Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Meeting Minutes

North Central Extension and Research Activity (NCERA)-217

Virtual Business Meeting on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Attendees: Ehsan Ghane, Jeff Strock, Jane Frankenberger, Laura Christianson, Matthew Helmers, John McMaine, Kelly Nelson, Rameshwar Kanwar, Xinhua Jia, Gary Hawkins, Eileen Kladivko, Mohamed Youssef, Gary Feyereisen, Lindsay Pease, Richard Cooke, Aaron Daigh, Eric Cooley, Chris Hay, Clare Prestwich 

Ehsan Ghane, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:00 ET, 1:00 CT.

A motion to approve the minutes from the 2019 meeting was made by Laura Christianson.  Jeff Strock seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

Ramesh Kanwar provided an Advisor’s Report.

NCERA-217 has done well.  Annual report and minutes of the committee meeting will be due within 60 days. Minutes are due August 3, 2020.  Ramesh will put on the NIMSS site.  Mid-term review of NCERA-217 will be due in 2022; therefore, timely submission of minutes of annual meetings is important and should be submitted within 60 days of the meeting. Web-sites on federal programs have been developed and shared with advocacy groups.  $90 billion are available to support elementary, secondary and post-secondary education; $10 billion to assist universities for financial aid; $100 million in the program for specialty crop block program; $28 million for farms trust program; and $16.5 billion in direct payments to producers.  National multistate impact program is available assist with training committees on effective impact writing if you can pay travel; however, this is all currently on hold due to COVID-19. Training info and resources are available at: https://www.mrfimpacts.org/. Updated national budget advocacy efforts for research and Extension are available at: https://www.land-grant.org/.  NCRA website is updated with current info and resources: https://www.ncra-saes.org/. Updated information on preparing collaborative multistate reports with examples is here, under #7: https://www.ncra-saes.org/multistate-handbook.  Appreciation was extended to Ramesh’s leadership. 

Old business: 

NCERA-217 five-year (2014-2018) report was submitted (7/25/19) by Ehsan Ghane. Reports were submitted on time and Ramesh submitted state reports to NIMSS.  There was no other old business. 

Project and committee updates:

Jane Frankenberger provided an update on Transforming Drainage project.  This will be the last year to report on the Transforming Drainage project.  There is currently a no-cost extension in order to finish the project.  Discussion was initiated on what to do to replace the project and how much it would cost to keep everything running.  At least $100,000 was needed to support a person and provide operating funds. The need to identify a big proposal was discussed. 

Next effort discussion focused on a consortium including the Conservation Drainage Network that covers a larger landscape and allows private partners to be more involved.  Mohamed Youssef suggested that we may need to go bigger on the landscape such as salinity, energy costs, economics, social, and water recycling.  Jeff Strock discussed an invited group of FFAR that was transdisciplinary and included soil health, upscaling, and very broad disciplines.  Landscape scale is where there is a lot of interest which goes beyond water quality.

An update on ASABE and ASA activities was provided:

1. Jane Frankenberger, Committee Chair, provided an update on ASABE NRES-23 (Drainage Group). The format of the group and business meeting time (Tuesday 5:15-7:00) was discussed. Change drainage and extension timing was suggested since they overlap.  Nomenclature about “Conservation Drainage” was addressed by John McMaine. 
2. Laura Christianson reported on the ASA Managing Denitrification in Agronomic Systems. Over 600 members are planning to attend the meeting in Phoenix November 8-11^th.  Presentations related to denitrification and agronomic systems are welcome.  The theme for the program is Translating Visionary Science into Practice.  Abstracts are due June 9^th, but submissions can be edited later in the summer. 
3. Lindsay Pease, Presiding Leader, discussed ASA Nutrients and Environmental Quality community. Registration and abstract fees are refundable. A Megaposium was going to be in collaboration with the environmental community.  Robin Wilson, social scientists, has been invited to present on how to get people to adopt practices. 

An update on other committees included:

1. Soil and Water Conservation Committee. Jeff Strock is transitioning out of the liaison position.  This meeting is set up for practitioners and agency personnel.  The liaison committee between ASA-SSSA and Soil and Water Conservation Society has invited presentations.  The main topic is on flooding across the U.S. using transdisciplinary approach.  There are opportunities for us to put together ideas for symposia including the possibility of ASABE, SSSA, and soil and water conservation society.
2. Chris Hay updated the group that SWCS is taking on more edge-of-field practices. There will be an edge-of-field emphasis at their meeting.  This is the 75^th anniversary of the SWCS.
3. The Conservation Drainage Network needs to be included on the NCERA-217 agenda for 2021.
4. The 14th International Drainage Symposium in 2021 was discussed by co-chairs, Matthew Helmers and Chris Hay. The symposium is targeting September, 2022 in Des Moines, IA.  Actively working on the planning which will be helpful for International attendees.  

New business:

Ehsan Ghane nominated Lindsay Pease as the vice-chair/chair elect.  Eileen Kladivko seconded the motion. The nomination unanimously passed.

Annual reports for Jan to Dec 2019 need to be sent to Kelly Nelson (incoming chair).  Kelly will coordinate the submitted reports and send to Ramesh Kanwar.  Ramesh will submit to NIMSS by the deadline of Monday, August 3rd, 2020 (60 days after the meeting).

The date for next business meeting (2021) is planned to be held during the Conservation Drainage Network Annual Meeting. The tentative date was set for April 7-8, 2021 at Ft. Wayne, IN.

Other new business:

Kelly Nelson was welcomed as incoming chair which was effective after today’s meeting

Gary Feyereisen moved that we adjourn and Eileen Kladivko seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned.