Sidney, MT – Montana’s short summer is winding down and now is a good time for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to conduct the field inventories and planning needed to develop a conservation plan for farmers, ranchers, and private forestland managers looking to improve their natural resources. Because the timeframe before snow is unpredictable and because the NRCS application ranking period for funding opportunities usually happens in the fall, visit the Sidney field office now.
The local NRCS staff can help to figure out current problems, assess the condition of the land, and determine options for improvement all based on individual operational goals. A conservation plan is a customized collaboration between the planner and the customer. A final plan may include land use maps, soils information, inventory data, recommended practices, and other tools and resources to help landowners make management changes or install other conservation practices.
In Richland County, conservation funding is available for the following programs and initiatives, in addition to statewide and national opportunities.
Conversion of Expired Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Acres to Healthy Grazing Lands Targeted Implementation Plan (TIP): The purpose of this project is to keep 7,500 expired/expiring CRP acres in perennial vegetative cover and to assist producers in converting these acres into productive livestock grazing lands to improve ecological function and address livestock feed and forage concerns. There are 32,825 acres of land in CRP contracts that will have expired or will be expiring in Richland County from 2020-2024. These acres are at risk for conversion to annual cropland. This TIP covers 32,174 of those acres and provides focused assistance to producers who wish to convert land formerly enrolled in CRP to grazing lands. Eligible practices include wells, pumps, livestock pipeline, tanks, fence, and prescribed grazing. The TIP area encompasses all of Richland County, but land offered for enrollment must have expired from the CRP program in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, or will expire in 2024.
Richland County Missouri River Watershed Irrigators TIP: Irrigated cropland systems perform best when soil function and irrigation efficiency are maximized. To achieve that goal, NRCS will offer financial incentives to producers who agree to implement soil health and irrigation efficiency practices. Practices that are eligible include Residue Management -No-till, Cover Crop, Conservation Crop Rotation, Soil Health Testing, Sprinkler Irrigation, Irrigation Pipeline, Pumping Plant, and Irrigation Water Management. Irrigation practices are only eligible on land that has an irrigation history (irrigated 2 out of the last 5 years).
Taking Soil Health to the Next Level – Miles City Area TIP: The goal of this TIP is to improve soil health on cropland by maximizing soil cover and minimizing soil disturbance. This will be achieved by using Conservation Harvest Management (CHM), coupled with no-till where needed, to address the soil aggregate instability and naturally available moisture resource concerns that have been created through low soil cover and disturbance. The implementation of this TIP, primarily through the use of CHM by using stripper headers, will improve soil aggregate stability by increasing soil cover. As a result, moisture use will be more efficient as more water is stored and captured and not lost to evaporation since the soil will be more protected by residue. With improved soil aggregate stability soil can take in and store more water and is less susceptible to erosion.
Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative: The Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative (MBRI), is aimed at preserving, protecting, and improving habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, neotropicals, and other avian species in the Prairie Pothole Region. Prairie pothole wetlands provide critical food and habitat for these species. The initiative is focused on unmanipulated wetlands of two acres or less within working cropland as identified on the National Wetland Inventory. NRCS will work with applicants to determine which wetlands are eligible based on the National Wetlands Inventory. Once the wetlands are deemed eligible, producers will then decide which of the three available levels of management is appropriate for their operation.
To learn more about all these opportunities, and others that may be available, visit NRCS at the Richland County USDA Service Center. The office is located at 2745 W. Holly St., Sidney, MT, or call 406-943-3015.
NRCS accepts conservation program applications year-round. Start planning now. Additional information, including full project proposals, is available on the Montana NRCS website at http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov. Click on What’s Available in My County.
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