The Patrick County Soil and Water Conservation District presented Joe and Denise Clark with the 2011 Virginia Clean Water Farm Award

. Pictured left to right are Richard Kreh, Patrick SWCD Board Member; Joe and Denise Clark; and Wayne Clark, Patrick SWCD Chairman. Each year, the Patrick Soil and Water Conservation District along with 47 other Soil and Water Conservation Districts throughout Virginia and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation are proud to sponsor the Clean Water Farm Award. (photo by Sandra Heath) LOCAL FARM AWARDED CLEAN WATER FARM AWARD Submitted by: Patrick County Soil and Water Conservation District The Patrick Soil and Water Conservation District presented Joe and Denise Clark with the 2011 Virginia Clean Water Farm Award. The Clean Water Farm award was established to provide special recognition to farmers who demonstrated a strong commitment to natural resource conservation through the implementation of best management practices and management of their lands. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation was given lead responsibility for program development and administration and the Department relies upon Soil and Water Conservation Districts to select worthy recipients within their communities. Joe and Denise Clark of Fulton Farms operate an Angus beef cattle farm in the Spoon Creek Watershed of the Southeastern part of Patrick County. Mr. Clark’s responsibilities with Clark Brothers Inc keep him extremely busy, but any spare minute he can find, you will find Joe working on the farm. Mr. Clark uses the same basic principles on the farm as he does with Clark Brothers Inc; he wants things done right and to work efficiently. Mr. Clark wanted a more efficient grazing system that protected the natural resources on Fulton Farms. After visiting the USDA Service Center in Stuart and learning about the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Mr. Clark decided it was time to make some changes on the farm. Mr. Clark installed almost fourteen thousand feet of fence to exclude his cattle from over two and one half miles of stream banks along the tributary to Spoon Creek. Almost twenty two acres of new riparian hardwood buffers were planted ranging from thirty five feet up to one hundred feet wide. Four separate limited access stream crossings were built to allow cattle and farm machinery to cross the stream without damaging the stream banks or channel. To provide cattle with water, a well was drilled, forty six hundred feet of pipeline was installed, and six frost free watering facilities. To make things more efficient, Mr. Clark installed a sub drive pump for his well, which uses fifty percent less electricity than a traditional well pump and provides constant and consistent water pressure to the watering facilities. Mr. Clark also installed fifty two hundred feet of interior cross-fencing to create eight grazing paddocks to rotate his cattle through. Joe and Denise Clark have done an exceptional job of improving and protecting the natural resources on Fulton Farms. Today, their cattle drink out of water troughs that provide cool and clean groundwater. There is always lush green pasture waiting for the cows to graze and their manure is being deposited all over the fields instead of the stream. Over time this new grazing system will drastically improve the soils on the farm and become even more productive. Past Patrick County recipients of the Local Clean Water Farm Award include Dannie and Kathy Anderson, Larry and Suzanne Hutchens, Leon and Jane Stevens, John and Rose Wood, Marion and Glenda Cobbler, Ted and Brenda Kirby, B H Cooper Farm, Dewey Moss and Roger Wilson, Clarence and Darrell Mitchell, Chester Turner; and Mr. and Mrs. John F. Clark. The Patrick Soil and Water Conservation District located in the USDA Service Center on Stonewall Court in Stuart, along with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, are proud sponsors of the Clean Water Farm Award. In Virginia, farmers voluntarily incorporate nutrient management and other environmental safeguards within agriculture operations as their contribution toward protecting water quality for citizens throughout the commonwealth. There are 47 Soil and Water Conservation Districts throughout Virginia.