After three years of implementing a very successful cover cropping program1, the District has transitioned into a new form of agricultural assistance: conservation tillage.
What is Conservation Tillage?
Conservation tillage is a method of soil tillage which leaves a minimum of 30% of crop residue on the soil surface during critical soil erosion periods. This slows water movement, which reduces the amount of soil erosion (pieces of crop residue shield soil particles from rain and wind until new plants produce a protective canopy over the soil). These practices also improve soil structure and water quality by adding organic matter as crop residue decomposes. The improved soil structure allows for increased water filtration, therefore, reducing surface water runoff and conserving water by reducing evaporation at the soil surface. As an added benefit, crop residue provides food and cover for wildlife. Conservation tillage also benefit farmers by reducing fuel consumption and soil compaction by reducing the number of times the farmer travels over the fields. This also reduces potential air pollution from dust and diesel emissions.
Available Assistance
In late 2010, the Winooski, Caledonia County, and White River NRCD’s received funding support to run a Conservation Tillage Incentives Program (CTIP). The program encourages farmers to implement conservation tillage practices by providing incentive payments above and beyond those provided by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Farm Agronomic Practices (FAP) program. The application for the FAP program is at FAP_2011_Crops-Tillage_GrantApp. Please note that the deadline for applications has been extended until March 1st, 2011. CTIP applicants’ that apply for our program will receive $12 per acre on top of additional program incentives if they chose to enroll in both. Farmers that sign-up for multiple programs must qualify for the additional monies and their fields will be evaluated and prioritized for incentive payments based on specific water quality criteria including, highly erodible land and slope classification, proximity to waterways, impaired waterways, and road ditches. We hope to increase acreage enrollment by at least 1,000 acres in 2011.
Approved practices include alternative manure incorporation on corn and perennial forages, as well as zone till, no-till, mulch-till, and aeration tillage practices on cropland. FAP_Program_Procedure_FY2011 contains a detailed practice description.
As part of this program, Winooski NRCD plans to provide technical assistance in addition to a series of workshops and clinics that demonstrate the agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits of implementing these best management practices (BMPs). We hope that through the promotion of this program we will be providing farmers with information on the variety of conservation tillage programs available to them. Over 65 farmers in the region have already been contacted.
The District also has the use of an Aerway for farmers interested in aeration tillage.
Contact Justin Kenney in our Berlin office (802) 828-4493 x113 to find out more. Please note that certain deadlines do apply.
1Cover cropping incentive payments are now only available through the VT Agency of Agriculture’s FAP program.
