Technician Jared Shippey greasing drill

Richard Hershberger is a busy guy this time of year. For six weeks every Spring, he works six and sometimes seven days a week managing a unique program for the Bedford County Conservation District that loans out corn planters, drills and lime spreaders to help farmers plant crops using no-till methods.

"Don't drum up any more business for us!" Hershberger says. "It's non-stop this time of year, but it has real benefits for farmers, the environment and the District."

This is the sixteenth year the District is running the program that has spread the benefits of no-till farming by renting the planting and other equipment to farmers that might not otherwise try this environment-friendly farming technique.

"Farmers can realize big-time fuel savings, increase organic matter and water retention in their soil and decrease erosion with no-till," said Hershberger, an Agricultural Conservation Technician with the District since 1990. "This year farmers are especially attracted to the fuel savings."

Hershberger will loan out the equipment over 300 times this year to farmers that will use no-till methods on over 5,000 acres of farmland.

"It's not really economically feasible for farm equipment dealers to offer this service, so the district stepped up," said Hershberger. "We involve the dealers in buying the original equipment and in repair and maintenance."

Jim Eshelman, who has served on the Bedford County Conservation District board for nearly 30 years, originally came up with the program because he and other members of the board at the time were big proponents of no-till.

It was simple idea-- provide the specialized no-till equipment at a reasonable fee and more farms would adopt the practice.

In the early days a retired farmer was hired to promote the program and deliver the equipment, but the program steadily grew. It started with one corn planter, but now the program has six corn planters and four no-till drills.

The District also rents out four liquid manure spreaders and two pumps farmers use to empty manure holding facilities to promote better manure management and two damp lime spreaders to promote better soil health.

"The other benefit of the program I see is it gets us out to 200 farms a year we might not otherwise get to," said Hershberger. "We talk to them about other District programs like planting cover crops and erosion control."

The District credits the program with getting farmers to take advantage of streambank fencing, Project Grass, nutrient management planning and other programs that have both environmental and economic benefits for farmers.

Bedford and Fulton counties received a Growing Greener grant and other financial support to promote no-till practices and planting cover crops to reduce agricultural land runoff and erosion.

"Every year we've outdone the last," said Hershberger. "And we expect it will continue because there are lots of benefits to farmers and the environment."

For more background read a copy of the Equipment Rental Manual attached to this article or contact Richard Hershberger at 814-623-7900 x 112 or by email to: rhershberger@earthlink.net (but, I'd wait until after planting season.)

Attachment: Bedford County Conservation District Equipment Rental Manual - PDF

6/3/2005