It’s a homecoming of sorts for Jarett Spitzack, last month named Rice County’s first full-time ditch manager.
Spitzack, one of the only kids in his Bethlehem Academy class dressed in work boots and Carhartts, spent two summers during college as a seasonal employee for the county’s Highway Department.
Born into a farming family and raised in Walcott Township southeast of Faribault, Spitzack wears his rural Minnesota pride like an Olympic gold medalist.
As ditch manager he’s holding fast to that affection while helping ensure Rice County’s public drainage ditch system stays in good working order. It’s a job where he’ll connect regularly with agricultural property owners and farmers as well as work with contractors, consultants and county staff.
He’ll also be involved in budgeting, conducting public hearings and property owner meetings as well as completing reports, including an annual presentation to the Ditch Authority (in Rice County, it’s the Board of Commissioners).
The Ditch Authority’s move from contracted part-time ditch manger to full-time ditch manager provides more resources to improve the management of the county drainage ditches, said Highway Engineer Dennis Luebbe who added that “this new relationship will be a significant improvement for the property owners along these ditches.
“Although county drainage ditches usually do not garner much public attention, they provide a significant benefit to the landowners and agricultural producers who have land that drains into these systems,” he said. “While the Highway Department provided technical assistance to the part-time ditch inspector, a full-time position within the department enables us to provide even more support. We have already assisted Jarett’s inspections of the ditch system after the June floods”
Ditch manager is a role Spitzack, who started late last month, says is a natural career progression.
After graduating from BA, he got his bachelor’s in rangeland sciences at South Dakota State University, taking courses on botany, ecology, geographic information systems (GIS), natural resource management, soil science, wildlife and fisheries.
His first job post-college was with Goat Dispatch, which deploys herds of goats to help control buckthorn, invasive species and noxious weeks. Spitzack said his job was to educate people on the use of goats as a land management technique.
He then worked as a resource specialist with Rice Soil and Water Conservation District, promoting wetland conservation and educating farmers on the no-till drill method which allows planting without turning over soil. Tilling increases the likelihood that soil and the fertilizer and other chemicals it carries run off into nearby ditches and waterways.
As ditch manager, he’s based in the county’s Highway Department, but also works closely with county Finance and GIS staff.
He’s already jumped in with both feet, consolidating files; building databases to track repairs, concerns and violations; and is putting eyes on each of the county’s 25 ditches, this time from the ditch manager’s perspective.
While he’s very familiar with Rice County, its farmers and their needs and concerns, he’s anxious to develop this new position and excited to continue working with local landowners.
“I want to be able to alleviate or help solve some of the issues they’re facing,” he said.
On the home front, Spitzack is a new dad. He and his wife Kourtney welcomed twins – Wesley and Madeline – early last month. The young family live on the small farm that once belonged to his grandparents – the late Judy and David Spitzack – where he now grows alfalfa and grass hay. When he’s not rocking babies, he enjoys hunting, repairing and restoring vintage cars and farm vehicles, and riding his motorcycle with his wife and brother Jayton along the region’s rivers, lakes and valley.
Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t watch much TV and couldn’t name a favorite movie.
“I prefer the outdoors,” he said.
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