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New ASSET Initiative incentivizes sugarbeet growers to cut erosion with strip-till program
A new partnership in the Saginaw Bay Watershed is helping sugarbeet growers reduce erosion while testing strip-till practices.
Conservation advisor Simon Yevzelman with The Nature Conservancy tells Brownfield the Accessing Subsidized Strip-till Equipment Trial, or ASSET, program offers farmers about $52 per acre if fully enrolled.
“The program is going to be running for three years,” he explains. “To get full payment for all three years, which includes payment for strip-till as well as cover cropping, enrollment needs to be done this fall.”
Experienced strip-till farmers can also be compensated for serving as mentors and providing technical assistance.
“The goal of the program is to have this practice be farm-wide and rotation-wide so we can really see the soil health benefits,” he says.
Yevzelman says strip-till only disturbs about a third of the soil per pass and can be combined with precision nutrient applications to reduce fertilizer and fuel costs.
Participants can also receive discounts on new equipment or custom applications.
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