Ed McNamara

Age: 53

Address: 37299 171st Ave., Goodhue

Family: Wife Jane, three daughters and one son

Occupation: Agricultural producer

Education: Graduated from Goodhue High School, attended Riverland Community College in Albert Lea, Minn., and the University of Minnesota in Waseca

Civic involvement: Corn Growers Association, Soybean Growers Association, Goodhue School Centennial Committee, St. Columbkill Church member, former supervisor for Belle Creek Township, former member of Dairy Herd Improvement Association and Goodhue County Holstein Association

In what ways do you inform and educate the public about the purpose of the Goodhue County Soil and Water Conservation District?

I do radio interviews to promote soil and water stewardship. Also, I try to keep the press informed of when there’s a meeting or we’re handing out awards.

Any chance I get I try to talk about conservation of soil and water, even if it’s just in a group of people talking about how the crops are. We try to help people realize we can do a better job — we’re always striving to do a better job the next year. When you’re taking the crop out now you have to be planning for what you’re going to do next year.

Anytime I get a chance to add that to the discussion I usually try to do that.

What’s a memorable success story you have from working on an SWCD project?

I think we’ve raised awareness of what soil conservation is, and by promoting it even more hopefully we’ll be able to see it.

It’s tough to see it from year to year but it’s a cumulative effect, so hopefully over time we’ll see our soil stay in place and our water quality get better. I can’t say that we’re there yet, but I think as more people realize how important it is, we’ll get there.

It’s pretty important to our county, our state and our country that we keep our water clean and our soil in place so we can keep producing food for our growing population.

Tags: government, agriculture, news, election