Farmer Connect

Kent Conservation District can help landowners choose the right conservation practices to protect their precious assets like soil health. Kent County land mass includes prime and unique soils important for the production of specialty crops such as apples, asparagus, blueberries and peaches among other commodity crops. Prime and unique soils are official definitions by USDA for specific soil series. The 2017 Census of Agriculture identifies 157,466 acres of farmland in the county. These acres encompasses 28.2% of the total land area. A total of 10,051 acres are dedicated to orchard production, 2,797 acres in vegetables and 133 acres are in berry production. These crops are located on prime and unique soils. In addition, each year 84,950 acres are used for grain production. Participants at the three listening sessions identified the need to maintain and preserve prime and unique productive farmland for specialty and grain crops as part of the county’s future economic prosperity.