Arkansas Conservation News -- Winter 2006

Conservation Corner

Kalven L. Trice
State Conservationist

It was great to see everyone in December at the Annual Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Meeting and The Organization Training Conference. 

Congratulations are in order for the winner of the National Small Farmer of the Year, Abraham Carpenter, and the Arkansas winner of Farm Family of the Year, the Womack Family, who were announced in December. Both competitions showed the diversity of agricultural operations in Arkansas. They also displayed the great stewardship farmers and ranchers practice as they carry out their operations. It is, in part, because of NRCS that Arkansas farmers and ranchers are successful in addressing their natural resource concerns. Thanks to all of the staff who contributed to these successful farmers and ranchers.

The agriculture industry was hit hard in 2005 with the increased fuel costs. American farmers are paying $5.3 billion more for fuel and fertilizer in 2005 than they did in 2004. Now may be the right time for farmers to analyze the way they’ve been doing business—and consider some changes that can benefit both their bottom line and the environment. NRCS staff developed a new tool to help reduce fuel and fuel-based fertilizer. I encourage you to discuss the options available with your families and customers, and to visit the new energy link on the national NRCS web page.

There are several exciting bio-fuel initiatives going on in Arkansas. The Secretary of Agriculture likes to say, “... I would rather secure our energy from the corn fields of America than from the oil fields of the Middle East.” I have to agree, and add, that I would like to see our energy come from soybean fields in Arkansas!

Due to the budget shortfall, you recently received a memo detailing the hiring and purchase freezes. We must continue to provide quality technical assistance and be more efficient.

Because of the NRCS can-do spirit, I have no doubt we will have another successful year in 2006.

In search of greener pastures

Rotational grazing benefits cattle and grasslands

“My son, Bryan, who is an agriculture teacher at Paris, Ark., has been preaching to me for years about the benefits of rotational grazing. And now that I have time, I decided to enroll 153.1 acres in the Grassland Reserve Program,” Weldon Harris said.

“LeVonna Uekman (Cleburne County district conservationist) helped me put the concept into perspective,” Harris said. “She said, ‘if you have a barn full of hay and just open the doors and let the cows in they will trample the hay and waste it. But, if you give them a little at a time it goes farther.’ It works the same way with my pastures.”

Harris, who runs 80-85 cows on his 470 acre commercial cow/calf operation, enrolled three pieces of property into the program -- 60 acres, 53.1 acres and 40 acres.  Each will be divided into eight fields with electric fencing.

“By moving the cattle twice a week to a new area, it will increase the amount of grass available,” Uekman said. “When grass can rest, it can grow better and the cows can’t waste it … they have to eat it down.

“The grazing program will provide grass later into the season and cut down on the amount of hay used each year,” she said.

The project also includes adding five ponds on the property to provide an adequate water system for the grazing areas.

Conserving and enhancing habitat

Restoration work benefits ivory-billed woodpecker, other wildlife in White River Basin

Natural Resources Conservation Service efforts since the late 1980s paid off with the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Lower White River Basin in 2004.

The Wetlands Reserve Program has restored more than 90,000 acres of critical habitat in the basin for waterfowl, shorebirds, and migratory songbirds, as well as many resident species.

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program plays a critical role in these restoration efforts by allowing private landowners the opportunity to enroll lands that might not be eligible for other assistance. Although the aim of WHIP in the basin is conservation and enhancement of habitat for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, ecological restoration is the over-riding goal.

NRCS has also worked with the Farm Service Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on private lands through the Conservation Reserve Program and other projects to enhance and conserve wildlife habitat for a multitude of species in the Lower White River basin.

Practices used in the area include:

• Forest stand improvement on 4,150 acres. Includes removing shade tolerant mid-story trees to promote regeneration of desirable species. Creating snags (dead trees) at a rate of one per acre.

• Reforestation/afforestation on 830 acres. Bottomland and pine flatwood habitats are being restored.

• Hydrology restoration on 150 acres.  Sloughs, vernal pools and bayous are being replaced to enhance wetland functions.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

ASTC for operations keeps F-16 flying during deployment

Extreme heat, dust storms and daily mortar attacks doesn’t sound like a typical time in the field for an NRCS employee.

But, for Anderson Neal Jr., assistant state conservationist for operations, that was part of his daily routine for 54 days last year in Iraq.

As the officer in charge of aircraft maintenance for the 188th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fort Smith, Neal and his troops kept the unit’s F-16 fighters flying to support Army and other ground troops battling insurgents.

“It was good to finally put all of our training to use in a war-time operation,” said Neal, who is a lieutenant colonel. “We were standing toe-to-toe with other guard units and our active-duty counterparts.”

While there, he was required to always have his flack vest and body armor ready. Several times a day he would have to don the gear because of mortar attacks. “The closest a mortar hit was within 50 yards of a building I was in. That helps bring the seriousness of war and the importance of our job into reality,” he said.

Neal, who began his Air National Guard career 21 years ago as an aircraft mechanic, was responsible for the daily maintenance on more than 12 aircraft and commanded 160 troops from his unit and units from Duluth, Minn., and Houston, Texas. He also gave two briefings a day to the commanding general on aircraft status and maintenance issues while stationed at Balad Air Base, 54 miles northwest of Baghdad.

“It was a high-tempo atmosphere with around-the-clock operations. Our unit actually out flew an active-duty Air Force unit from Aviano Air Base, Italy,” Neal said. “We were more experienced and provided maintenance support for their aircraft.”

The deployment wasn’t his first to the Middle East. After Desert Storm, he deployed to Saudi Arabia to maintain aircraft protecting the no-fly zone over Iraq. And, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, he spent a year maintaining aircraft patrolling the skies over U.S. cities. “We also provided coverage for President Bush when he visited his ranch in Texas,” Neal said. “While in Atlanta, our unit was called to fly over the Washington D.C. area because inclement weather prevented units in the D.C. area from taking off.”

More recently, Neal traveled with his unit to Port Sulpher, La., 70 miles south of New Orleans, to provide security and clean-up assistance at schools and public buildings after Hurricane Katrina hit the region.

NRCS establishes soil survey office at UAPB

A new cooperative effort between NRCS and the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff is establishing a Major Land Resource Area soil survey project office on the campus.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed during a ceremony Dec. 16 at the school.

UAPB is providing, at no costs to NRCS, office space, storage space for soil survey equipment, access to a GIS laboratory with more than 20 high-end GIS computers, printer, plotter, access to a soils laboratory with the latest technology for soil testing and analysis, and access to university telecommunications facilities to receive and transmit meetings to and from any part of the world using satellite technology.

NRCS presence on the UAPB campus will facilitate student and faculty exposure to NRCS and soil survey programs and activities; NRCS career opportunities; and technical assistance in curriculum development.

 “UAPB students and faculty are already engaged in a statewide soil survey project on the evaluation of soils data for various Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA) in the Southern Highlands and Mississippi Valley MLRA Soil Survey Region 16,” said Luis Hernandez, MLRA leader and state soil scientist.

“This collaboration enables Arkansas NRCS to modernize existing digital soil data, to improve information contained in various soils databases and to familiarize potential employees with technologies used in editing and digitizing soils data,” he said.

The signing event was part of a conservation tour, sponsored by the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees, to allow NRCS employees from all over the country to observe successful conservation projects around Arkansas. 

“This new collaboration with UAPB is a good example of how we can engage new cooperators in a creative way that will fulfill the NRCS mission,” Hernandez said.

Web tool helps farmers figure fuel savings

Oil costs about $40 a barrel last year and less than $30 a barrel in 2002. Today, it’s more than $60 a barrel!  With high fuel and fertilizer costs, farmer profits can plummet down. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for change.

Earlier this year, President Bush signed into law the first national energy plan in more than a decade. The president has asked all of us, federal agencies and the public, to be more energy efficient. There are many steps we can take as general consumers and as agricultural producers to conserve energy.

To help producers, NRCS has developed a simple, user-friendly, web-based tool called the Energy Estimator. The first iteration, available on the Web site, focuses on tillage.

Farmers can get this tool on the NRCS website at www.usda.gov and in just three “clicks” determine how much they could save in fuel costs by switching from conventional tillage to no-till — or any other reduced tillage system. They just need to plug in their zip code, their crops and acreage, and the price they expect to pay for fuel.

Producers can explore different options to see which strategies will work on their farm or ranch. Cutting back on fuel or fertilizer or increasing efficiency with those inputs is one way to improve an individual operator’s bottom line.

This is the beginning.  National headquarters is going to build on this tool. Early next year, they expect to add a module to help farmers figure out how much they could save through improved irrigation systems — which will be considerable — about $8 to $40 per acre. A second enhancement will enable producers to predict their savings from switching from fossil fuel fertilizer to manure.

The NRCS website includes other energy-saving strategies as well; additional energy-saving information and some success stories. They plan to include a simple, do-it-yourself energy audit checklist. All of this information will be available at www. nrcs.usda.gov.

• Doubling the amount of no-till acreage could save farmers and ranchers 217 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, valued at about $480 million.

