New Water Quality Trading Program reduces the amount of nutrients leaving the farm

Mark Thomas is an ISDA Soil Conservation Resource Specialist located in Southeastern Indiana.  He was raised and still works on his family farm raising corn, soybeans, beef cattle, and hay.  They have used No-till Planting for over twenty years.  Mark graduated from Purdue University in 1986 with a BS in Agriculture.  He has two children and is an adult 4H club leader.  He has been employed in Soil Conservation for 23 years and serves farmers in Franklin, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, and Ripley Counties.

A pilot program between the Electric Power Research Institute and the State Agriculture Departments in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky launched in the summer of 2012.  The Ohio River Basin Trading Project is an interstate trading program that will allow power companies and farmers to work together to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment runoff in the Ohio River Basin.  The five counties in Indiana that have been selected for this pilot program are Wayne, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, and Ripley.

Farmers enter into contracts with their Soil and Water Conservation Districts to create water quality credits by installing Best Management Practices including Heavy Use Protection Areas, Hay Planting, and Cover Crops.  Several of these practices have been installed this summer. 

       

Another farmer has installed a Heavy Use Area Protection pad to help collect the nutrients   from a beef cattle feeding area.

For more information, contact the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Rain Garden

by: Brenda Gettinger, ISDA –DSC, Resource Specialist

I have been fortunate to have been a Resource Specialist for the state of Indiana for over 17 years and have installed many different types of conservation practices on the land.  But until recently had never assist in installing a Rain Garden, what an adventure which has become very functional and educational.

One of the five SWCD counties I assist is Wayne County in east central Indiana.  They received a Clean Water Indiana grant to install a Rain Garden at the county fairgrounds.  The site location was perfect for this type of practice because it was an area that received the parking lot drainage which after a rain event held the storm water runoff.

Site before Rain Garden

A Purdue student in the CAPSTONE program, Alicia Aldridge, was chosen to do the design work for the rain garden.  After a design plan was chosen, then began the task of ordering over 400 native plants by Wayne Co. SWCD Office Coordinator, Sheryl Brown, and Educational Coordinator, Luanne Holeva.  Technical aspects were left in the hands of the SWCD Technician, Raquel Baker, and me.  Raquel and I had to layout the rain garden to a specific scale going from the paper design to the actual ground.  Most people may not realize that there are four excavated pits in this rain garden area. 

During construction On left;  Ron Brown, contractor, Middle; Raquel Baker, SWCD Technician, Right; Brenda Gettinger, ISDA-DSC-Resource Specialist

The pits were dug to a minimum depth of 4’, in 10’ x 10’ areas.  The pits were filled with bedding stone and soil enriched with sand which acted like giant sponges, absorbing and draining storm water faster than the original landscape did.  Next a riverbed of stone was placed in the center of the rain garden to help with stability and give the garden a more natural appeal. 

Stone and Mulch laid…time to plant native plantings.

The next fun task was planting those 400 native plants in the ground, give them a good drink of water then mulch all in about a 1 ½ days.  Wayne Co. SWCD is thankful to have a willing staff and very dedicated volunteers.  What began as a wet soggy area has turned into a beautiful area that filters storm water, a great educational site and is a very proud addition to the Wayne County fairgrounds.   Staff and volunteers still maintain the garden on a regular basis with weeding and cutting back of plantings.   It was a labor of many loving hands!

Rain Garden completed

Cautious Harvest

By Chris Gardner
Chris is a Resource Specialist/CREP leader in the Tippecanoe watershed. Chris works to promote CREP, inspect possible CREP sites, complete conservation plans/maps/state CREP paperwork for CREP projects, meet w/ landowners to discuss their CREP projects and other conservation needs, administer CREP paperwork, survey and design structures, waterways, and other conservation practices as needed. Chris works with contractors and landowners on project installation, assist with other conservation as needed. Areas of Interest/Expertise :No-till farming, cover crops, filter strips, waterways, WASCOB’s, irrigations (travelers), nutrient management, animal waste management, an interest in grazing.

Last night I was reading a post made by a fellow farmer I follow from western Iowa, and was reminded that a wet spring keeps on giving.  A wet Iowa spring gave way to very dry Iowa summer (sound familiar?) and now this Iowa farmer is pushing to chop a dying corn crop to salvage what he can.  In opening up a customer’s field, he finds a large gully which had developed after planting and bent his 12 row chopper head bad enough the dealer said it was totaled.  Now it turns out this farmer’s son is a wizard with a torch and a welder and they’ll be back at it tomorrow, but the lesson here is to keep a keen eye out for the unexpected this harvest season.  

I know in our part of northern Indiana, some gullies have already been pushed shut 3 times this season to get over the fields to spray, detassel seed corn, and allow irrigators to operate safely and these spots still need work.   As you push to bring in this season’s harvest, be mindful of unexpected hazards in your fields.  

Should you find yourself in need of assistance on erosion, cover crops, or other conservation related issues, don’t be afraid to contact your local SWCD or ISDA Resource Specialist for assistance.  We’re here to help you develop a plan of action to meet your conservation needs!