The Patrick Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors and staff nominated and presented Tim Service with the Patrick County, Virginia Clean Water Farm Award.
The Clean Water Farm award was established to provide special recognition to farmers who demonstrate 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 has lead responsibility for program development and administration and the Department relies upon Soil and Water Conservation Districts to select worthy recipients within their communities.
Service was born in Norfolk and grew up in Portsmouth. In 1966, his parents bought a vacation house in Meadows of Dan. Service went to school at Virginia Tech and spent his summers there and has always loved the area. In 2002 he married his wife, Susan, and took over the responsibilities of his father-in-law’s farm.
Service graduated with a degree in music, but he developed his skills as a specialized beekeeper.
With the help of Kevin Keith, of the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Service has established great conservation on the ground at his farm, which is situated in the Dan River Watershed and Cherry Creek headwaters.
Service is doing his part in protecting water quality and has established warm season grasses, planted riparian buffers to filter runoff from his farm, as well as several pollinator habitats. Service implemented alternative water systems and additional conservation practices and intensive rotational grazing.
Josh Dodson, district conservationist worked with Service and helped him develop a “conservation plan where all the cattle are out of the streams” and because Service is “a bee producer, he was also interested in not only increasing the forage for the livestock but improving the pollinator habitat.”
Service was approved in the “Beef and Bobs program” which assisted him with his conservation efforts. This unique program focused on establishing productive warm season forages to improve cattle production and provide acreages of prime habitat for ground nesting birds and other wildlife.
Past Patrick County Clean Water Farm Award winners include Helen Clark Wood and Kate Dunnavant; Pansy, Jeff and Eddie McAlexander; Greenview Farm; Benton and Michael Culler; Pam Hall; Mulberry Farm; Joey Epperson; Joe and Denise Clark; Dannie and Kathy Anderson; Larry 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 John F. Clark.
The Patrick Soil and Water Conservation District office, along with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, sponsor 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. To nominate someone for the Clean Water Farm Award or schedule a field visit, contact the Patrick SWCD office at 276-693-4012 or patrickswcd.org |
