tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73513157067517977662024-03-12T17:56:26.024-07:00NH Association of Conservation DistrictsNH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-62056831806964947082018-08-29T06:35:00.001-07:002018-08-29T06:35:44.052-07:00Conservationists from Across the Northeastern United States Convene in Lancaster, PennsylvaniaWritten by: Linda Brownson, Grafton County<br />
<br />This July, Representatives from the northeastern United States traveled to the DoubleTree Resort in Lancaster for the National Association of Conservation District’s (NACD) Northeast Regional Meeting. Conservation leaders from the 12 northeastern states met for educational programs, tours, and networking. New Hampshire was represented by NACD Board member and NH Delegate Linda Brownson, joined by NHACD President Richard Mellor. Also present from NH at this gathering was our USDA-NRCS State Conservationist, Rick Ellsmore. It is always exciting to participate in a meeting that brings our counterparts from other northeastern states together. We share many of the same natural resource issues and concerns and can learn from each other on how to best address them. Pennsylvania conservation districts went all out to showcase some of their district projects via tours and educational sessions. Some of the highlights of this trip follows.<br />
<br />We learned about the Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program, unique to Pennsylvania apparently, which helps decrease pollution from unpaved roads. Living on a dirt road myself, I wanted to know more about it! Amazingly enough, Pennsylvania conservation districts administer $28 million annually through the state’s DGLVR Program. The program provides local road-owning entities with grant funding to complete projects with a focus on environmental improvements<br />to their roads. Improvements include improving ditch stability, adding crosspipes, filling entrenched roads, improving road base, managing wetlands and stream crossings, road surfacing, and more.<br />
<br />Both Richard and I chose the Conservation and Soil Health in Agriculture session on Monday, followed by two tours the following day. This conservation session complements much of what we are doing with our Soil Health Working Group in NH. We learned about general soil health principles such as evaluating soil properties like soil structure, aggregate stability, infiltration, and the role of<br />conservation practices such as cover cropping and no-till in a cropping system. Though many of the principles are familiar to us, because of the emphasis on soil health in our state, still there is a lot to learn in a different location, different soils, and different district activities in assisting the farmers to improve their soil health. Following the classroom session on Soil Health, the next day Richard and I visited two different farms in Lancaster County: one, the Brubaker Farm, a dairy farm with 1,100 cows on 1,800 acres. They ship 82,000 pounds of milk per day in a state-of-the-art operation. Among other things, they employ a methane digester, a manure separator, and practice drag hosing with a 1-1/2 mile reach. This 3 generation farm is all no-till and grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa, rye, and<br />wheat and a model for well-implemented conservation practices.<br />
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The second visit was to an Amish (called ‘Plain Sect’) farm in Lancaster County. About 68% of the land in this county is farmed and approximately half are farmed by the Amish. They are a Christian, Anabaptist group characterized by separation from the world and simple living, including plain dress and transporting themselves by horse and buggy. They are reluctant to adopt many of the conveniences of modern technology and forbid taking electricity from the grid. Why do they fear technology? If left untamed, certain technologies (like automobiles, computers, cellphones) might harm their community by disrupting traditions and bringing foreign values through mass media. Electricity from batteries is more local, controllable, and independent from the outside world.<br />The farm Richard and I visited used battery power to drive the fans in the barn. Many use propane gas to light their homes. Some of the more ‘progressive’ sects employ solar panels to charge batteries, though the more traditional groups forbid it.<br />
<br />Thus, it was interesting to see how they managed their farm with so many cultural compromises. Not surprisingly, the Amish dairy farms have fewer cows. The fields are planted and harvested using teams of horses or mules. I was told that the sect leaders worry that using tractors for field work would lead to full-scale mechanization and destruction of small family farms, in which all members<br />of the family take part. Amish families have normally 7-12 children, providing many farmhands!<br />
<br />Yet, their communities are thriving! In Lancaster County, the number of Amish Church Districts (each district comprised of 25-35 families) totaled 46 in 1970, population 7,500. Last year, the number of church districts totaled 220 with a population of 37,000. This is expected to double in twenty years. Interestingly, we were able to visit an Amish Farm because of the trusting relationship that has developed between the Lancaster County Conservation District and the Amish population. The District employs a full-time staff person solely as a ‘liason’ between the Amish and the ‘outside world!’ The Amish apparently do not participate in accepting money from the government, but they do accept technical assistance and, in this County, that TA mostly focuses on<br />helping the farmer control pollution.<br />
<br />There are 1400 miles of streams in Lancaster County and ½ of them are impaired. In 2016, the State started penalizing farms that don’t have conservation plans. Being so close to Chesapeake Bay with its focus on improving water quality, Pennsylvania has been slow to the table in cleaning up<br />their streams, using a top-down approach, according to John Chibirka, Resource Soil Scientist with NRCS in Lancaster County. Now they are immersed in phase III of WHIP, a bottom-up approach in which districts play a dominant role. Lancaster County now has 55% compliance with conservation plans. The District mantra is: “Everyone has a role in cleaning up our water.”NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-5044872314533690962018-01-05T11:32:00.000-08:002018-01-05T11:32:43.838-08:00Recap: NH Cover Crop Forum<br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The
November 2017 Cover Crop Forum was a great success as farmers and technical
service providers came together to talk about the latest in cover cropping
science, and most importantly, what’s working for real farmers in real
fields! The suite of knowledgeable and experienced speakers included Natalie
Lounsbury, a PhD student at the University of New Hampshire, Brandon Smith,
PhD, the Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Health Division Northeast
Team Leader, and Dorn Cox, PhD, a farmer in Lee New Hampshire, Conservation
District Board member and founding member of the nonprofit GreenStart.</span></div>
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The program was split between presentations from UNH faculty, NRCS, and area
farmers in the morning, and a farmer-to-farmer discussion facilitated by Dr.
