Spring plowing, once a sure sign of winter’s end, has fast become a rare sight on Ohio farmlands. And our environment is much the better for that.
When Ohio farmers take to their fields in the weeks ahead, don’t be surprised to see that those freshly planted fields have not been plowed as they might have been in so many springs in the past. Over recent decades, a majority of Ohio farmers have become committed to conservation tillage, a plow-less way of tending the land that keeps the soil in place, significantly reduces soil erosion and helps keep runoff pollution out of Ohio’s waterways.
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No-till soybeans in former cornfield |
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| No-till corn in former wheatfield |
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| Planting corn |
Conservation tillage, or “no-till” farming, is just one of many practices being used by farmers across the state to improve Ohio’s environment. It’s one reason why farmers can rightfully claim the title of “Ohio’s first environmentalists,” who were preaching the benefits of conservation and resource protection long before the first Earth Day celebration.
You can well understand the important link between farming and Ohio’s overall environmental quality when you consider that nearly 20,000,000 acres or 78 percent of all the land in Ohio is covered by cropland, pasture, or privately owned forest. Even as we continue to lose farmland each year to suburbanization and development, that is still an amazing statistic. With so much of Ohio’s land base committed to agriculture and other rural uses, what takes place on these lands has a direct impact on our water quality, wildlife, recreation, and our ability to enjoy scenic, open spaces. Even beyond the fact that so much of what we find on our dinner tables is the product of Ohio farms, every Ohioan is affected by what happens there since we all live, work and play in watersheds that we share with those farms.
Even more impressive is the fact that farmers are accomplishing this environmental progress through voluntary, cooperative efforts most often in partnership with neighboring farmers, local community leaders and supportive agencies in the state and federal government. Thanks to these partnerships, Ohio farmers are building ponds and wetlands to reduce flooding and protect water quality, planting trees and grasses to filter runoff and provide wildlife habitat, and installing manure management structures for increased conservation all in addition to their conservation tillage efforts.
Much of this effort is coordinated through the locally directed Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in each Ohio county. The SWCDs have stepped up efforts to offer technical assistance to landowners, and the results are having dramatic, positive impacts on our environment. For example, thousands of livestock producers have been enrolled in programs that help them analyze their farm operations to identify areas needing improvement. Other farmers have planted field windbreaks and filter strips to reduce erosion from farm fields. Trees and other wildlife-friendly vegetation are being planted along stream corridors to create buffer strips and improve water quality in many Ohio watersheds.
As Ohio becomes an increasingly urbanized state, many of us have lost the personal ties that earlier generations may have had to rural Ohio and its farms. Many no longer appreciate the contributions that farms make to the well-being of every Ohioan, particularly the ways in which farmers are protecting our environment. This summer, a number of county Soil and Water Conservation Districts will be offering public field trips, providing a first-hand opportunity to see how farmers and other rural landowners are putting conservation practices to work on their land. I encourage you to take a look, and learn how these districts help other residents as well.
Many century-old traditions are still honored in Ohio farm country, but spring plowing is quickly vanishing. Our farmers have found new and better ways to care for their land and to feed the rest of us in the process. This Earth Day, let’s thank them for making conservation and environmental stewardship the hallmarks of their profession.