McPherson County Conservation District
Current Projects
With the customers in mind, various projects are developed to address local resource concerns and help educate the public about the importance of conservation. These projects are made possible through grants and partnerships.
Focus on Local Foods
The district was recently awarded a grant from Farm Credit Services of America to assist in local foods and our community garden. The district has purchased a greenhouse for the Leola School District to use for their classrooms and to provide some produce for students during lunchtime. Stay tuned for pictures and updates!
Hoop Houses
You may have noticed some new structures at the community garden site. A few weeks ago some hoop house covers were created for our raised garden beds to protect early planted seeds from frost and extend the growing season. These hoop house covers were created with supplies that you can purchase at your local hardware store. Please let us know if you would like more information on how to create them!
Shelterbelt Renovation & Establishment
July 2023- December 2026
After being awarded a SD Commission Grant, McPherson County Conservation District is happy to inform landowners of a funding opportunity to provide assistance in renovating existing shelterbelts and windbreaks. Whether these trees are experiencing degraded plant health due to age, extreme weather events, or disease, if they are no longer providing the desired degree of wind protection, they need some level of renovation.
There are different options for shelterbelt renovations and each will be handled differently depending on the status of the existing shelterbelt and goals of the landowner. For example, if a landowner would still like to have some wind protection, they can choose to do a partial removal and replace those rows. Then, once those trees have established enough to provide some protection, they will renovate the other half of the shelterbelt. Other options include row removal and replacement, supplemental plantings, and reinforcement plantings.
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Renovations can be a timely process and may require extra site preparation due to the extensive root system of the existing trees. The District and their partners will help guide you through the planning and implementation process to achieve the desired outcome.
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For more information on the grant, please visit with our staff.
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Cover Crop Initiative
July 2022-December 2024
The Cover Crop Initiative was designed to encourage producers in Edmunds and McPherson Counties to plant cover crops on prevent plant acres, saline affected acres, or following a small grain harvest to provide living roots and keep the ground covered.
Cover crops offer a variety of benefits from keeping the ground covered to prevent erosion, providing roots and other organic matter for microbials to feed on and adding carbon back into the soil. In addition, plant diversity is increased and livestock can potentially be integrated through grazing.
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Over 1700 acres of cover crop seeding for 20 different producers were funded through this project. This initiative assisted producers in increasing soil organic matter, soil fertility, preventing soil erosion, increasing soil water capacity and decrease soil compaction. This has been a wonderful opportunity for our producers to utilize the benefits of cover crops while minimizing the financial burden.