• Converting center-pivot systems from medium pressure to low pressure could reduce energy costs by $87 million; converting from high pressure to low pressure would save another $80 million.

• Diesel powered pumps: A 10 percent improvement in water use efficiency could reduce diesel consumption by 80 million gallons per year, saving farmers and ranchers about $180 million dollars per year in diesel costs.

• Doubling the application of manure-based nitrogen could save agriculture up to 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas with a market value of about $1.2 billion each year..

• By reducing application overlap on the 250 million acres of cropland used to produce major crops, petroleum-based fertilizer and pesticide costs could be reduced up to $1 billion annually.

Civil Rights Committee expands, elects officers

The management team expanded the membership of the Civil Rights Committee to 10 members this year.

The committee’s mission is to serve as an advisory committee to the state conservationist regarding policies, practices and procedures as they affect civil rights throughout Arkansas.  The vision is to promote equity for people and programs in the natural state.

Civil Rights Committee officers are:

• Chairperson: Reginald Cunningham, Soil Conservationist, Hope

• Vice-Chairperson: Tammy Willis, District Conservationist, Wynne

• Secretary: Debra Crawford, District Conservationist, Texarkana 

Members at large include:

• Ron Day, District Conservationist, Morrilton

• Richard Drewry, RC&D Coordinator, Harrison

• Lillian Glenn, Secretary, Little Rock

• Bryan Hollis, District Conservationist, Hamburg

• Rich Joslin, District Conservationist, Arkadelphia

• Non-voting members include:

• Ron Brown, Outreach Coordinator, Little Rock

• Rhonda Foster, Multi-cultural Special Emphasis Program Manager

• Rose Webb, Federal Women’s Program Manager

• Corey Farmer, Black Special Emphasis Program Manager

• Carolyn Manning, Arkansas Natural Resource Commission Representative

• Debbie Moreland, Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Representative

• Anderson Neal, Assistant State Conservationist for Operations, Civil Right Committee Management Team Liaison

The committee is looking forward to a busy year and will be finalizing committee bylaws, attending career fairs and working on special projects for the state conservationist.  If you have civil rights questions or concerns, contact Reginald Cunningham at (870) 777-8800, ext. 3.

Star City office wins Earth Team FSC of Year award    

Assigning volunteers to jobs they like to do is the key to a successful volunteer program, according to Robert Hankins, district conservationist, in Star City, Ark. 

Hankins is the proud recipient of the Earth Team Field Service Center of the Year Award for 2005.  Ray Linder, assistant state conservationist for operations, south area, presented the award at a south area meeting in Arkadelphia December 1.

Hankins reported three volunteers who worked a total of 1,064 hours in fiscal year 2005. 

“We have two volunteers at the present time,” said Hankins, “a surveying aide and a community relations coordinator. 

“The surveying aide helps our soil conservation technician in surveying and staking ponds, land leveling, surveying irrigation ridges to lay poly pipe, and advising units of government on drainage and flooding problems. He has assisted in making maps and working with our poultry producers.

“The community relations coordinator helps organize meetings with officers and elected officials in Lincoln County.  He is a district board member who volunteers in ‘hands-on activities’ that go beyond the job he is appointed to do. 

“One of the main duties is our Farm Safety Day.  He organizes and chairs the planning meetings, recruits volunteers, takes forms to teachers, takes Progressive Farmer shirts to the schools and distributes them to participating students, organizes participants into groups, sets up training sessions, and helps supervise 20 or more volunteers who work during the event. 

“He also coordinates and implements Water Quality Monitoring Kit activities and ensures that results are posted on the appropriate website.  As a volunteer, he performs hands-on activities that are not typically part of a board member’s obligations.” 

Volunteers help fulfill NRCS’s vision by “helping people help the land” and NRCS’s mission by “…help[ing] people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.” 

“Since our volunteers are between the ages of 65-70, they are glad to get the exercise and to work with other people.  We try to make their job exciting as we can by using them on projects they like to do,” Hankins said.

Get to Know ... Outreach

Who is the weakest link?  Is it you?  As we look at outreach, it is important for all NRCS employees in Arkansas to realize we are all linked together for the main purpose of delivering customer satisfaction and putting conservation on the ground and that involves outreach.

As state outreach coordinator, it is critical to ensure each NRCS employee recognizes and understands “Outreach Is A Way Of Doing Business…It’s Everyone’s Job!”

Outreach is informing and educating new and existing clients about available USDA/NRCS programs and services.

Outreach is an activity, not a program. Outreach is an activity that must be a part of every program and service delivery.

