Jones County Farmer Gets Conservation Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Reduce Soil Erosion on Farm

 When Ricky Yarbrough, Jones County cattleman, wanted to improve water quality by reducing soil erosion on his farm, he contacted his local NRCS office for help. He also wanted to improve the condition of his watering and feeding areas, but he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it and how to fund it.

NRCS conducted an analysis of his natural resources and worked with him to develop a conservation plan. NRCS also provided cost-share assistance through the Georgia Grazing Lands Conservation Coalition (GGLCC) “I learned that my farm needed more work than I originally thought.

Completion of the narrative for the application process gave me insight as to the direction I needed to take in order to improve my farm overall,” Yarbough said. “For me, the high point of the project was seeing the immediate impact the heavy use areas had on the ground around my troughs and hay rings.

My livestock no longer stand in mud to water or feed.” he said. “We now use trailers instead of rings when feeding hay from the heavy use areas. This allows us to easily move the trailer off the heavy use area pad, which speeds up the clean up process,” Yarbrough added. In addition,

Yarbrough’s cattle have fewer hoof problems and hay loss has been reduced since the cattle started feeding on the heavy use pads.

Yarbrough installed additional heavy use areas in high traffic areas and around feeders that were not part of his Georgia Grazing Lands Conservation Coalition (GGLCC) contract. “Seeing the benefits of the other heavy use areas made us realize this was the way to go,” noted Yarbrough. 

< Back to ...