Rutherford County Soil & Water Conservation District

08/28/2026

🎃🍂🦃🎄❄️🌱 Teachers, it’s time to get those seasonal programs on the calendar! 🍎🎃🍂🦃🎄❄️🌱

The seasons are changing, and my outreach calendar is filling up FAST! If you’ve been thinking about bringing a free Soil & Water program to your classroom, now is the time to book before your favorite seasonal program is gone!

Here are the seasonal programs I’m offering this school year:

🍎 NC Apples
🎃 Pumped About Pumpkins
🍂 Fall’s Colorful Transformation
🦃 NC Turkeys
🎄 NC Christmas Trees
❄️ Animals in Winter
🌱 Spring Into Plants

Whether your students are learning about agriculture, conservation, plants, wildlife, or the changing seasons, there’s something for everyone!

And the best part? Every program is completely FREE! 🎉

📅 My calendar is already filling up, and I would hate for you to miss out! To book all you have to do is choose your program, and reach out to me to get your class on the schedule.

Let’s make learning come alive this school year! 🌱🍎

08/27/2026

🌱 Supervisor Spotlight: Ali Bovender High🌱

This week’s Supervisor Spotlight features Ali Bovender High, who joined the Rutherford County Soil & Water Conservation District Board in 2022.

Ali grew up on a Rutherford County cattle farm in Gilkey and is the eighth generation of the Flack family to live on the farm. The farm dates back to 1769, when King George III granted 200 acres along Cathey’s Creek to encourage settlers to Western North Carolina.

Growing up on the farm, Ali raised chickens, goats, donkeys, and horses and spent plenty of time fishing and swimming in the creeks that cross the property. Her love for agriculture and the land started at an early age.

Ali is a 2013 graduate of R-S Central High School and a 2018 graduate of Western Carolina University, where she earned a degree in Inclusive Education. She taught for three years in Hendersonville before returning home to Rutherford County, where she taught for another three years. In 2023, she was named Teacher of the Year at her school.

Ali currently serves as an Innovations Care Manager with Partners Health Management, where she supports adults with intellectual disabilities.
Outside of work, Ali is active with Special Olympics of Rutherford County and the foster care program through Rutherford County Department of Social Services. She also enjoys hiking, camping, and fishing with her husband, Shawn, family, and friends, as well as spending time swimming in the pond on the family farm.

Ali’s passion for local farms and agriculture is what led her to become involved with Soil & Water Conservation. Her father, Tim Bovender, instilled in her the importance of loving and caring for the land, reminding her that “it isn’t ours forever.”
“We only have a short time to preserve what is quickly fading and to pass on the joys of farming to the next generation.”

We are grateful for Ali’s dedication to Rutherford County, agriculture, and conservation! 🌾🌱

08/25/2026

🌱 Free Soil Testing for Agricultural Use!

Do you want to know what’s going on beneath your crops? Soil testing can provide valuable information about soil fertility, nutrient levels, and pH to help you make informed decisions about lime and fertilizer needs.

The Rutherford County Soil and Water Conservation District has soil sample boxes available at our office for those interested in having their agricultural soil tested.

📍 Stop by our office to pick up a soil sample box and submission information.

💲 Soil testing is currently FREE! Samples submitted by November 30, 2026 can be tested at no charge. Beginning December 1, the fee will be $5 per sample.
Please note: These soil sample boxes are strictly for agricultural purposes only.

For information on how to properly collect your sample, submit your soil, and understand your results, visit the NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Soil Testing page:
NCDA&CS Soil Testing Information

https://www.ncagr.gov/Divisions/Agronomic-Services/soil-testing

If you have questions about soil sampling or testing, please feel free to contact our office! 🌱

Soil sample testing through the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services' Soil Testing Laboratory.

08/21/2026

Ever wondered how farmers can get support for putting conservation practices into place? Meet EQIP!

🌱 What is EQIP?

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). EQIP provides farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners with technical and financial assistance to put conservation practices into place on their land.

Through EQIP, NRCS can help address a variety of natural resource concerns, including soil health, water quality, erosion, wildlife habitat, air quality, and water conservation.

So, what’s the difference between NRCS and Soil & Water Conservation Districts?

🌎 NRCS works at the federal level, providing conservation planning, technical expertise, and financial assistance for a wide range of natural resource concerns.

💧 Soil & Water Conservation Districts work at the local level, focusing on the conservation needs of their communities, including soil and water conservation and local water-quality concerns.

Although their roles are different, NRCS and Soil & Water Conservation Districts work together to support landowners and strengthen conservation in our communities! 🌱

08/12/2026

🌱 Supervisor Spotlight: Buddy Belflower 🌱

We’re excited to introduce Buddy Belflower, a member of the Rutherford County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors and a lifelong farmer and conservationist.

Buddy’s passion for agriculture and conservation began on his father’s farm, where he learned the importance of caring for the land. Throughout his career, he continued learning from the many outstanding farmers he had the privilege of working with, as well as from conservation professionals through his 38 years with the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service). He retired in 2015 after a rewarding career dedicated to helping landowners implement conservation practices.

