Little Plot Addresses Big Problem

Ag Progress Days, held annually at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center and sponsored by Penn State, is an opportunity for farmers and landowners to get together in an “expo setting” to learn about new and innovative agricultural production strategies and advances in agricultural technology. It is also a time for farmers to learn more about agricultural conservation and the impact that farming has on the landscape. From nutrient and pest management to rotational grazing, at Ag Progress Days farmers have the opportunity to meet with conservation experts to discuss face to face techniques that can be used to protect the environment and increase the farm's ability to efficiently and effectively use and protect our natural resources.

As a part of the three-day agricultural event, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and our conservation partners, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), hosted a plot designed to raise awareness to the ongoing problem of declining soil health on Pennsylvania's farms. On-farm soil health problems, such as declining soil organic matter content, loss of soil biodiversity, and increased soil erosion, continually plague the Commonwealth's farmland and result in production losses and uncertainty over the sustainability of agriculture in Pennsylvania. Soil quality problems on the farm are in turn having equally negative impacts on the Commonwealth's ground and surface waters. In western Pennsylvania alone it is estimated that nearly 300,000 metric tons of sediment, 10,500 metric tons of nitrogen, and 656 metric tons of phosphorous find their way from agricultural land to our streams and rivers each year.

The demonstration plot, pictured above, was featured on three separate tours guided by WPC, DEP and NRCS staff, and gave tour participants an in-depth look into how soil health problems originate and which Best Management Practices (BMP's) could be used to reverse the problems. No-till crop management, cover crops, scouting fields for soil cover and understanding the mechanics of soil erosion and organic matter depletion were just some of the topics covered by the tour.

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