Author: Site Owner

Five questions.

Do you rent out your land for agriculture? If you do, don’t forget about your farm when you’re making your New Year’s resolutions. Here are five questions from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that you need to ask the folks who rent your land: Do you build organic matter in the soil? Do you test the soil at least once every four years? Do you use no-till practices? Do you use cover crops? What can we do together to improve soil health on your land?

If you’re lucky, you have a renter like John Z. Beiler who rented acres of prime farmland in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. At the landowner’s encouragement John worked with NRCS to address gully erosion, test the farm’s soils, control noxious weeds and comply with highly erodible land and conservation plan requirements.

Practices that included a grassed waterway, a lined waterway, subsurface drainage, an equipment stream crossing and a 35-foot native grass riparian herbaceous buffer.

John also committed to continue no-tilling the farm and planting mixes of diverse cover crops. He had converted to no-till farming long ago and was one of the first farmers in Juniata County to include forage radishes in his cover crop mixes. He did everything he could to build healthy soil on his rented acres.

Sadly, just a few months after implementing these practices, John passed away. A few weeks later, his son, John, went to the local NRCS office to find out how to carry on his dad’s conservation work.

Today, all the practices in the Beilers’ conservation plan are at work. They have an equipment crossing that limits streambank erosion and a native grass buffer on an ag-impaired stream segment that bisects the farm. They continue to test the soils and use no-till and cover crops.

The Beilers have, and are, “building the production capacity and resiliency of their landowner’s soil…resulting in longer-term production and profitability gains through sustainable conservation practices,” according to Barry Fisher, NRCS soil health specialist and an Indiana farmer.

“Finding a farmer who is interested in building organic matter by using practices like no-till and cover crops is like finding a bank with a better rate on a Certificate of Deposit,” said Fisher.

That sounds like a winning New Year’s resolution!

Five questions.

Do you rent out your land for agriculture? If you do, don’t forget about your farm when you’re making your New Year’s resolutions. Here are five questions from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that you need to ask the folks who rent your land: Do you build organic matter in the soil? Do you test the soil at least once every four years? Do you use no-till practices? Do you use cover crops? What can we do together to improve soil health on your land?

If you’re lucky, you have a renter like John Z. Beiler who rented acres of prime farmland in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. At the landowner’s encouragement John worked with NRCS to address gully erosion, test the farm’s soils, control noxious weeds and comply with highly erodible land and conservation plan requirements.

practices that included a grassed waterway, a lined waterway, subsurface drainage, an equipment stream crossing and a 35-foot native grass riparian herbaceous buffer.

John also committed to continue no-tilling the farm and planting mixes of diverse cover crops. He had converted to no-till farming long ago and was one of the first farmers in Juniata County to include forage radishes in his cover crop mixes. He did everything he could to build healthy soil on his rented acres.

Sadly, just a few months after implementing these practices, John passed away. A few weeks later, his son, John, went to the local NRCS office to find out how to carry on his dad’s conservation work.

Today, all the practices in the Beilers’ conservation plan are at work. They have an equipment crossing that limits streambank erosion and a native grass buffer on an ag-impaired stream segment that bisects the farm. They continue to test the soils and use no-till and cover crops.

The Beilers have, and are, “building the production capacity and resiliency of their landowner’s soil…resulting in longer-term production and profitability gains through sustainable conservation practices,” according to Barry Fisher, NRCS soil health specialist and an Indiana farmer.

“Finding a farmer who is interested in building organic matter by using practices like no-till and cover crops is like finding a bank with a better rate on a Certificate of Deposit,” said Fisher.

That sounds like a winning New Year’s resolution!

The 5-week MyPlate New Year’s Challenge lets you earn points for making small changes that add up to big wins. Find your #MyPlateMyWins at ChooseMyPlate.gov/MyWins.

The MyPlate Team welcomes you to join us for a fun and competitive way to start the New Year—join our MyPlate New Year’s Challenge! The MyPlate Team is hosting a 5-week challenge, featuring a new food group each week along with physical activity. Join our New Year’s Challenge now by visiting our MyPlate New Year’s Challenge page or by searching for “MYPLATE” on SuperTracker’s Join Group page. It’s never too late to join, so make sure to share this opportunity with your friends, family, and coworkers!

The first food group featured in the Challenge is the Dairy Food Group. Dairy foods include all fluid milk products as well as foods made from milk that retain their calcium content, like cheese and yogurt. Calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage) is also part of the Dairy Group. Calcium is a mineral that helps us to build bones and teeth, and maintain bone mass. Choosing low-fat or fat-free dairy options helps lower your intake of saturated fat. 

Making small changes to your daily beverages choices can be an easy and achievable way to reach the daily recommended 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free dairy! As you participate in the MyPlate New Year’s Challenge this week, try to choose beverages that help you stay hydrated and limit your intake of added sugars and saturated fat:

• Include milk or calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage) as a beverage at mealtimes.
• If you drink cappuccinos or lattes, ask for them with fat-free (skim) milk and skip the “whip”.
• Make a smoothie with fat-free or low-fat milk and/or fat-free yogurt.

Check out our video for more #MyPlateMyWins for Beverages:

Physical activity also is a key component of a healthier you! Make small changes at the start of your day to increase your physical activity, such as getting off the bus a stop early, parking further away from work, or taking the steps instead of an elevator.

Small changes make a big difference in the long run! For more ideas on incorporating fat-free and low-fat dairy in your day, checkout recipes on What’s Cooking: USDA Mixing Bowl; you can use Nutrition Focus Filters (Dairy, Get more calcium, or Move to fat-free or low-fat dairy) to refine your search. Visit our MyPlate Tip Sheets for more ideas for making the switch, including at your coffee shop stop! Use SuperTracker to track your progress towards healthier eating solutions and share your own tips and real solutions for healthy eating in 2017 using #MyPlateMyWins. Don’t forget to sign up for email notifications on SuperTracker to stay up-to-date with the Challenge!

MyPlate, MyWins will guide you in your journey towards healthy eating in the New Year. For more healthy eating tips and resources, visit ChooseMyPlate.gov, follow MyPlate on Facebook and Twitter, join or use SuperTracker, and sign up for email updates.