SOIL HEALTH

Soil health specialists sound the alarm on continuing soil erosion

Ann Bailey — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Black soil covering white snow in ditches during the winter and clouds of dirt swirling across fields, farms and roads are stark evidence that erosion is a major threat to soil health.

Despite a “Wake-up Call” warning issued 10 years ago by Dave Franzen, then a soil health expert at North Dakota State University in Fargo, wind erosion has continued to significantly damage soil health.

“Soil moving by surface creep moves into the ditch and into the neighbor’s field. This is what we see,” wrote Franzen, NDSU Extension soil specialist, in a section of the May 7, 2015, NDSU Crops and Pest Report that he titled “Wake-up Call.”

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“Suspended soil is the real soil loss, estimated at about 10 times what you see in the ditch. It lands in the Atlantic Ocean or Ohio or Pennsylvania, or New York, or London. It is lost forever,” Franzen wrote.

Ten years later, travels across North Dakota during the winter of 2024-25 indicated that wind erosion remains the greatest threat to the state’s soil health, Carlos Pires and Brady Goettl, NDSU Extension soil health specialists, wrote in a section of the March 27, 2025, Crops and Pest Report called “Wake-up Call 2."

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“Our soils are much like the human body. We can’t afford to lose blood, just as we can’t afford to lose soil health. Both are vital to sustaining life, and without them, everything else starts to suffer. Stop the soil bleed!” Pires and Goettl wrote.

Both of the Wake-up Calls referred to a 2014 study by David Hopkins, a former NDSU professor, and Brandon Montgomery, an NDSU student, in which they visited the exact locations of several soils characterized by the Soil Conservation Service — now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service — in 1960. The study showed that one soil in Walsh County had 35 inches above the “C” horizon in 1960 and 15 inches in 2014, a loss of 19 inches in slightly more than 50 years.

“Can you really call it topsoil anymore? The ‘topsoil' is a weak blend of a small amount of original topsoil mixed with subsoil,” Franzen wrote in 2015.

Pires and Goettl reiterated in March 2025 that statement: “In 2025 we observed very similar trends across the state.”

Halting soil erosion is critical, Pires said in a May 2025 Agweek interview.

“If we don’t stop soil erosion, we lose all of (soil’s) benefits,” Pires said. “The water is carrying away everything we built.

“We definitely are losing a lot of topsoil in the Red River Valley,” he said.

The optimal way to reduce soil erosion is to use minimum tillage methods, which will reduce soil disturbance, Pires said.

Using no- tillage methods for wheat and soybeans is feasible, he said. Meanwhile, Pires recommends using minimum tillage on corn ground, where possible.

It’s also important to mix up crop rotations to reduce soil erosion.

“Diversification is the key,” Pires said. “Corn, corn, corn, it’s hard to minimize (soil loss).”

Farmers also may want to consider breaking down their acreage by “possibility maps” and planting cover crops on acreage that doesn’t produce an economic return.

“If they're not profitable, is it making sense to farm that?” Pires asked.“Remember that every acre counts, and work on probability.”

One of his favorite sayings is that “productivity is a function of knowledge applied per acre," he said. “We can also say that ‘Soil productivity is a function of knowledge applied per acre.'”

Since starting his job at NDSU earlier this spring, Pires has witnessed a trend of farmers being concerned about soil erosion.

“They are seeing all of this stuff; we have the dust storms,” he said, noting that he's received phone calls from farmers in western Minnesota who are asking about ways they can change their farming methods to reduce soil erosion.

The soil erosion isn’t limited to North Dakota and Minnesota, Pires said.

“It’s a problem everywhere. Every soil specialist everywhere is worried about soil erosion… This is a huge concern in the world,” he said. That includes his native country of Brazil, where water erosion is damaging soil health, Pires said.

Farming a large number of acres does not preclude farmers from using farming methods that reduce soil erosion because there is technology available to do that, Piers said. For example, it’s a lot easier to get 10,000 acres of crops in the ground if fields don’t have to be tilled first.

“The size of the farm shouldn't be a roadblock for soil health," he said. “There are options out there. Sometimes they’re expensive.”

Some North Dakota sugarbeet farmers are using strip-till cropping methods or no-till to reduce soil erosion in sugarbeet fields, said Naeem Kalwar, NDSU Extension soil specialist at the Langdon Research Extension Center.

Planting fall cover crops on fields where there is little residue left after harvest also will reduce soil erosion, Kalwar said.

Joshua Anderson, Three Rivers Soil Conservation District manager, in Walsh County, North Dakota, where the 2014 NDSU showed that a site had a loss of 19 inches of topsoil from 1960, believes that the former tall grass prairie that was the landscape before the ground was tilled holds the key to soil health.

Other practices, such as planting shelterbelts, that were developed after the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s were “easy button” solutions that didn’t work because there still is soil erosion, Anderson said.

In contrast the prairie had minimal soil disturbance, a diversity of plants and livestock integration, he said.

