In 2017, Zach Hightower bought Shoal Creek Farms, a 250-acre cattle and poultry operation in Madison County, Georgia, after leasing it for several years.
In the last few years, Zach has applied for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help address several problems on the farm. Some of these applications were approved quickly, such as assistance to build a combination stack house and poultry mortality and litter facility, and to update the cattle watering trough and feeding pads. But, due to lack of available funding, his application for assistance with updating his poultry houses to reduce energy use and be more energy efficient was delayed.
In 2023, however, his application was approved for about $60,000 in assistance for radiant heaters and attic insulation for his four poultry houses thanks to additional funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. That approval came just in time.
“[Zach’s] Conservation Activity Plan was about to expire,” says Wade Mize, the NRCS District Conservationist in Commerce, Georgia. “So, the availability of Inflation Reduction Act funds for [his] poultry improvements was timely.”
Zach visited Wade at the advice of his father-in-law, Chris Jones, a fellow cattle and poultry farmer. Chris suggested contacting NRCS, which helps farmers invest in their operations, boost agricultural economies, and improve the quality of air, water, soil, and habitat. Wade explained to Zach that NRCS could develop a full-farm conservation activity plan that would help him address all his conservation needs for his cattle and poultry. Having a conservation plan, Wade added, would also best position Zach to apply for help.
Back when he was leasing the operation, Zach would often ask himself several questions. If this was my farm, what would I do to make day-to-day operations more efficient? And how could I, as a new farm owner, financially make my dreams a reality? He knew the answer to the first question but looked to NRCS to help him with the second.
On the poultry side, the area for stacking poultry litter was above a creek, which he knew was less than ideal because the site posed potential drainage-related environmental issues. In addition, attic insulation and heaters in the four poultry houses on the property needed upgrades.
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Categories: Pennsylvania, Livestock, Beef Cattle, Poultry