Guide to eligibility for some government programs

1
Guide to eligibility for some government programs

• What you need to know

2

• This program is produced in cooperation with the
  Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land
  Stewardship, with funds provided by EPA Region 7

3
What is a conservation plan?

• A prepared strategy to protect the environment
  from possible adverse effects of farm activities
• Feasible for the producer
• (workload and financially)
• Allows supported (funded) activities
• Might be amendable

4
What you need

• Records start planning now!
• On-farm activities plan (including scouting)
• Lay out a protocol for IPM
• Use the protocol to plan for records to keep
• Should be useable for the one making decisions

5
Crop Nutrients

• Time of application
• Rates of nutrient materials
• Soil sampling
• P index
• N
• Manuring
• New in Iowa restrictions on
• ground going to soybean

6
What is scouting?

• Make scouting pay for you
• First understand the crop and pests
• Second determine action thresholds
• Scouting is a planned gathering of information
  that fuels decision-making.

7
Step 1 get accurate soil maps for the farm

• soil survey
• Hand-made maps
• Downloaded from online databases
• FSA base maps
• others

8
Step 2 Identify special areas (i.e., possible
setbacks)

• Label-specific (atrazine, acetochlor, etc.)
• streams, tile intakes, well sites, mix sites
• Wells, active, standby, or abandoned
• Sinkholes, lakes, streams
• Other
• Public use areas (schools, trails, adjacent
  homes)
• Use common sense

9
Step 3 Timely scouting

• Addresses crop pests, focused on five times
  during the season
• 2-3 weeks post crop emergence
• 3-7 weeks post emergence
• 3-10 days after each pesticide application
• at reproductive stage of the crop (tassel or pod
  set
• just prior to harvest

10
2-3 weeks post emergence

• CORN and SOYBEAN
• Stand count/uniformity
• Weeds present and pressure
• Insects (BCW, flea beetle, etc.)
• Estimate residue cover

11
3-7 weeks after planting

• Evaluate weed control
• What insects are present, and consider economic
  thresholds

12
Following pesticide applications

• (within 3-10 days of each)
• Note and follow appropriate re-entry times
• Document effectiveness of treatment
• Do this for each application!

13
Reproductive stage

• CORN tasseling, BEANS full-flower
• Evaluate pests
• Insects
• Weeds
• Diseases

14
Reproductive stage

• CORN tasseling, BEANS full-flower
• 2. Document crop growth and health
• Iron chlorosis
• Hail/drought/flood damage
• Herbicide damage
• Etc.

15
August

• Tissue test to evaluate N use
• stalk tissue tests
• Review and evaluate pest management decisions

16
Throughout the season

• Follow label instructions
• possess any supplementary labels
• You need 3 years of records for some program
  eligibility
• The key is to document what you do

17
Questions

• Your county NRCS-District Conservationist
• ISU Extension nutrient guidelines and pesticide
  resources
• NOTE WIN-PST is a program to estimate pesticide
  hazards talk with NRCS staff to use it before
  you get frustrated!

18

• Forensic record keeping might be possible but
  needs to represent reality.

19

• Surface crop residue at planting