Agricultural Services
Cover Crops | Ag / Farm Plastic Recycling
The Wayne SWCD is
committed to assisting local landowners with natural resource
conservation. We
offer assistance in
many forms at no cost.
Technical
Assistance can be a simple site visit to recommend conservation
practices or
best management practices to meet the goals of the landowner as well as
conserve natural resources. Conservation
planning can be offered so that BMPs or practices can be installed over
a
period of time. Planning can also take
the form of Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning
(CNMP). CNMP’s are especially important for livestock
farms managing livestock manure for maximizing crop production while
minimizing
potential water quality issues.
Technical assistance is also offered as surveying and designing
projects
to ensure a practice is sized and situated on the landscape properly.
Conservation Practice or BMP Examples
(Click
on a title to see a photo example)
To provide a
fixed route of travel for moving livestock, produce, equipment, and
supplies;
and to provide access for proper operation, maintenance, and management
of
livestock or conservation enterprises while controlling runoff to
prevent
erosion or improve water quality.
A facility
with an impervious surface to provide an environmentally safe area for
the
handling of
on-farm agrichemicals.
This
practice establishes close-growing
grasses, legumes or small grain crops to provide seasonal protection.
Cover
crops help improve soil and water quality by reducing soil erosion,
increasing
organic matter and capturing and recycling nutrients in the soil
profile. Cover
crops can also be used to fix atmospheric nitrogen, reduce soil
compaction,
manage soil moisture and provide supplemental forage for livestock.
This
practice facilitates the accomplishment of conservation objectives by
providing
a means to control movement of animals and people, including vehicles.
Including (1) exclude livestock from areas that should be protected
from
grazing; (2) control livestock where permanent fencing is installed as
a
component of a rotational grazing system; (3) confine livestock on an
area; (4)
control domestic livestock while permitting wildlife movement; (5)
regulate
access to areas by people, to prevent trespassing, or for purposes of
safety.
A strip or
area of herbaceous vegetation situated between cropland, grazing land,
or
disturbed land (including forest land) and environmentally sensitive
areas.
FOREST
STAND IMPROVEMENT
Removing
unmerchantable and unwanted trees, shrubs, or vines from wooded areas.
A structure
used to control the grade and head cutting in natural or artificial
channels.
A natural or
constructed channel that is shaped or graded to required dimensions and
established
with suitable vegetation.
Protecting
heavily used areas by establishing vegetative cover, by surfacing with
suitable
materials, or by installing needed structures. This standard also
includes
protecting areas used for livestock feeding and watering, loafing,
exercising,
or confinement by surfacing with suitable materials, and installing
control
structures, if necessary.
A rigid, semi-rigid, or flexible manufactured membrane, composite material, or roof structure placed over a waste management facility.
SEASONAL
HIGH TUNNEL SYSTEM FOR CROPS
A seasonal
polyethylene covered structure with no electrical, heating, and/or
mechanical
ventilation systems that shelters crops and extends the growing season
in an
environmentally safe manner.
Utilizing
springs and seeps to provide water for a conservation need.
A stabilized
area or structure constructed across a stream to provide a travel way
for
people, livestock, equipment, or vehicles.
Growing row
crops, forages, small grains, or fallow in a systematic arrangement of
equal
width strips on or near the contour of the field slope.
Storage Construction in 30 seconds!
(Youtube video of Concrete
storage built for dairy cows in 2009.)
An
impoundment made by constructing an embankment and/or excavating a pit,
or by
fabricating a manmade structure.
WASTE
UTILIZATION (CNMP)
Using
agricultural wastes such as manure and wastewater or other organic
residues.