May 2021
Ag water quality certification adds climate endorsement
The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) has launched a new Climate Smart Farm Endorsement to recognize producers who are going above and beyond to implement practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. This endorsement joins the line-up of three others that have been offered for the past year: Soil Health, Integrated Pest Management, and Wildlife.
The MPCA has studied agriculture and climate change, issuing a report estimating the impact of 21 different agriculture best practices on greenhouse gas emissions. See the report: "Greenhouse gas reduction potential of agricultural best management practices." Practices include: Cover crops, buffers and other perennial vegetation, reduced or no-tillage, and livestock grazing.
With the emerging markets that can pay farmers for practices that store carbon in the soil and reduce emissions, undergoing the Climate Smart Farm Endorsement assessment is a good exercise to explore practices that will help farmers benefit financially in these markets.
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Feedlot Update
MPCA, county staff appointments
Matt Steele has moved on from Renville County to become the Carver County feedlot officer following the retirement of Al Langseth.
Mitchell Hartwig, current Nobles CFO, will be replacing Matt Steel in Renville County starting June 7. Vacancies remain in Stearns County and Nobles.
Dave Clark is the new Agricultural Coordinator for Marshall County who will be taking over the county's feedlot program.
Dylan Pratt joined the Todd County SWCD as county feedlot officer. He has a BS in Animal Science and lives on a cattle and sheep farm in Todd County.
Brent Riess has taken the compliance coordinator position with the MPCA Feedlot Program starting May 26. Previously with the feedlot program for 16 years in the Marshall office, he is returning from a project manager position in the MPCA Petroleum Remediation program.
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U of M Extension offers online course on manure management planning
Learn how to use the Manure Management Planner from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in a new online course offered by U of M-Extenson. Modules include an introduction to manure management planning and the Manure Management Planner (MMP), manure storages in MMP, field information, crop information, nutrient application, and special cases in MMP. Agricultural service providers, farmers, nutrient management planners, or others interested in taking this course should sign up for section 1. Section 2 is specifically for County Feedlot Officers. For information contact Brenda Postels, post0060@umn.edu.
Feedlot online registration
County feedlot officers and others with questions about the online registration service are asked to send questions via email to: onlineservices.pca@state.mn.us. This will create a ticket automatically and be directed to the correct department for resolution. Since the launch of the on-line registration service less than a year ago, more than 7,000 registrations successfully submitted, helping save time and resources.
Development continues for online permit application service
Progress continues on the development of an online permit application service. Internal testing of the system will begin shortly, with release to the public in the coming months. A firm date for public access to the new service is not yet available. Due to the increased efficiencies expected when the online permit application service becomes available, the MPCA is now only accepting NPDES or SDS permit applications for construction, expansion, or other modifications that cannot wait until the new service is available. A paper permit application form for these critical activities can be requested from your regional MPCA feedlot staff. When it becomes available, updates on the service and its availability will be posted on the 2021 NPDES general permit webpage.
Conservation practices on irrigated cropland
$3.5 million grant for central Minnesota
The Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture and more than 30 partners received a $3.5 million NRCS grant to implement conservation measures on irrigated land. Coarse and sandy soil types common in irrigated fields can leach nitrogen and chemicals into groundwater. For more background on groundwater protection see the MDA’s Dealing with Nitrate in Groundwater webpage, and MDA's Nitrogen Fertilizer BMPs for Agricultural Lands webpage. The grant will fund a five-year project within 20 soil and water conservation districts and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The SWCDs include: Becker, Benton, Cass, Dakota, Douglas, East Otter Tail, Grant, Hubbard, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Wadena, Washington and West Otter Tail. Partners include SWCDs, institutes of education, state agencies, irrigators associations, and businesses. For more information, contact Jeppe.Kjaersgaard@state.mn.us.
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Groundwater monitoring
MDA project to focus on areas with elevated nitrate
This spring the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture will be installing groundwater monitoring well networks in three Drinking Water Supply Management Areas (DWSMAs) with elevated nitrate. Each network will enable the MDA to monitor nitrate levels in locations with row crop agriculture in areas of the Hastings, Rock County Rural Water System, and St. Peter DWSMAs where groundwater is vulnerable to leaching. Under the Groundwater Protection Rule, producers within these DWSMAs are asked to implement nitrogen fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) and alternative practices to reduce nitrate leaching. This monitoring will allow the MDA to measure the changes to water quality in response to the implementation of practices. The MPCA monitors the quality of groundwater from non-agricultural chemicals overall and works to protect it from contamination. For more information contact Kimberly.Kaiser@state.mn.us.
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Ag-environmental policy landscape
Report offers concise summary
If all the laws, rules and policies affecting agriculture and the environment can seem complex and confusing, the bureaucratic fog will dissipate a bit with reading a recent overview from the Minnesota House Research office. "A Minnesota Lawmaker's Guide to the Agri-Environmental Policy Landscape" provides a clear, concise summary of laws, responsible agencies, and impact on farmers including crops, livestock, water, air, and chemicals. It lists impacts to farmers, and resources to address requirements. The MPCA (Feedlot Program) is a primary regulatory agency, particularly for livestock; also, the Dept. of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health, Board of Water and Soil Resources, Dept. of Natural Resources, and Dept. of Health, and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Find the report (only 35 pages) on the Minnesota House Research Department website.
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Ag events, education and research
Manuresheds: Advancing nutrient recycling in US agriculture
Webinar, May 21 at 1:30 p.m. With coordinated processing and transport, manure could replace 35% of the phosphorus and 8% of the nitrogen applied as fertilizer in the US each year. Strategic manure redistribution and recycling provides a solution to some of the greatest production and conservation challenges facing US agriculture while promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation. This webinar will discuss the manureshed vision, the geographic barriers to manureshed recycling, the social networks underlying manureshed management at multiple scales, and provide examples of industry-specific manureshed solutions.
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Agricultural drainage and water quality field tour May 26
The annual ag drainage and water quality spring field tour hosted by ISG Inc. of Mankato is scheduled for an in-person event 12:30-4 p.m., Wednesday, May 26. The tour will demonstrate best management practices and projects including constructed wetlands, wetland restoration, online storage pond, and pond/in-ditch treatment. There will be tour bus pickup locations in Fairmont and Mankato; those wishing to use their own vehicles are welcome to follow the bus. At 4 p.m. there will be refreshments at the Marina Lodge in Fairmont. The tour is free of charge.
Coupling manure digesters with renewable natural gas systems
Anaerobic digestion is an established technology to treat animal manure. Biogas (a methane and carbon dioxide mixture) is a digestion byproduct with a positive energy value. Due to the favorable economic incentives from the Low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), there is strong interest in converting biogas to high-purity methane, renewable natural gas (RNG), and injecting it into natural gas pipelines. An April 16 Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Community webinar explores where, how, and when it makes sense to merge manure digesters with natural gas pipelines.
NRCS Conservation Outcomes Webinar Series
The April 29 edition of this monthly webinar series highlights "Estimating the greenhouse gas benefits of NRCS' applied practices." The series illustrates the scope of Farm Bill conservation efforts on privately-owned croplands, forests, and rangelands; documents the conservation achievements and outcomes of those efforts; and shows the utility of science-based outcomes for helping inform future conservation delivery. The one-hour, live webinars occur every fourth Thursday at 2 p.m. via Adobe Connect at https://nrcs.adobeconnect.com/ceap2/
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