Farmers to benefit from partnership-driven conservation projects
U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service recently announced $220 million in funding for 84 conservation partnership projects nationwide. Delaware secured funding for two projects - one state-specific and one regional project shared with Maryland - both benefiting the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Funding comes through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, new in the 2014 Farm Bill.
“We were looking for highly innovative solutions to increase the sustainable use of soil, water, wildlife and related natural resources, and our partners answered,” said NRCS State Conservationist Kasey Taylor. “These locally led approaches will help deliver conservation in a way that maximizes the beneficial impact on privately owned agricultural lands.”
Each project has its own set of conservation benefits, specific goals and management practices, and can extend up to five years.
The Delaware-specific project is Assisting Beginning Farmers with Poultry Headquarters Best Management Practices.
The lead partner is Sussex Conservation District. The district and several other key agricultural partners have a goal to improve water quality by reducing nutrients entering surface and ground water by implementing composters or mortality freezers. This project targets beginning poultry farmers. Additional funding opportunities will be made available to these new farmers through an expedited process to further implement these best management practices.
The regional project is Meeting Watershed Implementation Plan Goals in the Chesapeake Bay. The lead partner is Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts. Partners will come together in this project to accelerate the installation of best management practices to enable Maryland and Delaware farmers to meet the nutrient and sediment water quality goals set forth in the Chesapeake Bay WIP. In Delaware, emphasis will be on crop production and expanded use of cover crops.
USDA is committed to investing $1.2 billion in RCPP partnerships over the life of the 2014 Farm Bill. During 2015, USDA invested $370 million in 115 high-impact RCPP projects. This recent announcement brings the current USDA commitment to almost $600 million invested in 199 partner-led projects, leveraging an additional $900 million for conservation activities in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
The fiscal year 2017 program funding announcement will be made later this year. For more information on Delaware RCPP projects, go to www.de.nrcs.usda.gov. To learn about technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs in Sussex County, call 302-856-3990, Ext. 3.
