The mission of the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District is to conserve and develop our soil, water, and related natural resources through education, public information, leadership, technical assistance, and development of innovative programs for Washington County.
The Washington County SWCD seeks funding each year to provide landowners in Washington County an avenue by which to apply conservation practices. Oftentimes the landowners applying for funding through the funding provided by CWI are not eligible to receive funding through federal programs, such as EQIP. In 2012, the Washington, Orange, Lawrence, and Martin County SWCDs were awarded with a grant to provide cost-share assistance and education for cover crops. The Washington County SWCD cost-shared cover crop application on 719 acres for 30 landowners in the county in 2012, spending the entire allotment of cost-share in the grant in just one year.
In addition to the cost-share aspect of the grant, the Washington County SWCD shared benefits of cover crops at its field days. The success and discussion of benefits are going to be showcased in a Cover Crop Roundtable in the spring of 2013.
The SWCD continues to seek new funding each year and will most likely attempt to fund a cover crop program once again in the future.