Small Town News

Bankers Award for Soil and Water Conservation Chad and Jessica Fabrizius

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When some land in Trego county came up for sale a few years ago, Chad Fabrizius decided to make an investment. Chad was raised on a farm nearby and he always wanted to start some farming on the side of his regular job. The land needed some work, but he figured it would be worth it in the long run.

And that is how Chad has approached his land purchase, as an investment for the long run. He started work on his "fixer upper" by coming into the Conservation District office to request some assistance on a waterway that he wanted to plan to control some gully erosion. Chad was practicing no-till but it just couldn't control the foreign water coming across his crop field. He discovered from the NRCS staff that the CRP program has excellent cost-share for installing waterways, so that was the route he took.

The waterway was shaped one year and seeded the next. There was also an area along another existing waterway that was eroding. After a field planning visit with NRCS, Chad decided to also seed that area to grass to widen the existing waterway back to what the original width was years ago. This wider grass area allowed the existing terraces to overflow onto grass again as they once did before the waterway had been farmed in.

After grass was established in the CRP waterway a couple years later, next Chad (and by then, with Jessica also!) decided that the terrace system on one quarter was just not functioning the way it should and needed rebuilt. Even though spring crops were no-tilled, the run-off from heavy rain just could not be controlled by the old terraces. So all of the terraces on the quarter were rebuilt, and as many ends as possible were extended into the CRP waterway so they could be drained. In order to fit into the cropping system the terraces needed to be rebuilt, and even though there was not cost-share available at the time, they were rebuilt on schedule.

Chad explains that he sees no-till not so much of an erosion control measure as a profitable water conservation one. Therefore he still sees the need for a good functioning terrace system. The no-till helps to protect the soil from hot winds, and the stubble adds a lighter, cooler surface, in addition to slowing runoff so it can be stored in the soil for crops. Since the soil is often more full of water, the terraces are still needed to slow the surplus water runoff and keep gullies from forming in the no-till fields.

So as one of the younger farm families in the county, the Fabrizius family is making investments in their future. As soon as they invest in land they are taking measures to invest in conservation also. Like any other investment, they are trying to protect its productivity and profit for years to come through conservation, and that will pay off for them in the long run.

Congratulations to Chad and Jessica Fabrizius on their Bankers Award for Soil and Water Conservation.



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© 2010 Western Kansas World Wakeeny, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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