Project Narrative

Thanks in part to a successful collaboration with Coca-Cola on their Replenish program, the Big Pine Creek watershed has seen positive trends in cover crop and other BMP adoption over the five-year life of the watershed project. Along with public sources of funding, the watershed steering committee and staff continue to seek funding that fill the void for those lands, operators, and landowners that are not eligible for, or not selected for funding through USDA or other public programs. Supply chain engagement and corporate investment have proven to be powerful tools for reaching new farmer audiences. We are working to scale this public-private partnership model across other adjacent watersheds with similar intensity of agricultural land use. With a proof of concept, we are confident we can replicate our success in Big Pine Creek watershed in other geographies. WRC investment will catalyze this expansion and bolster the case of necessity for public-private partnerships in conservation. This project will influence a four-county area in Indiana through a 15,000 acre cover crop cost share program that will reach 50 farmers over three years. While administering the program we will capture relevant field characteristics, historical data, and farmer perspectives on a simple participant application for reporting. This information will help build a thesis around improving not only recruitment, but also retention of the use of cover crops. Ability to retain acres in practice and farmers engaged directly correlates with the technical assistance and other support provided by project partners. Since Coca-Cola first invested in the Big Pine Creek watershed in 2016, the project has had an average annual retention rate of 57%. Collaboration with Purdue University researchers is helping us track this retention via specially designed remote sensing algorithms. Project partners provide a substantial amount of in-kind services to support long-term and sustainable adoption of cover crops and other practices. This long-term adoption translates into true headway towards environmental outcomes, including water quality. Finally, continued collaboration with firms like LimnoTech will allow us to quantify load reductions and model water quality improvement in the included watersheds. Data logging, analysis, and modeling will also allow us to forecast water quality impact and soil conservation beyond the life of this proposed project.