The goal for Huntington County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is to protect our valuable top soil and reduce the amount of nutrients entering our rivers and streams to improve our water quality.
To achieve this goal, the Huntington County SWCD works with landowners to implement conservation practices on their land that will protect our soil and water resources. In promoting these conservation practices we have held workshops and field days highlighting wetland restoration, grid sampling and the use of cover crops. We also offered incentive / cost share payments to landowners to implement these conservation practices on their land and provide them information about other conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). Through our workshops, field days and incentives we have introduced farmers to federal conservation programs to continue and enhance their projects.
Our main focus this year is promoting the use of cover crops to help reduce soil erosion and retain nutrients that would otherwise be lost and flow into our rivers and streams.
We began this year by holding a Nutrient Management Workshop with guest speakers, Barry Fisher, NRCS; and Eileen Kladivko and Fred Whitford, Purdue University. They provided information to landowners about improving soil quality, integrating cover crops into their crop rotation and choosing the right cover crop variety for their farm.
In March we held a field day where landowners were able to view soil pits showing the effects of seeding cover crops and the proper management of them. Guest speakers provided information about proper chemicals to use in the spring on their fields that will be compatible to the type of cover crop they want to seed in the fall. Local farmers shared their experiences in using cover crops and benefits of them. Guests commented they could see a difference in the texture and quality of the soil including less compaction.
This summer we will seed a display plot with a variety of cover crops for a fall field day. We will have guest speakers from seed companies, farmers who have seeded cover crops, and resource specialists to share experiences in using cover crops and proper management. We also will offer an incentive payment to farmers to seed cover crops on their farm and continue to promote all conservation programs.