The Yahara Pride Farms conservation group was formed about 10 years ago with the goal of improving the water quality of Madison’s lakes. Now, however, the group has found that they want to continue to grow their network and find new ways to bridge the gap between farmers and the general public to show that agriculture is part of the conservation solution.
Jeff Endres is the President of Yahara Pride Farms. He shares more about why the group formed and how its goals and projects have evolved over the years.
Endres shares that one of the group’s first focuses was showing farmers how they can incorporate different cover crops. Yahara Pride Farms has a cost-share program that allows farmers to test out new conservation practices and have the opportunity to learn from them.
“I always say everything kind of starts with a cover crop nowadays,” says Endres. “There’s so many other benefits than just holding soil in its place and nutrients. There’s other agronomic values that come into play.”
Endres goes on to add that the group wants to help educate the public and show them that agriculture can be part of the solution when it comes to conservation. He says that the group has helped kickstart a network of farmer-led conservation groups across the state, and now he would like to focus on connecting with the general public.
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