Eric Sideman of <a href="http://www.mofga.org/"><span style="color: blue;">MOFGA</span></a> in the afternoon.
There were a total of 31 participants, including farmers and ag service
providers. Morning presentations focused on integrating cover crops with
vegetable rotations for organic operations, an update on the cover crop mixes
developed by NH Soil Health Working Group, and farmer adoption of cover
cropping techniques. Discussion in the afternoon centered on topics identified
by participants, including species selection, integrating with cash crops, and
special pest management considerations.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br />
This forum was brought to Concord by the New Hampshire Cover Crop Team and
funded by the SARE Northeast Region.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">For
more information on related initiatives, please see the links below: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.nhacd.net/soil-health-.html"><span style="color: blue;">NH Soil Health Working Group</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.greenstartnh.org/"><span style="color: blue;">GreenStartNH</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/soils/health/"><span style="color: blue;">NRCS
Soil Health Northeast Division</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Follow
the NH Cover Crop Team on social media with #nhcovercrops<br />
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Check out this soil health podcast by Natalie Lounsbury: http://</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://notillveggies.org/2017/11/03/at-last-the-soil-podcast-is-here/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">notillveggies.org/2017/11/03/at-last-the-soil-podcast-is-here/</span></a></span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-5244640230864937552017-12-18T10:23:00.000-08:002017-12-18T10:24:12.876-08:00David Montgomery, Author of Growing a Revolution, interviews with Civil Eats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqbUFvIr3Tas1_63QI4Z8OWU_igV9vzA9mfbd4hipvDTf0xkxefzxlp8goluv-_naDlA-U0cLuYwY7_2OwR49UQmE_vtUycKLaTXqGzDJVYdBDTz1Z2_mfarO5azb6ie4UHd0_EJasukx/s1600/Growing+a+Revolution+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqbUFvIr3Tas1_63QI4Z8OWU_igV9vzA9mfbd4hipvDTf0xkxefzxlp8goluv-_naDlA-U0cLuYwY7_2OwR49UQmE_vtUycKLaTXqGzDJVYdBDTz1Z2_mfarO5azb6ie4UHd0_EJasukx/s320/Growing+a+Revolution+.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
Last month, David Montgomery joined us and <a href="http://cheshireconservation.org/" target="_blank">Cheshire County Conservation District</a> at our Annual Meeting in Keene, NH. We are so glad he could join us at our annual event; below are some events and interviews David has done since joining us in November.<br />
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Since our meeting, David has had a few appearances at conference around the US including the <a href="https://snc.bionutrient.org/" target="_blank">Bionutrient Association Soil & Nutrition Conference</a>, and the <a href="https://www.swcs.org/events/conferences/2017-national-conference-on-cover-crops/" target="_blank">National Cover Crop Conference</a> in Indiana. <span id="goog_1488766661"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1488766662"></span><br />
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Civil Eats has done a few interviews with David about his latest book, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1488766654"><span id="goog_1488766655"></span>Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life</a>.<br />
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Click here to read <a href="https://civileats.com/2017/11/06/excerpt-giving-the-plow-the-boot-in-the-era-of-climate-change/" target="_blank">Excerpt: Giving the Plow the Boot in the Era of Climate Change </a><br />
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Click here to read <a href="https://civileats.com/2017/11/06/the-soil-champion-who-might-hold-the-key-to-a-hopeful-climate-future/" target="_blank">The Soil Champion Who Might Who Might Hold the Key to a Hopeful Climate Future</a><br />
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-45723511095099230612017-11-27T08:00:00.000-08:002017-12-17T09:03:38.519-08:00We've Got it CoveredI<b style="font-weight: normal;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDBJNTVtSJI2NR59mGFkztPPaEti8Y2CcBU_APjAbY9yzQ2aHIbFH8ZNId8qLhn5nBp8pvCjBOsOmF4ePdhueVsfNAlo-T-JEyfK-_9adZis79Ev2N-wDwMj1_AEnN1CWXdIMcbD4blCu/s1600/Bill+Blog+post+pic+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDBJNTVtSJI2NR59mGFkztPPaEti8Y2CcBU_APjAbY9yzQ2aHIbFH8ZNId8qLhn5nBp8pvCjBOsOmF4ePdhueVsfNAlo-T-JEyfK-_9adZis79Ev2N-wDwMj1_AEnN1CWXdIMcbD4blCu/s320/Bill+Blog+post+pic+3.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-e99e0618-e693-44f2-6c93-f8b15a21ad9b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep an eye out for these signs around the state</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">mark </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">places where farmers are using cover</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">crops to help </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">improve soil health and water quality.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This sign is at the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cheshire County Farm in </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Westmoreland, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">where </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Windyhurst Dairy is testing</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a new blend of cover crops.