A Frankfort man has received an award from the statewide Soil and Water federation. Ross Soil and Water Conservation District Engineering Technician, Chris Pancake was named Technician of the Year at the area winter meeting of the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
Pancake was named the winner from among technicians in 17 counties throughout central and southern Ohio. The award was announced at the federation’s Area 5 meeting that was held online Tuesday.
The federation says Pancake won the award based on his 15-year career of bringing his knowledge of agriculture and conservation to fellow cooperators. Pancake began his career at Pickaway Soil and Water Conservation District, after earning an agricultural construction degree at Ohio State and has worked for the Ross Soil and Water Conservation District since 2007.
Pancake and his wife Erin and their children live on a farm in the Frankfort area. Pancake’s work at the district includes assisting farmers with drainage problems.
The soil and water district can provide survey and design services at no charge to producers who are building grassed waterways or installing a subsurface drainage tile system. Poor drainage can rob value from a farm field by reducing crop yield and eroding away topsoil.
The district was founded nearly 75 years ago to address soil erosion in the wake of the dustbowl era in the first half of the twentieth century. The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District promotes land use practices that prevent soil erosion and protect water quality. The district provides technical assistance to landowners implementing conservation practices through the farm bill or for the CAUV tax program. The district is also involved in a broad range of services related to geographic information systems, residential neighborhood runoff, and wildlife and habitat.
The district conducts education programs and the annual tree sale that plants thousands of seedlings. Anyone interested in conservation can find more information on the district website www.rosscountyswcd.org or call the district office at 740-772-4110, extension 116.
The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District was formed in 1947 by a state commission and is governed by a volunteer board of supervisors elected by Ross county residents and producers.
The 2020 supervisors are Brice Acton, Frankfort; Pam Snyder, Kingston; Mike Anderson, South Salem; Rick Hurtt, Chillicothe; and Greg Ramsey, Clarksburg.