MAWRC makes the most of water on the farm
Written by Jonathan Eisenthal
Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center (MAWRC) has played a major role in water education and research in Minnesota for more than a decade, providing the latest insight helping farmers make the best use of water resources, while reducing the environmental impacts of their operation.
With the pandemic still affecting every aspect of life here, MAWRC has adapted its in-person seminars and conferences, and has planned a series of lunch-hour online discussions of its Discovery Farms program, as well as making over the two annual Nutrition Management Seminars taking place early next year. All these meetings take advantage of the Zoom platform.
The theme of the Discovery Farms series is “How can farmers address their conservation goals in an era of uncertain climate?” Free Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits are available for attending.
“Our next discussion on Dec. 16 will feature Christine Morgan from the Soil Health Institute, and Troy Daniel, Minnesota state conservationist with NRCS,” said Formo. “They will be giving a program on soil health.”
Brock Olson, a Red Wing area farmer who has conducted cover crop research through the Minnesota Corn Innovation Grant Program for the last three years, took part in a panel discussion last week called “Edge-of-field water quality and how it can help us in a changing climate.”
The 7th Annual Minnesota Nitrogen Management Conference takes place virtually on February 9, 2021. A second conference on February 16 will offer information about the broad range of crop nutrients. Each conference will have about 20 research topics. Presenters will post their full presentations on the MAWRC web site, using a 25-minute video to take us through a PowerPoint presentation. On the morning of the conferences, each presenter will have the floor for five minutes, followed by a five-minute Q&A period. This will make over the normally whole day event into a more manageable timeframe for Zoom, lasting just the morning.
Formo said farmers can watch the research presentations beforehand and discuss the project with the researcher during the half-day seminar. The conferences will also be recorded and posted to the MAWRC YouTube channel.
In addition to these events, MAWRC is supporting the work of another agriculture organization.
The Minnesota Crop Production Retailers have begun the Minnesota Nutrient Stewardship Certification, which will examine the practices of fertilizer retailers who want to be certified, to verify what they are doing right and point to possible improvements.
The 600-some retailers in Minnesota apply the crop nutrients at the majority of Minnesota farms. This represents millions of acres of Minnesota farmland, so “this program could have a very high impact, relatively quickly,” said Formo.
“Both retailers and farmers are being responsible stewards. This program will document that. We are using science to figure out what the right amount of fertilizer is,” said Formo. “The ‘Four R Principles’ are that we apply the right amount of the right form of fertilizer, in the right place, and using the right source.”
