Upper Loup NRD Received Grant from Nebraska Environmental Trust

April 5, 2014 —Upper Loup Natural Resources District announced today that it will receive $30,000 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the “No-Till Drill” project. The Trust Board announced funding for the project at its meeting on April 3, 2014 in Lincoln. The project is one of the 132 projects receiving $21,750,000 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year. Of these, 56 were new applications and 76 are carry-over projects.

There are many benefits of using a no-till technique such as the reduction of soil erosion, soil moisture and organic matter retention, protection of groundwater quality, reduction of chemical runoff, and reduction of soil compaction. In 2000, with the help of the Environmental Trust, the Upper Loup purchased a 10 foot Great Plains no-till drill. The drill was kept very busy (drilled over 12,000 acres) and could not keep up with the demand so the NRD purchased another 10 foot drill in 2007. Both drills have been used in all of the eight counties of our district and to date have serviced more than 18,526 acres.

Several producers have been enquiring about a larger drill that could be rented. A larger drill would provide a couple of advantages. One, it would cut down on the amount of time each producer needed to have the drill allowing it to be used by more producers during peak planting times. Two, it would reduce the number of rounds it would take to drill, making the process more conservation friendly (reducing fuel usage and emissions). The 20 foot Haybuster no-till drill is expected to be here the first part of June. The new drill can be easily pulled behind a pickup. It does not have seed boxes for native seeds.