NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS), Huron, South Dakota (SD), November 15, 2022 – Conservation Implementation Strategy (CIS) Project “Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Initiative” is in its second year in Clark and Hamlin Counties, SD, serving the community and improving land quality.

This 3-year project is 1 of 17 selected in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 and federally-funded through the NRCS conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill. The purpose of this project is to counteract the increase in fallow periods and erosion coupled with an increase in silage harvest in the area, due to the prevalence of CAFOs, locally.

Farmers, ranchers, and landowners within 14 miles of existing permitted CAFOs in Washington, Collins, Lake, and Pleasant townships of Clark County and Opdahl, Cleveland, Garfield, and Dixon townships of Hamlin County are eligible to apply for financial assistance.

The application cutoff date is December 16, 2022. The NRCS conservation specialists and partners are coordinating these projects throughout the state. Through collectively focusing expertise and resources on the highest priority resource concerns in the highest priority areas, CIS projects can yield the most impressive returns. Collaborative funding and support from other agencies and groups create a coordinated community effort and focus on mutual issues of concern.

The NRCS partners with Clark County Conservation District (CD), Hamlin County CD, SD Soil Health Coalition, and Clark-Hamlin Cattlemen’s Association on the CAFO Initiative Project to directly benefit local soil health and erosion prevention. Project sponsors identified soil quality, erosion, nutrients transported to surface water, and manure leaving the field as resource concerns and developed this CIS project to address the situation.

The increase in CAFOs in the area presents a unique opportunity to local landowners and producers that contract with CAFOs to provide feed, bedding, and spreadable acres for animal waste. Targeted conservation practices have the potential to counteract the impact of residue removal and increased manure application on the land, ensuring healthy soil and clean water into the future.

To apply to be a part of this project, connect with your local NRCS Service Center at www.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/find-a-service-center or contact the Clark or Hayti NRCS Offices, at (605) 532-3639 Ext 3 or (605) 783-3642 Ext 3. For more information on the CIS in SD, or if you have ideas for a project, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/eqip-environmental-quality-incentives/south-dakota/south-dakota-conservation, or contact Jeff Vander Wilt, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, at jeffrey.vanderwilt@usda.gov or (605) 352-1226.