Now is a great time to start planning your 2017 conservation practices. Throughout the 2016 season did you notice any problems in your fields, forests, pastures or waterways such as gulley’s, heavy use areas or sediment runoff?
In conjunction with a Clean Water Indiana Grant - Conservation Cropping Systems, we can help with implementing Cover Crops, No-Till, nutrient management and help to install filter strips.
Don’t worry, if you live in town we have a Clean Water Indiana Grant just for you! With our Rainscaping Grant we can assist in installing raingardens to help filter stormwater runoff and keep it from entering other waterways.
Together with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) we can help through a variety of programs.
Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) offers different sets of agricultural practices that producers can implement on their land like No-till, cover crops, seasonal high tunnels, prescribed grazing, forest stand improvement, invasive species management, and many more.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program – Regional Conservation Partnership Program (EQIP-RCPP) works almost exactly like the general EQIP, but it focuses on water quality practices in the Michigan/Indiana St. Joseph River Watershed.
Then for the more advanced conservation producers, NRCS offers Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). This program helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems while adopting additional conservation activities to address priority resource concerns.
To learn more about these and several other programs we offer or to just get technical assistance please contact Sarah Longenecker (SWCD) or Debbie Knepp (NRCS) at 574-936-2024 Ext. 4.