Looking to enroll or just recently enrolled land in CRP? If you’re new to the program, it’s natural to have a few questions. The Conservation Reserve Program has a number of specific requirements that contract holders must follow, including what seed is used, how it’s planted, and how it’s maintained. Before you get too far along in […]
What Do I Need to Plant CRP? Read More »
Farmers have long employed various methods to disrupt soil, using sticks, hoes, ards, rakes, and plows to turn the ground and prepare farmland. This is process is known as tillage. Tillage serves a number of purposes including seed bed preparation, burying crop residue, leveling soil, spreading nutrients, mixing in fertilizer, and activating pesticides. It’s also very helpful with
The Effects of Tilling on Soil Read More »
Growing the same crops in the same spot year after year can take a toll on soil, depleting it of certain nutrients and leaving it unbalanced. As the soil’s health decreases, water runoff and erosion increases, damaging the soil further. Ultimately, this results in weaker crop yields. Farmers have long employed techniques to combat this. One of the more aggressive methods of keeping soil balanced
CRP vs. Crop Rotation – What’s Best for My Land? Read More »
In 1929, the United States stock market crashed, kickstarting a decade long period known as the Great Depression. The exact causes for this crash are heavily debated to this day, though common factors typically include overproduction of crop and industrial materials, overpricing of stock values, and easy credit/loan practices. Farmers were already in a tough spot leading
How Soil Erosion and Farming Practices Lead to the Dust Bowl Read More »
The honeybee has long been the US’s main pollinator, contributing over $15 billion to our economy every year. Over the past few decades, however, the honeybee has seen its population cut in half largely due to colony collapse disorder. If things continue at this rate, the honeybee could be extinct by 2035. Unfortunately, counteracting CCD directly has proven to be difficult. Eliminating the use
The Importance of Pollinator Diversity in CRP Read More »
This past month, we’ve been examining the effects that agriculture and the environment can have on each other. While farming does immeasurable good for people around the world, certain modern practices can take a toll on soil, water supplies, animal habitat, carbon emissions, and more. Meanwhile, changes in the earth’s climate have caused disruption to the seasons and cycles that
How CRP Can Help Restore Balance to the Environment Read More »
While people disagree on the severity (and to a degree, the causes), our world’s environment has been changing. Some areas are experiencing droughts and water shortages. Others are experiencing record rainfalls and flooding. The average temperatures around the world are slowly rising as the air’s carbon dioxide levels are higher than ever. We’ve seen abnormally long summers. Unseasonably warm falls. And while some of these events might
How Climate Change is Affecting Farming Read More »
Over the past 17 years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with CRP contract holders across the US, assisting them in establishing over 360,000 acres of native grasses, forbs, and pollinator habitat. Today, we’d like to share the stories of just a few of those farmers, managers, and landowners. Please click the video below to
What People are Saying About FDCE Read More »
There is no denying all of the good that farming and agriculture does for people around the world. Modern farming in the US has led this country to great prosperity, putting food on our plates at an affordable price while we pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Of course, agriculture doesn’t just provide our food but fabrics, energy sources, medicine, and more. As wonderful as
How Farming Impacts the Environment Read More »
Natural wildlands are good at caring for themselves (as long as they’re protected from outside dangers such as pollution, human-caused wildfires, etc). Wind, rain, animal grazing, and other events help maintain a balance. In grasslands, for example, these natural disturbances remove excess woody vegetation and allow flowering plants to reseed and thrive. While CRP aims to recreate natural habitat by establishing native CRP seed, it requires a more hands-on approach to stay on
Everything You Need to Know About Mid Contract Management for CRP Read More »