The Ashland Soil and Water Conservation District has a new conservation certification.

In 2022, Ashland SWCD began the stewardship program to recognize local farmers for their conservation efforts, and this year the agency hosted a Conservation Chat: Your Conservation Fieldprint to help introduce area farmers to the tool that serves as the foundation of the gold and platinum stewardship levels: Fieldprint calculator.

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“For years we have recognized our outstanding soil and water cooperator of the year at our soil and water banquet, but there are always so many other farmers who are deserving of recognition, too,” said Jane Houin, program director, in a news release. “Our board has worked hard to put in place an objective tool to measure conservation stewardship and to reward our farmers for their efforts to protect the soil and water resources of Ashland County.”

Three levels of stewardship certification for farmers

The stewardship certification program features three levels of stewardship, according to the release.

• Silver: Offered to farmers who are actively participating in one of the district’s conservation programs. Some of these programs include seeding cover crops, no-till field management and stream exclusion fencing for livestock.

• Gold: Farmers must enroll their fields into the district’s free Fieldprint calculator to reach this level. The Fieldprint calculator was developed by Field to Market. It objectively measures and provides feedback on a farm's sustainability performance. The program inputs information and data, and it also integrates with numerous farm-management software platforms to use data farmers are already collecting.

• Platinum: This level is reserved for farmers who show a year-over-year improvement on their sustainability metrics in the Fieldprint calculator’s assessment.

The certification program not only recognizes farmers for their conservation efforts, but also provides new opportunities for farmers. By using the Fieldprint calculator, farmers are given many opportunities with retailers and food processors who are interested in the sustainability of the farm. Farmers selling direct to consumers can also use their certification as a marketing tool for their operation.

For more information on the conservation stewardship program, contact Katie Eikelberry at 419-281-7645.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Stewardship program recognizes local farmers for conservation efforts