Santo Domingo Pueblo Tackles Drought with NRCS Help

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Mark Smith, NRCS New Mexico, on September 3, 2013 at 12:00 PM

A healthy alfalfa field in the Santo Domingo Pueblo as a result of improved soil health and a new irrigation system.

Just off the Rio Grande River, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., sits Santo Domingo Pueblo, a community surrounded by fields of alfalfa, oats and Sudan grass for horses and cattle, and small gardens filled with corn and green chili peppers.

But this green idyll is in danger of drying out. Over the past few years, New Mexico has been struggling through one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Little rain and a dwindling river have threatened many of the Pueblo’s fields and gardens.

After partnering with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, Pueblo residents have found a way to grow more using less water and keeping their fields and gardens healthy.

Pueblo residents worked with NRCS to save water by improving soil health through conservation practices such as rotating crops and planting cover crops. Healthy soil retains more moisture, allowing for less water to be applied during irrigation.

They also installed an efficient underground water irrigation system to replace some of the aging earthen irrigation ditches to 50 fields that stretched across more than 200 acres.

Residents of the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico worked with NRCS to run an efficient underground irrigation pipeline.

The new watering system and conservation practices have made all the difference. The once-parched fields of the Pueblo are flourishing—a notable feat even in non-drought years. And now fields that used to take two days to irrigate can be watered in just 4 hours.

In late June, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Pueblo to see its successes first hand. Vilsack said he hopes that other communities and tribes will look to Santo Domingo Pueblo’s improvements as a possible solution for drought-affected agricultural operations across the west.

The tribe received financial assistance from NRCS through USDA’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. The national initiative addresses high-priority funding and technical assistance needs in rural communities in 16 states, including New Mexico, with a special emphasis on historically underserved communities and producers in counties with persistent poverty.

Because of their water and time savings, Pueblo residents are now looking to continue upgrading the remaining earthen irrigation systems in order to be able to feed the entire community with locally grown foods.

Beginning Farmers Cattle Operation Benefits from Initiative for Underserved Farmers

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Beverly Moseley, NRCS, on August 29, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Emma and Percy Brown of Vicksburg, Miss., are beginning farmers whose lives have benefited from funding through the USDA StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative.

For over a year, Mississippi retirees Percy and Emma Brown traveled 50 miles roundtrip three times a week from their home in Vicksburg, Miss. to their farm in Port Gibson in order to water their cattle. It was a time consuming process that involved filling up eight barrels with many gallons of water for the growing cattle herd.

That all changed when the Browns, who were new to farming, heard about USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency that helps private landowners implement conservation. They visited the Port Gibson field office and learned that they could receive funding from NRCS for livestock water troughs through the USDA StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative.

The Browns were able to install the farm’s first-ever water troughs with StrikeForce funds. The farm now has two water troughs located in separate pastures. That means that the Browns’ days of hauling water are over, and they can now spend that time on other farm projects.

The national StrikeForce initiative addresses high-priority funding and technical assistance needs in rural communities in 16 states, including Mississippi, with a special emphasis on historically underserved producers and communities in designated counties with persistent poverty. The initiative provides an opportunity for NRCS to work with underserved landowners to determine how to best leverage available financial assistance. Beginning farmers like the Browns are considered historically underserved.

Farmer Percy Brown and Patrick Smith, NRCS district conservationist in Port Gibson, Miss., visit about conservation planning on Emma and Percy Brown’s farm.

“We just really wanted to get started and we didn’t really know how,” Percy says.

StrikeForce also helped the Browns install conservation practices such as cross fencing, one key to implementing a rotational grazing system which can help reduce the pressures caused by overgrazing. Negative effects of overgrazing include soil compaction, decreased soil organic matter and reduced forage availability for the livestock.

The Browns now have peace of mind knowing their 15 head of cattle will always have drinking water. The water troughs have also freed up more time for the Browns to enjoy their retirement days working on the farm.

Since the Browns installed two water troughs and heavy use pads on their farm from additional EQIP funds through the USDA StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative, they are no longer spending hours using a water hose to fill up eight water barrels for their cattle.