The challenge and the opportunity is to develop an ecosystem like that that is economically viable.

“How can we grow an economy rooted in prairie principles that regenerates the soil and leads to robust rural communities?” Anderson asked.”Do we want a system that regularly grows algae blooms and food deserts?

“There must be opportunities to grow something else and to think about how we’re growing it,” he said.

Farmers need to band together and voice that soil health should be a driving factor in federal farm programs and crop insurance policies, Anderson said.

“I think the big issue in my book is that conservation and ag economics are at odds with each other,” Anderson said.

But bridging that gap is vital to soil health.

“Soil is our common ground in our region," he said. "Soil health is connected to human health, what we eat, water quality, food quality. I think it is one of those things that I would love to see it become a bigger conversation, not just among producers.”

An optimal production system that would reduce erosion would be to integrate livestock into multi-species grass so the land would have a chance to recuperate and regenerate, Anderson said.

If farmers didn’t want to raise livestock, they could partner with someone who does and let them raise cattle on their grassland, he suggested.

Anderson is realistic about the challenges of livestock production.

”There’s nothing easy about raising cattle. It’s a challenging thing in a lot of respects. We hear a lot of resistance to making these kinds of changes,“ he said.

Some farmers who hear suggestions about integrating cattle and grass systems tell soil conservationists that their grandfathers did the same type of farming: smaller acreages with small livestock herds, Anderson acknowledged.

But he believes that type of system is still viable today.

“A lot of stuff we’re advocating for, the very first conservation districts were advocating for. The principles of soil health are stable for a long time.,” Anderson said.

He suggests farmers start with an experiment of 40 acres of an integrated grass-livestock system and see what works and what doesn’t.

It’s critical that farmers start now to mitigate damage to topsoil and work to restore it, soil health specialists say.

“In order to make 1 inch of topsoil, it might take 100 to 1,000 years, We may not see it back in our lifetimes,” Kalwar said. “If they don’t, it would be like your bank account. If you take your money out and don’t put it back, you will be bankrupt.”

Soil, like a bank account, needs to be protected, built and maintained, he said.

“The bottom line is that soils are a natural resource. You can lose it," Karlwar said.

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Stopping soil erosion will be less costly now than later

Ann Bailey — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 10:30:00 GMT

One of the mental images from narratives I’ve read about the Dust Bowl years that vividly sticks in my mind is descriptions of the heaps of dirt in farmhouse window sills. Topsoil blown propelled by the wind not only piled up in the sills, but also permeated through cracks of the houses, and farm women continuously were cleaning and dusting to remove the layers of dust covering inside surfaces.

During the winter of 2024-25 I got a real feel for how the must have felt when they dusted one day only to have get up and do it again the next day. The winds that blew soil from bare fields made little drifts in our windowsills and the dust that came through the cracks in our house covered the interior surfaces, including the kitchen table, which we had to wipe off every night before supper.

Outside, of course, there was more stark evidence of the amount of soil that had blown off of the fields in the form of soil that collected in the roadside ditches.

But the effects of the wind erosion are much more than an irritation because they require extra housework or cosmetics because they make the landscape less appealing to view. The displaced and airborne soil is the result of wind erosion that is damaging — and there’s evidence it has destroyed — the topsoil.

Lack of residue on the fields after harvest, removal of shelterbelts and monoculture have contributed to wind erosion in eastern North Dakota, where I live. The fields on what was tall-grass prairie less than 150 years — four generations — ago now are depleted or nearly depleted of the topsoil layer.

I come from a family that began tilling the ground near Larimore, North Dakota, 139 years ago, so I know that it’s a balance to make farming economically viable and, at the same time, be a steward of the land. The federal farm program, federal crop insurance and commodity markets are among the factors that must all be weighed into the decision of what crops to plant and how to plant them.

I do know, though, that it’s possible to achieve that balance because my dad and brother did that when they were farming from the 1970s to the late 1990s.

I recognize that they planted their last crops nearly 30 years ago and farming radically has changed since then — fields and equipment have grown exponentially while factors affecting commodity prices also have become greater in an increasingly global market.

However, technology also has made extensive strides and that, combined with the concept of old-fashioned soil stewardship, should reduce soil erosion.

It’s the latter, that, from my observance as an agricultural reporter and farmers’ daughter and sister, is missing from a significant number of producers’ operations in 2025. It appears to me that they only see the land from the perspective of how it can be used to make money. While they might say they take care of it, their farming practices indicate otherwise.

I recognize that not everyone has the same farming philosophy that I grew up with, embracing the practice of land stewardship, which was a driving force in the generations of farmers before me.

Their philosophy is evident in the handwork copy of the “Rural Life Prayer Book,” published in 1956. That prayer, book, one of many that we found in our house when my husband, Brian, and I moved there, begins with a proclamation for “Country People” that in part says, “We will regard our land as God’s land; as stewards of His bounty we will conserve and improve it so that it will increasingly continue to give glory to Him.”

