Working with NRCS: A “Whole Team” Approach Under EQIP’s Organic Management Standard
Our local Bourbon County, KS NRCS office made their first visit to the farm within a week of me contacting them asking for help. They immediately began the process of developing a conservation plan with me, then identified resource concerns that they could help us address. It was a ‘whole team’ approach. Each specialist within our local area (even a neighboring county office) were involved in the conversation throughout the whole process.
The entire process took nearly a year, so I had to be patient. But my resource concerns still got the immediate benefit from the forward thinking of the team. The results of having their support has had an immediate effect. I hope every farmer knows what an eco-system ‘boost’ looks like. But if you are in the beginning of transitioning land into organic production, then you know it takes a minimum of 3 years to ‘build’ the soil before you can expect a return from a cash crop. Which means that’s a lot of input costs before you’ll ever be able to see a profit.
While the changes that we are all facing in our climate are only compiling and nothing is predictable, the science of farming in our region is nothing new. This is even more reason for us to address our resource concerns now and adapt our practices to accommodate for these constant changes in our weather. With NRCS support, we are addressing soil erosion by building and/or restoring waterways and terraces on our farm. We are also mitigating soil erosion as well as reducing tillage through the practice of multi-species cover-cropping, while building soil OM (organic matter) and fertility at the same time.
The support that our farm is receiving from the USDA through the comprehensive contract that our local county NRCS office facilitated with us has enabled us to excel our mission of establishing a legacy organic-certified farm on the land that our family has been blessed to steward for the past 45 years. Bringing us closer to the goal of being a viable regional supplier of nutritionally dense organic-certified grains, produce and beef.
Written by Chris Barnett - Bourbon County, Certified Organic Farmer/Rancher