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-88ff4b33-e685-d78b-dab4-fd3f7f2f94e3" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two Cheshire County farms are among about a dozen around the state who have volunteered to serve as guinea pigs in the development of specialized cover crop seed blends. Windyhurst Dairy Farm in Westmoreland and Pete’s Stand in Walpole are trying out blends of cover crops that will serve specific needs of different types of farms and crops.</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cover crops are planted during parts of the year when a main crop is not growing. As their name implies, they keep the soil covered, but they also provide a number of other benefits, including:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Preventing erosion by rain and wind</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Feeding the living organisms in the soil that help make nutrients available to the next crop</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Harvesting and storing nutrients from the soil and air</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Increasing the amount of rainfall that’s absorbed into the farm’s soil, reducing runoff to nearby streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most widely used cover crop is winter rye, a cereal grain that grows vigorously in the fall and early spring. While it’s a great general purpose cover crop, its benefits can be enhanced by mixing it with other crops, such as:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Crimson clover, to harvest nitrogen from the air and make it available to crops</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Daikon radish, to create channels deep in the soil to allow water to penetrate</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brassicas such as turnips and rape to hold onto soil nutrients over the winter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oats, winter wheat, and barley to hold the soil in place through rains, wind, and snow melt.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4V56afnSF1PQI3vMt-IjKyBU-KtC0_ZkUZrAs3pzcRXRnR38QtuZCnl4PhYUaWV0JScVpSKh8W_9DSoXaPWRYOHOmMvw9zsmCo898UInUieFGVUImiqdRKY16RAJdjMds2RmkL7nDjyg/s1600/Bill+Blog+post+pic+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4V56afnSF1PQI3vMt-IjKyBU-KtC0_ZkUZrAs3pzcRXRnR38QtuZCnl4PhYUaWV0JScVpSKh8W_9DSoXaPWRYOHOmMvw9zsmCo898UInUieFGVUImiqdRKY16RAJdjMds2RmkL7nDjyg/s320/Bill+Blog+post+pic+2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-e99e0618-e696-4286-8eea-52b4c2eff325" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Less than a month after being planted, this cover</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">crop mix is helping to hold soil in place during the</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">heavy rainstorms at the end of October. This field</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">is at the Cheshire County Farm where Windyhurst</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dairy is testing a new blend of cover crops.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4V56afnSF1PQI3vMt-IjKyBU-KtC0_ZkUZrAs3pzcRXRnR38QtuZCnl4PhYUaWV0JScVpSKh8W_9DSoXaPWRYOHOmMvw9zsmCo898UInUieFGVUImiqdRKY16RAJdjMds2RmkL7nDjyg/s1600/Bill+Blog+post+pic+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Windyhurst and Pete’s Stand have set aside parts of their production fields to test specialized blends of cover crops that are intended to target the specific needs of dairies that grow silage corn, and for vegetable producers who harvest some of their crops a little earlier in the season.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The New Hampshire Soil Health Working Group, with representatives of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA, UNH Cooperative Extension, the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts, Granite State Graziers, and agricultural professionals, will monitor the plots and get feedback from these operations about how these blends worked for them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal;"><b><i><u><sub><sup><strike><br class="kix-line-break" /></strike></sup></sub></u></i></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "pt serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That feedback will help the group develop better cover crop blends, which in turn will New Hampshire farmers build better soils. Thanks to Pete’s Stand and Windyhurst for cooperating with this effort!</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-17765483224300619792017-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:002017-09-06T11:08:02.713-07:00Fall Bulb Sales Across NH<h3>
Below are links and information for the Fall Bulb Sales Across the state. Deadline for order forms is September 11th!! </h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6yQRLbaDKX98EJHHYPZK7qS4MiD3kbj616LmXInQlFDU9b9r3sUHhCJaJyGB_KnKAbcgLMTbkgSlMCb1datNvHARyv7D6SDWb2znLC5p5CyqovqlagoCXcwX_lMsTT56QPvOmbN4iYTK/s1600/daisies+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="900" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6yQRLbaDKX98EJHHYPZK7qS4MiD3kbj616LmXInQlFDU9b9r3sUHhCJaJyGB_KnKAbcgLMTbkgSlMCb1datNvHARyv7D6SDWb2znLC5p5CyqovqlagoCXcwX_lMsTT56QPvOmbN4iYTK/s320/daisies+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Belknap:</b></div>
