Agriculture & Natural Resources
Twilight Pond Meeting
There are many privately owned ponds in Mason County. Homeowners want information on pondmaintenance, pond weed control, pond construction, and pond stocking of fish. Mason County Extension and the Mason County Resource Conservation and Development Committee (RC&D) teamed up to provide an educational program for homeowners with ponds. Ninety people attended the evening meeting held at the Bob Fornoff pond non the south edge of Manito to learn about caring for their ponds. The highlight of the evening was the collecting of fish from the pond to gather weight and measurement statistics done by the Natural Resource Conservation District.
Master Gardeners
The University of Illinois Master Gardener programis a prestigious designation to those individuals who have completed special training and in return volunteer back hours to the Mason County Extension office. There are presently 10 Master Gardeners in Mason County that meet on a monthly schedule.
The organizations programs include:
- Mason County Fairgrounds beautification
- nursing home landscaping
- city gardens
- Junior Master Gardeners
- talks and presentations to local civic clubs
- classroom education in public schools on horticulture
- teaching gardening to day care students
- serving on the local Extension Council
The organization as a whole received the prestigious State Outstanding Mastger Gardener Award in 2005, and two club members, Roger Harfst and Glenn Fanter, (pictured) received the State Outstanding Master Gardener Award in 2006.Just 2% of the state Master Gardenders receive this award on an annual basis.
Other Agriculture and Natural Resources Programs
- Pesticide Applicator Training
- Marketing Commodity Grains
- Regional Corn and Soybean Classic
- Regional Beef Health and Management Seminar
- Digital access to University of Illinois diagnostic center
- Beef Performance Testing
- Master Gardener Program
- Horticulture education
