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Conservation that worksÉ Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Agri News staff writer
FARIBAULT, Minn. -- Conservation measures that work and good places to put conservation measures to work were highlighted on last week's Rice County Conservation Tour.
Rice County Soil and Water Conservation District manager Steve Pahs pointed out that it's easy to see good places for wetland restorations and waterways after the heavy rains the area received over the past four weeks.
A field damaged by gully erosion provided the first example of where a conservation measure could be used to reduce erosion. The field had six inch to 8 inch gullies that were 1 foot to 2 feet deep. The field would be a good candidate for waterways, Pahs said.
Keeping water clean
Buffer strips along drainage ditches are working to keep the water cleaner, a benefit to all, said Robert Duban, who serves on the Rice SWCD board.
In Rice County landowners along ditches that are being cleaned are targeted with information about buffer strips. The county won't clean out ditches until a large percentage of landowners agree to install buffers through the continuous Conservation Reserve Program. Landowners receive payments on the enrolled land for 10 to 15 years.
The Tumas installed buffers and a side inlet pipe on their land along County Ditch 11.
"Hopefully it will keep us from cleaning the ditch real soon," Glen Tuma said.
Tuma said they likely wouldn't have installed all the buffers without government help because they are expensive, but they did install one on their own in a pasture without cropping history.
Tom Coffman, Rice County Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist, looked at places where the bank washed prior to ditch cleaning in 1999. Side inlet pipes were installed on those places on the Tuma property and the property of other willing landowners.
Field windbreaks, terraces, water and sediment control basins and wetlands were pointed out as examples of programs landowners can participate in through federal and state conservation programs.
Coffman said that the changes aren't permanent. A tile line that was disconnected can be reconnected and the land farmed again. What happens will depend on what USDA does, he said.
An ag waste control structure installed on the Jim Duban farm will no doubt remain in place.
Construction began in June 2003 and took five weeks. It was the first ag waste control structure in the county built in 10 years using conservation dollars.
The 3 million-gallon manure storage basin gives Duban 270 days of manure storage for his 130-cow dairy herd and young stock. All dirty runoff water, including milk house waste and lot runoff, are channeled to the basin. Clean water, such as roof water, is kept out.
The basin has a 2-foot, compacted clay liner with two concrete ramps for agitation. Concrete on the bottom of the basin prevents the pump from disturbing the clay bottom. It took 1.3 yards of natural fill to equal one yard in the liner, said Ron Maas, NRCS conservation technician.
Tailor-made
The basin allows Duban to handle manure more efficiently and to use the nutrients better. Money was pooled from different sources, including the state of Minnesota and the federal Environmental Quality Incentive Program to reach a 75 percent cost share on the project. Duban is responsible for 25 percent of the cost.
"It's a slow process working with the government," Duban said.
It took three and a half to four years from start to finish, Maas said.
"Every design is tailor made to the site," he said.
It has to be workable for the farmer, affordable and designable, Maas said. A shortage of engineers also hindered the project.
The project brings Duban into compliance with feedlot regulations. |
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