From the Barton County Conservation District...
Earlier this week the district attended the annual convention of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts. There, we received an update on what NASA is working on to increase the value of data collected by satellites for the benefit of agriculture, and attended breakout sessions about well received outreach and education events around the state this past year, panels on Climate Smart Agriculture and Precision Agriculture. We received program updates, and learned about new opportunities coming up in 2023.
Farmer to Farmer meet-ups: Conservation districts around the state will begin hosting farmer-to-farmer meet ups around their counties to make it easier to get information out to producers and also listen to what is working and what they need at the local level. District managers will be able to relay that information to state and federal agencies. We will also be able to use this feedback to better drive the cost share program ranking in our own counties so our producers are getting the programs that they need and that will have a greater impact on conservation efforts at the grass roots. This is something we’re pretty excited about!
In Barton County, I’ll be reaching out to retailers and groups to co-sponsor these get-togethers so producers from all over the county can easily get to a few over the year.
Locally Led Work Group meetings: Last year was the first year that the LLWG meeting was a three-county management unit event. Partnering with our neighbors paid off in the quality and quantity of information we gathered, and that is helping to shape the state programs already. One of the big take-aways was the need to change the time of year the meeting is held. This year, instead of April and May, we are shooting to have this meeting in January or February so more owners and operators will be able to make it. Having it later meant most were in the field, and that was not effective! We will let the community know as soon as we have our meeting scheduled. We hope to see many more non-agency people there, because those are the voices we really need to hear!
Kansas Climate Smart Initiative: Beginning this year, the KCSMI, a partnership with KACD, has signed up nearly 100,000 acres in the cover crop incentive program. We heard from Keith Koch, the Climate Smart Origination Manager of Arthur Daniels Midland West Region, who answered the question everyone has about the program-- what’s in it for ADM? (What’s the catch).
ADM partnered with KACD and the Farmers Business Network in this program because they want to meet their sustainability goals. Essentially, their customers want to purchase products from ADM that satisfy their marketing goals-- they want to show their customers that they are doing something positive to impact the environment. That something boils down to reducing emissions on the products that they sell.
The partners have identified “regenerative ag” as a good way to do this, and cover cropping provides a lot of benefits towards doing this.
They’ve paid attention to other programs that have been around for the past few years and learned from them. The cover crop initiative is simple, it doesn’t rely on ranking, it doesn’t penalize early adopters of the cover cropping practice, and it is flexible. In 2022, those who contracted will receive around $10 an acre for planting cover crops on their land.
We realize that dry conditions may have kept many from signing up this year, but the good news is the program is a four year commitment, and contracts can be from one to four years, plus they approved an additional 50,000 acres to sign up in Kansas, so there is time to get into this for 2023. You have to sign up through the conservation district, so please get in touch with me if you are interested in learning more.
Sustainable Farm Workshop: Mark your calendars now! Monday, December 5, Barton and Rush Counties are partnering on a Sustainable Farm Workshop with a great line-up of speakers and a panel made up of local farmers who will be sharing about their climate smart practices. You won’t want to miss this! This spring, the two counties partnered on an on-farm trial with Ken Urban and Mike Younger. They both planted soft winter white wheat and will share what they learned. Also, Tim Maier, a Barton County Conservation District supervisor, will share about minimal-till and cover cropping and more. Attendees can look forward to a good catered lunch and quality give-aways as well. Attendance is free, but reservations are required, so get yours in now.
Earth Team opportunities: Volunteer opportunities through the Barton County Earth Team are available. The Earth Team activities will include the Victory Garden, help with hosting farmer to farmer meetups, our annual spring nursery tree sale and other outreach activities to be announced. This is a great way to get involved with and learn more about conservation related careers, the changing field of agriculture, find your tribe of outdoor enthusiasts or even brush up on some work skills. Get in touch with Veronica and come in and visit about the opportunities that we have for you!
Grass drill update: Our 2022 Great Plains Grass Drill will be ready for use this spring! We anticipate offering the 2003 drill for sale in December. Email Veronica at bcconservation.dis@gmail.com, stop in or call and leave a voicemail if you would like to receive more details. Please share this information!
Now, here’s some news you can use!
January is fast approaching, and that means gardening classes will soon begin. We’ve been working on our class outlines and scheduling. We will send out an announcement in the next newsletter and share with area organizations in December. The classes will be about an hour long, and will be held every two weeks beginning in January. They will be free, but attendees need to sign up ahead of time so we can make sure we will have enough class materials for all. Much of the class will be outside and hands-on demonstration, but we will be inside for discussion. Sign up for the whole series, or just a couple of classes at a time. They will be held on Thursdays in the afternoon throughout the growing season, and attendees are welcome to stop out at the Victory Garden outside of class.
Contact us:
The Barton County Conservation District is located at the USDA Service Center located at 926 S. Patton Rd., Great Bend, KS 67530. We are in a cooperative agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and share an office space. The Great Bend Farm Service Agency office is also located in the same building
Our phone number is (620) 792-3346. We are at extension 303.
Barton County Conservation District Manager
Veronica Coons, bcconservation.dis@gmail.com
NRCS Supervisory District Conservationist
Haley Bond, haley.bond@usda.gov
NRCS Soil Technician
Dan Frieb, dan.frieb@usda.gov