Welcome to the Garrard County Conservation District
Home Page
Garrard County Conservation District
and
Natural Resources Conservation Service
108 Pleasant Retreat Plaza
Lancaster, KY 40444-9561
Phone - 606-792-2620
Fax - 606-792-4451
Mission Statement: To provide guidance, information and assistance to the general public that will promote the wise use, improvement and conservation of our natural resources for our and future generations.
Garrard County Conservation District Program Activities:
Poster and Essay Contest:
The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors and implements the Annual Poster and Essay Contest for elementary, middle, and high school students in Garrard County.
Garrard County Conservation District Annual Cost Share Program:
The Garrard County Conservation District offers cost share to local landusers to implement conservation practices on farms. Pictured is the construction of a livestock "heavy use area" designed to control erosion in an animal feeding area.
State Cost Share Program: The Kentucky Soil Erosion and Water Quality Cost Share Program was created to help agricultural operations protect the soil and water resources of Kentucky. This program is a result of legislation passed in the 1994 General Assembly. The legislation established annual cost share funds to be administered by Conservation Districts.
Garrard County Conservation District Annual Scholarship: The Garrard County Conservation District will present one (1) $500.00 scholarship to a qualified student graduating from Garrard County High School who plans to enroll in a college or university this fall.
Water Watch Activities:
The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors an annual picnic for students and adults that participate in Water Watch activities in Garrard County throughout the year.
Farm Machinery Show: The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors an annual field trip for the landusers in Louisville, Kentucky.
Annual Tree Seedling Give Away:
The Garrard County Conservation District gives away free tree seedlings to all elementary school aged children in the county.
Agriculture Water Quality Act: What is the Agriculture Water Quality Act? The Agriculture Water Quality Act was the name given to Senate Bill 241, which was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1994. The main goal of the act is to protect surface and groundwater resources from pollution as a result of agriculture and silviculture (forestry) activities.
Conservation District No-Till Pasture Renovator:
The Garrard County Conservation District rents out it's Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator to local landusers at a nominal fee.
Programs offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in conjunction with the Garrard County Conservation District:
Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP): The Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) program provides technical assistance, cost share payments, incentive payments, and education to producers who enter into 5 to 10 year contracts based on conservation plans.
Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP): The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) program provides financial and technical assistance to help landowners improve fish and wildlife habitat on private lands.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) program is an opportunity for landowners to enroll cropland, and in some cases other lands, into a program where landowners will receive a payment each year for each acre they have enrolled in the program for a ten year period.
Food Security Act: The 1985 Food and Security Act, passed by congress, requires all landowners who grow crops on highly erodible land (HEL) to have a conservation farm plan on those fields to remain eligible for USDA benefits, i.e. tobacco price support program.
Forestry Incentive Program (FIP): The Forestry Incentive Program (FIP) program is a cost share program whereby landowners receive 65% cost share to: establish a stand of forest trees for timber production; preserve and improve the environment; increase timber growth and quality on sites suitable for producing sawtimber and veneer logs where the potential productivity of the stand or the site meets or exceeds minimum forestry standards; and to establish a stand of forest trees through natural regeneration for timber production.
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) program is a voluntary program pertaining to the restoration and protection of wetlands on private property. It is an excellent opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal agricultural land.
Please contact your local Conservation District office and/or Natural Resources Conservation Service office for more details on these or other programs offered. (See address and phone number listed at the beginning of this home page.)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (Voice and TDD).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Poster and Essay Contest: The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors and implements the Annual Poster and Essay Contest for elementary, middle, and high school students in Garrard County. Each school winner for both poster and essay contests receives a Certificate of Achievement, a plaque, and a T-shirt. The county winners for both poster and essay contests receive a $50 U.S. Saving Bond, a Certificate of Achievement, a plaque, and a T-shirt. The Garrard County Conservation District awards these prizes to the local school students at the annual Poster and Essay Contest Awards Banquet in Garrard County. Banquets include a meal for the student winners and their families.
