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This ongoing project began to show how concentrated efforts can impact a big water quality problem.

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

February 21, 2019

2 Min Read
Field day at Rick Clark’s farm
LEARN AND SHARE: Visitors to Rick Clark’s Williamsport, Ind., farm last summer for a field day sponsored in part by the Big Pine Creek Watershed project learned about cutting-edge conservation and shared ideas with each other.

The Big Pine Creek Watershed project underway in parts of four counties in west-central Indiana is bigger than any one person or group. There are over 20 partners and dozens of participating farmers in this effort to improve water quality in a large area and show how it can impact a major water quality issue.

The point person who keeps the needle on this project forward is Leslie Fisher. She wears two hats, working as resource conservation specialist for the Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District and serving as Big Pine Creek Watershed coordinator.

“The project started several years ago,” she explains. “Initially, The Nature Conservancy wanted to show it was possible to work in an area, improve water quality and reduce nutrient sediment load reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Agriculture has received part of the blame for hypoxia which exists in part of the Gulf.”

The project today includes more than 20 partnerships, some unique. Funding comes from traditional U.S. EPA 319 grants, but the project also attracts support from major companies, including Coca-Cola. It received a large boost from Ceres Solutions Cooperative, as well.

“Some customers were asking questions about no-till and cover crops, and their people wanted to learn more themselves,” Fisher says. “It’s been a healthy relationship.”

Partnership example
Ceres Solutions staff say they find success by partnering with local farmers for the long term. Part of that strategy naturally means prioritizing protection of the land and natural resources for future generations, they note. Yet when customers realize how committed Ceres Solutions is to the Big Pine project, they sometimes ask why.

“I admit, I am sometimes taken aback by the question as to why a local retailer is so invested and so committed,” says Betsy Bower, a Ceres Solutions agronomist in west-central Indiana.

“We’ve been engaged in these practices my entire career — long before sustainability was a trending topic,” she continues. “Protection of the soil, maximizing potential and helping farmers achieve production goals is just what we do. It’s right to do. Good stewardship is actually good business.”

Bower has been a sustainability champion for decades. “As a farmer, you know the challenge is not in doing the right thing, but in more intentionally documenting and leveraging your decision,” she says. “You already watch your inputs. You follow stewardship principles. Let’s use new funding options, new tools and technology to optimize output per unit on every acre. Let’s continuously improve that balance between productivity, profit and preservation. That’s the conservation agronomy story — your story.”

Fisher hopes more farmers buy into Bower’s philosophy. “Our biggest challenge is getting more farmers and landowners to participate,” Fisher says. “We have money available. We simply need more farmers and landowners to get on board if we’re going to keep this effort going into the future.”

Laurel Mann contributed to this story on behalf of Ceres Solutions Cooperative.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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