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Show April 2002 F arm & Ranch Edition 5 Cotners honored with Conservation Awards Price River Soil Conserva- tion District has selected the Cotner families for two conservation awards. Kevin and Kayleen Cotner, a longtime farmer in the Miller Creek area and his parents Jack and Beverly Cotner were all honored recently with outstanding cooperative members the of yearf awards Creek farms. According to Cotner the project has been costly but the benefits far outweigh the tial expense. One added expense was increased power bills to run the pump. However, the rewards have definitely been worth it, says the younger Cotner. They doubled the farmable acres (increased by 89 acres) on the same amount of water. We also increased crop production and the new system has allowed us to run 130 pairs (cow,calf) all summer, he ini-Th- eir were based on the installation of a sprin- kler system on their Miller Cotner family with awards for water conservation. Kevin Cotner wished he had On 39 acres that used to be sprinklers on all his acres. tending water a lot easier and He with gated pipe would watered The new system has made faster. explained that of water now, most of the water tend- use two second-foing can be done by his wife for seven days. Now, with Cotner's form showing their new sprinkler system. ot ARDL program offers aid On July 1, 1983, the Utah Department of Agriculture expanded its Rangeland Development program to include cropland, watershed, and energy conservation practices. This expanded program is known as. the Agriculture Resource Development Loan program or ARDL. This program is administered by the Department of Agriculture under the direction of the Soil Conservation Commission. The goal of the program is to aid farmers and ranchers to: Conserve soil and water Increase agricultural yields Maintain and improve water quality ' Conserve and improve wildlife habitat Prevent flooding Rangeland improvement Reseeding watershed Wind erosion control The projects are assessed a 4 administrative fee. The interest rate is 3 percent per year. Payments may be made in annual or monthly installments. Who b Eligible? The U. S. Department of Agriculture defines a farm as an operation of five or more acres with annual sales of at least $1,000.00. Any private farm or ranch operator who meets this definition is eligible to apply for an ARDL loan. The planned projects must be applied to farmland or ranch-lan- to farmers through the effective use of valuable resources. Improvement of wildlife habitat, rangeland, and waterways means better conditions for cattle and better crop yields as well as for wildlife. The efficient use of water and the reduction of silt from erosion in streams and reservoirs means that more water is available for culinary purposes. The improvement of wildlife habitat and the reduction of erosion and pollution also helps to improve relations of agriculture with environmentalists and urban populations, a real concern in todays world. FENCES Can Loan Funds Be Used With energy Other Federal Programs? Develop projects Combining ARDL funds Mitigate damages resulting with other grants and loans is from natural disasters (e.g. encouraged in order to provide the nwriimmi benefit in conflooding, drought, etc.) servation. There are no restricDo? tions against combining ARDL Does Hie Program Whit The program provides low funds with other types of interest loans to farmers and funds. ranchers for projects which meet the conservation and pol- Why Should I Implement A lution control goals of the pro- Conservation Project? Conservation of resources gram. Some examples of elinot only helps the environment, gible projects are: Animal waste management it helps you. Good conservation Riparian improvement practices help to maximize Wbter usage management profits by reducing costs ..9.9 ot eight gallons per minute nozzles. Assistance in funding is available through a program called Agriculture Resource Development Loan Program (see related article on this page). This program was established in 1983 and is administered by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. For more information one should call Hal Lemon in Huntington at 435-687-29- d. 9.9.9 .9 I 1,9 f 1,9 f l.f f I tl.l ,1,1.1 I I 1 w .... w IV1 2V 2 V. 3W 4 V.' .... .... .... .... ( BUILD YOUR OWN! - SAVE$$ Q on-far- m 1.I.I.I.I sprinklers, the same field uses 1 second-foof water and ir6 in days. It puts the rigates water 18 inches deep using and children. Fertilizer costs have also went down for the Cotners. He explained that fertilizer is injected right into the sprinkler system, a little all the time. This is a lot more cost productive, he added, explaining, This is a real plus because traditional methods of spreading nitrogen on the fields is sometimes a risk because we are not always able to get water on it right away and it can bum the field. They when we flood irrigate it sometimes washes away up to a third of the expensive nitrogen. w 'x .109 $.33 ft .. .35 .060 .. .109 - JS2 .109 ....... i.. .078 ....... ... JC7 .... JBB .. .120 ... .120 ....... $1.19 ft .... .... 1xl ... IttTxIHT. 2 x 2 ........ .060. .060. 060 ... .060 2"x1 1,1 Ml M U l.l M l,M M ntiMi rxvim MfWMABT .060 I ... ... Utah pi $39 ft .45 ft 078 ftffcMM-ScM- . I ,58 ft "W x 1 'im ......... .078 (801) 1200 Emt ... . 8M Rietangli VfHEN YOU HIED MEIAL.Y0U NEED fas .24 ...42 wfsmasoiuuwKurmirsQiuK; 21A" 111 $.19 It ... 171 ft hUJfti 768-333- 2 (S3 SB Mim |