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Garrard County Conservation District Annual Cost Share Program: The Garrard County Conservation District offers cost share to local landusers to implement conservation practices on farms. Feeding areas, livestock walkways, gateways, roadways (where applicable for heavy agriculture traffic), etc, are eligible for cost share. Only rock and geotextile are cost shared at a rate of 75%. (No cost share for labor, equipment, etc.) Maximum cost share payment is $500 per landowner. news articles are placed in both local papers announcing sign up dates each year. Please watch your local paper for the next sign up date.
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State Cost Share Program: The Kentucky Soil Erosion and Water Quality Cost Share Program was created to help agricultural operations protect the soil and water resources of Kentucky. This program is a result of legislation passed in the 1994 General Assembly. The legislation established annual cost share funds to be administered by Conservation Districts. Priority will be given to animal waste related problems and Agricultural District participants where pollution problems have been identified. Funding for the program is provided by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as a result of an
increase in the pesticide products registration fee and general fund appropriation by the 1996 General Assembly.
Practices eligible for cost share are:
1. Animal Waste Control facilities
2. Animal Waste Utilization
3. Constructed Wetland Animal Waste
4. Forest Land Erosion Control
5. Heavy Use Area Protection
6. Integrated Crop Management
7. Pesticide Storage
8. Riparian Area Protection
9. Rotational Grazing
10. Sinkhole Protection
11. Strip Cropping
12. Vegetative Filter Strip
13. Water Well Protection
14. Environmental Grants
Eligible practices will be approved for funding by the Soil and Water Conservation Commission at the Kentucky Division of Conservation, located in Frankfort, as funds are available. The maximum cost share rate is 75% of actual practice cost or up to $7,500 per year per applicant on all practices except animal waste which has a $20,000 per year per applicant limit. The Conservation Commission has preset cost share rates from 60 to 75% according to practice. For example: animal waste systems are set at 75% cost share, while heavy use areas are set at 60% cost share.
Please watch local papers for sign up dates for the State Cost Share Program.
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Garrard County Conservation District Annual Scholarship: The Garrard County Conservation District will present one (1) $500.00 scholarship to a qualified student graduating from Garrard County High School who plans to enroll in a college or university this fall. This scholarship shall be mailed directly to the financial aid office of the college or university of the recipient's choice. This scholarship is to be applied to cover tuition, books, and associated fees first with any remainder to be applied toward all other educational expenses in accordance with the financial aid policies of that institution.
Applications for the Garrard County Conservation District Scholarship are available through the guidance counselor, the agricultural department, the vocational education department and the natural sciences department at Garrard County High School and at the Garrard County Conservation Office at 108 Pleasant Retreat Plaza, Lancaster, Kentucky.
The name listed on the cover sheet of this application will be removed prior to the selection of the recipient of this scholarship. The selection committee shall consist of the seven Supervisors of the Garrard County Conservation District and/or their designees.
Completed applications must be received by the Garrard County Conservation District at its office at 108 Pleasant Retreat Plaza no later than April 1. Applications may be delivered in person or via mail with the postmark no later than March 25. Failure to meet these deadlines will result in automatic disqualification of the application.
In the event that a scholarship recipient decides not to attend a college or university in the year immediately following graduation, failed to meet the above mentioned criteria, or is convicted of a misdemeanor and/or felony offense (other than minor traffic offenses), an alternate candidate shall receive the Garrard County Conservation District Scholarship. The Conservation Board reserves the right not to award a scholarship to any applicant if a majority of the Board determines that a qualified candidate does not exist.
The recipient of the Garrard County Conservation District Scholarship will be chosen based upon the criteria established by the Supervisors. The criteria that will be used include the following:
1. Be a graduating student at Garrard County High School this spring.
2. Proof of acceptance in the form of an admission letter from a college or university for the academic semester following high school graduation. This letter must state that the applicant has agreed to major in a field of study as listed in number eight (8) of this criteria list.
