[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E75-E76]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING MR. BARRY FISHER'S OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL 
                          CONSERVATION EFFORTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES R. BAIRD

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2023

  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor my friend and this 
year's Certified Crop Adviser Conservationist of the Year award 
recipient, Barry Fisher. A French Lick, Indiana native, Barry's love 
for agriculture began at a young age on his family's farm. Upon 
graduation from Western Kentucky University in 1983, Barry began his 
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) career serving in locales 
across Indiana where he acted as a soil conservationist in Southeast 
Indiana, an area agronomist for West Central Indiana, and a State Soil 
Health Specialist.
  In 2015, Barry was one of the original members of the NRCS National 
Soil Health Division and was instrumental in delivering soil health 
training to the agency's staff across the nation. As the first Central 
Region leader of the newly formed Soil Health Division, he carried out 
one of the most successful training and outreach campaigns the United 
States Department of Agriculture has ever known, hosting events with 
tens of thousands in attendance and driving millions to web-based 
resources.
  Since his retirement from NRCS in 2020, Fisher established Fisher 
Soil Health, a consulting service that provides training on advanced 
soil health management systems. He also continues to serve as an expert 
speaker and trainer, promoting the adoption of soil health practices to 
farmers and conservation staff.
  Based on the 2022 Conservation Transect data, over two-thirds of 
Indiana's row crop acres are undisturbed through fall and winter 
months, and 1,600,000 of those acres are seeded to green living cover 
during those months--only 12.5 percent of those cover crop acres were 
seeded with financial program assistance. When the transect began 
measuring green living cover in 2011, there were about 184,000 acres. 
The increase in those covered acres can be attributed, in part, to 
Fisher's tireless efforts to promote and educate about cover crops and 
soil health.

[[Page E76]]

  Barry and his wife continue to operate their West Central Indiana-
based farm where they employ the strategies he developed and perfected, 
and their farm now acts as a living laboratory to many conservation 
groups who travel from across the country to learn about soy health. 
Barry's contributions to our agriculture industry are immeasurable, and 
I can think of no one more deserving of this well-deserved honor.

                          ____________________