Lower Elkhorn NRD receives technical assistance grant for Pierce County

The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD), serving all or parts of 15 counties in northeast Nebraska, was recently awarded a technical assistance grant from the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD).

This is the third year of the NACD technical assistance grant program, which was created with funds from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help increase staffing at the field level and provide conservation services to farmers, ranchers and local communities across the U.S.

The NACD grant will be utilized to pay 80% of the wages and benefits for a Conservation Planner, and the LENRD will contribute the remaining 20%.  The Conservation Planner will be housed in the Pierce County NRCS office in Pierce.

Much of Pierce County has issues with high groundwater nitrate levels, with most of the county in the LENRD's Phase 2 or Phase 3 area.  These areas are subject to increased regulation due to the high groundwater nitrate levels.  The LENRD and NRCS currently are targeting Pierce County as they promote Best Management Practices (BMPs) that would aid in decreasing nitrate levels.

LENRD Assistant Manager, Brian Bruckner, said, “To deal with the increased workload and to successfully achieve the goals of the NRCS, an additional conservation planner is needed.  This employee will provide vital assistance in promoting and creating nutrient management plans and irrigation water management plans.  The planner will primarily focus on nutrient management and irrigation water management, but they will also assist with other BMPs that promote water quality and soil health and provide necessary assistance in getting BMPs on the ground.”

“Since 2018, NACD and NRCS have worked together to increase staffing at the field level for conservation districts,” NACD President Tim Palmer said. “This increased technical capacity helps to improve conservation services to farmers, ranchers and local communities across the nation.”

To date in 2020, NACD and NRCS have awarded $15 million in technical assistance grants. Since the program’s inception, NACD has funded technical assistance in all 50 states and three U.S. territories.

“Even in this time of a national emergency, farmers and ranchers have conservation concerns that need to be addressed,” Palmer said. “NACD is proud to provide funding to America’s conservation districts and allow for more boots on the ground, providing our growers with support for their individual landscapes and resource concerns.”

The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: www.nacdnet.org