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Fill out order form and mail with payment to BCCD, 64 Court Street, Laconia, NH 03246. Your purchase helps support conservation efforts in Belknap County.</div>
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Click on the document titles to download the information.</div>
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<a href="http://www.belknapccd.org/welcome-to-the-bccd/fall-2017-bulb-color-sheet/" rel="attachment wp-att-471">Fall 2017 Bulb Color Sheet</a> <a href="http://www.belknapccd.org/welcome-to-the-bccd/2017-fall-bulb-sale-order-form/" rel="attachment wp-att-472">2017 Fall Bulb Sale ORDER FORM</a> <a href="http://www.belknapccd.org/welcome-to-the-bccd/2017-fall-bulb-descriptions/" rel="attachment wp-att-473">2017 Fall Bulb Descriptions</a></div>
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<b>Cheshire</b>: </div>
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Pick up at CCCD Office: Monday, October 2nd, 8am-6:30pm; Tuesday, Oct. 3rd, 8am-1pm or contact us to set up a time. A reminder will be sent out when bulbs arrive. </div>
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<a href="http://files.constantcontact.com/b65aa6fb001/71a457ca-f7dd-40fe-8ccf-19bedccf3f01.pdf" target="_blank">Click here for form</a> </div>
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<b>Coos:</b></div>
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Bulb pick up days are September 25th and 26th from 7:30am - 3:30pm at the office in Lancaster. If either of these days don't work for you, please contact us to arrange a different time. </div>
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<a href="http://www.cooscountyconservation.org/uploads/4/2/5/9/42593633/2017_fall_bulb_sale_final.pdf" target="_blank">Order form here</a><b></b></div>
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<b>Hillsborough:</b></div>
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*Website is currently having difficulties* To receive an order form and color flier showcasing the flowers available, contact the district office 673-2409, ext. 100, e-mail kerry.rickrode@nh.nacdnet.net or visit www.hillsboroughccd.com. </div>
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<b>Merrimack:</b></div>
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Pick up will be the last weekend in September.</div>
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<a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/426895c74ce894ef06ba59d22/files/64cdbd4f-3bb5-4d18-8d0c-dfe11357d2a8/2017_Fall_Bulb_Sale_ORDER_FORM.pdf">Fall 2017 Bulb Order Forms</a></div>
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<a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/426895c74ce894ef06ba59d22/files/8a7c495e-5434-4e72-8edd-a4037080beb1/Fall_2017_Bulb_Color_Sheet.pdf">Bulb Color Sheet</a></div>
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<a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/426895c74ce894ef06ba59d22/files/892d4af6-9ce9-4fc9-af83-76060df97fc7/2017_Fall_Bulb_Descriptions.pdf">Bulb Description Sheet</a></div>
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-44859995497702339742017-08-30T10:09:00.001-07:002017-08-30T10:09:11.766-07:002017 Envirothon RecapThis year, NH sent a team from Conant High School in Jaffrey to the North American Competition, held July 23-29 in Emmitsbrug, Maryland.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyi4zjsqDrid2mqs2CX7cw9hqKVHAfLvEmwWYbV8WLkAiqHKfyd_Vpm9LzMRW3oIS4Z2RcHfABV9Hby_VDeDM4BKxUbgdzZNFEs7TkE2akKtyMvPTr-RmWsgnoto57ZbwbNWeDPByc-_o/s1600/Envirothon+2017+NH+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="986" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyi4zjsqDrid2mqs2CX7cw9hqKVHAfLvEmwWYbV8WLkAiqHKfyd_Vpm9LzMRW3oIS4Z2RcHfABV9Hby_VDeDM4BKxUbgdzZNFEs7TkE2akKtyMvPTr-RmWsgnoto57ZbwbNWeDPByc-_o/s320/Envirothon+2017+NH+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>This year's challenge topic was Agricultural Soil and Water Conservation Stewardship. Teams researched agricultural BMPs that would be appropriate for NH farms. They contacted the NH Conservation District office in their county to determine one or more local farms to be the focus of their study. Using the Web Soil Survey and Granite View II, the teams mapped existing soils and land use. They then established what BMPs are currently implemented at their focus area by interviewing the farmers responsible for implementation and maintenance of the BMPs. Team then recommended other BMPs that could be implemented at the location to improve ecological, economic, and/or social conditions. The recommended BMPs were required to include a cost-benefit analysis.<br />
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At the North American Competition, students took part in <a href="https://www.envirothon.org/images/2017/event-guide/2017_MD_Event_GUIDE.pdf" target="_blank">three jam-packed days</a> of area tours, meals, and study sessions. All culminating in oral presentations and a final awards ceremony on Friday.<br />
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First place went to Pencrest High School in Media, Pennsylvania. Congratulations to all the teams that made it to this competition and thank you to all the teachers, volunteers and staff for your time and effort this year! Looking forward to the 2018 competition!<br />
