Minnesota Ag Water Certification Sauk River Project
The Nature Conservancy, Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, and Stearns County SWCD have partnered to measure the environmental impact of innovative programs that encourage whole farm planning for water quality in the Sauk watershed in west central Minnesota. The Sauk watershed (including Backes Lake) project aims to assist growers with planning and capital required to achieve an overall water quality outcome while simultaneously addressing soil health and climate change.
This project will also investigate and create case studies for farming practices (conservation tillage, crop rotations, improved nutrient management, etc.) including that benefit both cost of production for farmers and natural resource conservation (particularly water quality), demonstrate the benefits of these practices to Central Minnesota dairy and row crop farmers through peer-to-peer learning, and engage and support motivated farmers in making practice changes through a unique public-private-nonprofit collaboration.
Objectives
All the producers involved in this project became certified in the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. Through the certification process, each producer received individualized support and participated in a risk assessment of every crop on every field in their operation. Based on the results of the assessment, the certification specialist and producer worked together to select practices that were the best fit for the operation. Certification was granted when all risks to water quality were mitigated.