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#Fridaysonthefarm: Top 10 Stories of 2017
Dec. 29, 2017 - In 2017, NRCS kicked off our #Fridaysonthefarm story series that highlights producers and landowners on local farms, ranches, forests and resource areas where NRCS and partners help people help the land. Count down the #Fridaysonthefarm Top 10 Stories of 2017 with us.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Growing Organic at Vermont's Meeting Place Pastures
Dec. 22, 2017 - This Friday, we visit Marc and Cheryl Cesario, who own and operate Meeting Place Pastures in Cornwall, Vermont, where they raise grass-fed beef and certified organic eggs. With 500-acres of certified organic pastureland, they harness solar energy that is converted into a wholesome and nutritious feed for their animals.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Creating Wildlife Habitat Acre by Acre
December 15, 2017 - This week we visit Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, and Jessica and David Gales who grew up hunting and fishing. The Gales’ young daughters share their love of the outdoors. That’s why they are teaching the importance of natural resources conservation by restoring native grasses and habitat to their land.
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Farmers Keeping Nutrients on the Field, Out of Streams
December 15, 2017 - Clean water is a priority for us all. When farmers manage nutrients across croplands, they also help to minimize the runoff of nutrients into local streams and rivers.
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Growing Organic with NRCS: Habitat and Biodiversity
December 12, 2017 - Visit organic farms across the country and see how NRCS conservation practices are helping organic build habitat and biodiversity on their land. Read the Growing Organic with NRCS: Habitat and Biodiversity.
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#Fridaysonthefarm - Removing Invasive Blackberries Doubled the Productive Land
December 1, 2017- From the kitchen table to the boardroom table, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) brings people together across the nation for: healthier food, natural resources and people; a stronger agricultural industry; and economic growth, jobs and innovation.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Louisiana farmer reaps benefits of healthy soil
November 8, 2017- After switching to no-till and cover crop practices on his northeast Louisiana farm, Robbie Howard began to realize both the production and lifestyle benefits of his soil health management system.
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Growing Organic with NRCS: Irrigation and Water Management
November 7, 2017 -Visit organic farms across the country and see how NRCS conservation practices are helping organic producers with water management and irrigation. Read the Growing Organic with NRCS: Irrigation and Water Management.
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Meet Mighty Mini Microbe
November 6, 2017 - Check out this exclusive interview with the new NRCS mascot “Mighty Mini Microbe,” who represents the trillions of beneficial soil microbes that make farming possible. Read the Meet Mighty Mini Microbe. |
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Saving the Florida Scrub-jay
November 29, 2017 - The Florida crub-jay population is in peril. But Fred Hunter wants to give them a home. Known as “Mr. Scrub Jay” to friends and family, he has dedicated himself to protect this charismatic bird and the habitat it depends upon.
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Give Your Farm a Rugged, Natural Look
November 28, 2017- Consider the benefits of no-till through the lenses of soil health, water quality, economics and beneficial microbes. Read the Give Your Farm a Rugged, Natural Look. |
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Growing Organic: Livestock and Pasture Management
November 28, 2017 - Visit organic farms across the country and see how NRCS conservation practices are helping organic producers help the land. Read the Livestock and Pasture Management. |
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Organic Producer Delivers Cranberries to the Table
November 24, 2017- This Friday, we travel to the heart of cranberry country: Oneida County, Wisconsin. There, we visit James Lake Farms, an organic cranberry marsh owned and operated by John and Nora Stauner.
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Growing all Seasons: High Tunnels
November 21, 2017 - Across the U.S., farmers are discovering the benefits of high tunnels. NRCS can help producers integrate high tunnels into their operations and provide financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Read the Growing all Seasons: High Tunnels article.
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Healthy Soil
November 17, 2017 -Healthy soil is the foundation of organic farming. NRCS can help farmers and ranchers with a number of conservation practices that build healthy soil. Read the Healthy Soil article.
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Recipe for Success: Improving Water Quality
November 13, 2017 - Voluntary conservation efforts focused in small watersheds can yield big results for locally important waters. See how NRCS, landowners, and partners are working together to improve water quality in Illinois.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: A Vermont Veteran Grows Greener Pastures
November 9, 2017 -This Friday, meet Kevin Plew. He protected the United States through service in the Coast Guard and the National Guard. Today Plew protects and improves the natural resources on his grass-based farm in Mount Holly, Vermont.
