Marion County residents have access to a service that few surrounding counties offer: The ability to rent farm equipment from the Soil and Water Conservation District.
Available items include seed drillers, aerators, a sprayer and a terracing plow, according to Suzanne Cook of the District. They can be rented by the acre or by the day and are priced affordably at $3 to $4 per acre, Cook said.
“The average farmer cannot afford to pay $30,000 for a piece of equipment he is only going to use in the fall to plant ryegrass,” she told the Columbia Rotary Club Tuesday.
She said surrounding counties like Lamar and Walthall don’t have that option available.
Cook, who has worked in the office for 40 years, attributed the service to the 10 commissioners who served on the District’s board being proactive about what people in the county want.
She spoke to the civic club about the variety of services her organization offers. Out of its office on Broad Street, it is the county arm of the federal USDA programs and works closely with other agricultural-related organizations in the county.
Cook said the Board of Supervisors funds her part of the office.
The education aspects of her job include two field days: a conservation camp in the spring for second graders at the Columbia Water Park and a farm safety day in the fall at the Expo Center.
The men in the office work for USDA Natural Resources and are available to offer free technical assistance for erosion problems, Cook said.
There are various federal programs intended to help prevent erosion that provide financial incentives to landowners and farmers. That includes planting pine trees.
“Trees are the best erosion prevention that you have,” she said.
Cook said the newest push is going back to loblolly pines, which were pushed out in favor of faster-growing longleaf pines.
But she said loblollies weren’t as damaged after Hurricane Katrina, provide more habitat for wildlife and better genetics now have narrowed the growing gap between them and longleafs.
Also, there is no limit on how much you can get in incentives for loblolly like there is for longleaf. She said if you propose planting 100 acres in loblolly, it will probably get funded.
Also, the Small Ruminant Farmer Initiative can provide fencing and water troughs for goats and sheep.
Finally, one of the public’s most- liked aspects of what the office does, annual tree giveaways, is coming up at 9 a.m. Feb. 12. Cook said she will have oaks and pines.
