Agricultural News
In the Field: Harry Birdwell Previews Upcoming School Land Commission Lease Auction
Sat, 29 Sep 2012 18:13:33 CDT
The annual school land lease auctions are rapidly approaching and the secretary of the school land office, Harry Birdwell, says officials are doing everything they can to preserve this crucial income stream for public education. Birdwell spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network's Farm Director Ron Hays on the latest edition of "In the Field." (You can watch the full segment below.)
"We made the commitment as an agency that we were going to do more to properly conserve the land, more conservation improvements and terracing and going in and developing water resources and digging new wells and dredging out silted ponds," Birdwell said.
"And another new thing that is so important, I think, to our state is if you look at the number of acres of productive land throughout the state that are being encroached on by red cedar infestations, that's really taking away from grazing and cropping lands around the state. So, we've begun a program on our land to remove, in areas of the state where infestation is worst, a lot of cedars because that will return the land to productivity. Those red cedars take an awful lot of water that would otherwise be productively used in growing vegetation and cropping."
He said the land office makes an assessment of the various lands it wants to improve and, in some instances, borne the costs for improvements. It has also worked with lessees who want to make the improvements themselves in return for lower lease fees. Birdwell says the response from lessees has generally been positive.
Click inside the video box below to see the full "In the Field" segment. You can also read more and hear a more in-depth audio interview by by clicking here.
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