There are various State and Federal Programs available to landowners through the Roane County SWCD.
Practices the following State program assists with include cross fencing, pipeline, watering tanks, erosion, and water quality.
TDA State Program
Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund
The Agricultural Resources Conservation Fund (ARCF) provides financial assistance to farmers to employ conservation practices on their land to promote healthy soil and water. These practices benefit our farms and our communities.
Local Soil and Water Conservation Districts help farmers plan and install Best Management Practices (BMPs).
BMPs to Control Cropland Soil Erosion:
- Cover crops
- Grassed waterways
- Stream buffers
- Terrace systems
- Water and sediment control basins
- Grade stabilization structures BMPs to Manage Animal Waste
- Exclusion fencing
- Prescribed grazing systems
- Heavy-use areas
- Filter strips
Best Management Practices to Improve Water Quality
1. Maintain a permanent buffer of grass, shrubs, and trees along stream banks to lessen erosion, filter sediment, slow runoff, and increase infiltration of water into the soil.
2. Consider planting cover crops to control erosion and improve soil health by keeping a living crop in the soil year-round.
3. Use no-till or other conservation tillage practices to minimize soil erosion and runoff.
4. Analyze soil and manure regularly and follow recommendations to ensure fertilizer application conforms to the 4 R Philosophy—the right fertilizer source applied at the right rate, at the right time, and with the right placement.
5. Consider prescribed grazing systems to increase pasture quality and grazing efficiency and to keep manure out of streams.
6. Control the formation and growth of gullies and rills with terraces, grass waterways, grade stabilization structures, diversions, or other practices.
7. For confined livestock farms, use gutters, curbing, berms, and other practices to divert clean rainfall runoff from areas where manure is found. Always store manure under a tarp or other cover, even when temporarily stockpiled in a field prior to spreading.
8. For crops that require tillage, plant rows along the natural contours of the land to minimize runoff and install vegetated buffers or field borders to trap sediment.
9. Construct heavy-use areas in places that receive heavy traffic from livestock or equipment. Maintain travel lanes and on[1]farm roads to minimize erosion.
10. Follow label instructions to handle, store, apply, recycle, and dispose of all agricultural chemicals and their containers.
Tennessee’s agricultural producers are eligible to apply. Contact your local Roane Soil and Water Conservation District for more details on applications and incentive payment rates.