WALTON, NY -- The Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) recently led two dozen Agricultural Program staff, committee members and agency people on a tour of five local water protection farm projects completed in 2008. The Delaware County-based excursion highlighted work accomplished in 2008 by the WAC with the technical assistance of Delaware County Soil & Water, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, Natural Resources Conservation Service and other water pollution prevention agencies.
"Each year, we visit select farms that have benefited from our program's work," noted Agricultural Program Manager Brian LaTourette. He and Small Farms Coordinator Dan Flaherty spearheaded the annual outing that highlighted projects in Andes, Bloomville, Delhi, and Hamden.
"With funding from the City of New York, the landowner is able to make adjustments to his on-farm practices, some which would be financially prohibitive otherwise," said LaTourette. "With help from the WAC and other watershed agencies, landowners engage in pro-active water quality measures that ensure clean drinking water for nine million New York City residents. There's a plus side for the landowner too, often in the form of improved herd health, work-area conditions and building infrastructure. We're lucky to work with a willing group of watershed farm owners who are open to making changes in how they operate and do business. Some projects take up to a year to complete, a long time to have your farm operation up-ended. We need landowners' cooperation and commitment to achieve the watershed's clean water mandate; we can't do this alone."
All farms toured participate in the WAC's whole farm planning approach to water quality which incorporates farm business practices and management on a landowner's property. In exchange for his voluntary participation in the Agricultural Program, a landowner receives a 100% cost-share on approved design, implementation and construction costs. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pays for property improvements to ensure clean drinking water for nine million downstream residents. The WAC executes those improvements with the technical help and expertise of many regional agencies. Since 1992, the WAC and DEP have addressed the water quality concerns in this manner -- at the front end, on the farm -- with great success. The Agricultural Program has over 95% participation among watershed large farms, those agricultural enterprises grossing $10,000 or more a year.
"We're reaching out to more small farms now that the majority of large farms are onboard with whole farm planning," noted Dan Flaherty, WAC's Small Farms Coordinator. "Farm operations that gross between $1,000 and $10,000 annually are also eligible for the benefits of these City-sponsored water pollution measures. The process involves an application, a farm visit and a ranking system to determine a farm's pollution impact. But it's a process worthy of a landowner's time and effort. If you value clean water and take pride in being a steward of your land, a whole farm plan makes sense. Not only does it benefit the landowner, but it benefits the community locally, as well as downstream."
Overall, the projects applied water pollution management techniques through a variety of methods including stream stabilization, runoff diversion, manure storage and surface regrading. At one Bloomville farm, the Agricultural Program installed a manure storage facility and manure truck (see photo 24) to address the removal of dairy farm waste. One landowner (pictured with orange hat in photo27) explains his farm's scenario and how the WAP addressed those concerns. Long-term manure storage allows a farmer to return nutrients to the soil when plants need it most. By scheduling manure spreading times throughout the year, the farmer fertilizes hay, corn and forage plants at peak times during the plants' growing cycles.
The Agricultural Program installed similar measures on a 600-acre dairy farm in Delhi. Along with a manure truck and manure storage (photo 22), a covered barnyard protects 140 milking cows and 160 heifers (photo19). "It's the little things that round out this project," noted Resource Conservationist Lenny Prezorski, the NRCS project planner. ""We added calf housing, a covered feed and AgBag pads, subsurface drainage, stripcropping and spring development to limit this farm's impact on water quality. This is a model farm business with the latest best management practices for water quality protection."
One DeLancey farm featured 1.5 continuous miles of CREP (Conservation Resource Enhancement Program) streambank riparian forest buffers, the longest in the watershed. "Landowners are reimbursed by the federal government for streamside property removed from the farm business's pasture and crop harvesting," added LaTourette. "It's a win-win situation, as the community receives cleaner water and the landowner collects a rental payment for excluded acreage by participating in the CREP program. We worked extensively with the local Farm Service Agency to implement this continuous riparian buffer system across the three different but neighboring land holdings."
Two other projects on mixed livestock farms featured tree plantings and streambank restructuring to reduce the impact of erosion on water clarity. One of these projects received assistance from the Delaware County Soil & Water Stream Program.
Eric VanBenSchoten, a WAC small farms engineering specialist (photo8), explained to the group the intricacies of working on a mixed livestock farm in Andes. (Additional photos can be found in the annual and online reports at www.nycwatershed.org.)
For more information on the Agricultural Program and the eligibility requirements to become a farm participant, contact Brian LaTourette or Dan Flaherty at (607) 865-7090.
More project details and before-and-after photos can be found at within the Council's 2008 Annual Report at
www.nycwatershed.org.
The Watershed Agricultural Council helps private landowners to improve their farm and forest lands in order to protect clean drinking water for nine million New York City residents. The WAC works with almost 1,000 landowners to enlist private contractors to develop conservation plans and construct conservation practices in accordance with farm and forest management plans.
The WAC mission is to support the economic viability of agriculture and forestry through the protection of water quality and the promotion of land conservation in the New York City watershed region.
The WAC is funded by The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal and foundation sources.
The WAC is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