3. Attach a resume describing all personal and academic achievements (please limit to two pages).
4. Provide an official copy of a current high school transcript.
5. Provide a copy of all ACT or SAT test scores.
6. Provide 2 to 3 sealed letters of recommendation. At least one of these letters must be from a teacher in the Garrard County High School.
7. Compose a personal statement that outlines why you need this scholarship. Please focus on career goals, personal and/or financial need an all other factors that you wish the Conservation Board to know about before selecting a scholarship recipient.
8. Major in one of the following fields, listed in order of preference:
a. Conservation and Natural Resource Services
b. Forestry
c. Plant and Soil Science
d. Landscape Architecture
e. Environmental Studies
f. Agricultural Economics
g. Agricultural Engineering
h. All other Agricultural programs not listed
i. Biology
j. Chemistry/Physics
k. Geology
l. Pre-law (focus must be on environmental law. This must be explained in the essay!)
m. All other majors (please explain in essay as to why your particular major deserves consideration).
NO UNDECLARED MAJORS WILL BE CONSIDERED.
9. All applicants must read and sign the enclosed form swearing that all information is true and accurate to their best belief and knowledge.
Please staple all information together in the order as they have been listed in the above criteria and place in an 8.5" by 11" envelope.
All applicants will receive a letter informing them of the Conservation Board's decision. All information provided on this application may be verified by the chair of the Scholarship Committee as that individual sees fit.
If interested in applying for the Garrard County Conservation District Annual Scholarship, please stop by the Garrard County Conservation District Office at 108 Pleasant Retreat Plaza in Lancaster, Kentucky. Application packets will be available during scholarship sign up dates. Please watch papers for these dates.
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Water Watch Activities: The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors an annual picnic for students and adults that participate in Water Watch activities in Garrard County throughout the year. We have approximate 75 Water Watch Volunteers annually in Garrard County of which approximately 98% are students in the elementary, middle, and high schools. The students are rewarded each year with a picnic funded with Garrard County Conservation District funds.
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Farm Machinery Show: The Garrard County Conservation District sponsors an annual field trip for the landusers in Louisville, Kentucky. Usually a touring bus is chartered for the day to take approximate 60 landowners to and from the Farm Machinery Show. Please watch for news articles in local papers for next scheduled trip.
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Annual Tree Seedling Give Away: The Garrard County Conservation District gives away free tree seedlings to all elementary school aged children in the county. Over the years we have had a very positive response from parents and children alike and consider this a very rewarding and positive program. Any trees left over after elementary school children have received their trees, are offered to the local public at no cost. Please watch local papers for news articles announcing when tree seedlings will be given away.
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Agriculture Water Quality Act: What is the Agriculture Water Quality Act? The Agriculture Water Quality Act was the name given to Senate Bill 241, which was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1994. The main goal of the act is to protect surface and groundwater resources from pollution as a result of agriculture and silviculture (forestry) activities.
Who will be affected by the Agriculture Water Quality Act? The Agriculture Water Quality Act will require all landowner/landusers with ten (10) or more acres that is being used for agriculture or silviculture operations to develop and implement a water quality plan based upon guidance from the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan by the year 2001.
What is the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan? The Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan consists of Best Management Practices (BMPs) from six different areas - Silviculture, Pesticide and Fertilizer, Farmstead, Crops, Livestock, and Streams and Other Waters. Each BMP includes definitions and descriptions, Regulatory Requirements, Agriculture Water Quality Authority requirements, design information, practice maintenance, technical assistance, cost share assistance, recommendations and references. This statewide plan will serve as a guide to individual landowners/landusers as they develop water quality plans for their individual operations.
What happens if I do not have an Agriculture Water Quality Plan by the year 2001? If you do not have a plan by the year 2001, you will be in violation of Kentucky environmental laws and may be subject to fines and penalties under KRS 224-99-010. Even if water pollution does not occur on your land, you will lose the protection that the plan provides for people who are attempting to minimize pollution by implementing a plan. You may be subject to additional fines and penalties that you would not have encountered if you had an Agriculture Water Quality Plan and were making a concerted effort to apply it to your land.
