USDA’s Tony Sunseri welcomes guests to the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour at Ryan and Christina Larson’s farm, highlighting the power of local stewardship, innovation, and the future of sustainable agriculture.

No one can control the weather, but farmers can adjust their management practices to reduce the risks. A logical first step is to reduce the number of tillage passes, especially in fields adjacent to busy highways, to begin moving toward conservation tillage.

The Hutchisons' use of variable-rate nitrogen applications onto crops are split up through the growing season to boost yields while reducing the potential for runoff. To further protect water quality, they practice mulch and strip-till practices, have installed grassed waterways and buffers, and have completed wetland restoration projects and forest management.

Farmers and ranchers have until Feb. 3 to submit initial applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program to the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the USDA is seeking new proposals for cutting-edge projects that will provide new conservation opportunities through its competitive Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program.

When I'm walking in a field with a strip-tiller, we'll invariably talk about visual indicators that reflect benefits of the practice — increased earthworm populations, mellower soils and better soil texture.

Currently in West Texas, we are in one of the worst droughts since the 1930's and 1950's. We are now entering the third year of this drought. Recently, I did some research on the drought of the 1930's and 1950's. In my hometown of Plainview, Texas (average annual rainfall = 20.17 inches), our rainfall for 2011 and 2012 was 5.63 and 10.48 inches respectively. In comparison, the two lowest years of precipitation during the 1930's was 10.16 and 13.75 inches in 1933-1934 and for the 1950's was 11.29 and 10.39 inches in 1953-54.

Scientists at the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service recently developed a simple, web-based tool that helps producers easily understand the quality of water flowing off their fields, the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff (WQIag).