Best Management & Conservation Programs
What is Your Fieldprint?
Learn more about your natural resource management practices, how your environmental impact compares to other growers in your area, and how conservation techniques can help improve your bottom line. Our goal is to work with 50 corn growers in the Paw Paw River Watershed to learn more about farmland resource management in our area. The Paw Paw River Watershed is a diverse landscape dependent on clean water and healthy soil. Managing crops to use these and other resources wisely will ensure availability for future generations. Using the Fieldprint Calculator, we hope to measure and ultimately improve corn production practices in Van Buren County.
Participants in the project will benefit by:
- Gaining better understanding of their farm’s resource efficiency
- Learning how potential management changes can affect their profitability
- Becoming more aware of conservation practice funding opportunities
- Receiving a 50% discount on VBCD rental equipment
- Participating in a dinner and discussion to review project results
Fieldprint Calculator Brochure and Fieldprint Calculator Website
For more information about the Fieldprint Calculator and Conservation District programs please contact Colleen Forestieri at 269-657-4030×129 or colleen.forestieri@mi.nacdnet.net. In partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, Field to Market, and The Coca~Cola Company.
Bidding for Better Conservation Practices:
An Auction for Implementing Best Management Practices to Improve Water Quality in the Paw Paw Watershed
Eligible areas in Van Buren & Berrien Counties include Mud Lake Drain, and Mill and Pine Creek Watersheds within the Paw Paw River Watershed (see map to the left).
How the Program Works: You get to decide how much money you need to try new conservation or best management practices (BMPs) on your land! The goal of this program is to increase practices that reduce soil erosion in the Paw Paw River Watershed (PPRW).
You Can Bid on These Eligible Best Management Practices (must be new practices on your land):
No-Till- Starting in the fall, leave most of the crop residue on the soil surface at all times (50% minimum cover after planting) and planting the next crop into the residue to protect the land from excessive sheet and rill erosion.
Reduced-Till (Mulch-Till)- Starting in the fall, leave some of the crop residue on the surface at all times (30-50% minimum cover after planting). Residue adequately controls erosion by both wind and water.
Cover Crops- Grasses, legumes or forbs established for seasonal cover and conservation purposes (reduces erosion from wind and water, increases soil tilth, manages excessive nutrients, conserves soil moisture, and increases biodiversity).
Grass Filter Strips - A vegetative grass strip that is seeded with appropriate seeding mixtures to filter sediment, nutrients, pathogens, and pesticides to help stabilize concentrated flow to reduce gully erosion.
*VBCD and Berrien Conservation District have no-till drills that can be rented for these practices* (VBCD Rental Information)
Bidding for Better Conservation Practices
How The Auction Works and Timeline for Bids
For more information about Bidding for Better Conservation Practices and Conservation District programs please contact Colleen Forestieri at 269-657-4030×129 or colleen.forestieri@mi.nacdnet.net. This project is in partnership with Van Buren Conservation District, Southwest Michigan Planning Commission and Delta Institute made possible with funding from the Great Lakes Commission as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Funding Initiative.
Groundwater Recharge Program
Landowners in the Paw Paw River Watershed can be eligible for funding for these practices:
No-Till- Starting in the fall, leave most of the crop residue on the soil surface at all times (50% minimum cover after planting) and planting the next crop into the residue to protect the land from excessive sheet and rill erosion.
Reduced-Till (Mulch-Till)- Starting in the fall, leave some of the crop residue on the surface at all times (30-50% minimum cover after planting). Residue adequately controls erosion by both wind and water.
Grass Filter Strips - A vegetative grass strip that is seeded with appropriate seeding mixtures to filter sediment, nutrients, pathogens, and pesticides to help stabilize concentrated flow to reduce gully erosion.
For more information about Groundwater Recharge Funds and Conservation District programs please contact Colleen Forestieri at 269-657-4030×129 or colleen.forestieri@mi.nacdnet.net. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy and The Coca~Cola Company.
