What's Up with NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service
Kendall and Rebecca talk with Jeremy Fowler, Public Affairs Specialist at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in New Hampshire about how farmers and forest landowners can utilize voluntary conservation planning and assistance from NRCS. They discuss the process of applying, the different programs NRCS offers as a non-regulatory agency, and the technical and financial benefits they offer.
Show Notes:
NRCS, NH: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire
Jeremy Fowler: Jeremy.fowler@usda.gov
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in New Hampshire: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/new-hampshire
N.H. Association of Conservation Districts (NHACD): https://www.nhacd.net/
EQIP in New Hampshire: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire/Programs/EQIP
CSP in New Hampshire: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire/Programs/CSP
ACEP in New Hampshire: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire/Programs/ACEP
NRCS, N.H. Success Story (Maple Production): https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire/news/the-sweet-smell-of-syrup-and-saved-fuel
NRCS, N.H. Success Story (Conservation Easement): https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NewHampshire/news/safe-forever
NRCS, N.H. Success Video Feature (Glove Hollow Christmas Tree Farm): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUVkcvTy4y0
NRCS, N.H. Forestry Work: https://youtu.be/GVVYZS2y2SQ?si=rkCTNlAugZ74tFpD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLogQfQA3Q4
Submit a request for Technical Assistance: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/VjjG7RFhSM
YouTube Playlist of more than 90 NRCS Conservation Practices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M0qmzJkyOg&list=PL4J8PxoprpGZ2F23YzTa3QjSDfj-lK2ZB
Farmers.gov local service center locator (find your local FAS and NRCS Field Office): https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/service-center-locator
Farmer.gov/conservation: https://www.farmers.gov/conservation
UNH Cooperative Extension: https://extension.unh.edu/
Kendall Kunelius – kendall.kunelius@unh.edu
Rebecca Dube – rebecca.dube@unh.edu
Transcript:
Kendall Kunelius 00:09
Welcome to this episode of Shared Soil, a podcast dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges, and encouraging personal and professional growth for all people in agriculture. My name is Kendall Kunelius, and I'm a field specialist in the area of agricultural business management.
Rebecca Dube 00:25
And I'm Rebecca Dube, and I provide technology and administrative support to UNH Extension.
Kendall Kunelius 00:30
So, Rebecca, one of our recent podcast episodes, we featured Doris Mold and Kelly McAdam from Annie's Project, and in that episode, we talked about the International Year of the Woman Farmer, and one of the big highlights of that episode was Doris talking about their partnership with NRCS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service. So we thought, boy, we've got to get these guys on the show because this is fascinating, right? There's a lot of folks out there who really need to hear about NRCS, understand their mission a little bit more, and really get a better picture of how they can maybe help them on their farming journey or land management journey, and so we're super excited to have Jeremy Fowler from NRCS with us today to follow up on that episode and tell us all about NRCS. So Jeremy, thank you so very much for being here. Just give us a quick introduction to yourself and maybe a little bit about your role within our NRCS.
Jeremy Fowler 01:25
Yeah, sure. So I'm Jeremy Fowler. I'm the public affairs specialist for NRCS in New Hampshire. I'm a Seacoast resident, born and raised in the Dover, Rochester area my whole life. Grew up on a Holstein farm, dairy farm in Rochester. Sadly, the herd went away when I was fairly young, but I have been helping manage the land ever since I could lift a bale of hay. We do about 17, 15 to 17,000 bales of hay a year. We have a maple syrup operation, and we do some fruit and vegetable stuff. So I've been living the agricultural life for a long time.
Kendall Kunelius 02:00
For the literal, for all of it, like literally!
Jeremy Fowler 02:02
Right? Yeah.
Rebecca Dube 02:04
Well, Jeremy, could you tell us a little bit about the mission of NRCS and how it came about?
Jeremy Fowler 02:10
Yeah, sure. It's a very long story, so I'll try and keep it as brief as I can. But without getting into too much of the history; the founding of the agency, which happened over 90 years ago, I think we're about 91 years now at this point; but NRCS exists to help working landowners keep working land in working hands. Our agricultural farms and forest land is not only a beautiful part of our state, but it's also a critical part of our ecosystems and rural landscapes that provide food, forage, and fiber for our rural communities. And basically, what happened in the 20s and 30s, was a giant dust bowl issue in the Midwest. Lands had been typically prairie grasslands for thousands of years, and within a single generation, we experienced significant soil erosion that cost so many people so much, and it caused these huge dust storms. And we really examined it, and it was some agricultural practices that were not well suited to the soil types in that area. So it was a tremendous issue. Dust was flying, making its way even to Washington D.C.
