| Conservation Clips is a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what’s driving conservation. These articles are not indicative of NACD policy and are the opinions of their authors, unless otherwise noted. If you have a relevant submission or need assistance with accessing articles, please contact the NACD Communications Team.
MyChesCo: USDA Offers Expanded Conservation Program Opportunities to Support Climate Smart Agriculture in 2022
NRCS is announcing a new partnership with Farmers For Soil Health, an initiative of the United Soybean Board, National Corn Growers Association and National Pork Board. Other partners include the National Association of Conservation Districts, Soil Health Institute, and The Sustainability Consortium.
The Sault News: Conservation district: Planning for the future includes planning for our conservation future
(Opinion) Conservation planning can be a huge undertaking and lengthy process but help is available. The Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District (CLMCD) is your local resource to help you with your conservation needs and to help you plan for your conservation future.
The Progress News: Conservation District awarded $248,691 for Countywide Action Plan projects
Clearfield County Conservation District announced it received $248,691 to implement Countywide Action Plan projects. Across the state, $17.4 million in grant funding was announced in efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution in 33 counties throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Reducing pollution helps improve water quality.
The Progress News: Conservation district announces Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road grants
Clearfield County Conservation District Board of Directors approved the 2022 Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road grants at a recent meeting. The DGLVR program aids in the management of road pollutants and sediment erosion entering waterways, according to DGLVR Program Specialist Mark Lyons.
USDA: Secretary Vilsack Announces New 10 Year Strategy to Confront the Wildfire Crisis
The Forest Service will work with other federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior, and with Tribes, states, local communities, private landowners, and other partners to focus fuels and forest health treatments more strategically and at the scale of the problem, based on the best available science.
Agri-Pulse: Four named to senior USDA staff positions
(Subscriber Only) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has filled four senior staff positions at USDA, including naming a deputy administrator for the Farm Service Agency and the chief of staff for the Farm Production and Conservation mission area.
Yes! Magazine: Black Farmers Are Rebuilding Agriculture in Coal Country
Jason Tartt saw opportunity in the terraced hillsides of his native West Virginia, both for restoring the land and for other Black farmers.
The Star Democrat: Dept. of Agriculture launches new conservation video series
The Maryland Department of Agriculture has launched a new video series that spotlights Maryland farmers who are making a difference for our state’s natural resources and the Chesapeake Bay.
MPR News: Nationwide study will examine the effects of regenerative agriculture As he embarks on a massive data collection project, Ecdysis Foundation Director Jonathan Lundgren is confident farmers are very interested in learning more about regenerative agriculture and are willing to help collect the necessary data.
University of Arkansas: Prescribed Fires Can Help Restore Biodiversity to Great Plains
A recent study published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence suggests that large, intense and controlled burns can halt and reverse the encroachment of woody plants into grasslands and help restore declining grassland bird populations.
Hay & Forage Grower: Cover crops offer grazing opportunities
Most grazing systems are anchored by perennial forages, which means there are parts of the year when pasture productivity will take a plunge. To fill these gaps and ensure steady feed supplies later into a grazing season, some producers are integrating cover crops into their grazing rotation.
Indiana Prairie Farmer: Turning cover crops into a family business
This family shares their passion for cover crops with others by offering seeding services and holding field days.
Penn State University: Dairy farmers can adapt to climate change
Dairy farmers in the Northeast — facing a warming climate that exacerbates nutrient pollution but lengthens the growing season — can reduce the environmental impact of their operations and maximize revenues by double cropping and injecting manure into the soil, rather than broadcasting it.
Indiana Prairie Farmer: Cover crops, manure help maintain land
If you are Jarrod and Amy Burris, Loogootee, Ind., you roll up your sleeves and get to work. And you use all the resources at your disposal to care for the land as best you can.
Farms.com: Farmers Say Carbon Credit Efforts Improve Soil Health, Boost Revenues
“The water-holding capacity in the soil is built up by that soil’s microbial action, and those microbes need the carbon in order to grow,” said Paul Overby, who farms 1,900 acres of grains in North Dakota near the Canadian border, during agriculture technology firm Indigo’s carbon farming strategies virtual workshop.