I am Ron Brown and I am the outreach coordinator for NRCS in Arkansas.  I work out of the state office in Little Rock.

The assistant state conservationist for operations, Anderson Neal, is my supervisor and secretary Lisa Delk assists in outreach coordination.

Here is just a glimpse at what outreach involves:

• Providing assistance to NRCS and the conservation partnership to ensure all programs meet the needs of the clients and potential clients it serves.

• Providing input, reports and recommendations to the National NRCS Outreach Division located in Beltsville, Md., and to the Arkansas NRCS management team, employees, customers, partners and others.

• Coordinating outreach activities for NRCS in Arkansas; developing outreach concepts that can be used by NRCS to reach underserved farmers, ranchers, communities, and rural small businesses; setting timetables; and developing proposals to ensure adequate resources are available to provide assistance to underserved groups in Arkansas from an outreach perspective.

• Providing leadership and guidance to NRCS program managers, the management team, district conservationists, and others on their outreach responsibilities.

• Supplying outreach training at meetings for NRCS employees across the state.

• Representing NRCS to other agencies and groups.

• Facilitating community and rural development outreach activities by assisting interested individuals and units of government to secure the necessary technical, planning and financial expertise to solve rural community concerns.

• Assisting community organizations, RC&D councils, soil and water conservation districts, and other groups with coordination of projects to encourage underserved participation in NRCS and USDA programs and services.

• Assisting in implementation and supporting the civil rights program to assure NRCS programs and services are carried out without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, or disability.

With your help, all NRCS Arkansas employees can be strong links in carrying out outreach efforts.

Get to Know ... Human Resources

We are human resources and here’s what we do:

Sky Carpenter, human resources officer - I bring a wealth of experience with 20+ years in personnel, having worked for various agencies from California to North Carolina and from Alaska to Arkansas and everywhere in between.  I am currently responsible for the overall human resources management program and individually responsible for employee relations, classification, retirement, training, and ethics.  

Sandy O’Brien, human resources specialist - I am primarily responsible for the recruitment and staffing program.  I serve as backup to the HR officer and HR assistant.

Linda Aldridge, human resources assistant - I am responsible for employee benefits (other than retirement), processing personnel actions, transit subsidy program, and leave donor program.  I serve as backup for computer access requests.  I also serve as backup to the HR specialist and HR officer.

All together we have over 53 years of knowledge and experience in human resources!

Calendar

February

3 -- Sign-up deadline for EQIP and WHIP

10 -- Rural Life Conference, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff

15-16 -- Management Team Meeting, Little Rock

20 -- President’s Day holiday

22-24 -- Earth Team Training Conference, North Little Rock

27 -- Black History Program, Little Rock

March

10 -- Application Ranking Cut-off for EQIP and WHIP

13-17 -- Management Team Strategic Planning Session, Jonesboro

15 -- Deadline for EQIP and WHIP applications to be entered into Protracts

15 -- Arkansas Natural Resources Commission Meeting, Little Rock

27-31 -- Arkansas Civil Rights Review

April

12-13 -- Management Team Meeting, Little Rock

21-23 -- Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Meeting, Eureka Springs

Comings & Goings

Diana Angelo is the new cartographic technician at the state office.

Nolan Beck is the now soil conservation technician at the Warren Field Service Center.

Randle Buckner, district conservationist at the Malvern Field Service Center, retired Nov. 26.

Sandra (Sky) Carpenter is the new human resources officer at the state office.

Michelle Clendenin is the new biologist at the Little Rock Technical Service Center at the state office.

Wes Duvall is the new construction inspector at the Fort Smith Technical Service Center.

Ken Johnson is the new civil engineer at the Harrison Technical Service Center.

Justin Keith is the new soil conservationist at the Fort Smith Field Service Center.

Kenneth Knoll is the new civil engineering technician at the Hope Technical Service Center.

Jerry McGary, resource conservationist at the Fort Smith Technical Service Center, retired Jan. 3.

Derrek Nokes is the new soil conservation technician at the Hope Field Service Center.

Suzanne Polston is the new soil conservationist at the Bentonville Field Service Center.

James Reynolds is the new soil conservationist at the Conway Field Service Center.

Mark Robinson is the new soil conservation technician at the Fordyce Field Service Center.

Aaron Shelton is the new soil conservation technician at the North Little Rock Field Service Center.

Glen Sutton is the new district conservationist at the Hot Springs Field Service Center.

Greg Watkins is the new agronomist at the Fort Smith Technical Service Center.

Leodis Williams is the new soil scientist at the Camden Field Service Center.

Tiffany Wood is the new soil conservationist at the Pine Bluff Field Service Center.

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