Corngrowers Buffer Strips Pilot Program

The Nebraska Corn Growers Association is field-testing buffer strips at the edges of productive corn, soybean and milo fields under a grant from the Trust. The project is enormously popular, with waiting lists of producers who want to participate.

Scott Merritt, director of the NCGA, explains, "The number one part of a buffer strip is water quality. Obviously, the farmer is using crop protection chemicals to produce a crop and from time to time he's going to get a runoff. If we can hold the product on the field it benefits the producer because its doing what its supposed to and also its not contributing to any kind of water quality problems. I think all the public benefits from that.

Audio clips: Scott Merritt Audio (175 Kb)

"We looked a lot of different places to try to get funding for the project. We seemed to be somebody who fell between the cracks. We were in a spot where everyone thought it was a wonderful idea but to get the seed money was very difficult."

"I guess from an agriculture perspective, we don't have a lot of tools out here for environmental type projects but yet we're probably under attack more than anyone else in society. We looked at this as an opportunity for agriculture to do positive things in the environmental arena. The Fund is a catalyst that allows us to take that and go on."

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