What's Up at the USDA Office?
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
May 15 - August 1: Primary Nesting Season – No MCM work on CRP acres
June 30: 2020 ARCPLC Election
July 15: Crop Certification
September 30: PLC Yield Update
Mid-Contract Management (MCM) on CRP Acres
Now that temperatures are starting to feel more like spring, please start thinking about your MCM, if you are scheduled for this year. Those that are scheduled for this year would have received a packet from our office this past fall detailing what needs to be done. You do have until May 14, 2020 to complete the work, but now is a good time to start lining up contractors if you haven’t already done so, buy seed if needed, and get equipment ready. If you have technical questions, need a seeding plan, or contractor list please contact the NRCS office. Any other questions can be directed to FSA.
Once you complete your MCM, please notify the FSA office, sign the FSA-848B form, and provide acceptable evidence (receipts, invoices, etc.) of practice completion to determine proper cost share payment.
Our Future Depends on Soil Health
LuAnn Rolling, District Conservationist
We’ve made some improvements in protecting our nation’s soils, but there is much that needs to be done - not only in the U.S., but worldwide. Six years ago, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said soil degradation was proceeding at such a rate that the world may only have 60 harvests left, noting that it takes up to 1,000 years to build 3 inches of topsoil.
Unless new approaches are adopted, the global amount of arable and productive land per person in 2050 will be only a quarter of the level in 1960, the FAO reported, due to growing population and soil degradation.
During the past century, through an input-dependent, industrial business model, we have mined the life and resilience out of our soil. As we have seen more frequent weather extremes, we’re increasingly seeing the impact of the degradation of our soil resources on our farms and in our lives.
Overall, our soils are less able to store water or absorb heavy rainfall and, as a result, they’re more susceptible to periods of drought or flooding. Our soils are also increasingly dependent on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides just to sustain current levels of productivity
University of Washington geologist and soil health crusader David Montgomery notes the U.S. is losing soil 10 times faster than its replenishment rate. China and India are in even worse shape, losing soil 30-40 times faster. You can certainly argue about the validity of models and predictions, as they’re certainly not perfect. But even if harvests continue hundreds of years from now, working with degraded soil will reduce yields further, increase water needs, deplete aquifers, and create even more reliance on crop insurance and bailouts.
With the worry and panic buying of certain foodstuffs during the coronavirus outbreak, it seemed like people started appreciating access to basic needs like food again. Imagine the unrest if we didn’t have the protection of our farmers in the U.S. Perhaps, with the empty bread shelves, we got a little taste of what other countries have been dealing with for decades.
Rather than take these figures literally, I think the point is to understand the importance of our soil assets. Our future generations are banking on us doing the right thing
We know we can heal our soils relatively quickly and profitably, with practices that have been around for years. Soil health-improving regenerative agricultural practices including no-till planting, the use of cover crops, the integration of animals and beneficial insects, and diverse cropping rotations all feed and protect soil microbes, which in turn, provide the healthy soil that feed and protect the crops that feed and nourish us.
