The mission of the Crawford County Soil and Water Conservation District is provide guidance coordination and technical assistance through an effective conservation program that educates and assists the public, land users and local units of government in sustaining our soil, water and related natural resources.
Each year the District attends Supervisors and Staff workshops. We cooperated with the Crawford County Cattlemens Association, Orange County Cattlemens Association and the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District to host the annual fall beef cattle and conservation forage tour. We provided 910 pounds of wildlife food plot seed to landowners. Partnered with Purdue Extension, Crawford County, to do programs in local elementary schools and also with 4H members. We also provide educational programs and poster contest material to local elementary and jr. high schools. The District continued the implementation of the 2014 Clean Water Indiana Grant, which provided cost share for watering facilities and heavy use areas. In 2014, 9 landowners benefited from this program. We provided no-till drills to seed 674.2 acres of legumes, cover crops, soybeans, wheat and warm season grasses.
2014 marked another successful year for the implemenation of conservation practices on agricultural land in Crawford County. These practices address soil erosion and water quality concerns as well as enhance air quality and wildlife habitat. The following practices were applied this past year through the various federal, state and county conservation programs.
Conservation Practices Applied on the Land:
Fencing-3,890 Feet
Prescribed Grazing-58 Acres
Access Control-15 Feet
No-Till Drill Rental-674.2 Acres
Heavy Use Area Protection-7 Acres
Forage and Biomass Planting-52 Acres
Forest Stand Improvement-702 Acres
Watering Facility-7
Access Road-100 Feet
Brush Management-232 Acres
Integrated Pest Management-196 Acres
Livestock Pipeline-1,311 Feet
Herbaceous Weed Control-7 Acres
Cover Crops-275 Acres
Trails and Walkways-350 Feet