Rebecca Dube 03:15
Wow!
Jeremy Fowler 03:15
And in fact, the founder Hugh Hammond Bennett had sort of timed it so that as Congress was considering passing a public law. He waited until a dust storm did approach to make his time on the floor more poignant for consideration of that bill. So after that, Congress recognized that they needed to establish the Soil Conservation Service, which happened in April of 1935. And in recognizing that farmers understand the issues on their farms better than anybody in D.C. will, they sort of pledge that this is a locally led and voluntary conservation process. We provide scientifically proven methods that are best management practices that we serve up to the farmers and landowners to consider using to address their resource concerns. Initially we really focused on soil, branched out over 90 years; you know, soil, water quality, air quality, energy, plants and animal life are all sort of things that fall within the NRCS realm on private lands at this point.
Rebecca Dube 04:16
Sure, because they're all so interconnected.
Jeremy Fowler 04:18
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you can't have one without the other. Sometimes you need too much of one and not enough of the other. But our mission is really to help farmers and forest landowners make critical investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working and boost agricultural production, while at the same time improving the air quality, water quality, soil, wildlife habitats. And we do this by delivering practical and voluntary, locally-led conservation solutions that help producers conserve natural resources and strengthen agricultural production. Landowners generally know what their resource concerns on their farms and forests are to an extent. They might not fully understand them, but they do understand that there's an issue, right, and that makes sense. They're closest to it. They can see the hard work they put on the property every day. It's right in front of them. They carry an immense pride in their lands and their work, and only want to make it better. So when there is an issue, sometimes they might not understand the best way or practice available to them to address it. And that's where we come in as a resource for these landowners.
Kendall Kunelius 05:21
And I think that moves us perfectly into our next question: is you know to say in New Hampshire, and I'm just going to say in New Hampshire because that's the Ag kind of we're talking about for this particular episode. In New Hampshire, we've got a whole deck of Ag service providers, and by that term, I mean NRCS, Extension, FSA, Farm Credit East, you know, you name it, right? Like the folks who really specialize in those agricultural focus areas, and they all yet do different things. So Extension is outreach and education. Education is our main mission. So I guess I'd really like to ask you, how do you see NRCS fitting into this deck of Ag service providers, knowing that we just talked about the breadth of the needs of the farmers, and how does NRCS directly respond to those versus how everyone else kind of fits into your puzzle?
Jeremy Fowler 06:11
Yeah, it's an interesting question and a very involved one, really, because it's hard to imagine where we don't fit.
Kendall Kunelius 06:17
Yes, right, great. That's what I was hoping you would say. Yeah.
Jeremy Fowler 06:21
NRCS works with many partners in the agricultural community and in the Granite State to support our farmers and non-industrial private forest landowners. And it's really about relationships, right? Relationships with the landowners, relationships with our partners. We work directly with producers and landowners to help them address the challenges they face with voluntary conservation, and we do that by helping them create a conservation plan that meets their needs. NRCS also provides substantial amounts of financial assistance to help them address those concerns in a wide range of topics: soil, water quality, air quality, forestry, wildlife, crop systems. You name it, we're there. But landowners do compete for this funding based on local ranking priorities, right? And that's sort of another partner piece. Well, local priorities-what does that mean? Well, you know, conservation-it's a team sport, really-and it would be impossible to name all the colleagues we work with. But you know, you touched on a few of them. FSA is our sister agency. We work with them hand in glove to make sure farms are eligible and recorded and able to participate in USDA programs. Our Extension colleagues do an outstanding job, and you know I mean that wholeheartedly, with reaching our agricultural producers, which is one of the reasons I'm happy to be here today. Historically, though, our agency works very closely with our individual county conservation districts, right? They provide information and resources. They do outreach as well, and they really know their local agricultural community fairly well. These district employees often work in our USDA service centers alongside us every day, and they exist to provide those educational opportunities, technical resources, and information on financial assistance programs for farmers and landowners, and they're really a resource that I would highly recommend every farmer get to know if they don't already. Along with NRCS, these district conservationists that we have work with these district managers of these conservation districts to hold meetings, and annually, there's one real key meeting where they get farmers in to vote on or to identify what the resource priorities are for those counties. So that's a very locally led process strong point. There, we know that they know better than we do what's going on in the county. So they understand that if they they go to those meetings and they vote on those