The weather extremes of drought or heavy rains have resulted in poor crop production in some fields the last several years. Soils need to be in the best health to support crops through these challenging conditions. Covering 100% of your acres with the best cover crops/combinations, and reducing tillage, can reduce your risk of crop loss or low yields over the coming years.

The Cornell Vegetable Program just received a two year grant to work with vegetable, potato and dry bean growers in the Cornell Vegetable Program Region to increase or diversify their cover cropping, and/or to reduce tillage. For cooperating growers soil sampling, soil testing, and interpretation for the Cornell Soil Health Test (CSHT) will be free. Evaluation of biomass, weed growth, nitrogen produced, crop response, etc. can be done for new cover crop plantings being tried. Reduced/zone-tilled crops planted side by side with conventional crops can also be evaluated. Field days are part of this grant, as is assistance for grower discussion groups/grower-to-grower networking.

In order to be a cooperator in this grant program, growers and their fields need to be in the Lake Ontario Watershed (most of CVP region is). Growers also need to be state and federal program eligible, which can be accomplished this winter. To do this, first get farm and tract numbers established with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farm practices need to be in compliance with the 1985 Food Security Act Highly Erodible Land and Swampbuster provisions, determined by Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) staff. Growers should be ready to identify a natural resource concern (i.e.- excessive erosion, a need to improve soil health due to compaction, etc.).

This winter is the perfect time to visit local NRCS and/or county Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) offices to work on this paperwork with staff, so the CVP can do sampling for the Cornell Soil Health Test in April. A big advantage of completing the paperwork for program eligibility is that growers can then apply for cost-sharing for new cover cropping practices (new cover crops or combinations) and/or reduced tillage practices, with the next funding cycle. More money than ever is available as an incentive for adoption of good soil health practices.

Additional Resources:
Federal program opportunities

Location of the nearest FSA and/or NRCS office

Location of the nearest SWCD office

If you have questions about soil health and farm in WNY, contact Carol MacNeil.