2015 Soil Health Workshop
The Henry County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) co-hosted a SOIL HEALTH WORKSHOP on June 24, 2015 at 8:30 am. The workshop was indoors at the Smith Building inside Memorial Park in New Castle. This program also offered credits to PARP and CCA participants. Our speakers included Ray Archuleta, Conservation Agronomist at the NRCS East National Technology Center, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ray teaches soil health and the principles of agro ecology throughout the country. Gordon and Jeff Smiley, they own and operate a farrow-to-finish hog and 1200-acre commodity crop operation near Greensburg, Indiana. Committed conservation farmers, their “A-Ha” moment came in 2012 when applying manure to a cereal rye-radish-clover cover crop – The cover crop reacted immediately to the nitrogen from the manure – they could see how these components fit into their ever-evolving soil health system. Barry Fisher, NRCS, Indiana State Soil Health Specialist, serves on the Technology Staff for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana where he provides technical direction for Indiana Soil Health Strategy implementation and agronomic training and assistance to NRCS Field Offices. We had 109 attend this great event.
2015 Cover Crop Cost Share Program
The Henry County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) offered a COVER CROP COST SHARE program. The SWCD is offering $11,000 (total) in cost share dollars to eligible producers to seed cover crops on up to 50 acres of cropland. Priority consideration will be given to those planting cover crops for the first time. Requirements include but not limited to: a 50 acre limit per producer (the SWCD will verify by using the Farm Service Agency ‘Producer Data Report’), landowner/operator certifies that he/she has control of the tracts, landowner/operator will provide proof of completion through receipts and seed tags, landowner/operator will allow a person from the SWCD or a partner to confirm completion of the project by entering the property, cover crop may NOT be harvested, land enrolled for cost share MUST be located in Henry County, NRCS seeding specifications regarding seeding rates and dates must be followed, participants who have received payment for cover crops through EQIP or CSP are not eligible for cost share under this program and landowner/operator accepts any liability, financial or otherwise, in installing the practices. We had 12 new cover croppers sign up for a total of 365 new acres of cover crops in Henry County.