BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Soil conservation on an upward trend in Indiana X-WR-TIMEZONE:Indiana (East) BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261013T124952Z UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_40437001003478 DTSTART:20220707T120000Z DTEND:20220707T130000Z DESCRIPTION:INDIANA (July 7\, 2022) —According to a recent conservation s urvey\, Indiana farmers planted an estimated 1.5 million acres of overwint er living covers in the late fall of 2021\, matching the record 1.5 millio n acres planted in 2020\, according to the Indiana State Department of Agr iculture.\n\nOverwintering living covers (i.e. - cover crops and small gra ins\, like wheat) are known for their environmental benefits. Cover crops and small grains help increase organic matter in the soil and improve over all soil health by adding living roots to the soil additional months out o f the year. Cover crops also improve water infiltration into the soil\, wh ile other covers\, like legumes serve as natural fertilizers. The 1.5 mill ion acres of living covers planted sequestered an amount of soil organic c arbon that is the equivalent of 819\,941 tons of CO2. \n\nAlthough the co nservation transect does not differentiate between cover crops and small g rains\, Indiana farmers typically plant fewer than 300\,000 acres of small grains annually\, so cover crops vastly dominate the 1.5 million estimate d acres. Except for corn and soybeans\, cover crops are planted on more ac res than any other commodity crop in Indiana. Cover crops are typically pl anted in the fall after harvest and are utilized to protect the soil and k eep roots in the ground throughout the winter\, which improves soil health and helps filter water runoff.\n\nThe conservation transect is a visual s urvey of cropland in the state. It was conducted between March and April 2 022 by members of the Indiana Conservation Partnership\, including the USD A Natural Resources Conservation Service\, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture\, Indiana’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Purdu e Extension\, as well as Earth Team volunteers\, to show a more complete s tory of the state’s conservation efforts.\n\n“By increasing our cover crop practices each year\, we are ensuring that we provide healthier soil for the next generation\,” said Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch\, the Indian a Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “I am proud of the col laborative efforts being done by our farmers and leaders in Indiana agricu lture.”\n\nAs a result of the cover crops and other overwintering covers planted last year\, it is estimated that 2.1 million tons of sediment was prevented from entering Indiana’s waterways\, which is enough sediment to fill more than 597 Olympic-size swimming pools. Overwintering covers al so prevented 5.1 million pounds of nitrogen and over 2.5 million pounds of phosphorus from entering Indiana's waterways.\n\nThe conservation survey also showed that about 70 percent of farmed acres were not tilled and 18 p ercent of farmed acres had employed reduced tillage after the 2021 harvest . This early spring survey is not intended to quantify pre-planting tillag e.\n\n“Indiana farmers continue to help lead the way through their dedic ation to conservation farming\,” said Jerry Raynor\, state conservationi st for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana. “The work being done by farmers throughout the state to promote soil health thr ough no-till farming and the planting of cover crops will have positive im pacts for generations to come. We are committed to continuing to help farm ers help the land through financial assistance and free conservation techn ical assistance as they implement these practices and more to help conserv e this vital resource.”\n\nIndiana State Department of Agriculture Direc tor Bruce Kettler is excited to see what the future holds for soil conserv ation in Indiana.\n\n“As recent surveys have proved\, soil conservation remains an integral part of how Hoosier farmers care for their land and th e work they do\," said Kettler. “With this increasing trend of cover cro p acres and soil health\, future generations are in trustworthy hands.”\ n\nKurt Theurer is one of the many farmers throughout Indiana seeing the b enefits of no-till farming paired with cover crops. Theurer farms 1\,650 a cres in Jay County\, Indiana\, evenly split between corn and soybeans. He has no-till farmed and planted cover crops on approximately 400 of his acr es for more than a decade and transitioned the remaining acres after he st arted farming them five years ago. Theurer started cover cropping by testi ng a small plot with oats. After seeing an immediate impact\, he planted h is entire farm in cover the next season.\n\nHe is also the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District Board Chairman and has implemented a nutr ient and pest management plan on his land with assistance from the USDA Na tural Resources Conservation Service.\n\n“I did a small trial at my home farm and the weeds that I had\, the resistant weeds\, just went from craz y to barely any after I ran a cover crop\,” Theurer said. “The next sp ring\, that soil was just a whole totally different soil type. You could t ell in the field the next spring right where we quit our oats."\n\n“We'r e starting to get a lot of earthworms again\,” he continued. “We're st arting to get a lot of root penetration down through our hardpans with all our cover crops. And my organic material that I'm building\, I was only a t like 1.5 percent organic material when I started and I'm like 2.5-3 perc ent now. So\, I feel that I'm working in the right direction.”\n\nClick here or visit isda.in.gov to see the results from the survey. To visit the Indiana Conservation Data Hub click here. \n\n### LOCATION: SUMMARY:Soil conservation on an upward trend in Indiana URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.in.gov/event/soil_conservation_on_an_upward_tr end_in_indiana CATEGORIES:Press Releases END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR