Emergency Washing A Feature of New Facility Design

The Larry Ford Nurseries chemical handling facility features an emergency shower and an eye/hand-washing sink for quick rinses of irritating and possibly dangerous chemicals. Qualifying for up to $30,000 worth of Agricultural Cost Share Funds, these facilities have sloped concrete floors that drain all spilled chemicals into a sump for pumping into another tank for reuse. The stairs (upper right corner) lead to an upper-level tank array for mixing the concentrated pesticides and herbicides and loading them into farm vehicle sprayers.

SWCD Promotes Safe Handling of Chemicals

The Caldwell Soil & Water Conservation District is encouraging farmers and nursery stock growers to build specialized facilities, like this one at Larry Ford Nurseries in Happy Valley, to safely handle commercial-grade concentrated pesticides and herbicides. This exterior view of the $43,000 building shows how farm vehicles are driven straight through the facility to have a properly mixed load of chemical loaded into the commercial spraying equipment.

Organizing Pastures to Keep Cattle out of Streams

A major point of emphasis in Caldwell County in recent years has been to better organize beef and dairy pastures to keep cattle out of adjacent streams, using paddock fencing and central feeding. In a recent inspection, Soil & Water Conservation District supervisors inspected this feeding and watering facility built several years ago by the landowner and the district. These structures, built at a cost of $20,000 to $30,000, including fencing, also allow manure to be deposited at a central point, later to be collected for use as a fertilizer.

Newly Planted Vegetation Stabilizes Creek Bank

Supervisors on their inspection saw a variety of newly planted vegetation being used to stabilize the soil on the creek bank and gravel road. Most evident are hundreds of seedling birch trees, but several perennial grasses seeded at the same time were coming through the wood-shaving mat.

Lower Creek Stream Bank Restoration - 2 Weeks From the Start

Supervisors of the soil & water district (SWCD) inspect the $42,000 Gamewell site on the Roger Coffey nursery stock farm after the contractor's work was completed. More than 100 feet of the Lower Creek bank had caved in from erosion some 12-15 feet, and a gravel road along the cave-in also had collapsed.

Lower Creek Stream Bank Restoration - April 2007

The Lower Creek basin, a watershed of some 99 square miles, extends along Highway 18 from Lenoir into the upper reaches of Lake Rhodhiss in Burke County. The Caldwell Soil & Water Conservation District is helping to finance several major projects on the creek, including this bank restoration in the Gamewell area.