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-73213761020598188812017-06-20T12:10:00.000-07:002017-07-05T10:45:47.931-07:00No-Till Corn Planting<b style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-aa729bd8-13b6-d1fd-def3-a1b72dd02cac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For generations, the cycle of growing corn to feed cattle has been pretty much the same: every spring farmers spread the winter’s accumulation of manure on the corn fields, plow them under, and smooth them out with harrows before planting the season’s corn.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvnnrXPiyHkZebLD6DXbvmbcQ3o5gasypQ0TzaCNio1ibT10HCdbthWdnwtKYoHiem0omGjnBcIUYKj4RK0iOuj3RUq2oGDP03gyiMhpQ8ua2fBcrb4WTyoLtaMAo87wNvvE0G_-VYqVL/s1600/No-Till+Planter+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvnnrXPiyHkZebLD6DXbvmbcQ3o5gasypQ0TzaCNio1ibT10HCdbthWdnwtKYoHiem0omGjnBcIUYKj4RK0iOuj3RUq2oGDP03gyiMhpQ8ua2fBcrb4WTyoLtaMAo87wNvvE0G_-VYqVL/s400/No-Till+Planter+.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stuart Adams of Windyhurst Farm in Westmoreland plants corn directly </span></i><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">into a cover crop of winter </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">rye using </span></i><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">NHACD's no-till corn planter back in May</span></i>.</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Plowing and harrowing acres and acres for corn every spring is an expensive proposition. And more and more we’re realizing that it’s really hard on our soil and our environment. Corn can be planted without tilling the soil first. No-till corn offers lots of benefits to the environment and farmers. For example, no-till corn:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Improves soil health by leaving a covering of mulch, making it more resilient to drought and less prone to erosion during heavy storms.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reduces soil surface compaction, which helps keep nutrients from getting washed into nearby streams and rivers and keeps them where the corn crop can use them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cuts down on the amount of fuel that farmers need to burn to get their corn crops started, not to mention labor and wear and tear on equipment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Allows farmers to plant directly into a green, living cover crop, keeping living plant roots in the soil -- key for a healthy soil ecosystem.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But it takes a specially-outfitted corn planter that most farmers in New Hampshire don’t have. With funding from a Conservation Innovation Grant from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts purchased three no-till corn planters this spring that will give farmers a chance to try no-till corn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">With a single trip across the field, these planters:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Roll down the cover crop, breaking the stems and stopping their growth so it doesn’t compete with the corn crop for water and nutrients</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Open a furrow that’s just the right depth for planting corn</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Apply a small amount of fertilizer to help the seedling get started</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Set the corn seed at the proper depth and spacing</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Close the furrow over the seeds and gently firm the soil to ensure good seed-to-soil contact</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWW-MNAIO79pTtGX5eu1MDs5SRFdPZkI1sO5Qr6yLSR6mivYYjEpW33yHVPTB_CDVYzYK6w8YwBXxGdLEMotD_Vi3PXZE1-cASjX9J5dpjOR_S85FK-88OE7HIYmhNnM2kCWVm_eXuTdRL/s1600/no+till+corn.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWW-MNAIO79pTtGX5eu1MDs5SRFdPZkI1sO5Qr6yLSR6mivYYjEpW33yHVPTB_CDVYzYK6w8YwBXxGdLEMotD_Vi3PXZE1-cASjX9J5dpjOR_S85FK-88OE7HIYmhNnM2kCWVm_eXuTdRL/s400/no+till+corn.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>No-till corn looking robust in late June. Note the mulch left behind </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>by the winter rye. The mulch will help hold moisture and keep the soil cool during the hot summer months.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Using the planters from the NHACD, farmers can try no-till corn planting without making a huge investment in retrofitting their current planters or replacing them. We have one of the test fields right here in Cheshire County, and we’ll be watching it to see how it does compared with traditionally-planted corn alongside it. So far it looks great!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For more information on no-till corn planters, contact Bill Fosher with the NHACD at billfosher@gmail.com.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD86bB8M6Oxeuxl3Te7ILRw84SJQURK6oEhUoFjukKg_OPT5ncX3TmA3xJjns7xptkUmR0oXwhIvDiYWqnFPfVaGXM2aVhUhv7bxgSr12Y-PB2LfTUj5770jWCLXIgw4BSgDkq-ne1BWmf/s1600/no+till+corn.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><br /></a></td></tr>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-12902724775741289242017-05-17T12:54:00.004-07:002017-05-17T12:54:47.795-07:00Districts Can Make Connections<header class="article_header"><h2 class="article_title title -sub">
Districts can make connections <span class="article_date">05/10/2017</span></h2>
</header><div class="article_content user-content">
By Mike Beacom<br />
