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 Agriculture

      The history of conservation districts is rooted in serving the agriculture community.  In fact, conservation districts were born to help alleviate the soil erosion crisis of the Dust Bowl era.  Today, conservation districts continue to use a cooperative approach to deal with agriculture issues.  The CCCD puts federal, state and local resources to action for Columbia County farms.

       CCCD administers the Chesapeake Bay Program, Agricultural Land Preservation, Nutrient and Odor Management (Act 38).  The Conservation District can also be of assistance regarding other agriculture programs.  
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 Chesapeake Bay Program:  Over the last year the Chesapeake Bay Program has evolved from working strictly with agriculture operations to include any type of non-point source pollution.  To help meet the goals set by the Chesapeake Bay 2000 Agreement, each Conservation District in the Bay Watershed was asked to create a county specific Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Implementation Plan. Within the plan all major sources of non-point source pollution within the county were identified.  The Implementation Plan also describes various Best Management Practices (BMPs) to address the different types of water quality impairments. You may download the Columbia County Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Implementation Plan below.  NOTE:  This is a large file and must be saved to your computer to view.   

Columbia County Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Implementation Plan  (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher)

Through the Columbia County Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Implementation Plan, four new Conservation District Programs have been developed: 

No-Till Program – Open enrollment period

Field Buffer Program – Open enrollment period

Crop Management Association Cost-share Program - Open enrollment period

Pre-sidedress Nitrogen Testing Program - Open enrollment period

 For more information on the Columbia County Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Implementation Plan or any of the above programs, please contact Todd Rush at (570) 784-1310 ext: 124.

 

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Farmland Preservation- The CCCD coordinates the activities involved in the Agriculture Land Preservation Program for the county on behalf of the Columbia County Agricultural Land Preservation Board.  Applications are received year long, and are typically processed towards the end of the year. An application booklet is available.  A $25.00 fee is required to submit an application.

        Applications are ranked using a two-part Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA).  The LESA looks at the quality of soils/site assessment, and considers local factors that may have an impact on the current or future viability of a farm.  

        Once the farms are ranked and the funding is provided from the State, the land development rights are purchased from the highest-ranking farms.  The total number of farm easements purchased to date in the County is 9, totaling 1,068 acres.  Please contact Ed Lease at (570) 784-1310 ext. 102 for more information.

 

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Nutrient and Odor Management (Act 38)-  The PA Nutrient and Odor Management Act Requires all concentrated animal operations (CAOs) or animal operations that have 2,000 pounds or 2.0 AEUs(AEU-1000 pounds of animal on a typical production day) per acre available for manure to develop and submit a nutrient management plan to the conservation district for review and approval.  Available acreage includes all rented and owned crop, hay and pasture land.

       CCCD also administers programs to help implement a farms nutrient management plan.  To be eligible for any of the cost share programs a farm must have existed prior to October 1, 1997.  These programs include:

 
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Plan Development Incentives Program (PDIP):  75% cost share program for developing a nutrient management plan.  Rates are determined by the amount of acres planned.

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Agri-Link: loan program that provides low interest rate loans with a maximum of $75,000 for Best Management Practices required in a farm’s approved Nutrient Management Plan.  Loans are available from Farm Credit and other participating banks.

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Nutrient Management Plan Implementation Grant Program: grant program which provides 80% cost share up to $75,000 for Best Management Practices required in farm’s approved Nutrient Management Plan.    Farm must have existed prior to 10/1/97 and practices covered can not include part of an expansion for an existing operation.

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AerWay Rental

      A 10-foot AerWay soil aerator is available for rent through the District.  Click on the link above for rental rates and general information.

For more information on Act 38 or the above programs, please visit the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Program website or contact Todd Rush at (570) 784-1310 ext. 124.