The deadline to submit applications for NACD's 2021 Annual Meeting breakout sessions is this Friday, Sept. 4, 2020.

NACD will continue to monitor local, state and federal guidelines related to COVID-19 (coronavirus). Our top priority is to provide a safe and healthy environment for all participants, and we will continue to share information as it becomes available. Sign up for email updates about the meeting on our website.

If your company or organization would like time at the meeting to present to NACD members about your products or services that support conservation district work, please contact info@nacdnet.org.

To learn more about this year's five proposal themes and to submit a proposal, visit NACD's Breakout Sessions webpage. If you have any questions, please contact NACD Government Affairs Manager Eric Hansen.

The 2020 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report is now available to view online. The report outlines how the Sentinel Landscapes partnership enables the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of the Interior (DOI) to collaborate on land conservation and natural resource restoration projects that enhance national security by increasing the resilience of military installations and ranges.

The report’s findings demonstrate that over the past seven years, partnership projects have attracted over $141 million in DoD funds, $223 million in USDA funds, $41 million in DOI funds, $169 million in state funds, $15 million in local funds and $80 million in private funds. These contributions have protected over 467,000 acres of land and implemented sustainable management practices on 2.3 million acres around high-value military testing and training areas.

The report was recently featured in a news article published by DoD about the partnership, highlighting its accomplishments and showcasing a 12-minute documentary, which was released in April and tells the story of the farmers, ranchers, conservationists and military bases that are working together under the Sentinel Landscapes partnership to create a more sustainable future.

To view the report and learn more about the Sentinel Landscapes partnership, please visit their website here.

In northern Florida, where the primary natural resource concerns are water quantity and quality, technical assistance is key to helping producers address those concerns. The Suwannee County Soil and Water Conservation District, through NACD Technical Assistance Grants, has been crucial in boosting technical assistance capacity in the area. Not only has the district utilized grant funds to improve assistance in their county, their funds have helped boost capacity for Hamilton and Lafayette Counties, the two other areas serviced by the Live Oak Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field office.

With their grant, the district board decided to have Program Administrator Garrett McCray and Staff Assistant Joni Fortner assist NRCS District Conservationist Chris Menhennett with administering programs in the Live Oak region. This allowed them to better serve the area’s three counties, boosting program participation by 38 percent.

“Water quality and quantity is closely tied to soil health,” Menhennett said. “We’re getting a lot of interest through these conservation programs, especially [the Environmental Quality Incentives Program] (EQIP), to do cover crops.”

“They’re very happy,” Menhennett said. “They want to get to the point where they don’t want to have to do any type of tillage on their operation.”

Menhennett, McCray and Fortner have also helped address numerous water quantity issues by improving irrigation efficiency through removing inefficient systems and updating them to center pivot systems. In Hamilton County, the group provided technical and financial support to a beginning female farmer who wanted to replace her traveling gun irrigation system with a center pivot irrigation system. While they’re waiting for her first grain crop this year to have actual measures, Andy Jackson, chairman of the district board, estimates the conversion will save at least 10 million gallons a year on 140 acres.

“The way that NACD structured this was very well thought out and refreshing, because it allowed the district to work directly with NACD on reporting deliverables and receiving funding,” Menhennett said.

To learn more about NACD’s Technical Assistance grants or to read other TA success stories, visit the NACD Technical Assistance Grants webpage.

The next NACD Urban and Community (U&C) Conservation webinar, scheduled for 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 17, 2020, will feature the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District (TSWCD) in Oregon and their urban conservation outreach efforts.

To register, click here. If you have difficulty, please contact NACD Senior Advisor Debra Bogar at deb-bogar@nacdnet.org.

Growing up in South Africa, Steve Normanton has been farming since he was eight years old. Throughout his school years, Normanton worked for his mentor Ian Blackwood on his 16,000-acre operation raising cattle, antelope, giraffe, rhinoceros, buffalo and other African game.

After serving in the military and attending agricultural college, Normanton continued his career path in agribusiness as a farm manager on a growing operation of dairy cows, beef cattle and a sow-pig breeding unit, as well as a butchering facility.

Normanton moved to the United States, where he married and eventually set up his own operation. His operation includes pastured chickens, pastured pork and 100 percent grass-fed beef on certified organic pastures. Normanton has been focusing his efforts with his livestock by providing diverse plant species and grasses as forage, as well as giving his pastures longer rest periods in his system of high-density rotational grazing.

Normanton has faced weather-related challenges such as longer dry periods followed by heavy periods of rain. The need to build soil organic matter has been a priority to alleviate compaction, increase water infiltration, and reduce erosion. In the past 10 years he’s been working his land, Normanton has seen his A horizon (topsoil) grow from 6” to 12”, and, in a dry year like this one, he says his livestock has had lush green grasses to graze.

“Everything we do is an attempt to build resilience,” Normanton explains.

To read more about Normanton’s operation and soil health journey, read his profile on the NACD website and visit the Normanton Farms website.

If you or someone you know would like to become an NACD Soil Health Champion, please visit the NACD website or contact NACD North Central Region Representative Beth Mason.

On Friday, July 28, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) published a final rule for the Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and Wetland Conservation provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill.

According to NRCS, “this final rule follows a focused effort … to improve consistency and use of science in making determinations.”

The agency is hosting several public meetings, and public comments on the draft plan will be accepted through Oct. 9, 2020. More information and registration details on meetings can be found on Federal Register Notice's webpage.

NACD’s 2020 fiscal year ends Sept. 30, and now, more than ever, NACD needs your conservation district’s active involvement. If your district has not yet paid membership dues, please consider making a contribution online today.

If your district or state/territory association has already submitted a payment, thank you! If you’re able, please consider sending an additional payment to bolster the important work we’re accomplishing on behalf of America's conservation districts.

A special thanks to the following states who have already met or exceeded last year’s membership contributions:

The first video in the Soil Health Institute’s (SHI) Cotton & Covers video series is now available online. The series follows three cotton producers in the southeastern U.S. as they discuss their individual journeys to build profitable soil health management systems on their farms.

The video series is part of the Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton project, which provides farmer-focused education and training events delivered by SHI scientists, partnering with local soil health technical specialists and farmer mentors who have implemented successful soil health management systems.

You can view the video here. New videos will be made available weekly through September on the Soil Health Training webpage.

of The Resource

NACD's Summer 2020 Edition of The Resource is now available to view online.

This publication features updates on NACD's various programs, as well as recaps of virtual meetings and webinars held in light of COVID-19 (coronavirus). This edition also covers the work of conservation districts who are finding innovative and creative ways to deliver conservation in the face of a global pandemic.

You can browse past editions of The Resource on NACD's website.

However, in recent years, this migration has been in decline. The Monarch Joint Venture encourages you to spend the last days of summer by completing miles toward the migration. To learn more and participate, click here.

NACD also offers a free, downloadable Pollinator Field Day Guide, which includes pollinator-themed activities and resources for K-8 students.

Promote your conservation district or state association's tree sale, annual meeting, webinar, field day or more on NACD's Calendar of Events!