priorities, they advance them to NRCS, and then we can make a system work so that when somebody does apply, we're ensuring that it focuses on a locally led priority that they get better consideration. Right? You ask where we fit into that. I'd have to say really working with producers on their property, helping them make the decisions and install the conservation practices that benefit the environment, and often end up benefiting their bottom line. Really, and to your point earlier, we've heard it said from farmers that have worked with us for the first time that NRCS seems to be the best kept secret in agriculture. Well, we're really hoping the secret gets out. It's a 90-year secret here. It's time, right? But we we really hope it gets out because there's a lot of support we can provide our farmers in the state. One of the things maybe to understand is that, you know, we're unique. Our non-regulatory agency in the government, that's different, right? And we exist to provide technical and financial services support to farmers and private forest landowners for these conservation projects, but part of that secret might be that working with us is completely voluntary, right? As a non-regulatory agency, you don't see us out there shaking a finger saying "you can't do that." However, if you do ask for assistance we'll be out there to better understand your goals and say, you know, "I think there is a better way to do this, and I think we can help you." Ultimately, we want to help keep working lands and working hands and ensure that there's viable farmland in the Granite State for future generations.
Kendall Kunelius 10:14
You know, Rebecca, this is making me think back to our timber episode with Andy Fast and thinking about how we approach this land management and agricultural perspective from a holistic point of view, and so I would encourage New Hampshire farmers to think of this deck of Ag service providers from a holistic view as well. Right? You may need some of us for some stuff and some of us for the other stuff, and we all offer, like, I want to call it like a charcuterie board of options, and you just kind of pick what you're interested in, what you're what you're feeling like working with. But I think the irony here is that at some point, any one of us service providers, when we're on farm, is going to refer to or talk about or say, "Oh, have you chatted with X Y Z partner yet?" We all work in the same circles, but I think we all work really well together in the same circles.
Rebecca Dube 11:05
Definitely, and I think you've touched on this quite a bit, Jeremy, and talked about it. But how can farmers best use NRCS as a resource for their land conservation and stewardship practices? They have this deck, and they want to pull from them what they want. But how can they best reach out to you and get involved?
Jeremy Fowler 11:23
Absolutely, yeah. So I mentioned our USDA service centers. We have seven throughout the state. Almost every county has one. Some counties share in office, but the process really starts by developing a conservation plan for your property, which is sort of just a record of landowners' decisions and issues they want to address. And NRCS can provide many options to support our landowners in the Granite State. We do that through primarily two avenues: conservation technical assistance, you'll hear called CTA, and financial assistance program, which is probably what people think about a little bit more. They are sort of two different avenues, though. These two avenues often help keep those working lands and working hands by addressing those concerns that they might have. But through technical assistance, our focus is really to advise and assist landowners. Right? We talked about being out there, not you know shaking our finger at them, saying "you can't do that," but saying "I think we can help you do this better." Right? So that's our technical assistance, and in that realm, our field team will come out and visit your operation alongside you, walk the land, see what the issues are, and this is at no cost and at no commitment. Discuss your concerns and goals for the operation, identify your resource concerns that you know about, and maybe some that you're not really as keen to have noticed as a field specialist might. These practices that we recommend, you know, we might say, "Well, we recommend this." It's completely voluntary. We're not telling you you have to do it. We're telling you this is a solution that has some pretty sound scientific backing to it that will address this problem. That's technical assistance, and I would urge any producer to seek out our technical assistance. The other side is those financial assistance programs, right? So the financial assistance programs provide payments to help you get to that solution. Sometimes these conservation projects might be a little out of reach for some producers, or sometimes a producer may have been farming this way for 20-30, years, right? And to ask them to do something new is a huge step. There might be some skepticism, or there just might be, you know, old farmer, new trick sort of thing. So they might not want- It's not that they don't want to solve the issue, but you know, asking to do something new can be daunting. And really, it's an incentive, right? It's an incentive to adopt a practice that is ultimately going to be better for you, better for the land, better for your operation, and in many cases, better for your bottom line. Of those financial assistance programs, there's typically three of them that we really look at here. The first one is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP. Again, the producer can receive a payment for implementing a practice to address a concern, and they're reimbursed at a determined payment rate based on the project. Once a project is completed, we