In 2003, Linda Brownson and her husband relocated to New Hampshire from Texas, where for nine years she helped manage forestland and rangeland while her husband grew a family financial consulting business. The couple purchased a two-centuries-old New Hampshire farm that sits 1,500 feet above sea level in the western foothills of the White Mountains. Its 200 forested acres are an even mix of northern hardwoods (sugar and red maple, black cherry, birch, red oak) and conifers (balsam fir, white and red pine, eastern larch). It was a paradise for Brownson, but the property presented a series of management ideas and obstacles. She needed help.....<br />
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Full Article: http://www.nacdnet.org/2017/05/10/districts-can-make-connections/</div>
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-7771505121540215872017-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:002017-04-24T09:25:34.196-07:00Register Now: Principles of Rotational Grazing May, 2017 in Spofford, NH<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fwVRyi8UWJSTN7n5jOJKu2IpGOWI01lUkD4edo1-HBg9GWDYl0Xbg13AcZicAmZQbZ_8yfnh1GhsxBp2p045JLR8OSX4azbaa90gaLRijG0jIr7DXxQ48OJj-OmfkyeJJTUEdpBjrbbh/s1600/Granitstategraziers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fwVRyi8UWJSTN7n5jOJKu2IpGOWI01lUkD4edo1-HBg9GWDYl0Xbg13AcZicAmZQbZ_8yfnh1GhsxBp2p045JLR8OSX4azbaa90gaLRijG0jIr7DXxQ48OJj-OmfkyeJJTUEdpBjrbbh/s1600/Granitstategraziers.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fwVRyi8UWJSTN7n5jOJKu2IpGOWI01lUkD4edo1-HBg9GWDYl0Xbg13AcZicAmZQbZ_8yfnh1GhsxBp2p045JLR8OSX4azbaa90gaLRijG0jIr7DXxQ48OJj-OmfkyeJJTUEdpBjrbbh/s1600/Granitstategraziers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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'Join Bill Fosher and Carl Majewski for a day-long workshop designed for graziers with less than five years of experience with rotational grazing covering these questions and many more. We’ll spend part of the day in a classroom setting, and part of it in the field, looking at pasture and working with different kinds of fencing.'<br />
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<b>For full details and to register, </b><a href="http://grazenh.com/grazecamp" target="_blank"><b>click here</b></a> <br />
<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-63125775066825415852017-04-20T09:00:00.001-07:002017-04-20T09:00:19.297-07:00Updates from Merrimack CountyMerrimack County Conservation District has a couple of updates! See below: <br />
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Read the latest <a href="http://merrimackccd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Winter-Newsletter-2017-1.pdf" target="_blank">Merrimack County Conservation District Newsletter</a><br />
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Upcoming event: April 25th Annual Dinner and Farmer Appreciation night.<a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/426895c74ce894ef06ba59d22/files/b66144b5-4295-4229-aca3-7b5689b5fda5/2017_Revised_AnnualMtgFarmerAppreciationFlyer.pdf" target="_blank"> Click here for a flyer/registration form!</a><br />
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-1639253543777530822017-04-10T11:20:00.000-07:002017-04-10T11:22:23.729-07:00Dave Montgomery: Healthy soil is the real key to feeding the world Andy Pressmen emailed this story by Dave Montgomery this morning; we're posting it here to easily be found. <br />
<h1>
Healthy soil is the real key to feeding the world</h1>
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<img alt="Image 20170329 8557 1q1xe1z" height="265" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/163183/width754/image-20170329-8557-1q1xe1z.jpg" width="400" />
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Planting a diverse blend of crops and cover crops, and not tilling, helps promote soil health.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/87743206@N04/8053614949/in/dateposted/">Catherine Ulitsky, USDA/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-r-montgomery-164008">David R. Montgomery</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-washington-699">University of Washington</a></em>
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One of the biggest modern myths about agriculture is that organic farming is inherently sustainable. It can be, but it isn’t necessarily. After all, soil erosion from chemical-free tilled fields undermined the Roman Empire and other ancient societies <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520272903">around the world</a>. Other agricultural myths hinder recognizing the potential to restore degraded soils to feed the world using fewer agrochemicals. <img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/75364/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" /><br />
When I embarked on a six-month trip to visit farms around the world to research my forthcoming book, <a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294993513">“Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life,”</a> the innovative farmers I met showed me that regenerative farming practices can restore the world’s agricultural soils. In both the developed and developing worlds, these farmers rapidly rebuilt the fertility of their degraded soil, which then allowed them to maintain high yields using far less fertilizer and fewer pesticides. <br />
Their experiences, and the results that I saw on their farms in North and South Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ghana and Costa Rica, offer compelling evidence that the key to sustaining highly productive agriculture lies in rebuilding healthy, fertile soil. This journey also led me to question three pillars of conventional wisdom about today’s industrialized agrochemical agriculture: that it feeds the world, is a more efficient way to produce food and will be necessary to feed the future. <br />
