Ed. — From the Sunday, May 14, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Virginia’s soil and water conservation district organizations evolved from the mission of saving our vital soils after the Dust Bowl, the epic event that devastated farmland in the U.S. and Canada in the 1930s.
Think The Grapes of Wrath.
People had to abandon their farms to seek work in cities. Soils were overplowed, overgrazed and dry. So much of it blew away, a remarkable loss that stemmed from drought but also from manmade causes and poor practice.
Now we have other problems in our country and, sometimes, in local communities. Soil is still too dry in some places, but it is too wet in others. It erodes where it is too wet, and, with erosion, it runs off into waterways carrying with it excess fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides.
You may hear a lot about phosphorus because it creates algae bloom and other problems. I have written before about a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, and there also have been problems in the Chesapeake Bay and Back Bay.
We need to take these problems seriously through better practices, conservation and education.
We share the Virginia Dare Soil and Water Conservation District with our neighboring city, Chesapeake, and two of the four members elected to its board are from our city.
The organization is also supported by staff. Earlier this year, District Manager Kathleen Sullivan said the Dust Bowl-era goal of working with farmers continues today.
“Virginia Dare’s primary mission is to continue our Virginia agriculture cost-share program, which is putting these conservation practices on agricultural land and offering technical support to our farmers,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the organization also oversees urban conservation practices and does a lot of outreach, including to young people in our schools, about crops and soils.
“Our mission is conservation in the watershed on agricultural land and on urban land,” Sullivan said.
All four elected seats in the Virginia Dare District – two in Chesapeake, two in Virginia Beach – will be on the ballot this year. It’s not all about the General Assembly races in 2023.
I value the use of cover crops in the off season. A cover crop is what you can grow when you are not growing a cash crop, and, among other benefits, it holds the soil in place during heavy rains. Cover crops also take up excess nutrients still in the ground, preventing them from running off into the water. There are whole books written on the subject of using cover crops profitably, too. I hope to address some aspects of this practice in future columns.
Today, major district efforts go toward incentivizing the use of cover crops, including recommending certain crops with helpful qualities and assisting with costs. The district staff also supports nutrient management efforts. These practices can help soils and lessen impacts such as erosion and runoff into local waterways.
“Our programs are driven by the bay health,” Cory Hoar, district conservation specialist, told me during a conversation last year when I first set out to learn more about the district.
The program is voluntary. Farmers don’t have to do it. It is a cost-share program so the farmer doesn’t have to foot the whole bill. That helps.
The district is doing what it can with the funding it has, and I think even more of an investment could help. Incentives matter when we try to encourage buy-in to better policy.
For some folks, employing cover crops can require a different way of thinking – and even equipment. But a number of local farmers have participated.
Some cover crops can be harvested or grazed or simply turned over to improve the soil. Sometimes, the use of those crops helps them get other crops into the same ground earlier, and cover crops are an established part of the crop rotation.
The Virginia Dare district also has an old tire collection day each year, and its outreach is an important way to educate people about farming and conservation.
These things involve all of us, and I have participated in outreach, including reading to students and answering questions they may have about farming.
Frank Drumm, an appointed board member and a friend, and I read to young students at Malibu Elementary School earlier this year. Many volunteers, including farmers and master gardeners, joined folks from several agencies in this effort led by Sullivan.
It’s important to get the word out about the essential work of farming and our need to manage and conserve a resource we all need, even if some of us may take the food we eat for granted.
All of us have a stake in this. We have the power to help, too. We can support farmers, back the funding organizations such as Virginia Dare require or simply pay attention when district seats show up on the ballot.
Learn more about the work of the Virginia Dare Soil and Water Conservation District online via vadareswcd.com.
The author, a farmer and consultant, writes about sustainable farming and gardening for The Independent News. Reach him via farmerjohnnewearth@yahoo.com.
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