The Colby Project – Introduction and Control Burn 2024

Source: Short Lane Ag Supply

An independent agriculture retailer (Short Lane Ag Supply), community-led watershed group (EPPIC), and Pheasants Forever teamed up to establish field-to-edge conservation practices to reduce nutrient discharge and soil run-off into the surface waters. The project begins in Colby, Wisconsin, which is in the heart of dairy land country, on a tail end of a waterway that butts-up to marginal cash crop acres. Watch as the team transforms the sea of reed canary grass and acres of low-performing crop acres into vegetative buffers, enhanced wildlife areas, and pollinator habitat. In this video installment, Short Lane Ag’s Matthew Oehmichen introduces the team and project, and the control burn application to prep the site.

This project was a recipient of a Good Idea Mini-Grant, a program to encourage the adoption of edge-of-field practices and farmer-to-farmer learning about them. Good Idea Mini-Grants were made possible with funding from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and Walton Family Foundation.

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State: Wisconsin

Cropping Systems: Corn, Dairy, Soybean

Tags: edge-of-field practices, Good Idea Mini-Grant, marginal land, pollinators, Reduce Runoff, vegetated buffers, wildlife