Yahara Pride Farms Announces Membership Enrollment

Wisconsin Ag Connection - Enrollment is now open for the Yahara Pride Farms cost-share program. Membership is open to farmers in the Yahara Watershed, which includes southern Columbia, Dane and northern Rock counties.

The program is designed to help minimize the risk associated with trying new conservation practices on the farm. One of its goals is to provide farmers with value in hopes they continue or combine endorsed practices for even greater environmental impact. In particular, cover crops and low-disturbance manure injection have proven extremely effective in reducing phosphorus loss from farm fields while increasing soil health and crop yields.

"The cost-share program has been effective in encouraging farmers in the watershed to try new things to benefit water quality," said YPF Chairman Jeff Endres. "These techniques have become best-management practices for the farmers who have tried them. We would love to see additional farmers participate for the first time."

YPF is committed to collecting and analyzing data from the cost-share program. This past July, the group released a report documenting that participants in the program reduced phosphorus delivery to the Madison lakes and the Yahara River by 22,000 pounds. Over the past six years, farmers have documented a total phosphorus savings of nearly 68,000 pounds.

To enrollment in the program, go to: www.yaharapridefarms.org. The deadline to apply is November 15.

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