Gary O'Neill of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, left, and Governor Eddie Hamilton of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.
Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes partner with USDA NCRS to launch soil health project for land and climate
Groundbreaking Agreement to harness and share conservation technologies in soil health
By Rosemary Stephens, Editor-in-Chief, and Robert Hathorne
Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune
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c-a-tribes.org/tribal-news Governor Eddie Hamilton of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and Gary O’Neill, State Conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Oklahoma announced January 24, a groundbreaking agreement to harness and share the latest in conservation technologies to improve soil health and make Oklahoma’s farms and ranches more resilient to changing markets and climate. The new partnership will establish a demonstration farm on Tribal lands to showcase the effectiveness of soil health practices such as no-till and cover crops to increase land productivity, reduce environmental impacts and build resiliency to drought and flood compared to conventional farming techniques. “The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes treasure our land and natural resources. We welcome the opportunity to improve our stewardship and build something even greater for the next generation,” Hamilton said. “We feel it is a great event marking this agreement between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services and the Cheyenne & Arapaho tribes. This project is going to be about restoring the health of our soils.” Working with the USDA NCRS, Farm and Ranch program Director Nathan Hart and USDA Climate Hub specialist Clay Pope spent hours and days bumping across miles of tribal land, inspecting vegetation and soil conditions and attending workshops on soil health. These actions led to the discussions was putting into plan how the tribes were going to use the latest techniques of soil management on their acreage. Thus a 70 acre demonstration plot located on the Concho campus. “The aim here is to restore the health of the soils and the soils support for us, particularly, are the grazing lands for our buffalo. If you start with healthy soils you will produce good vegetation, which we need for the buffalo. In turn the buffalo becomes a food source for our tribal citizens in the Diabetes Wellness Program. It all starts with soil health, so using the latest techniques for restoring the soils is what these demonstration plots are going to do,” Hart said. When the farm is fully established this spring, the Tribes will host public demonstrations of both how to implement the latest in soil health practices as well as how these practices benefit ranching operations and the environment. NRCS soil and ecological scientists along with key staff from USDA’s El Reno Climate hub will provide expert analysis and presentations in support of the Tribes’ outreach activities. “Native American Tribes have a tremendous capacity to implement effective conservation on a large scale in Oklahoma. We jumped at the chance to work with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes on this. Through their leadership, both tribal and non-tribal farmers and ranchers will gain increased access to the knowledge and resources they need to be successful. If we’re going to be serious about improving soil health and making farming operations more sustainable, we’ve got to build new partnerships and work with everyone,” O’Neill said. Years of drought interjected by flood have pushed many Oklahoma farmers to turn to soil health practices in an effort to retain more soil moisture, protect soil from erosion or even just to stay in business. But the impacts of soil health reach far beyond the farm. "Farmers and ranchers need to do all they can to harden their operations to extreme weather events. We appreciate the partnership with the Cheyenne & Arapaho Nation and all our other partners in USDA in putting together what is the first tribal soil health demonstration program not only in Oklahoma but from my understanding the entire United States. Working together I think we can not only help tribal members but all people in the state of Oklahoma take advantage of some of these new strategies in improving the health of the soil. I think it’s fitting that the Cheyenne & Arapaho lead the way in this with their historic ties to the land,” Pope said. Studies have shown that just a one percent increase in organic matter can triple the soils water holding capacity, thus increasing the ability to hold on to sub-soil moisture and better weather droughts. The same practices that increase organic matter also help control erosion, so when there are heavy rains, we hold on to our topsoil. These same practices; no-till, cover crops and better pasture management also sequester carbon and use less diesel, helping fight climate change while saving money and protecting water quality by controlling erosion and run-off. "It’s a win-win for both agriculture producers and the environment," Pope said. Future announcements for the first workshops and demonstrations on the 70-acre demonstration plot will be announced in the spring. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune can be reached at:
Public Information Office
700 North Black Kettle Blvd.
Concho, OK 73022
P.O. Box 167
Editor in Chief Rosemary Stephens can be reached at rmstephens@c-a-tribes.org
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