Eastern VA. No such thing as too many Magnums. | I get extremely tired of the no till preaching as well. I don't want to make any trips over the field that I don't have to. I know what fuel and time costs. But I still plow. If anyone knows how to plant seed as small as broccoli on a raised bed, 2 days after sweet corn was harvested, without plowing, I would LOVE to witness your process. The only EQIP we participated in is the one for changing center pivot impact sprinklers to drops and low pressure tips. I'm exactly 13 months from application and still no cost share. Its a real hassle getting all the information together. And when you complete their list, they remember 3 or 4 more irrelevant things for you to figure out. On top of that, most of the time the program manager doesn't have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of the equipment he's cost sharing. I keep having to get info from my irrigation man and he is getting a little weary of me. The programs got significantly worse over the last 3 or 4 years. We've participated in NAP for about last 6 or so years. In the beginning, it was fine. But each year, they add a few hoops to jump through. Most of the loopholes were for their benefit of getting out of a payment. It ended up where it was too much to do. The program is almost at the point where it isn't worth it. We still do it, but we have low expectations. Oh yeah, sometimes I burn wheat straw too. SHAME! NPK is cheaper for me than a poor stand on a crop with such high risk and input costs. |
Making use of the No-till payment