go out there again. Our field staff goes out there and validates it. Did it meet the criteria? Did it meet what we agreed on? And then they're reimbursed at that payment rate. So that's EQUIP. It's usually meant to address a fairly large conservation concern. Another program that we have is CSP, which is the Conservation Stewardship Program, and this has been increasingly popular in New Hampshire over recent years. Where our field specialists will come in, they'll assess the farm as a whole, and they'll look at it. And it's not necessarily an incentive to fix something, though we might find a few things that we say, "Hey, I think you should really consider doing this." But it's a stewardship program in that, hey, you are doing some excellent stewardship practices on your own before we got involved, and we want to reward you for that. Maybe take it a little further. So these programs are generally five-year contracts, and those five-year contracts have an annual payment rate of $4,000, right? So we are rewarding them for excellent stewardship, and then just asking them to do a little bit more. So there might be some practices in there, and again, they'll be compensated on those for with payment rates for adopting those new practices as well, so those are like the three big -well, I'm sorry, those are the two big ones, and then the one that you know is really a gift to the future are agricultural conservation easement programs. The goal of these is to ensure that there's forest and agricultural land and protect wetlands for future generations. And this key component of this program is that it's held by a land trust, one of our land trusts generally, and they need to sponsor the application. Under these programs, landowners can enroll their lands into an easement and are compensated for giving up their rights for subdivision and development. Yeah. In many cases, their ability to continue to operate the agricultural operation remains the same. It's just a pledge that this land will have an easement put on it, so that it can never be developed. Right? We've seen development pressure in New Hampshire, and many of our beautiful old farms are no longer farms. Which New Hampshire does need need housing and and all that, but you know once a beautiful land of prime ag soil is gone, it's not coming back, unfortunately. So this program is very popular in New Hampshire. I would say that we have a very high number of conservation easements in the state, especially when you consider the size of New Hampshire.
Kendall Kunelius 16:39
For sure, and we'll ask you a question about doing some case studies later on some of those EQUIP programs because I've seen several several farms that use those and have really benefited. And I, as an ag business management person, I always look for the numbers in every sort of farm operation and understanding how your practices inform that bottom line. But I can't agree with you more. You know, I think a good example of that is a grazing program, having grazing plan so that you are growing more of that animal feed versus having to buy in hay. I think there's just some really easy to see direct translations for when you treat the land better, and all of a sudden it treats your bottom line better too.
Jeremy Fowler 17:17
So you know, overall, these programs often allow our producers to not only address their resource concerns but increase their efficiency in their operation. Like we said, that can have a net positive impact on their bottom lines. And in a business as tricky as farming in the Northeast, it can mean the difference between staying in business or not. It's sometimes the only thing that keeps those working lands working.
Kendall Kunelius 17:38
Yeah, absolutely. So if farmers are interested in getting into a contract process or entering into a contract with NRCS, what does that look like? Kind of like a high-level, step-by-step process.
Jeremy Fowler 17:51
Yeah. So again, this could be a long answer here, and I'll try and keep it sort of brief. We say this thing is five steps to conservation assistance, right? And that really, step one is to get a plan. It's not necessarily to just throw in an application if you've never worked with us before. To do it well and to do it right and to see it most successful is to work with our field staff, invite them out to your farm, walk around, start a plan. So once you have the plan, then you can do the application. We're happy to come out at any time and work with you on planning moving forward from that. Periodically, NRCS will publish an application deadline. Our application deadline for fiscal year 2027 is October 16, and you can apply at any time during the year. But periodically, we have to establish these dates so that we can take all the applications we have and put them in a pool. But yeah, working with your local staff is the best way to do that, especially if you start with the plan, because they'll help you with the application. And again, we have those seven field offices located at USDA service centers. But when it comes to what happens after, I think it's important for your listeners to understand a few things, two primary things about the selection and application process. First is that by applying, landowners, they're not committing to anything, right? And that's really important because you know some people are just hesitant to to work with a federal agency. And again, we're non-regulatory, so it takes the sting out of it. But any commitment would only come later if the application is selected for funding, it's basically like throwing your hat in the ring and saying, "I think I would like some assistance with this," and I really encourage any farmer or producer or forest landowner to try and submit an application, even if they don't think they're going to go through with it. Please.
