Justin Norris...Helping People Help the Land with Farm Plan

The most exciting thing I have done in the past month in helping people help the land would be that I was able to assist a landowner with a whole farm plan.  We enrolled 200.8 acres into riparian buffers, 8.8 acres into filter strips, 47.4 acres into habitat buffers for upland birds, and 9.5 acres into wetland restoration through CCRP.  We also signed up the additional 250 acres into EQIP to help with efficacy of irrigation though underground line, pads and pipes, and precision agriculture.  With these programs, we helped the landowner make his farm more profitable and provide a place for his children to enjoy for years to come.

What I am most proud of happened at a field day on wildlife buffers held in August.  During this field day, we had research scientists from four universities across three states, national NRCS leadership, state wildlife officials, and landowners.  Also, one of my mentors spoke an d it helped me reflect on what our true mission is and what my passion is.  It is easy to get bogged down with Protracts and ArcMap but at the end of that day, I realized that landscape management and helping landowners and producers with real problems is what our agency was formed for.  It was good to see a landowner and NRCS personnel talk so passionately about landscape management.

I am very proud of my staff of three and what they have accomplished over the past four years with an EQIP allocation average around $900,000.00 per year.  Their capability to effectively put this money on the ground and still manage other programs should make any supervisor proud.

Justin L. Norris
District Conservationist
Clarksdale, MS
Length of Service: 7 years

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