GALLATIN VALLEY — “We like to say we help people help the land,” said Gayle Barry.
Gayle Barry is the state’s new conservationist as of January.
“I lead our operations in the state,” said Barry. “We help farmers and ranchers and forest landowners and tribal nations across Montana with their conservation needs.”
As Barry explains, she grew up on a farm and ranch in the Gallatin Valley and then went on to graduate from MSU.
“It’s always been a part of my life,” said Barry. “My dad was Conservation Farmer of the Year in 1972 from the Gallatin Conservation District. That love for the land has been really important to me.”
WATCH: A conversation with State Conservationist Gayle Barry\
Barry’s position is within the Natural Resource Conservation Service – NRCS – part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“My job is to go and to listen to what local people want to have help with and then to see what we can do locally,” she said.
Barry spends most of her time meeting with locals to come up with conservation plans and then helping provide funding for conservation practices.
“We have about 200 different practices that landowners can pick from that we will fund,” said Barry. “There’s a lot of interest in improving the soil on their farms and ranches.”
One of the ways NRCS is helping: the Regenerative Pilot Program. The program launched in December and according to the USDA, helps farmers “improve soil health, enhance water quality, and boost long-term productivity.”
“No till was the biggest conservation practice we made,” said Jason Camp.
Camp is a local farmer focusing on soil health.
“The soil itself has definitely improved; our water infiltration is better into these soils,” said Camp.
“And on a dryland farm system, water is huge for us. We have nothing if we don’t have water,” he added.
As Camp explains, the NRCS has been vital in implementing conservation practices on his farm, which was started by grandparents in the 1940s.
“It’s actually allowed us to implement a lot of the stuff we do on the land,” said Camp. “No till was one of them.”
He also says it has made his crops more resilient.
“In drought periods, our crops are way better now; they are retaining that moisture,” said Camp. “Our bottom-line is better because our yields are way better with the no till system.”
As to why conservation practices are important in agriculture:
“We need to stay in business. The no till has increased our yields,” said Camp. “But also, I mean, taking care of this land for generations down the road.”
“They improve and sustain the health of the land,” said Barry. “We want to keep the grass for cattle to graze, we want to keep the soil healthy so we can produce more crops.”
“Our job really is to help rural America be successful,” she added.
