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Agricultural Conservation

    Cortland County is rich with agricultural land. SWCD has numerous programs and services designed to enhance, protect, and preserve this resource. Our programs are dedicated to providing agricultural landowners with the assistance they need to plan for future generations.

    Water quality protection and improvement has become a primary goal in all arenas of environmental and agricultural planning. SWCD utilizes a variety of tools and programs to assist agricultural producers in inventorying and identifying potential on-farm water quality risks. SWCD may also provide technical assistance for the planning and implementation of Best Management Practices (BMP's) that will reduce or prevent the impacts of potential pollutants.

Agricultural Environmental Management

Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) is a voluntary program that helps farmers to operate their business in a manner that is environmentally sound. One of AEM’s many functions is that of an agricultural planning tool used to identify and address water quality concerns on farms. Once an appropriate conservation practice is selected to address a specific area of concern, AEM helps to link farmers to programs that offer financial and technical assistance. Cost-share funds for BMP's help farmers to address different problems on the farm.

Examples of BMP's

• Barnyard runoff management
   

• Milkhouse waste collection and treatment
  

• Nutrient management
   

• Silage leachate collection and treatment
   

• Streambank stabilization
   

• Prescribed grazing management
   

• Stream buffer zones          

In addition to these services, we also provide County soil maps, soil information and soil group worksheets.