Farm Calendar: March 13, 2013

 Pork Producers meet March 18

The LaRue County Pork Association will meet 7 p.m. March 18 at the LaRue County Extension office. The Extension Expo will be discussed. A meal will be served. All interested individuals are invited to attend.

Bacon Creek Watershed Council

The Bacon Creek Watershed Council will meet 6 p.m. (central time) March 25 at Bonnieville City Hall, 7775 N. Dixie Hwy., Bonnieville. The group will discuss the agricultural best management practices that have been installed in the watershed area. There will also be updates on the septic repair and replacement and pump out programs. For more information, contact Tessa Edelen at tessa@kwalliance.org or (502) 589-8008.

CRP sign-up

A four-week Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up begins May 20 and ends on June 14. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.

In addition to erosion control, CRP provides significant water quality benefits including reduced nutrients and sediment loadings and adverse consequences associated with floods as well as expanded and enhanced wildlife habitat. For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov or call 765-2702.

Conservation Loans available

 Funds are now available for Guaranteed Conservation Loans. Conservation loans allow farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices on their land that will help protect natural resources, including but not limited to, waste management systems, conservation structures or water conservation measures.

Interested applicants who do not already have a conservation plan approved by NRCS should work with their local NRCS staff to develop a conservation plan. As with other guarantees, lenders can reduce risk, increase liquidity and offer lower rates by selling the guaranteed portion in the secondary market. 

For more information, contact a local lender or the FSA office at 765-2702. 

EQIP

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program Wildlife Initiative. Land users may apply for EQIP at any time. However, the second application evaluation cutoff date for 2013 has been set at April 19. 

This program provides land users an opportunity to improve wildlife habitat by providing financial incentives for installing eligible practices on land they own or control. 

In Kentucky, the primary focus of the program is to improve early successional and forestland habitats for declining species and other wildlife. Restoring remnant prairies, planting native grasses, shrubs and trees are some of the eligible practices for the program. Other eligible practices include bush honeysuckle removal, creating patch clear cuts in forestland and creating shallow water areas. 

Excluding livestock from sensitive streams and woodlands is also an important focus under Kentucky’s 2013 EQIP Wildlife Initiative. Clover plots with certain limitations are eligible in 2013, but must be completed along with other practices such as native warm season grasses, tree or shrub plantings, edge feathering or patch clear cuts. 

Program applications are evaluated and ranked to determine which provide the most beneficial habitats. For more information about application requirements, visit your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office or http://fw.ky.gov/kfwis/viewable/privatelands_biologists.pdf or call the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources at 1-800-858-1549 to learn the name and telephone number of the private lands biologist serving the area. 

Dead animal pickup

For dead animal pickup, call Bluegrass Recycling at (888) 744-1186. The cost is $87.50 and the LaRue County Conservation District will reimburse the landowner 75 percent of the cost with receipt. For more information, call the Conservation District office at 358-3132.