Many resources are available at this time to assist you in developing and implementing an Agriculture Water Quality Plan on your land. Two of those resources are the State Plan and the Producer Workbook. The Garrard County Conservation District is offering the Producer Workbook at this time free of charge to all landowners in Garrard County. All a landowner has to do is stop by the Garrard County Conservation District Office and pick up a producer workbook. it usually takes only 20 to 30 minutes to complete a producer workbook, at which time it becomes your Agriculture Water Quality Plan.
Please stop by your local Conservation District Office to pick up a Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Plan Producer Workbook free of charge while supplies last.
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Conservation District No-Till Pasture Renovator: The Garrard County Conservation District rents out it's Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator to local landusers at a nominal fee. This is the third Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator that the Conservation District has owned. The board of supervisors feel that this program has been a success for the landowners of Garrard County.
The Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator rents for $5.00 per acre. This particular drill is 7 feet wide and can be pulled by a 40 horse power tractor with dual hydraulics on land that is not very steep. A 50 horse power tractor, or larger, handles this drill better.
If you are interested in renting the district's Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator or have any questions, please call Ernie Ellis at 792-4540. Mr. Ellis manages the Tye No-Till Pasture Renovator for the Garrard County Conservation District including times for landowners to pick up and return the renovator.
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Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP): The Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) program provides technical assistance, cost share payments, incentive payments, and education to producers who enter into 5 to 10 year contracts based on conservation plans. Emphasis is given to livestock related practices under the EQIP program and every structural practice signed up for has to have an accompanying management practice. Total cost share and incentive payments are limited to $10,000 per person per year and $50,000 for the length of the contract, which can run from five to ten years. The program is limited to persons who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production.
Funds will be distributed on a competitive basis. while the sign up for EQIP is considered to be continuous, cut off points will be identified where all applications received up to that point will be scored according to ranking criteria. Applications with the most environmental benefits for program costs will receive the highest consideration for funding.
Eligible practices and cost share rates for each are:
Structural Practices Maximum Cost Share
Contour Buffer Strips 75% AA*
Composting Facility 75% AA
Critical Area Planting 75% AA
Diversion 75% AA
Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment 75% AA
Fence 75% AA
Field Border 75% AA
Filter Strip 75% AA
Forest Site Preparation 75% AA
Forest Stand Improvement 75% AA
Grade Stabilization Structure 75% AA
Grassed Waterway 75% AA
Mulching (as a component) 75% AA
Pasture and Hayland Planting 75% AA
Pipeline 75% AA
Pond 75% AA
Sediment Basin 75% AA
Riparian Forest Buffer 75% AA
Streambank & Shoreline Protection 75% AA
Subsurface Drain (as a component) 75% AA
Terrace 75% AA
Tree/Shrub Establishment 75% AA
Trough or Tank 75% AA
Underground Outlet 75% AA
Waste Storage Facility 75% AA
Waste Treatment Lagoon 75% AA
Water & Sediment Control Basin 75% AA
Well 75% AA
*AA means cost share will be on the actual cost of implementing the practice not to exceed cost estimate.
Management Practice Maximum Incentive Payment
Integrated Crop Management (ICM) *$15/ac (non-specialty)
$25/ac (specialty)
Nutrient Management See ICM
Pest Management See ICM
Waste Utilization
Solids: $0.10/cu. ft. applied
not to exceed $35/acre per year.
Liquids: $0.02/cu. ft. applied
not to exceed $75/acre per year
Irrigation $10/acre
Prescribed Grazing $ 7/acre
Residue Management, No-Till $20/acre
Strip cropping, Field $10/acre
Wildlife Upland Habitat Management $20/acre
Wildlife Wetland Habitat Management $20/acre
*Non-specialty: corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa
Specialty: tobacco, vegetables, orchards
20 acre minimum for ICM on non-specialty
5 acre minimum for ICM on specialty crops
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Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP): The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) program provides financial and technical assistance to help landowners improve fish and wildlife habitat on private lands. The WHIP program allows each state to tailor its program to ensure the greatest benefits for threatened or endangered habitats and/or animals.