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Evaluating Milkweed Species to Enhance Monarch Butterfly Conservation
November 4, 2017 - With the support of a Conservation Innovation Grant, Iowa State University is conducting research to inform conservation efforts to benefit the monarch across the agriculturally-intensive Midwestern U.S. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Crawfish, Rice and Healthy Soil — A Farm Family's Recipe for the Future
November 3, 2017 -This #Fridaysonthefarm, meet the Durand family of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. Rice and crawfish are staples of Louisiana cuisine. For the Durand family, they are also important ingredients in the special family recipe for improving soil health.
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Soil Health Improvements Yield 'Sweet' Rewards for First-Generation Farmers
October 30, 2017- In addition to reducing tillage and utilizing the ample sugar cane residue to reduce erosion, the Andres have added cover crops and increased diversity in their operation. Read more.
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Landowners in Deep South Protect 700,000 Acres of Wetlands with USDA Help
October 20, 2017 - Private landowners in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana have protected 700,000 acres of critical wetlands in the past 25 years, which accounts for one-third of all wetlands under USDA conservation easements in the country. Read more.
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Helping Bats through ‘Spooky’ Declines
October 27, 2017 - This Friday, meet Thomas and Wendy Belinda of Blair County in Pennsylvania and learn how they help improve habitat for the Indiana Bat.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: From Washington, D.C. to Africa, to Farming in Alabama
October 20, 2017 - This Friday, meet Gene Thornton of Sneaky Crow Farm in Roanoke, Alabama and learn how he works with Mother Nature to produce organic fruits and vegetables for his community.
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Working Lands for Monarch Butterflies
October 18, 2017 - NRCS works with farmers to help fields flourish and monarchs flutter.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Fourth-Generation Dairy Family Powers the Future
October 13, 2017 - This Friday, visit the Scott Brothers Dairy in San Jacinto, California, where a fourth-generation farm family makes history with a state-of-the-art manure gasification system.
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Every Successful Farm Starts With a Plan
October 10, 2017 - The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) was born out of troubled times — the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. Dust storms ravaged the nation’s farmland, stripping away millions of tons of topsoil and carrying it all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Small-Scale Conservation Brings Big Yields for Fiddlehead Farm in Oregon
October 6, 2017 - This Friday, travel to Fiddlehead Farm in Corbett, Oregon, where Katie Coppoletta shares the benefits of conservation planning on a smaller organic farm.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Agricultural Land Easement Protects Historic Washington Farm
September 29, 2017 - This Friday, visit the Bush Prairie Farm in Tumwater, Washington, where Mark and Kathleen Clark honor the farm's original family - the first African American land owner in Washington - by permanently protecting the local farm through an agricultural land easement.
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North Carolina Soil: 100 Counties in 50 years
September 28, 2017 - Join us in celebrating a major 2017 milestone – a soil survey of every county in North Carolina! Learn more about the history and future of soil surveys by exploring beautiful historical maps, photos, historic timelines and more.
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Habitat Hero: Mike Fenn
September 26, 2017 - Meet Mike Fenn, a landowner and business owner near Pinedale, Wyoming. He's working with the Sage Grouse Initiative to use prescribed grazing and improved wetlands on his ranch so that livestock and wildlife both benefit.
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Growing Organic with NRCS
September 25, 2017 - Visit organic farms across the country and see how NRCS conservation practices are helping organic producers help the land.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Wisconsin Family Passes Down a Conservation Ethic and Sustainable Family Farm
September 22, 2017 - This Friday, we travel to Tigerton, Wisconsin, where Brian and Hannah Harper are teaching their two young daughters how conservation positively impacts their dairy and the neighboring community, passing down lessons they learned from generations past. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Tending the Healing Harvest in the High Desert
September 15, 2017 - This #Fridaysonthefarm, meet the growing Korean farming community that, with support from NRCS, tends the healing harvest in the California high desert. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Scouts Plant Pollinator Habitat and Learn Valuable Life Lessons
September 8, 2017 - This Friday, we visit the newest outdoor classroom at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Western Iowa - five acres of pollinator habitat planted by scouts and local partners. Read more.
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Managing for Healthy, Diverse Forests
September 7, 2017- Healthy forests, just like healthy human populations, are sustained by a diversity of ages and types. In many places, forests lack diversity. NRCS and forest landowners are working together to improve forest health – good for operations and wildlife.
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Conservation Starts with Education
September 5, 2017 - Every day, NRCS works with America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to make improvements on working lands that help soil, water, air and wildlife while ensuring the lands remain productive and resilient. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Ashland Forest Restoration Project Reduces Wildfire Risk and Benefits Local Economy
September 1, 2017 - This Friday, we travel to Jackson County, Oregon, where landowners and conservation partners are implementing the Ashland Forest All-Lands Restoration or AFAR Project - forest restoration and fuels reduction treatments through a cross-boundary, all-lands approach on federal and private non-industrial forest lands. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: A Georgia Family’s Roots Run Deep
August 25, 2017 - For the past 200-plus years, the Bembry family has made a living off their Georgia farm, adapting and evolving how they managed the land as needed. Johnny Bembry is continuing what his great, great, great, great grandfather started. Join us as we take a walk down Bembry Lane. Read more.
