By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Hoosier farmers have until the middle of next month to fill out a survey designed to gauge their conservation practices.
This is an offshoot of a similar national survey conducted last fall by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) in West Lafayette and The Fertilizer Institute in Washington, D.C.
The deadline for Hoosier farmers to complete a Best Management Practices  (BMPs) survey is April 15.
“We want to get as clear a picture as we can about the conservation practices of Indiana farmers,” said Karen Scanlon, CTIC executive director. “We want to give Indiana farmers who are doing good conservation practices credit for the work they’re doing.”
About 2,000 farmers participated in the national BMPs survey, which was conducted in October. Scanlon said she hopes as many as 5,000 Hoosier farmers participate in the state survey. As of late last week, about 100 had filled it out, she said.
Any Hoosier farmer, full- or part-time, is eligible, she said. Survey participants are anonymous.
“We wanted to follow the national survey by going to the state level to get a better picture of what’s happening inside our state boundaries,” she said.
CTIC hopes to conduct similar surveys in other states and has been talking with officials in Illinois and Kentucky, she said. The survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete online, also gives farmers a chance to share any problems they’ve encountered while trying to practice good conservation techniques, Scanlon explained.
“We want to find out what the challenges have been for farmers,” she said. “Once we know those challenges, we can work to better determine what technical and financial assistance might be needed, or give them better ideas about where to go for information.
“For example, we ask them about no-till. If they indicate they haven’t used it, we ask them to list three reasons why they haven’t done it.”
Another part of the survey asks farmers which conservation practices they have been using.
“We ask them about a variety of practices, including no-till, soil testing, crop rotation and nutrient management,” she said. “We want to get a more accurate picture of what farmers are doing to manage nutrients.”
The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and The Fertilizer Institute are partnering with CTIC on the BMPs survey, Scanlon said. ISA is investing soybean checkoff money to help fund the project, said Chris Novak, the organization’s executive director.
“The results of this survey will allow us to better develop programs to help farmers with nutrient management and other things that will help them improve and enhance profitability,” Novak said. “We’re looking at ways to help farmers decrease their cost of production.”
Results of the survey will also help show the general public things farmers are doing to protect the environment, he said.
“We do see farmers’ practices questioned in the national press, and this is a way we can have solid answers to show consumers farmers are being good stewards,” he added.
For information and to fill out the Indiana BMPs survey, go to www. conservationinformation.org and click on “Indiana BMP Survey.” The national survey results are on the same website, by clicking “BMP Survey Results” on the homepage.