Kentucky's WHIP focused on the restoration of Kentucky's native grass prairies, early successional habitat, wetlands and other habitats where threatened and endangered wildlife abide. practices eligible for cost share assistance include native grass establishment, fescue conversion, tree and shrub plantings, wetland creation, fencing for livestock exclusion from woodland and streams, alternative water, aquatic habitat restoration, wildlife watering ponds, and other practices. WHIP pays up to 75% cost share to establish, manage, and maintain these practices during a 5 to 10 year period. Applications must include more than 5 acres to ensure enough area for a noticeable habitat improvement.
WHIP is a competitive program where applications are ranked according to their environmental benefits. Applications having the greatest benefit to wildlife habitat will receive cost share.
Eligible practices and cost share rates under the WHIP program are as follows:
Specific Practice Maximum Cost Share
Contour Buffer Strips 75% AC*
Fence ** 75% AC
Field Borders 75% AC
Filter Strips 75% AC
Fishpond Management 75% AC
Pasture and Hayland Planting 75% AC
Pipeline 75% AC
Riparian Buffer 75% AC
Spring Development 75% AC
Streambank & Shoreline Protection 75% AC
Trough or Tank 75% AC
Well 75% AC
Eligible components Under Wildlife Upland Habitat Management Standard 645
Artificial Nesting Structures 75% AC
Butterfly, Moth, and Hummingbird Garden 75% AC
Cave Gates 75% AC
Creation of Brush Piles 75% AC
Creation of Cavity Trees 75% AC
Creation of Forest Openings 75% AC
Edge Feathering 75% AC
Firebreak 75% AC
Fish Habitat Improvement Structures 75% AC
Permanent Shrub Planting 75% AC
Permanent Watering Ponds 75% AC
Wildlife Watering Ponds 75% AC
*AC - Cost share payments will be made on estimated average cost turned in by technician making cost estimate.
**Fence only as a component to exclude livestock from streams, wetland, woodland, or wildlife lands.
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Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) program is an opportunity for landowners to enroll cropland, and in some cases other lands, into a program where landowners will receive a payment each year for each acre they have enrolled in the program for a ten year period. All contracts are for a ten year period and land will be sowed and maintained in a sod cover for the life of the contract. Each contract offer will be rated and given an environmental ranking according to what types cover the landowner is willing to sow and the position of the fields to environmentally sensitive areas. Then a per acre dollar figure is calculated for each offered contract and the landowner decides whether they want to submit their contract to the government for contract acceptance procedures or stop the contract a that point with no obligation on either party.
For most fields to be eligible for CRP, they must have crop history as determined by the Farm Service Agency office and must be a highly erodible field. Fields cannot be hayed or grazed anytime during the 10 year contract period. Periodic mowing can be done as a weed control measure but must be done according to a preset schedule determined at the time of contract implementation. If a landowner sells a tract of land that is in the CRP program, the existing CRP contract goes with that particular tract of land. If the seller wishes to cancel an existing contract he can do this by repaying all the money he has received from the contract to date plus any and all liquidated damages.
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Food Security Act: The 1985 Food and Security Act, passed by congress, requires all landowners who grow crops on highly erodible land (HEL) to have a conservation farm plan on those fields to remain eligible for USDA benefits, i.e. tobacco price support program.
Please stop by your local NRCS/Conservation District office to see if the land you are cropping is HEL or not. All HEL fields need a conservation farm plan on them. There are four requirements to these plans: 1) plant and plow on the contour of field. In other words make sure you plow and plant across the slope of the field and not up and down the hill; 2) leave waterways in sod when performing tillage or planting operations; 3) sow a cover crop after harvest or leave enough crop residue on the surface of the soil to have 90% ground cover after planting in the spring of the year; and 4) follow your sod based rotation set up in your conservation farm plan.
