Conservation Pays at the Godman and Young Farms

Updated 09/22/2008

On July 28, the Harrison County and Pendleton County Conservation Districts held a field day at the farm of Randy and Lisa Godman in Pendleton County. A crowd of 102 people made it out to take part in the field day. People from all over central Kentucky, including personnel from Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, Harrison County Conservation District, Pendleton County Conservation District, Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife, UK Extension Service, and The Harrison County Beef Cattle Association.

The morning began at the Morgan farm with a welcome from Robert Jones and Leslie Herbst, Facilitators from the Pendleton County Conservation District. Randy Godman gave a quick overview of his farm operations which includes hundreds of acres devoted to corn and soybean crops and the rest to conservation programs.

Clay Smitson from Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife (KYDF&W) spoke about wildlife habitat at the Godman farm and its importance not only to the environment but to the farm operations as well.

Wes Little also from KYDF&W spoke about Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) which is a voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property.  NRCS provides technical and financial support to help landowner/participant with the restoration efforts.

John Graham, Soil Conservationist and Steve Jacobs, Resource Soil Scientist, are both from NRCS and gave a presentation about soil quality and the benefits of “No-Till” farming.

The Field Day crowd then moved to the second stop, Young Farm, where the Harrison County Beef Cattle Association served lunch. After enjoying the hamburger lunch, the crowd then gathered to hear about the no-till seeder from Gary Carter. Carter, an Agriculture Agent from the UK Cooperative Extension Service in Harrison County gave a presentation about the No-Till Seeder and its environmentally friendly effects on the soil.

Faye Brown, a USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Program Specialist joined with Janelle Gardner, County Executive Director from Pendleton County FSA to discuss Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP program provides technical and financial assistance to eligible farmers to address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. The CRP program reduces soil erosion, protects the Nation’s ability to produce food and fiber, reduces sedimentation in streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances forest and wetland resources.

Derek Beard from Fish & Wildlife spoke to the crowd about Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP). The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is a volduntary cost share program for people who want to develop and improve wildlife habitat on private land. USDA’s natural Resources Conservation Service provides both technical assistance and cost-share assistance to establish and improve fish an wildlife habitat.

Richard Bowling, NRCS District Conservationist for Harrison and Pendleton Counties wrapped the program up with an overview of practices available through Farm Bill programs such as CRP, WHIP and EQIP as well as State Cost Share. Practices such as field borders, riparian forest buffers and use exclusion are used to protect streams and stream banks while restoring lost habitat for wildlife.

On behalf of the Field Day planning committee, we would like to express a special thanks to the Goodman’s for opening up their farm to the public to promote conservation. We would like to also thank our conservation partners and sponsors including Anderson’s Equipment Co. (Falmouth), Countryside Tractor & Supply LLC (Falmouth), Dryden’s Sporting Goods Cynthiana), Farm Credit Services (Williamstown), Farmers National Bank (Falmouth), Harrison County Conservation District, Hurst-Home Insurance Company, Palmer-Hampton Insurance Agency, Ken’s Value Center (Berry), Licking River RC&D Council, Miles Farm Supply Company (Cynthiana), Pendleton County Conservation District, Southern States (Cynthiana), UKB Bank (PC) US Bank (Falmouth) Barnes Hardware, Kentucky Burley Tobacco Growers Co-Op, Farm Service Agency, Honey Hill Farms, Sally Powell, KY Dept of Fish & Wildlife, Marathon, Falmouth Hardy Mart, Natural Resources Conservation Services, Young Farmers of America and Terry Evans.

For more information, contact the Pendleton and Harrison Counties Conservation Districts.

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