Our agricultural program here at the District offers numerous benefits to the community beyond the typical nutrient management and conservation planning approach, we just didn't know how to bundle or speak to those services. Coming out of our strategic planning session, we began speaking about our agricultural program in terms of wrap around services, or the concept of a whole farm approach. Under this approach we certainly help with conservation planning and nutrient management issues, but we expanded our scope and focus to include the following services as well:
Whole Farm Approach
Farm Assessments
Use the following tools to perform self assessments for water quality protection and planning under the PA Clean Streams Law, and to evaluate how on-farm management practices and activities might be a risk to groundwater. These tools are a handy way to assess where your farm stands with regards to the laws and regulations under the Clean Streams Law.
PA Farm *A* Syst
A self-evaluation to evaluate how on-farm management practices and activities might be a risk to groundwater.
Water Quality Assessment
A self assessment and planning tool to addres water quality related issues and identify BMPs that can alleviate concerns.
Healthy, Productive Soils Checklist
Use this checklist to determine if you’re using some or all of the core Soil Health Management System farming practices.
Energy Conservation
EnSave Agricultural Energy Audits
Through EnSave, the Allegheny County Conservation District helps to provide agricultural energy efficiency services, farm audits, consulting, training, and educational programming. Additionally, we can help to find funding for energy related projects, connect you with energy professionals, and make sure that saving energy is integrated into your overall farm planning..
Soil Health
What does soil health mean in PA?
According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), soil health can change the land. Improving soil health over a period of 5 to 20 years can dramatically change soil function, productivity, and water quality downstream. Leading farmers in Pennsylvania have already proven this to themselves and to many of us by implementing soil health management systems.
Soil health can change people. Soil health concepts can truly change people’s attitudes about the land. The idea of not just maintaining the land, but improving it to achieve higher levels of productivity with less reliance on outside inputs is refreshing and energizing to many farmers.
Core Soil Functions:
- Supplying plant roots with water, air, and nutrients with minimal inputs
- Absorbing even the most intensive rainfalls with minimal runoff
- Breaking down and recycling "wastes" such as plant residues and manure
- Functioning on the highest level possible with minimal inputs.
Conservation Tillage
What is conservation tillage?
Conservation tillage is any method of soil cultivation that leaves the previous year's crop residue (such as corn stalks or wheat stubble) on fields before and after planting the next crop, to reduce soil erosion and runoff. To provide these conservation benefits, a percentage (generally 30% to 70%) of the soil surface must be covered with residue after planting the next crop.
No Till and Strip Till
The soil is left undisturbed between crop harvest and planting of the next crop except for:
- Disturbance within the crop row caused by the planter
- Disturbance outside of the crop row caused by the placement of nutrients into the soil.
Cover Crops
Why Cover Crops?
Cover crops have the potential to provide multiple benefits in a cropping system such as:
- Preventing erosion
- Improving soil conditions
- Supplying nutrients
- Suppressing weeds
- Improving availability of water
- Breaking pest cycles.
Agricultural Erosion and Sedimentation Planning
On November 19, 2010, the PA Chapter 102 regulations addressing Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management were updated and implemented. These changes to also affect agricultural planning efforts and animal use areas.
Agricultural Planning
- All farms are now required to develop, implement, and maintain a written plan to reduce soil erosion when plowing and tilling.
- Chapter 102 has always stated that plowing and tilling needed a plan, now Animal Heavy Use Areas (AHUAs) must be covered by a conservation plan or agricultural erosion and sediment plan.