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Myth 1: Large-scale agriculture feeds the world today</h2>
According to a recent U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, family farms produce over <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/260535/icode/">three-quarters of the world’s food</a>. The FAO also estimates that almost three-quarters of all farms worldwide are <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE_Reports/HLPE-Report-6_Investing_in_smallholder_agriculture.pdf">smaller than one hectare</a> – about 2.5 acres, or the size of a typical city block. <br />
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/163190/width237/image-20170329-8587-n5b1ng.jpg" />
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<span class="caption">A Ugandan farmer transports bananas to market. Most food consumed in the developing world is grown on small family farms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifpri/12209977313/in/album-72157640285734626/">Svetlana Edmeades/IFPRI/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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Only about 1 percent of Americans are farmers today. Yet most of the world’s farmers work the land to feed themselves and their families. So while conventional industrialized agriculture feeds the developed world, most of the world’s farmers work small family farms. A 2016 Environmental Working Group report <a href="http://www.ewg.org/research/feeding-the-world">found</a> that almost 90 percent of U.S. agricultural exports went to developed countries with few hungry people.<br />
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Of course the world needs commercial agriculture, unless we all want to live on and work our own farms. But are large industrial farms really the best, let alone the only, way forward? This question leads us to a second myth.<br />
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Myth 2: Large farms are more efficient</h2>
Many high-volume industrial processes exhibit efficiencies at large scale that decrease inputs per unit of production. The more widgets you make, the more efficiently you can make each one. But agriculture is different. A 1989 National Research Council study <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/1208/alternative-agriculture">concluded</a> that “well-managed alternative farming systems nearly always use less synthetic chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and antibiotics per unit of production than conventional farms.”<br />
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And while mechanization can provide cost and labor efficiencies on large farms, bigger farms do not necessarily produce more food. According to a 1992 agricultural census report, small, diversified farms produce more than twice as much food per acre <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520272903">than large farms do</a>.<br />
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Even the <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/595651468195548184/On-the-central-role-of-small-farms-in-African-rural-development-strategies">World Bank</a> endorses small farms as the way to increase agricultural output in developing nations where food security remains a pressing issue. While large farms excel at producing a lot of a particular crop – like corn or wheat – small diversified farms produce more food and more kinds of food per hectare overall. <br />
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Myth 3: Conventional farming is necessary to feed the world</h2>
We’ve all heard proponents of conventional agriculture claim that organic farming is a recipe for global starvation because it produces lower yields. The most extensive yield comparison to date, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1396">a 2015 meta-analysis</a> of 115 studies, found that organic production averaged almost 20 percent less than conventionally grown crops, a finding similar to those of prior studies.<br />
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But the study went a step further, comparing crop yields on conventional farms to those on organic farms where cover crops were planted and crops were rotated to build soil health. These techniques shrank the yield gap to below 10 percent. <br />
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The authors concluded that the actual gap may be much smaller, as they found “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1396">evidence of bias in the meta-dataset toward studies reporting higher conventional yields</a>.” In other words, the basis for claims that organic agriculture can’t feed the world depend as much on specific farming methods as on the type of farm. <br />
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<img alt="" height="265" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/163194/width754/image-20170329-8563-1hdfyfr.jpg" width="400" />
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<span class="caption">Cover crops planted on wheat fields in The Dalles, Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrcs_oregon/29653107380/in/album-72157674420338935/">Garrett Duyck, NRCS/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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Consider too that about a quarter of all food produced worldwide is never eaten. Each year the United States alone throws out <a href="http://www.endhunger.org/PDFs/2014/USDA-FoodLoss-2014.pdf">133 billion pounds of food</a>, more than enough to feed the nearly 50 million Americans who regularly face hunger. So even taken at face value, the oft-cited yield gap between conventional and organic farming is smaller than the amount of food we routinely throw away. <br />
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Building healthy soil</h2>
Conventional farming practices that degrade soil health undermine humanity’s ability to continue feeding everyone <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520272903">over the long run</a>. Regenerative practices like those used on the farms and ranches I visited show that we can readily improve soil fertility on both large farms in the U.S. and on small subsistence farms in the tropics.<br />
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I no longer see debates about the future of agriculture as simply conventional versus organic. In my view, we’ve oversimplified the complexity of the land and underutilized the ingenuity of farmers. I now see adopting farming practices that build soil health as the key to a stable and resilient agriculture. And the farmers I visited had cracked this code, adapting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/11/09/no-till-farming-is-on-the-rise-thats-actually-a-big-deal/?utm_term=.e2cf5e93305e">no-till methods</a>, cover cropping and complex rotations to their particular soil, environmental and socioeconomic conditions.<br />
Whether they were organic or still used some fertilizers and pesticides, the farms I visited that adopted this transformational suite of practices all reported harvests that consistently matched or exceeded those from neighboring conventional farms after a short transition period. Another message was as simple as it was clear: Farmers who restored their soil <a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294993513">used fewer inputs to produce higher yields</a>, which translated into higher profits.<br />
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No matter how one looks at it, we can be certain that agriculture will soon face another revolution. For agriculture today runs on abundant, cheap oil for fuel and to make fertilizer – and our supply of cheap oil will not last forever. There are already enough people on the planet that we have <a href="http://www.resilience.org/stories/2006-10-28/how-long-can-world-feed-itself/">less than a year’s supply of food</a> for the global population on hand at any one time. This simple fact has critical implications for society. <br />
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So how do we speed the adoption of a more resilient agriculture? Creating demonstration farms would help, as would carrying out system-scale research to evaluate what works best to adapt specific practices to general principles in different settings. <br />
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We also need to reframe our agricultural policies and subsidies. It makes no sense to continue incentivizing conventional practices that degrade soil fertility. We must begin supporting and rewarding farmers who adopt regenerative practices.<br />
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Once we see through myths of modern agriculture, practices that build soil health become the lens through which to assess strategies for feeding us all over the long haul. Why am I so confident that regenerative farming practices can prove both productive and economical? The farmers I met showed me they already are.<br />
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-r-montgomery-164008">David R. Montgomery</a>, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-washington-699">University of Washington</a></em><br />
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/healthy-soil-is-the-real-key-to-feeding-the-world-75364">original article</a>.NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-51574652885546824512017-04-10T10:49:00.000-07:002017-04-10T11:16:01.312-07:00NHACD Spring Newsletter<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Our newsletter just went out!</h2>
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<a href="http://eepurl.com/cJvIVb" target="_blank">View it here</a></h2>
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351315706751797766.post-11170063420266740402017-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:002017-02-27T16:55:14.998-08:00Welcome to the NHACD Blog!Welcome to the new NHACD Blog!<br />
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There is a growing demand and desire for more connection and communication about current events and we are answering that in a variety of ways, and this is just one!<br />
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We'll be using this to post updates big and small: equipment information, instructional videos, event updates and photos, and any other updates from around the state that should be shared.<br />
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If you'd like updates in your inbox, please subscribe via the link on the right side of the page.<br />
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If you'd like to contribute content, please email nacd.info@gmail.com.<br />
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Want to know more about nhacd? visit our website www.nhacd.net! <br />
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<br />NH Association of Conservation Districtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878049327841290510noreply@blogger.com0