SEYMOUR, Wis. -- The fall harvest is here, and while many farmers say they wish to add conservation to their to-do-list, it's not always easy. In northeastern Wisconsin, one piece of equipment is giving producers the chance to adopt environmentally friendly practices.

There's been renewed interest in methods such as cover crops, which improve soil health and prevent harmful runoff to waterways, but the initial costs and time it takes to apply seed can serve as a barrier. Outagamie County officials have teamed up with the Nature Conservancy to provide an "air-seeder" for local farmers to share.

Jeremy Freund, project coordinator with the county, said the seeder attaches to machines, including those used for tillage work this fall.

"So, that air-seeder has little tubes that you can run anywhere on any piece of equipment, and tillage makes sense because you're disturbing the soil. And the tillage equipment does its thing for the farmer, but it also incorporates the seed," Freund said.

Meaning farmers can do two jobs at once. The Nature Conservancy donated the air-seeder and the county's Land Conservation department purchased supplemental gear for it.

The county says over the past five years, a handful of producers have used it, to great success. And they say farmers from outside the area can use it too.

A farmer based in Seymour was one of the first to use the air-seeder. Troy Ulmer said it's been beneficial to his operation because it's hard to rent equipment like this from ag dealers. He said he was able to use it again this summer and plans to go back to it in the future.

"I planted the cover crops between the corn rows," Ulmer said. "You know, it was a very minimal charge to use the equipment; otherwise, I would have had no means to put the cover crop in."

Nicole Van Helden, director of resilient lands at The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin, said this "library approach" of borrowing necessary equipment adds another option to the conservation movement within agriculture. She said state and federal incentive programs are great, but they don't cover everything a farmer might need to get things going. And implementing other ideas provides flexibility.

"Farmers are really creative and they're great problem solvers. And so, what works on one farm may or may not work for someone else," Van Helden said. "And so, having programs and equipment and knowledge sharing opportunities that allow people to figure it out for their own farm I think is really helpful."

Van Helden said convincing more farmers to try out conservation methods could do well for her area in the Fox River watershed. She said preventing harmful runoff from farmland can limit algae growth in places like the bay in Green Bay.

Those interested in borrowing the equipment are urged to contact the Outagamie County Land Conservation department.

A bill in the Idaho Legislature would lower restrictions for allowing chickens in residential areas.

The impetus for the legislation from Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, is in part high prices and the shortage of eggs at the grocery store. Senate Bill 1026 would ensure that homeowners associations could not bar residents from raising up to four chickens per one-fifth of an acre.

"Most people eat more than four chickens a year," said Ariel Agenbroad, who focuses on food systems and small farms at the University of Idaho Extension, "but for egg laying, if a chicken is laying an egg every other day, that can be a significant number of eggs that can be used by that family or that household."

While raising chickens could offset egg costs in the long run, Agenbroad notes there can be substantial upfront costs to the birds. Critics of the bill have said the chickens could potentially disrupt neighbors. Other concerns include noise, odor and the spread of diseases such as salmonella, to name a few. The legislation has passed out of the Senate and moved on to the House.

Agenbroad said people aren't going to get rich raising a small number of chickens in their backyards.

"Policies like this can have a really positive impact on people's ability to be self-sustaining," she said, "but I don't see it having a lot of impact on small business, like entrepreneurship or our farm business development, because the numbers are so small."

Agenbroad said it could pique someone's interest in farming, however. And beyond their value as farm animals, she said as a former chicken owner herself, the entertainment value alone is worth it.


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In Pennsylvania, a nonprofit striving to secure the future of small dairy farms is hoping its federal funding won't be frozen much longer.

Agriculture drives the state's $83 billion economy, with more than 50,000 farms. The Dairy Grazing Alliance includes an apprenticeship program to connect mentors and apprentices across 16 states. It supports dairy farmers using managed grazing to restore land, produce quality milk and stay profitable.

Jessica Matthews, apprenticeship manager for the alliance, said Pennsylvania currently has nine apprentices and 12 mentors.

"I read a statistic that we've lost 95% of small dairy farms since the '70s," Matthews noted. "The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship was originally formed to train the next generation of dairy farmers, because small farm owners were retiring without an identified successor."

Matthews said the program runs on 98% federal grant funding, with some climate-smart funds potentially tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. The money is on hold as they await guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Sustainable Ag Coalition, and producer payments have been paused until further notice.

The Trump administration tariffs on goods from China and Mexico are also expected to have an effect on farming in the state. Matthews pointed out one reason dairy farming is an expensive part of the ag industry in Pennsylvania is farmers are buying their supplies at market cost.

"Everything from Ajax for the milk house to iodine for teat dips, to vaccinations, all of that is bought at market costs at the farm," Matthews stressed. "They're making milk, and the milk is being sold at a wholesale cost per hundredweight."

She underscored it is hard to balance the high expenses with what farmers make from the milk when selling to a co-op. She added most milk stays in the country but higher tariffs on imported production supplies will raise farmers' input costs, even as their output remains the same.


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It looks like at least some Indiana farmers will be getting the federal dollars they have been counting on for farm conservation and soil health.

The Inflation Reduction Act included almost $20 million in funding for popular initiatives like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. More than 1,100 Indiana farms are part of the programs to help fight climate change.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would release funds for farmers who already have contracts.

Russell Taylor, vice president of Live Earth Products, which makes natural soil amendment products, said the funding freeze has forced the U.S. Senate to pivot on some big issues still to be resolved.

"Some of these freezes for funding, those items are really causing things that should have been working or in the works to be halted, such as the Farm Bill," Taylor explained. "Some of these things are just going to be delayed a little bit further out in the year but there still should be optimistic progress for things like getting a Farm Bill passed."

In releasing the funds, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins blamed the delay on the Biden administration, saying it "rushed out" money which was supposed to be spent over multiple years. She stated her agency is reviewing whether any of the funding so far has gone to programs which, in Rollins' words, "had nothing to do with agriculture."

Taylor cautioned farmers should also ensure they have what they need now to plant their crops should Trump's threats to impose tariffs become reality. And no matter the future of federal farm assistance, he said there are some steps farmers can take to ensure their soil health.

"In those regards to climate change, there are some things that you should be planning as far as the long game, and that is, building your soil organic matter," Taylor emphasized. "That's something that a farmer can address every year after year, and have it be useful for them to reduce their inputs and make a better utilization of those inputs."

He noted soil organic matter is a farmer's reservoir for storing water and nutrients, and it can always be improved regardless of current federal policies. U.S. Department of Agriculture research has found farms can boost their soil health within 10 years by using conservation practices.


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