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Manure Storage and Water Runoff Solutions Lead to a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay
August 25, 2017 - Water that runs off this dairy farm on an eastern Pennsylvania ridge top, travels across the barnyard to rivers and streams, ultimately running into the Chesapeake Bay. A series of conservation practices is helping keep soil and nutrients on the farm and runoff water cleaner. Read more.
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Be A Friend To Pollinators
August 24, 2017 - Most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops—and other plants that provide fiber, medicines, and fuel—are pollinated by animals. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators. Read more.
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Restoring the Little Lemonweir
August 24, 2017 -Meet Nate Bell, a third generation Wisconsin crop farmer who has worked with NRCS and local partners to restore Little Lemonweir. After implementing a combination of conservation practices, Bell and his family now enjoy a healthy stream running through their farm - full of brown trout – and the many days of casting lines together. Read more.
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Be A Friend To Pollinators
August 23, 2017 - Most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops—and other plants that provide fiber, medicines, and fuel—are pollinated by animals. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Partners Grow Community Garden in a Las Vegas Food Desert
August 18, 2017 - This Friday, pick kale, spinach, carrots and other fresh produce at the Zion Choice Neighborhood Community Garden Park at Zion United Methodist Church in North Las Vegas, an oasis in a food desert. For area residents, the one-acre community garden is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Read more. |
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Oregon’s Cranberry Capitol Gets Major Upgrade
August 16, 2017 - A high-tech irrigation solution is saving water, energy and time in Cape Blanco. Meet Nick Puhl, a local cranberry producer from Cape Blanco, Oregon. Puhl is helping his family convert to the latest conservation technologies. A move that makes their operation more sustainable and helps grow their business. Read more.
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A Pipeline is a Lifeline in the West
August 16, 2017 - Water is the life blood of the West. Traditionally, fingers point directly at production agriculture when discussing the cause of limited water availability in Colorado’s Lower South Platte Watershed, covering about 406,000 acres in portions of Morgan, Washington, Logan and Sedgwick counties. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Conservation on Small Acres Produces Big Results
August 11, 2017 - You won’t see this cowboy rope calves, brand steer or ride into the sunset. But Barry Viljoen has big plans for his tiny ranch in Clermont, Florida. This Friday, we tour the suburban ranch where Barry and Jacqui Biljoen manage 14 head of cattle on just 14 acres. Read more.
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Healthy Watersheds Begin on Private Lands
August 11, 2017 - America’s Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — hold 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water. This water provides habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife and drinking water for more than 40 million people. Read more.
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Stepping Up for a Cleaner Mississippi River
August 10, 2017 - Meet Iowa's 2015 Soil Conservation Farmer of the Year Award recipient, Tim Smith, one of the many conservation farmers participating in a USDA program designed to reduce nutrient and sediment loading in the Mississippi River Basin. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Beginning Farmer Uses Conservation Plan to Establish a Successful Sheep Herd Operation in Tennessee
August 4, 2017 - This week, we visit the small, southern town of Bell Buckle, Tennessee for a behind-the-scenes look at Crossroads Farms. Tomm and Martha Brady recently established a successful sheep herd operation on the farm, guided by a sound conservation plan for land health and productivity. Read more.
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Reducing Dependency on Groundwater in Arkansas
August 3, 2017 - Arkansas producers prove there are several methods to reduce the dependence on groundwater. Informed by a sound conservation plan, these producers are working with NRCS to attain sustainability, and not only increase their profitability, but protect one of Arkansas’s most valuable natural resources. Read more.
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Conservation Efforts Benefit Southern Nevada Producers and the Environment
July 31, 2017 - For Stan Hardy and his father, Glen, owners of the Hardy Farm, the hands-on technical assistance provided through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has not only benefited the environment with water savings and improved soil health, but it has yielded benefits for their alfalfa production and farm. Read More.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Iowa Farmer Uses Roller Crimper in Organic No-Till System
July 28, 2017 - This Friday, we meet Levi Lyle and his daughter Olivia on the family farm in Keota, Iowa. Levi never thought he would be a roller crimper go-to person for eastern Iowa farmers. But with his interest in eliminating herbicides on portions of his family’s cropland, he now has two crimpers that he uses and rents to farmers from Waterloo to Bloomfield. Read more.
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Conservation Couple: From Bay Area Business Owners to Award-Winning, First Gen Ranchers
July 25, 2017 - When Mike and Kathy Landini packed their belongings into friends’ trucks and left Concord, Calif., for Elk Creek, Calif., they had no idea what their new life would bring. They were looking for a quieter place to raise their children. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthfarm: Vermont’s Farm to Ballet Project Supports Working Lands and Conservation through Art
July 21, 2017 - This Friday, we have a backstage pass to this year's Farm to Ballet performance at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, a beautiful backdrop supported by voluntary conservation practices. Join NRCS and meet lead ballerina Avi Waring who, as a native Vermont farmer, brings the daily rhythm of farm life to her dance. Read more.
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Diversifying a Private Forest to Diversify Wildlife
July 20, 2017 – John Hoover says walking through his Pennsylvania forest is like walking through rooms of a house. "Each room is different and has its own use," he says, referring to the different age classes of tree stands on his property. Some are old. Some are young. Over the years, John has learned a diverse forest can yield better timber while benefiting wildlife. Read more in a multimedia story or on the NRCS website.
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New ‘Healthy Sagebrush Communities’ Poster Highlights How Efforts for Sage Grouse Have Come Full Circle
July 19, 2017 - We’ve all heard the saying: what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – meaning, what’s good for one is good for another. In the sagebrush country of the West, that sentiment has rung true for another feathered friend: the greater sage-grouse. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Demonstration Farms Implement Conservation Practices to Improve Lake Erie Water Quality
July 14, 2017 - This Friday, NRCS meets three families in the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network in Ohio who are applying a combination of innovative and standard conservation practices in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Read more.
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Sprouting Healthy Sagebrush Conservation in Gunnison, Colorado
July 13, 2017 – The lush green flats on his ranch offer plenty of quality forage for his cow/calf pairs as well as the elk and Gunnison sage-grouse that frequent his property. The health of these flourishing Rocky Mountain rangelands is due to nearly 20 years of sagebrush restoration, water projects and sustainable grazing practices. Read more in a multimedia story or on the NRCS website.
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5 Ways to Enjoy Healthy Landscapes
July 11, 2017 - July is Outdoors Month and the perfect time to take advantage of long summer days to have fun outside. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: New Growth on a West Virginia Family Farm Benefits Community
July 7, 2017 - This Friday, NRCS visits JP Family Farms in Joy, West Virginia, where John and Peggy Burgess grow crops year-round in high tunnels for economic growth and community service. Read more.
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Horses for Heroes: A Farm Expands Therapeutic Riding Program to Veterans
July 3, 2017 - In 2014, Monique Nellis began the Heavenly Gaits Therapeutic Riding Center in Knox, Pennsylvania - a non-profit therapeutic riding center devoted to making a difference in the lives of adults and children with special needs. Monique’s efforts now include veterans and their families through a new “Horses for Heroes” program. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Conservation Planning Helps Keep Dairy Farm Productive
June 20, 2017 - This Friday, we meet Ron Abing, a conservation minded dairy farmer in Lancaster, Wisconsin. Ron and his family are proud champions of conservation and the importance of good planning and implementation to build farm sustainability. Read more.
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The Common Ground between Grazing and Conservation
June 28, 2017 - It is no secret there can be tension between conservation interests and cattle grazing, but the owners of the Lightning Creek Ranch in eastern Oregon have found some common ground. Read more.
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NRCS Launches Interactive #Fridaysonthefarm Series
Follow the NRCS #Fridaysonthefarm features each Friday. Through new interactive story maps, visit local farms, ranches, forests and resource areas where NRCS and partners help people help the land. Read more.
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Spurring Agricultural Innovations Across the Nation
June 21, 2017- On June 8, 2017, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded more than $22.6 million in 33 projects nationwide through its competitive Conservation Innovation Grants program. Authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill, the CIG invests in tools, technologies and strategies that support next-generation conservation efforts on working lands and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges. Read more.
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Conservation Stewardship 210-Years in the Making : The Bembry’s Longleaf Legacy
June 21, 2017 - Johnny Bembry’s family origins go back to the birth of our nation and for eight generations since, they have been improving their Pulaski County farm and community by establishing and nurturing the family and vegetative roots that have held it together for over 210 years. Read more.
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#Fridaysonthefarm: Seminole Pride Markets Success
June 9, 2017 - In this #Fridaysonthefarm, NRCS heads out on a round up with the Seminole Tribe on the Brighton Reservation in Florida where history and tradition drive a new business model. Read more.
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