Ag Resource Management Project in 2016

Starting in 2016, this farm began a series of conservation management practices. This farm operates 1,000 acres - 140 acres of which are irrigated of corn, soybeans, small grains, and alfalfa, along with operating an 80-cow dairy and 300 feeder steers.

Components:

Integrated Pest Management (IPM): As part of their IPM plan, this farm has successfully incorporated a diverse crop rotation that has been beneficial for staying on top of pest control and maximizing productivity. Tying this in with cover crops also gives them additional tools to build soil health, which is a key step to overcoming the challenges that come with no-till. While enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program over the past five years, this farm has utilized WIN-PST to help select pesticides to mitigate environmental risks.

Soil Health: Crop rotations include corn/soybean/small grain, corn/soybean, and corn/soybean/small grain/alfalfa. Cereal rye cover crop follows corn and soybean and a multispecies cover crop follows small grain that isn't under seeded with alfalfa.

Irrigation: In 2022, this farm received a MAWQCP financial assistance grant to

purchase soil moisture sensors to help implement advanced irrigation water management (IWM)

on their one 140-acre field. The sensors are designed to detect the amount of moisture in the

ground and override scheduled irrigation when plants do not need water, reducing water waste

and promoting plant health.

Manure and nutrient management: This farm soil samples yearly to get the most accurate soil

fertility and soil fertilizer recommendations based off the University of Minnesota and Haney soil test recommendations. They also treat their manure as a valuable resource, applying lower volumes over larger amounts of acres. Additionally, all of their cattle are raised in pole barn sheds with outside cement lots. These sheds have rain gutters to divert roof water from running into cattle lots, reducing the amount of water that needs to be collected in containment systems. Any of the rainwater that falls into the cattle lots or seeps out of any of the manure storage areas gets collected. This collected manure water then gets hauled out once a year when the fields are ready, ensuring that it all stays in the field and minimizes leaching and runoff risk. Covers crops are also planted to make sure that excess nutrients are captured and will release them in a timely fashion when the next crop is planted.

Benefits:

• Maintain/increase soil health and organic matter content

• Improve soil moisture use efficiencies

• Reduce water quality degradation by utilizing excess soil nutrients

• Manage nutrients

Partners with this project included the landowner, Stearns Conservation District, MN Department of Agriculture/MAWQCP, and USDA-NRCS.