Rebecca Dube 19:35
So, can they submit a application at any time? Is there another application deadline after October?
Jeremy Fowler 19:41
Yeah, and that gets into my second point here, and hopefully this clears that up: is understanding the process a little bit. Landowners can apply at any time. Periodically, we have to publish a sign-up date, and this is nothing more to sort of have a stop to say, "All right, everything we got since our last sign-up date, we're now going to take and take." Look at and rank right because it is a somewhat competitive process. It allows us to the ability to consider a group of applications, and all applications received by that date will be considered in the next round of funding. Applications that didn't quite make it, day late, dollar short, no, not really. We'll just consider you next time. So you know that's really important to understand, but yeah, the sooner you drop an application, the more time our field staff have to really work on you and make it as competitive as it can be for the ranking process. So that's important to know. Now, based on the impact of the intended project, we'll take a look at those local priorities that were developed by conservation districts and state technical committee, and we'll take those applications, and they compete against each other. So those projects are assessed through a series of standard questions, as informed by our local priorities. And applications that result in higher conservation benefit will rank higher in the ranking assessment. And those where the impact might not be as pronounced might not rank as high. Applications are then selected by funding simply by going from the top to bottom of that list of rankings. We'll fund as many applications as the budget we were provided allows, working from the top down again. If all applications that we did receive were funded and there's still money left over, we announce a subsequent sign up. Any remaining funding will be used in that next sign up. If applications weren't funded, they'll automatically be considered for a next round of signing. Next round when a new budget is received, or if there's money left over, but they're going to compete against any other applications that come in.
Rebecca Dube 21:35
Okay.
Jeremy Fowler 21:36
Once the application is selected, though, all right. So say, hey, we got good news. My application's been selected. What does that mean? Well, the producer is provided with terms of the contract, what the payment rate is going to be, what the standards are that you have to meet, what the specifications are, or any operations and maintenance that might have to occur on the project after it's implemented. And this is all provided to them before they commit to anything, so they can take a look at it and say, "Ooh, I love it. I just don't know if I can get there." Or, "Yeah, let's do it and move forward." At that point, the producer can determine if they wish to proceed with the contract. If so, sign it. They sign the agreement. They implement the practice. Whether they're doing it themselves based on the guidance provided, or they hire a technical service provider, a TSP. We do a lot with them in forestry, so they'll work with the forester to help get a project on the rails and that sort of stuff, or grazing specialists or something like that. And then once they implement it, we come out. They let us know the project's done. We kind of do check-ins along the way. "Hey, how's it going? Are we on a glide path to get there?" And once they've satisfied the results, we'll submit the payment in accordance with the rate that was provided in the contract.
Rebecca Dube 22:47
Interesting.
Jeremy Fowler 22:49
It's a lot. It seems intricate, but really at a high level, you plan it, you apply for it. Hopefully, it ranks high. It gets selected, and then we contact you with the specifications that need to be addressed, you implement. We check it out, give you a thumbs up, and submit for payment.
Kendall Kunelius 23:06
I think what I'm hearing, though- yes-I mean it does sound like there's a lot of steps. It also sounds like there's a lot of failsafes, and I think that hearkens back to what you were saying about this being voluntary, right? About I really like that the farmer gets ample time to review and look through the contract and really make that decision if this is a right approach for them, because everyone's operation is a little different, and we have such diversified agriculture here in New Hampshire. I think it's great that the EQUIP program- from again, I'm just kind of speaking from the experience from what I've seen - it does seem to have a lot of opportunities and scenarios that can best fit what farmers are looking for for practices. So it seems like it's a win-win kind of situation, is what the sentiment here is. Like everyone's working towards that same goal of conservation, and it's just the medium through which it's happening is how NRCS operates with that funding piece.
Jeremy Fowler 23:54
Absolutely, yeah. I mean, like I said, farmers generally are the best land stewards. They love their farms. They love their land. It has such a sense of pride, not only for them, but for who they want to leave it to, or who it came to them from, that they really just want to help it. We're here to help them get there.
Rebecca Dube 24:09
Yeah, that ties into what you were saying about being non-regulatory. You're not telling a farmer, forcing them to do something in the name of conservation. You're working with them, and then they've got a stake in it. They're partners in it, and much more likely to happen then because they've been taken seriously and taken into account when all this is happening.
