NEW Water was in the news as a partner on the new S.H.E.D. (SHED) facility.
On November 15, representatives from the Oneida Nation, Outagamie County, Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance, and NEW Water gathered as partners to celebrate a ribbon cutting event of the Soil Health Education and Demonstration (SHED) facility. This 30-acre site serves as a central hub which includes a large shed to house innovative pieces of specialized equipment for farmers to try out, along with numerous demonstration plots. The partnership and facility are intended to encourage more sustainable agricultural practices such as continuous cover to improve soil structure, increase infiltration, minimize runoff and soil erosion, and sequester more carbon.
Purchase of the sign was possible thanks to a grant received from the Sustain the Bay Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. Learn more about the grant >>
Excerpts from WFRV story are found below. To read their full story, please visit:
Greg Baneck, the Land Conservation Director for Outagamie County, says that the lower area of the Bay of Green Bay and the Fox River has been identified as an area of concern from a water quality standpoint, as excess nutrients and sediment enter the watershed that feeds into the waterways.
Baneck explains why participating in sustainable agricultural processes, including cover cropping, no-till, and continuous cover demonstration, can help benefit soil health:
“Improving soil health really helps to improve soil structure which has multiple benefits: helps increase infiltration, reduce runoff, and sequester carbon which all help to reduce greenhouse impacts and long-term side benefit,” says Baneck. “With reduced runoff, you have reduced flooding downstream and you have reduced nutrient runoff which then reduces harmful algal blooms within the bay.”
On top of playing an important role in improving area water quality, this site also is home to specialized machinery that could serve as a trial for area farmers before they invest in that machinery for their own farms. This facility will serve as a meeting ground for local farmers to share new ideas as to how to participate in sustainable agricultural practices.
- From WFRV, November 2023