Editorial article from the Green County Record
The state’s 47 soil and water conservation districts will use $7.2 million this fiscal year to help Virginians implement conservation practices.
The districts began in 1935 when Congress ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create the Soil Conservation Service. Since then, dozens of cost-share programs have been developed to assist farmers in protecting their soil. Many of them are administered by the state’s soil and water districts.
Livestock Exclusion Fencing and Water Troughs are two Best Management Practices covered by SWCD Cost-Share. Photo by: Bryan Hofmann
“The districts evolved out of the need for soil erosion issues, but over the years their mission has grown,” said Kathy Clarke, district operations manager for the Northern Neck SWCD. “We have a heavier concentration now on improving water quality as well. As a result, our programs have grown tremendously.”
Part of the SWCD efforts include implementation of the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices cost-share program, which helps farmers reduce runoff into streams, lakes and rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
Randal Packett, a Richmond County farmer, remarked that “every single farmer I know is conservation-minded. We all use the same practices like no-till planting to ensure that these creeks and the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers stay as clean as possible.”
Packett has seen how changes in production methods have made a big difference in his lifetime. Field tests after heavy rain on his farm show the water runs off clear. “When I first started farming, we plowed for every crop and disked the fields multiple times. You’d get a rain, soil would run off … Every herd of cattle ran into water. No one does that anymore.”
To read the full article please visit the Greene County Record