It is the landowners responsibility to get and/or keep current their conservation farm plan. Conservation farm plans usually take 10 to 15 minutes to complete and if followed, insure the landowner of being in compliance when random spot checks are made in the spring of the year. The local Natural Resources Conservation Service office will be more than happy to assist landowners in obtaining and applying a conservation farm plan.
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Forestry Incentive Program (FIP): The Forestry Incentive Program (FIP) program is a cost share program whereby landowners receive 65% cost share to: establish a stand of forest trees for timber production; preserve and improve the environment; increase timber growth and quality on sites suitable for producing sawtimber and veneer logs where the potential productivity of the stand or the site meets or exceeds minimum forestry standards; and to establish a stand of forest trees through natural regeneration for timber production.
The main emphasis of FIP is on sustaining productivity of the nations forestlands. This is accomplished through proper planning to ensure productivity, while making sure landowner's needs and objectives are met. The program objectives include:
- promoting the increase of the future timber supply of both hardwood and softwood sawtimber, veneer logs, and wood products
- promoting multipurpose management of Non-Industrial Private Forestland (NIPF) for continued sustained yield
- insuring the cost effectiveness of forest improvement practices
- enhancing other forest resources in addition to timber
Practices and Components of FIP
FP-1 Planting Trees*
Purpose:
- Establish a stand of forest trees for timber production
- Preserve and improve the environment
FP-2 Improving a Stand of Forest Trees*
Purpose: To increase timber growth and quality on sites suitable for producing sawtimber and veneer logs where the potential productivity of the stand or the site meets or exceeds minimum forestry standards.
Components of improving a stand of forest trees includes:
- thinning
- pruning crop trees
- releasing desirable seedlings and young trees
- cull tree removal
FP-3 Lite Preparation for Natural Regeneration*
Purpose:
- To establish a stand of forest trees through natural regeneration for timber production
- To preserve and improve the environment
*Maximum reimbursement rates do apply for each FIP practice. Please contact your Natural Resources Conservation Service for further details.
All 120 of Kentucky's counties are eligible for FIP funds. Funds will be obligated as requests are received at the NRCS State Office. Requests may be accepted anytime during the year (a continuous sign up) for FP1 - Planing Trees, FP2 - Improving a Stand of Forest Trees and FP3 - Site Preparation for Natural Resources Regeneration. Reimbursement of costs to implement required silvicultural practices will be at 65% of the actual costs, not to exceed funding guidelines established in the Practices and Components Section of the FIP program.
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Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) program is a voluntary program pertaining to the restoration and protection of wetlands on private property. It is an excellent opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal agricultural land.
Landowners who chose to participate in WRP may sell a conservation easement or enter into a cost share restoration agreement with the USDA to restore and protect wetlands. The landowner voluntarily limits future use of the land, yet retains private ownership. A plan for the restoration and maintenance of the wetland is developed by the landowner with the technical assistance of the NRCS. A landowner continues to control access to the land and may lease the land for hunting, fishing, and other undeveloped recreational activities. At any time, a landowner may request that additional activities be evaluated to determine if they are compatible uses for the site, This request may include such items as permission to cut hay, graze livestock or harvest wood products. Compatible uses are allowed if they are fully consistent with the protection and enhancement of the wetland.
The program offers landowners three options: permanent easements, 30-year easements, and restoration cost share agreements of a minimum 10 year duration.
A landowner must have owned the land for at least one year prior t enrolling the land int he program unless the land was inherited or the landowner can prove the land was not obtained for the purpose of enrolling it in the program. The land must be restorable and be suitable for wildlife benefits.
The local NRCS representative will coordinate and conduct a site visit with the landowner and a multi-agency ranking team. After each application is ranked by the team, applications will be selected and approved a funding becomes available.
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