SD Corn, NRCS use education, programs to increase sustainability, profitability

The South Dakota Corn Growers Association and South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service will be working together over the next several years to help educate farmers about proven practices and programs that protect water quality, improve soil health and increase profitability potential.

In this landmark cooperative agreement, the two organizations will utilize each other’s resources to better educate farmers and landowners about researched techniques and conservation programs that improve sustainability, soil resiliency and farm income.

“We are very excited about this partnership and how it can assist in the adoption of sound economic and conserving farming practices across South Dakota” stated Jeff Zimprich, State Conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

An experienced conservationist will be hired in the coming months to perform public outreach, field days, research trials, field demonstrations and likely some one-on-one assistance to individual producers. The specialist will be an SDCGA employee, but work closely with NRCS personnel.

This boots-on-the-ground approach will exercise South Dakota Corn Utilization Council-funded research, including the newly updated Best Management Practices for Corn and water management research, alongside NRCS’s soil health data, conservation planning and technical expertise and a variety of conservation programs to assist producers in adopting these conservation farming systems.

“Clean water is a precious resource that our farmers take very seriously,” SDCGA Executive Director Lisa Richardson said. “This commitment is a proactive approach to sustain and protect our state’s natural resources and help ensure that our water and land are at the highest quality for future generations.”

–S.D. Corn Growers & NRCS