Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from the Edmunds County USDA Service Center!
Deadlines
December 24 — Office Closed for Christmas Holiday
December 31 — Office Closed for New Year’s Holiday
January 7 — OTECP (Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program) Deadline
January 30 — LFP (Livestock Grazing) & ELAP (Water Hauling & Feed Transportation) Deadline
February 18 — SDMC (Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage) and DMC (Dairy Margin Coverage) Deadline
February 25 — SMHPP (Hogs) Deadline
March 15 — ARCPLC (Farm Program) Enrollment Deadline
March 15 — NAP (Noninsured Crop) Policy Deadline
County Committee Election Results
Brian Hauck of Roscoe was elected to represent his local administrative area LAA-2 during the recent county committee election.
County Committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. They help deliver programs at the county level and work to serve the needs of local producers. Brian will take office January 2022 and will be joining the current FSA county committee members.
Every FSA office is served by a county committee made up of local farmers and ranchers who are elected by local producers.
Thank you, Greg for nine years of service to the producers and ranchers of Edmunds County. Your service is greatly appreciated!
Funding Opportunity to Improve Sharp-tailed Grouse Habitat
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has partnered with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to develop a conservation program for producers aimed at improving habitat for a wildlife species native to South Dakota, the sharp-tailed grouse. The program is called Conservation Implementation Strategy and is a special project within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The program’s goal is to enhance grassland habitat within the counties of Campbell, Codington, Day, Deuel, Edmunds, Grant, Marshall, McPherson, Roberts, and Walworth through improvements to grazing management, grass plantings, and invasive plant control.
Sharp-tailed grouse are grassland birds requiring large, continuous grassy areas for nesting and lekking (dancing of the males for the females). Grouse seek to nest in grass that is approximately 12 inches tall, but too much litter on the ground from old grass is not beneficial for chicks as they walk along the ground. Grouse eat insects, seeds, grain, berries, rosehips, and leaves.
Habitat enhancements can be made by developing or improving a rotational grazing system. This system can promote more even grazing within pastures, which encourages plant diversity, and could help prevent or decrease a thick grass litter layer. Grazing should be managed to leave adequate grass height for grouse and resting one pasture per year is recommended.
This conservation program can help facilitate a rotational grazing system by providing cost-share for installing fences and livestock water tanks and pipeline. Other activities that can be cost-shared include controlling invasive weeds and trees, prescribed burning, planting food plots or season-long cover crops, and converting cropland to grassland. Shelterbelts can house predators, so old tree belts and woody debris can be planned for removal.
Producers interested in this program should contact NRCS at their local USDA Service Center to fill out an application by January 21, 2022. NRCS staff will work with applicants to develop a conservation plan, which will then be ranked and will compete with other applications. Please reach out with any questions and to get started on developing a conservation plan.
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