Ron Gless named ‘Wildlife Cooperator’
Published 5:55 am Wednesday, March 26, 2008
By Staff
EDWARDSBURG – Ron Gless received Cass County Conservation District's 2007 Wildlife Cooperator Award Thursday, March 20 at the 63rd annual meeting at Edwardsburg American Legion.
Gary Gless accepted the award on behalf of his father.
Ron Gless, a former dairy farmer, has been a Conservation District cooperator since 1985, when he planted 60 acres of no-till alfalfa with the CCCD's drill. In 1988, he began using rye for cover crops and no-till.
From 1988 through 1992, Gless worked with the Conservation District's MECP program for conservation tillage and nutrient management.
He protected the highly erodible land for these many years from excessive erosion using a conservation system that included crop rotation, no-till, cover crops and nutrient and pest management.
In 2006, Gless retired 380 acres of cropland by bidding into CRP, the Conservation Reserve Program.
With the assistance of the Conservation District and the Cass County chapter of Pheasants Forever, Gless established 125 acres of warm-season native prairie and 260 acres of cool-season upland habitat.
Pheasants Forever sponsored his award presented by County Commissioner Carl Higley of Edwardsburg.