*This is a future program that could be offered. As Rock Lake Conservation District grows, this program could be available as the community's interest in it grows. Please contact Rock Lake Conservation District to get involved.*

Unlike any other buffer program in the nation, a commodity buffer compensates a producer for the true value of the ground. A harvestable conservation buffer, a commodity buffer is a strip of perennial vegetation established at the edge of any waterway; stream, river, creek, ditch, spring, wet area, drainage, or shoreline.

They are used to:
- Capture sediment and filter nutrients, pesticides, and animal waste from agricultural runoff
- Help prevent further erosion from the waterway
- Provide wildlife habitat and establish wildlife corridors

Requirements:
- Producer must install and maintain required buffer size according to the type of waterway, tillage practice, and associated Soil Tillage Intensity Rating (STIR).
- Producer must maintain the selected practice for a minimum of 3 years.
- Practices can be a filter strip (grass only, or grass/forb mix) or a native riparian forest (grasses, trees, and shrubs).
- Commodity Buffers cannot be burned.
- Haying and mowing must occur after July 1st.