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York
Cost Share Programs
Since
1985, the York County Conservation District has been offering cost share
and technical assistance to landowners and farmers with critical
nutrient management, water quality, and soil erosion concerns.
Planning and technical advice is provided by USDA’s Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and conservation district
technicians.
Soil and water are the farmers’ most important resources.
Poor water quality and the loss of soil nutrients directly affect
the profitability of a farm operation. A
conservation plan determines what problems need to be addressed and what
to do fix the problems, commonly referred to as Best Management
Practices (BMPs). Installing
BMPs keep nutrients where they belong, control soil erosion, improve
animal health, improve local water quality, and improve
Chesapeake Bay
water quality.
BMPs are specialized practices designed to control soil erosion, manure
and nutrient runoff, store animal wastes, establish vegetation, and
manage the application of animal waste and fertilizer.
The conservation plan for your farm will include some combination
of practices that address your particular situation.
Common practices include:
-Permanent
Vegetative Cover
-Conservation
Tillage/No-till
-Cover
Crops
-Animal
Waste Management
-Contour
Farming/Stripcropping
-Waste
Management System
-Diversion
-Streambank
Protection or Fencing
-Terraces
-Nutrient
Management Planning
-Grassed
Waterway
-Soil
and Manure Analysis
-Grazing
Lands/Pasture Management
The conservation district has cost share funding through various
programs. These include the
Chesapeake Bay Special Project Program, grants, and fines levied by the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Each program has its own rules.
The USDA NRCS office also
offers various federal assistance programs.
All district programs require an application for assistance which
is presented to the York County Conservation District Board for
acceptance.
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