Jeremy Fowler 24:28
Yeah, and and that is perhaps the genius of Hugh Hemming Bennett, who founded our agency, was that forcing somebody to do conservation is not a good working model that will have long term success. They have to want to invest in it, and that's why we're such a unique agency. We're voluntary. We're non-regulatory. We're all things that people think a government agency couldn't be, but here we are.
Kendall Kunelius 24:50
So I guess that really moves us beautifully into our last question about case studies. I'd love to just ask any anonymous, or you know, even just stories you have of farmers who really benefited from this program, like it really was a make or break for their land conservation pieces as well as their business piece.
Jeremy Fowler 25:09
Yeah, that's that's a really tough one. That's a great question. It's difficult to answer because the work that we do. Yet another great point of working with NRCS is that the work that we do is protected under confidentiality agreements, right? So we can't go out there and tell people that oh, we work with so and so and whatever. But I can give you some sort of anonymous examples here and provide some generalizations as well. We work across all sectors of agriculture in the state, from our oyster farmers in Great Bay that want to increase water quality there or help establish or reestablish historical oyster reefs, to non-industrial private forest landowners in the far north country that just want to plan a future timber harvest or access roads to wood lots. We help them and just about everything in between. If you want to take a journey with me here, we can start maybe in that far northern forest and maybe work our way down. So New Hampshire, as you know, is predominantly forested state, and much of that land is privately owned, which we do not work with industrial private forest land. It has to be a non-industrial private forest land. But often landowners work with us to help funding, putting together these forest management plans. You know, this could be a big tract of forest way up north. It could be a smaller tract down in the southern part of the state. But these plans are often produced by our technical service provider foresters, who scout out and inventory the forest, identify characteristics of the stand, or plan for future timber harvests. Essentially, where stream crossings should be located to minimize ecological impact, or where log landings are most appropriate, where the soils are there that will support it and won't be eroded. They might identify invasive species that need to be addressed in those areas. But what they're really building is a framework for us to then do more conservation work on. Right, we can do an EQUIP environmental quality incentives program contract to establish an access road or a log landing to make sure that future timber harvests are done in a sustainable way. As we move further downstream, we'll consider some of the work that we've done in streams and rivers because we're there too. Some landowners' goal has been to increase aquatic habitat species in streams and rivers. We worked with a lot of them with slowing forest streams that have historically been straightened in New Hampshire over a couple of centuries because it just seemed better, right? But what we've lost is a lot of habitat for our cold water fisheries and aquatic organisms, right? So many of our stream crossings over decades or centuries were built, and they have caused issues with these species to migrate back up the waterway, like undersized culverts or culverts that are put in with a three foot drop on the downstream end. Like, how is anything gonna move past that? So you know, we've done a lot of work with those folks to ensure that we can replace the culvert with something that's more aquatic habitat friendly. Moving further down the watershed into larger rivers, we've worked with a number of landowners on these large stream bank erosion projects. Some of these are very impressive to see, and in fact, there's a YouTube video on our NRCS New Hampshire website where we detailed Glove Hollow Christmas Tree Farm on the Pemigewasset River and the incredible work that Mike Ahern and his family allowed us to do up there to stabilize a stream bank that was he was losing acres a year in erosion, so not only helping him save his farmland and his Christmas tree operation, but that erosion was causing downstream impacts for other people way further downstream with that amount of erosion. So we worked to use bioengineered solutions, and he pledged a buffer along the river to establish trees whose roots will eventually help stitch the soil back together.
Rebecca Dube 28:48
We'll include that in our show notes.
