Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District

Assistance Available

  STATE COST-SHARE SIGN UP

The Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District conducts a sign-up, annually, for state cost-share assistance, March 1 through March 31.  You must sign up at the soil and water conservation district office in Bowling Green, in the USDA Building at 1220 S. Business Highway 61, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

State cost-share funds are made available to local landowners to address erosion issues on land being used for agricultural purposes.  According to the Missouri Soil and Water Districts Commission rules for cost-share eligibility (10 CSR70.4.010(J), a farm is defined as a tract of land three acres or more in size, on which agricultural activities are normally performed, or a tract of land of any size from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are normally sold in a year. 

Each application will be evaluated to determine whether it meets state cost-share guidelines and will be ranked according to conservation benefits and cost effectiveness. Priority will be given to applications for practices in fields that are planted in wheat or no crop at all. Fields that can be worked in at the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1) will receive higher ranking than those not accessible until after fall harvest. Funds will be appropriated during the fiscal year (beginning July 1), based on the above criteria. The number of applications approved will be determined by the allocation of state funds.

For approved practices, the state fund will pay up to 75 percent of the county average cost for components involved in implementing the practice. There is a limit of $15,000 per landowner, per fiscal year for cost-share funding. This policy allows the district to serve more landowners with the state funds we are allocated each year. Any practice applied for, but not funded for the next fiscal year, because of low ranking practice or lack of funds, will receive notification of non-approval, and can sign up again the following year.

Practices that have been approved for Pike County landowners participating in the state cost-share program are: Woodland Protection through Livestock Exclusion; Permanent Vegetative Cover Establishment; Permanent Vegetative Cover - Critical Areas; No-Till Systems; Terrace System Waterway Outlets; Terrace with Underground Outlets; Diversions; Planned Grazing Systems; Planned Grazing Systems with Pond; Planned Grazing Systems with Well; Water Impoundment Reserviors; Sediment Basin or Water Control Structures and Sod Waterways.

Funding for the state cost-share program is provided by the one-tenth-of-one-percent parks, soils and water sales tax. For more information, contact the Pike county field office at 573-324-3201 ext. 3. Our hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can access a brochure on the state cost-share program at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub624.pdf .

*As a reminder for those landowners who have received cost-share assistance in the past, it is critical that you maintain your practices. We are not authorized to cost-share on rebuilding or maintenance of existing cost-share practices. 

 

LOAN INTEREST SHARE PROGRAM

Missouri offers a unique program that refunds a portion of the annual expenses on loans used for soil conservation. This loan interest-share program addresses more types of soil conservation practices than traditional cost-share programs. The program also can be used to prevent soil loss on lands that currently do not have erosion problems.

The loan interest-share program requires the participation of local lending institutions. However, the program does not dictate credit terms nor interfere in agreements between borrowers and lenders. Funds for the program come from the one-tenth-of-one-percent parks, soils and water sales tax.

For further information contact the Soil and Water Conservation Program at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swcp/ or call your local Soil and Water Conservation District at 573-324-3201 ext. 3.

 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District and their conservation partners, including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, provide technical assistance for conservation planning on:

Contact district technician, Kris Pettey, or NRCS technician, Mike Pugh, at 573-324-3201 ext. 3 to set up an appointment to discuss your conservation concerns.

 

FOR EDUCATORS AND CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS

The Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District offers several opportunities for educators and civic organizations to increase the knowledge of their students and members about natural resources. The district hosts an annual three-day Natural Resources Outdoor Classroom for fourth, fifth and sixth grade students in Pike County.  A letter-writing contest is held in conjunction with the outdoor classroom, encouraging participants to share why they think natural resources are important. An annual poster contest is held for Pike County third grade students, featuring a different resource concern each year.

Also available for youth, is a 4'x4'x8' soil tunnel. Participants are able to crawl through a simulation of an underground tunnel and witness the soil profile and all types of underground life, up close.  The tunnel has been used at many school and community events. Use is free of charge, and the SWCD staff is available to set up, tear down and man the station if requested.  It is also available to schools who prefer to have it set up, and use for their own curriculum needs for up to a week.

The Pike SWCD received a grant to purchase two Enviroscape models for educational purposes. The Enviroscape is a table-top landscape model used to demonstrate the effect of point and nonpoint pollution. Both models are available for use in the classroom or educational workshops.

For more information about any of these educational opportunities, contact Debbie Scherder at 573-324-3201 ext. 115.