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
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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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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
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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 ??????