Jeremy Fowler 28:50
Yeah, it really helps highlight the immensity of some of the projects that we're involved in. It's kind of jaw-dropping when you look at that video. Then we'll move on to the livestock front, right? We've assisted landowners in keeping animals out of waterways, right? Because that's never a good thing when you have a stream crossing and you know muddy areas cause trampling, and animals can make deposits of excess nutrients in the waterways that might not be the best, right? So we help with that, and of course, erosion on any farm is a big concern, and not just along a stream bank. As the rain falls, it's got to go somewhere, right? So we fund projects to help assist farmers in managing water runoff in an effective and well-planned way. It's not just like let's solve this; it's like let's solve a system, right? So while that sounds like what's the big deal? Well, ultimately, if you're a farmer, and I've seen this, you're going out there to fix that same rut every year, right? It's costing you time. It's costing you money. Eventually, it gets bad in the middle of growing season. You just don't have the time to fix it, so you're beating up your equipment, getting it back and forth. You're spending time and money, valuable time, on repairs. Right, we'll come in there and help you plan a way to ensure that the water is moving through your agricultural operation in a way that won't cause you future headaches. But speaking of fields and that livestock, though, we've helped producers better manage their pastures and haylands. To your point, Kendall earlier, we recommend and provide guidance on maximizing their grazing management to assist producers in ensuring that they don't have to lean as much on hay during growing season, but rather use the land in a way that will be more beneficial to them and their livestock. Part of that is always soil health, right? To increase the yields of not only the forage there, but also maybe hay and corn that they do need to create for silage for those non-growing months, which pay those in the state as well. And then you know perhaps the biggest thing on livestock is what goes in eventually must come out, right? So we also fund projects to to help livestock producers manage manure and and apply it in a way that ensures that it stays on their operation and and not waterways. But those nutrients are expensive, right? And fertilizers expensive.
Rebecca Dube 31:11
Yes.
Jeremy Fowler 31:12
And if you have the nutrients, you've already made them.
Kendall Kunelius 31:15
Right.
Jeremy Fowler 31:15
The animals helped you make them. Let's keep them there to help the cycle go, right? So our practices help ensure those harder nutrients remain on their farmland to benefit their soil by helping grow that corn and hay and silage and everything else. But if we move up more towards the farmstead, we also assist in increasing energy efficiency in the farmstead, right? So updating lighting in barns that are still rocking the 1977 incandescent light bulbs that nobody can see, and there - you know, I've been there! My grandfather's barn had the same sort of thing. Or fans, hey, we bought this fan in 66. It's still kicking, but it's not very energy efficient. Also help with heating and cooling. We've worked with many of our great maple syrup producers is another one, I'll send a link to what I did on that as well. And it's like, well, what can you do with them? Well, we help them in the woods to manage their sugar bush, but we also help them in their sap houses to find more efficient boilers or wood arches or upgrade to a reverse osmosis or add a reverse osmosis machine to their operations, which will increase their efficiency. And it saves them firewood, which in many cases, when we produce our own here in New Hampshire because that's the way we are, will save them time, right? Save fuel, save time. Never a bad thing for a farmer to have more time.
Rebecca Dube 32:34
Right!
Jeremy Fowler 32:34
We've also helped plan heavy use areas back on the farm that protect soil and where heavy equipment is often traveling through where animals congregate and create those muddy barnyard messes that we look at.
Kendall Kunelius 32:46
The "loafing" areas!
Jeremy Fowler 32:48
People look at it, and you know, some people will be like, "Well, it looks like a farm." And to us, it's like "It looks like a resource concern!" So we'll help them establish a heavy use area where those animals can congregate without causing resource concerns. And then those very same barns-you know water's coming off some very sizable barns in New Hampshire. And while that sounds like just the way things are, well, if it gets too close to your foundation or something like that, it's just going to cause your future heartache. So we'll help you prevent these issues that ultimately then cause erosion and other downstream problems. So, that's sort of like the big livestock pieces. But when it comes to our growers, we also provide guidance in vegetable and fruit operations. This is anything from helping somebody to adopt mulching practices or more regenerative practices on their growing operations and better manage for irrigation or micro irrigation, showing them the benefits of micro irrigation when there's maybe not a lot of water to be had. We've had those issues in New Hampshire. We say this one season is too much water, and some years is not enough water. Right?
Kendall Kunelius 33:54
It's been a month. Like some months it's too much, and then the next day -
Jeremy Fowler 33:58
Yeah, like we'll have the same producer approaching us about it's way too wet in April, and you know we'll help them by looking at their land and say, "Well, you have a perch water table here. Perhaps some subsurface drainage might be necessary." Then we'll hear from them in four months, like "my plants, like -
Kendall Kunelius 34:14
"-where'd the water go?"
Jeremy Fowler 34:15
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you know that's part of it, and then you know high tunnels were a big thing, and a lot of beginning farmers and stuff approach us on these. They're not a greenhouse, right? It's grow-in-the-ground operation, simply meant to extend the growing season here in New Hampshire, which, as we know, and as we'll find out in a month or so, is just way too short. But yeah, that's sort of like the thing that's almost introductory for some folks that are growing. That really helps them sort of understand the contract and so it's a bit of a dip your toe in the water that we've seen from a number of producers over the years, but we've done so much more with fruit and berry growers to assist them in managing pests, right? That's a big issue right now.
