NRCS: Soil Conservation in Action
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Transcript NRCS: Soil Conservation in Action
NRCS: Soil Conservation in
Action
INTERVIEW
WITH
KEVIN DONOHO
DISTRICT SOIL
CONSERVATIONIST
Kevin Donoho
District Conservationist
Almost every county has a district conservationist, or
in neighboring county
Helps coordinate conservation needs of the county
with Soil and Water conservation district
Match the needs of farm owner, land owner, ect. with
the practices within the NRCS
Involves managing and implementing practices
while providing cost shares for farmers or land
owners, via contracts
History of NRCS
Been around for 75 years
Create in Response to the
Dust Bowl
Originally Soil Erosion
Service
Changed Quickly
At first, Soil
Conservation Service,
but in 1995 broadened
scope
Create in Response to the
Dust Bowl
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A
What Does the NRCS do??
Soil Conservation is backbone of agency
Many jobs within agency from Engineer to Soil Scientist to Soil
Conservationist
Equip Program-Environmental Quality Incentives Program- Big NRCS
program – designed to provide incentives and cost shares to encourage
produces to implement practices on crop land, everything from
nutrient management, no-till, strip-till, drainage management, contour
cropping– basically all practices, AND COVER CROPS!!!
Provide the technical service for CRP program, Farm Service Agency
does the contracts
Difference between Equip and CRP, Equip does not provide provide
annual payments
Main Conservation Goals
Listen to needs of farmers
Match their plans for implementing practices with local
soil and water conservation district
Involves addressing all natural resource issues- air
quality, water quality, soil erosion, soil quality
Protect prime farmland from Urban Sprawl- protection
and wise use
Protect Wildlife habitat- WHIP program Wildlife Habitat
Incentive Program
Wetland Reserve Program- also addresses wildlife
Figure out farmer primary goals and move on from there,
don’t want to think for the farmer
Easily Adapted Practices
Grass Waterways
#1 Reason- Soil Erosion
Area drives the practices
RI- contour farming,
terraces
Practices Not as Easily Adopted
Strip Till- deep-place N, P, K and
plant corn crop over exact same
strips- because they are injected
won’t run-off- improve water
quality- no broadcast
Drainage water management –
modifying you tile drainage
system- only use drainage while
growing crop- when crop is not
there put in structures within tile
system that have surface access
point where you can change point
that water can get too– stop logs
2-3 weeks before you plant in
spring take logs out- when crop is
harvested put gates back in
Research
Need a lot of research
showing that practices
work before farmers
implement things!!!!!!
Educating Farmers
Contractors meetings- land improvement contractors,
ones that actually build things- update them on new
practices- remind them what is required for meat and
potatoes practices
Newsletters, email lists
Nothing gets more attention then something running
bull-dozer, scraper, tile machine– word of mouth
District hosts annual meeting every year-usually in Jan.opportunity to say here is what we did during the past
year, lay out guidelines for where they are going next
year- county board, congressmen, producers,
contractors, other agency partners
Conclusion
Agriculture is backbone of society
We have a huge responsibility to
produce food and fiber but also
producers are primary
environmentalists
QUESTIONS ??????