Welcome!
Foster County Soil Conservation District is here to promote soil, water, and resource conservation by offering technical, financial, informational, and educational assistance and opportunities to the people of Foster County.
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Check out our programs and services. Get in touch with us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, or if you are interested in participating in any of our programs.
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Application Period for the Climate Smart Ag Alliance
January 6 was the opening day of the application period for the second year of the grant program. Applications are due by February 7, and must include all the required paperwork from FSA. Producers who participated in 2024 can apply again for 2025, but in most cases will be required to apply different practices if enrolling the same acres.
Contact Foster County SCD for assistance or refer to the Alliance website, www.allianceforcsa.org for information and to access the application dashboard.
Not the Dirty Thirties, Spring of 2017!!
Photo: Storm Tracker Weather
Photo: Bev Nessler
These photos were taken spring of 2017, showing that soil erosion is still a threat to our farmland. These sights have been repeated more than once since then. See the "News and Information" page for photos from the dust storm of March 29-30, 2021. Parts of eastern North Dakota have lost over half of their topsoil since 1964.
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"Most of what we call topsoil today is a mixture of the remains of the original higher organic matter topsoil mixed through tillage with some subsurface horizon. Loss of soil in millions of acres can be measured in feet over the past 120 years. Most lost soil...is going high into the air, and only a small amount lands in a roadside ditch." (Dave Franzen, NDSU) For more information, see the video "The History of Soil Erosion in North Dakota" on YouTube.
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There are things we can do to prevent sights like this. Windbreaks that help decrease wind erosion are being removed and not replaced. There are other practices as well that promote soil health and will also help decrease erosion, such as keeping the soil covered with vegetation or residue, minimizing soil disturbance, and keeping live roots in the soil for as long as possible with practices like cover crops.
When land does well for its owner, and the owner does well by his land; when both end up better by reason of their partnership, we have conservation. -- Aldo Leopold