within Indiana’s deer population.” said Joe Caudell, Indiana DNR deer biologist.

There have been no reported cases of CWD infection in humans. DNR recommends that hunters have their deer tested, and that people do not eat meat from deer that test positive for CWD. See the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center’s website for more information.

The deer was confirmed positive for CWD by two independent tests. CWD is caused by a misfolded prion that causes damage to the animal’s nervous system. CWD can spread from deer-to-deer contact or through contaminated environments and remains in the soil for many years. Animals in the late stages of CWD can experience drastic weight loss and show abnormal changes in behavior. If you see any sick or dead wildlife, please report it at on.IN.gov/sickwildlife.

Indiana’s various deer hunting seasons run from mid-September until the end of January.

Hunters can have their harvested deer tested for free by voluntarily submitting a sample via one of DNR’s head drop coolers at select Fish & Wildlife areas, State Fish Hatcheries, and National Wildlife Refuges. All CWD sampling locations can be viewed through an interactive map.

Alternatively, people may submit samples directly to the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) at Purdue University for a fee. More information and submission forms are available on the ADDL website.

Find more information about CWD on DNR’s website at on.IN.gov/CWD.

The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and partners throughout the state have worked with the Gulf Hypoxia Program (GHP) to develop a no-cost program with a focus on increasing the knowledge and use of soil sampling as a nutrient management practice to benefit farm operations. The program, titled Indiana’s Mississippi River Basin Soil Sampling Program, is open now for applicants.

“Indiana is a leader in soil conservation and that is thanks to programs like this one,” said Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture. “This funding will support our Hoosier farmers and landowners looking to increase soil conservation efforts on their farms, which we know will help them keep their soil fertile and healthy for generations to come.”

ISDA promotes the importance of nutrient management and the principles of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. The 4R framework incorporates using the “Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, and Right Place” to achieve cropping system goals. This program focuses on soil sampling and testing as it is a key component, and first step, of developing a plan for nutrient management. Soil sampling provides an assessment of the soil’s fertility which can be used for making fertilizer application recommendations, assessing available nutrients over time, increase farmer profitability and enhance environmental protection by reducing the risk of nutrient loss. This project was developed to help further Indiana’s State Nutrient Reduction Strategy efforts.

“As a farmer myself, I know firsthand how much time, money and effort goes into soil testing on farms,” said ISDA Director Don Lamb. “This program is crucial for Hoosier farmers and landowners to be able to afford soil conservation efforts and nutrient stewardship which are integral on their farms. I am thankful for this funding and for our team and partners who make this soil conservation initiative a success year after year.”

This program includes row crop fields, pastures, hay and specialty crops located within Indiana’s portion of the Mississippi River Basin. Eligible landowners will be prioritized by acreage enrolled (i.e., 100 acres or less), fields that have never been soil sampled and fields that haven’t been sampled regularly (i.e., within the last 4 years). Further prioritization may be implemented based on ISDA’s workload capacity. This program excludes hobby gardens and private lawns. Interested landowners can sign-up online at ISDA’s website or by reaching out to soilsampling@isda.in.gov.

Sign-ups begin Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, and ISDA is accepting registrations until Friday, April 4, 2025 or until funds are exhausted.

This program was made possible thanks to ISDA, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance (IANA), Indiana Conservation Partnership (ICP) members, farmers, and crop advisors.

Community members have been invited to join Purdue Extension for their fruit pruning workshop for grape, apple and brambles set for Feb. 25 at Meig’s Horticulture Research Farm in Lafayette.

The workshop will be held from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the farm at 9101 S. 100 E. in Lafayette. Registration should be completed by Feb. 24. Registration may be completed here. Registrants may pay the $10 at the door, and light refreshments will be provided.

Schedule of Events:

• 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.: Registration
• 1 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.: Introductions
• 1:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Pruner Cleaning Demo
• 1:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.: Wildlife Pests
• 1:50 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.: People Mover Loading
• 2:10 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.: Station 1
• 2:50 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Station 2
• 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Station 3
• 4:10 p.m.: Return
• 4:10 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.: Evaluations
• 4:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Door Prizes

For additional information, contact Tricia Herr at triciaherr@purdue.edu.

This past weekend, four Lebanon FFA members traveled to Purdue University to compete in the Milk Quality and Products Career Development event, placing highly amongst other Chapters in the state.

The event was open to both 4-H and FFA members and is designed to equip youth with valuable skills in the dairy food industry. Participants of the event were tasked with identifying cheeses, detecting off-flavors in milk, problem-solving issues, analyzing milk fat content, performing a California Mastitis Test and completing a knowledge exam.

The Lebanon FFA team was able to showcase their skills by earning a sixth-place finish in the State, which stands as an accomplishment for the team as the event stood as their first time competing in the competition.