Northwestern Missouri Farmers Build Water Resilience with Help of NRCS Programs

By Brooke DeCubellis

Nestled in northwest Missouri’s Grand River watershed, local communities are making strides to balance the ebb and flow of water availability in the region through a number of efforts supported by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) including financial assistance and easement programs.

Drastically different hydrology than the southeastern portion of Missouri – which is home to the water-rich Ozarks – can lead to both seasonal flooding and drought in the Grand River watershed. Mandi Bird of Bird Farms in Daviess County, Missouri spoke to NRCS Chief Aubrey J.D. Bettencourt about how she worked with the local USDA Service Center to find the right conservation practices to boost her operation’s ability to raise registered purebred Simmental seedstock cattle.

“It was like I had a team of experts with local knowledge and experience that helped me to brainstorm ideas to set up my grazing system – they worked with me to help maximize my forages and profit,” Bird said.

She and her husband Dillon attended NRCS Grazing School in 2019, a program designed to educate producers on how to manage grasslands effectively to benefit livestock and the environment. These schools cover topics like rotational grazing, soil health, plant identification, and more.

The Birds decided to incorporate the lessons they learned from the school into their own operation, applying for a grazing system partially funded through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). With NRCS’ help, they were able to install pipelines and two livestock drinkers which gave them the ability to subdivide their farm and integrate rotational grazing into their operation.