Kendall Kunelius 35:00
Yeah.
Jeremy Fowler 35:01
Right. So we assist in funding projects to help allow them to better scout out in insects that might be wreaking havoc on their operation. Weather stations, installing weather stations for them to understand, rather than just well, it's the first of May, it's time to spray. Be like, well, according to the temperature and the humidity, these are the type of pests that I'm struggling with, or be most active. Geez, not on first of May, but like May 10, according to the weather station. Now's the time to spread. So reducing their pesticide usage in a scientific way, rather than the calendar. Just doing it right now, so I should too.
Kendall Kunelius 35:37
Yeah, data-informed decision is the term we use in Extension. But yeah, it's one and the same.
Jeremy Fowler 35:44
We also help to encourage low tunnel usage, right? To ward off insects and netting and these sorts of things. Spotted wing drosophila on some of our, for some of our berry growers has been a big issue. We've worked with a lot of them. We're very happy to to talk to you about the work we've done with them. But I think at the end of the day, the biggest test for any conservation system that we install is years later when we're back on the farm because they want to work with us again.
Kendall Kunelius 36:08
Yeah.
Jeremy Fowler 36:08
We see the producer at an event and we ask them if everything's going well, and they're very happy with it and wondering, you know, when the next sign-up deadline is because they really want to get back to it. But hearing how these changes to their operations make their farm more resilient and help them be more profitable, or allow them to continue farming. Really, is just a bit of a highlight for us. Like it feeds us a little bit, feeds our soul. And with nearly 200 conservation practices that we have, NRCS really has something for any producer that can assist them with their conservation efforts.
Kendall Kunelius 36:41
Yeah, terrific. Which is awesome because we've got all kinds of producers here in New Hampshire. Yeah, everything from ostrich farms to- I'm so glad you mentioned oysters, right? The whole seacoast is a whole other consideration to our timber producers and landowners.
Jeremy Fowler 36:57
Yeah, it's really hard for some of our producers that are away from the coast to understand that we do have producers that are literally up to their elbows in water, right? Yeah, and they need some data October out there pulling oysters, and it's really a beautiful thing. I actually have a story that I will be releasing soon on that one as well.
Rebecca Dube 37:18
Oh, perfect!
Kendall Kunelius 37:19
We look forward to hearing that. Well, thank you so much, Jeremy, for your time. This has been fantastic. We do want to thank Annie's Project again too, and just take a note of the Annie's Project Cooperative Agreement with NRCS. And Jeremy, if folks are interested in hearing more about NRCS or kind of pursuing these applications, how do they reach out?
Jeremy Fowler 37:39
Yeah, so I think a great stop - I'll give you two good websites here. There's the NRCS website, right? So that's just www.nrcs.usda.gov. If you throw a forward slash in there and write New Hampshire, you'll come right to the New Hampshire page. But I think a great overview, and if our farmers aren't aware of it, is to go to the farmers.gov website, and at the top of the banner there, there's actually a conservation link. It'll walk you through five steps of getting conservation assistance planning. It'll link you to NRCS's website. There's an awful lot of resources out there, and there's even a service center locator where you find your county, ask for your state, ask for your county. It'll tell you what your county office is or your USDA service center that services your area.
Rebecca Dube 38:25
Oh, great!
Jeremy Fowler 38:26
And all the contact information for that.
Kendall Kunelius 38:28
Oh, good. Yeah, so people can just reach right out directly to those service centers or go on the website.
Jeremy Fowler 38:34
Yep, absolutely.
Kendall Kunelius 38:35
Awesome.
Rebecca Dube 38:36
Well, thank you, Jeremy. It has been so informative and wonderful to have you here to tell us about all these different resources available for farmers, and we'll be looking to talk with all of you again soon on the next episode of Shared Soil.
Kendall Kunelius 38:57
Shared Soil is a production of University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, an equal opportunity educator and employer, views expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those of the university, its trustees, or its volunteers. Inclusion or exclusion of commercial products in this podcast does not imply endorsement. The University of New Hampshire, U.S. Department of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperate to provide extension programming in the Granite State. Learn more at extension.unh.edu.
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