News

The most recent U.S. Farm Bill allows for annual revisions to USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Conservation Priority Areas (CPAs). As part of CRP general signup competitive ranking process, contract offers within CPAs receive additional points toward their overall score, allowing areas with wildlife and water quality concerns to be more competitive with offers of […]

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) is a conservation program which protects agricultural viability by limiting nonagricultural uses and protects grazing use by restoring and enhancing wetlands and conserving grazing lands. The two programs within ACEP are Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) which protects croplands and grasslands on working farms, and Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) which […]

The USDA Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) is a roughly 35,000ac tract of public land located in the western part of Clay County.  The MARC’s objectives are to increase efficiency of production while maintaining a lean, high quality, safe product.  About 50% of their efforts focus on beef cattle production.  MARC staff are continually conducting […]

Herbicide application has long been used as a tool to enhance wetland habitat in the Rainwater Basin. Spraying an appropriate chemical, such as aquatic glyphosate, often produces bare ground. This can create the opportunity for more desirable, moist-soil plant species to flourish. In the Rainwater Basin, moist-soil dominated plant communities are desirable because of the […]

Lunch With A Landowner The Rainwater Basin is a landscape of shallow playa wetlands scattered across gently rolling loess plains in south-central Nebraska. The goal of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) is to support our agricultural communities while providing habitat conservation for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife in the Rainwater Basin. […]

The Funk Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) had a substantial increase in whooping crane use this spring.  A total of 32 whooping cranes used ponded areas on Funk WPA, and during the migration period, there were whooping cranes on Funk for at least 14 days bringing the total use-days to 89. The first family group arrived 30 […]

The Rainwater Basin Region lies south of the Platte River and North of the Republican River from Gosper to Seward County. Historically over 11,000 playa wetlands were scattered across this region covering 200,000 acres. These wetlands continue to provide important habitat for millions of waterfowl including 50 percent of the midcontinent population of mallards and 30 […]

The abundance of data available today, akin to Coleridge’s famous line, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” highlights our lack of expertise and resources to extract valuable insights. In the agriculture and food sectors, data literacy skills are crucial for informed decision-making, making data insights valuable for more efficient, sustainable, and resilient practices. […]

The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) contracted out 3,805ac to be burned over 30 different properties in the Rainwater Basin.  The properties include Waterfowl Production Areas (federal), Wildlife Management Areas (state), NRCS conservation easements, and other private lands.  The Rainwater Basin (RWB) provides habitat for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife each year.  Some 8.6 million geese […]

In 2017, the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) piloted a whole field conservation delivery approach with a Hamilton County producer. The RWBJV partners worked with the producer to restore and fence a 55-acre wetland enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Easement Partnership (WREP) administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The pivot irrigated system that crossed […]