During his career, Buddy received numerous awards, including the Central Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District Outstanding Technical Assistance Award and the Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors Superior Professional Support Award. He was also inducted into the Hall County Agricultural Hall of Fame, where he served for many years as the District Conservationist. Of all the recognition he received throughout his career, he is especially proud of the awards presented by Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

After moving to Rutherford County in 2017, Buddy sought out opportunities to remain involved in conservation and was honored to serve on our Board of Supervisors. His conservation philosophy is beautifully captured by Aldo Leopold:

“Conservation means harmony between people and land. When land does well for its owner, and the owner does well by their land; when both end up better by reason of their partnership, we have conservation.”

Today, Buddy enjoys putting that philosophy into practice alongside his son and grandson as they care for their herd of South Poll cattle and implement conservation practices on their farms.

Buddy and his wife, Suzanne, are blessed with a daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Outside of farming and conservation, they enjoy spending time with their family, tending their garden, hiking and camping throughout beautiful western North Carolina, and traveling with their family.

We are grateful to have Buddy’s experience, knowledge, and lifelong commitment to conservation serving Rutherford County. 🌱

Thank you, Buddy, for your dedication to our land, our farmers, and our community!

08/07/2026

📚 Introducing Our New Educator’s Program Guide! 🌱

I am so excited to officially share our new Rutherford Soil & Water Educator’s Program Guide with all of our elementary teachers! This guide has truly been a labor of love and has been such a fun project to put together. It’s a way for me to share our program library with the many wonderful educators who have welcomed me into their classrooms and allowed me to share the importance of conservation with their students. 💚

While this guide is designed specifically for elementary grade levels, we also have several programs available that meet middle and high school standards. It is my hope that, in the future, I can continue expanding our program library and create a guide specifically for our secondary educators as well!

📖 Today, I had the opportunity to visit most of our schools and personally drop off a physical copy of the guide! The guide has also been sent out via email to all elementary schools here in the county. If you haven’t received your copy yet, don’t worry—we’ll make sure you get one! The guide will also be uploaded to our website for online viewing soon.

Thank you to every teacher who has opened your classroom doors to me and welcomed me into your schools. This guide is just one more way we hope to make it easy for you to take advantage of the FREE educational programs Rutherford Soil & Water has to offer.

I’m so excited for another school year of learning, exploring, and talking all things soil, water, agriculture, and conservation with Rutherford County students! 🌎🌱

08/07/2026

🌱 Program Spotlight: Agricultural Cost Share Program (ACSP)

Did you know the Rutherford County Soil & Water Conservation District administers the North Carolina Agricultural Cost Share Program (ACSP)?

The Agricultural Cost Share Program is a voluntary program that provides financial assistance to agricultural producers for installing conservation practices that help protect our soil and water resources while supporting productive farmland.

This program is available to eligible agricultural producers with qualifying agricultural operations in Rutherford County who have had a Bonafide farm for 3 years of more. Applications are reviewed to determine eligibility and funding availability.

Examples of conservation practices include:
🚜 Livestock exclusion fencing
🌾 Cover crops
🌿 Riparian buffers
💧 Livestock watering systems
🌱 Nutrient management..and many more!

The Agricultural Cost Share Program is just one of the many ways our district works with local farmers and landowners to conserve Rutherford County's natural resources for future generations.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be highlighting additional programs and services offered by the Rutherford County Soil & Water Conservation District. We hope you'll follow along to learn more about the resources available in our community!

08/05/2026

Congratulations again to Brittnye Parris, the winner of our Rutherford Soil & Water Teacher Giveaway! 🎉 We had the pleasure of delivering her prize basket today, along with a sneak peek at our brand new Educator’s Guide that will be making its way to Rutherford County elementary schools soon! 👀📚

As you prepare for another exciting school year, don’t forget that Rutherford Soil & Water Conservation District offers FREE educational programs for classrooms throughout the year. From soil and water conservation to agriculture and natural resources, our hands-on lessons are designed to engage students of all ages.

If you’d like to schedule a program for your classroom, we’d love to visit! Reach out to us anytime to get on the calendar. We can’t wait to learn with you this school year! 🌱💧

08/05/2026

🌱 Supervisor Spotlight: Clint Green 🌱

Meet Clint Green, one of the dedicated supervisors serving the Rutherford County Soil and Water Conservation District!

Clint lives in the Sunshine/Golden Valley community of Bostic with his wife, Katie, and their two sons, Dalton and Caden. Together, they own and operate Green Family Angus Farm, where they farm approximately 800 acres of owned and rented land. Each year, they produce around 1,100 round bales of hay, grow their own corn, and care for a herd of 150 beef cattle.

In addition to farming, Clint works full-time as the Environmental Services Supervisor for Agape Care Group. He credits the success of their family farm to the unwavering support of his wife, as well as his dad and uncles, whose hard work and dedication make it all possible.

Clint is actively involved in the agricultural community, serving on the Rutherford County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and as the President of the Rutherford County Cattlemen’s Association. He and his family are members of Big Springs Baptist Church.

Elected as a Rutherford County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor in 2022, Clint is passionate about helping local farmers implement conservation practices that improve and protect their land. His goal is to ensure that Rutherford County’s farms remain productive and sustainable so they can be passed down to future generations.

Thank you, Clint, for your dedication to agriculture, conservation, and the citizens of Rutherford County! 🌾💚