Ward Van-Dyke
County:
Jasper
Q&A
What are you doing to practice and promote soil and water quality?
Having a long-term approach to improve soil structure and soil health is a top priority whether in the field with corn and soybeans or in the garden with vegetables. We’ve learned that many of the same principles apply to our row crop operation that apply to our garden produce business, and vice versa. On the row crop operation specifically, we use no-till, cover crops, nitrogen stabilizers, and we split apply our nitrogen to improve water and soil quality.
What is being done in your county to support soil and water quality?
There’s a concerted effort to reduce soil loss and improve water quality in certain watersheds to make an impact. There’s also a lot of encouragement to try cover crops by offering programs for first time users and ongoing programs for farmers who continue to use cover crops.
What could be done with more public funding for soil and water quality?
One thing that could be done is to offer greater incentives for using cover crops by reducing crop insurance payments. Crop insurance discounts per acre for planting cover crops would streamline the cost share process.