WVXU: OKI develops mapping tool to learn where conservation efforts should be focused
The OKI Regional Council of Governments is spearheading a new mapping tool that helps determine the environmental impact of research and development projects through the region.
Morning AgClips: UC ANR scientists receive $1.5M NIFA grant for climate-smart agriculture
To help California farmers and ranchers adjust to uncertain weather and climate events, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture has awarded $1.5 million to a team of scientists led by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
No-Till Famer: AgriCapture Seeds 4,000 Acres of Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health
AgriCapture successfully implemented a 4,000-acre cover crop program after harvest in 2021. It is the largest ever cover cropping project of its kind in the Mississippi River Valley region.
AgriLife Today: Cover crops play important role in resilient agriculture While cover crops benefits are proven, Texas A&M AgriLife scientists are finding one size does not fit all relating to their use in the semi-arid regions of the state. Gizodo: Nine of the Worst Invasive Species in the U.S. From nightmare shrubs to not-so-funny feral hogs, invasive species are disturbing the delicate balance of native ecosystems across the country.
Science Daily: Smart soil bugs offer farmers an ecofriendly route to controlling crop diseases
An innovative method of controlling a range of damaging crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria has emerged from a research-industry collaboration.
KUER: Utah 30×30 coalition formed to meet Biden’s conservation goals
Environmental groups across Utah have formed a new coalition that’s focused on working toward President Joe Biden’s climate goal to conserve 30 percent of public land and water by 2030.
Associated Press: Over 50K Maine acres to be protected by conservation push
Conservation projects include a $15,000 grant to the Kennebec Land Trust for an acquisition project in Fayette that will protect a wetland buffer zone, the foundation said.
Miami Herald: Biden administration plans to spend more than $1 billion on Everglades restoration
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to spend $1.1 billion on restoring and preserving South Florida’s Everglades during the current fiscal year, the White House announced Wednesday.
Cronkite News: With less water on the surface, how long can Arizona rely on what’s underground?
“We should recognize now, as we do with the Colorado River, that we have to take action before it’s too late,” said Kathleen Ferris, a senior research fellow with Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy.
TechCrunch: Aigen’s swarm of agtech robots want to make agriculture carbon negative
The company is building solar-powered, autonomous robots that can zoom around in fields, using computer vision to tell friend from foe and plant from weed. In its first incarnation, the robot — in a fine “hot dog / not hot dog” impersonation — simply bumbles about, covering up to three acres of farmland per day.
CBS News: Al Gore on climate change: “Stop using the sky as an open sewer” There is three times more carbon stored in the topsoil of the earth than all the trees and plants combined. By plowing less and making that soil more fertile, scientists believe that farmers could help trap massive amounts of additional planet-warming carbon emissions in the ground.
Inside Climate News: Florida’s Red Tides Are Getting Worse and May Be Hard to Control Because of Climate Change
A task force appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to address the state’s algal bloom crisis concluded in a recent report that “without hard work and careful planning” adverse human health impacts and widespread wildlife mortality would most likely “worsen” because of climate change and the state’s growing population.
Kiowa County Press: ‘USDA stands ready’: Federal support comes to Kansas farmers walloped by nature
Kansas farmers affected by several natural disasters in 2021, including record cold, wildfires, drought, and windstorms, can find some financial assistance through the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Successful Farming: CARBON BRIDGE PROGRAMS DE-RISK AND SCALE REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE ADOPTION
“There is a simple solution that isn’t simple to implement,” Cripe says. “It is to pay farmers fairly, pay them fast, and provide free agronomic support.”
KMA Land: Models add up to better cover management
Cover crops are widely seen as one of the most promising conservation practices, improving soil health while also removing carbon from the atmosphere. But while the number of Midwestern farmers planting cover crops has increased markedly in recent years, 2017 USDA Census data show only about 5 percent have adopted the conservation practice. |