Obviously not everyone does, nor do I expect them to, share my family's farming philosophy. But it seems to me that, if not for philosophical reasons, farmers need to do everything within their power to reduce soil erosion for economic reasons. Research shows that in one place in eastern North Dakota topsoil was reduced by 55% between 1960 and 2014. Eleven years later, it's likely that the percentage is even higher.

That should alarm every farmer because that percentage probably is nearly as high or higher in other places, not only in eastern North Dakota but across the Midwest.

I know that some farmers reading this column will say that they need financial incentives to do practices such as planting cover crops to reduce soil erosion and that funding for the programs is in jeopardy.

I recognize that, but the reality is that if farmers don’t start reducing soil erosion, not only will crop production suffer, but there will be an outcry from the general public which will result in lawmakers drafting legislation that may very well be punitive.

One only needs to look at the public’s current conventional wisdom as far as “chemicals” that farmers put on their crops and the red dye that food companies use.

Producers should figure out how to reduce soil erosion now before people who don’t farm do it for them.

Ann Bailey lives on a farmstead near Larimore, North Dakota, that has been in her family since 1911. You can reach her at 218-779-8093 or anntbailey58@gmail.com.]]>

Gathering of urban and ag industries seeks to increase knowledge of nitrogen

Michael Johnson — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. — A gathering of people from various backgrounds and expertise converged on the banks of the Mississippi River on Tuesday, April 15, to talk about nitrogen trends and reduction strategies.

The meeting was the fifth annual Ag-Urban Partnership Forum put together by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, along with the cooperation of agriculture, community and water partners. This year's theme was nitrogen and brought together members of science, health, geology, hydrology, rural water, municipalities, education and policy. And among the about 60 in attendance were two or three farmers, including father and son, David and Mark Legvold, of Northfield, Minnesota.

While many southern Minnesota farmers were out in force tilling up the land in preparation for planting, Mark Legvold said he planned to start planting soybeans that weekend using a strip tiller to plant into the cover crop-covered soil he planted following last fall's harvest. No need for extra tillage passes, which has proven to be a cost savings.

It was a method Brad Carlson, an educator with the University of Minnesota Extension, would have highly recommended as he spoke to the group about the abundance of nitrogen present in our air, soil and water. When there are excess amounts of nitrogen in soil, it can either be utilized by plants or it can be released into the ground or surface waters, where problems arise in supplying safe drinking water to nearby or far away residents.

When asked what farmers could be doing to limit the amount of nitrogen entering our drinking water sources, Carlson said a large part is not related to runoff or appropriate fertilizer application.

“I think really the key is there’s roughly 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of nitrogen per acre tied up in our soil organic matter, and that's going to release through microbial process as long as it's warm and moist,” Carlson said.

For most farmers in the state, from the time they harvest a crop in late summer or early fall, there are about seven weeks before the necessary heat in the soil exits and nitrification is no longer at work. Cover crops could utilize that nitrogen during that time frame.

So when Legvold Farms plants that cover crop to help protect their topsoil from blowing away, they are also putting down a crop that will take up excess nitrogen into the plant that may otherwise be lost as it moves down through the soil into groundwater. When the Legvolds terminate the cover crop in the spring, it continues to serve as a weed barrier as that corn or soybean rises up.

“And so a lot of the nitrogen that we find losing the system through drainage or into shallow groundwater is attributable to accumulations that happen after the growing season and it’s not the result of fertilizer applications,” Carlson said. The exception is over-fertilizing.

“What’s really important for farmers is to just not be over-fertilizing,” Carlson said. There are strategies to minimize loss of nitrogen, including the use of nitrification inhibitors, soil testing, water management and cover crops, which can add expenses on the farm. Using less nitrogen fertilizer would be a cost savings if it’s not a sacrifice to yield. Carlson drove home that the answer to the problem is not getting rid of the fertilizer, it’s zeroing in on the amount the crop needs.

To try to find out that key amount is the yearly battle that farmers must contend with.

“Farming is a yearly process and we are learning something new every single year and we’re studying something new every single year,” Mark Legvold said.

One thing new this year and for the next two years is a research project he is taking part in, where they are applying the standard nitrogen recommendations for achieving 200-bushel corn. But an on-farm study will test soils to help them adjust those nitrogen levels and perform a side-by-side comparison.

“That’s just part of the learning process that we go through every single year on the farm, where we’re trying to fine-tune and refine how we’re doing things to take good care of the soil and water, but also increase our profitability,” Mark Legvold said.

Brad Jordahl Redlin, manager of the Agricultural Conservation Services department for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said that what farmers are doing in the state is working to reduce nutrient contamination, and he believes more farmers would like to get on board. A soil health assistance program in the state is unique in the nation and is one that has five times the number of applicants beyond what the state funds. Despite tumult at a national level, he believes the federal government will help fund programs like this, because the programs have proven themselves effective in mitigating risks specific to every farm.

“That’s the kind of model that certainly the Department of Agriculture recognizes going forward is a way to actually cut through all of the noise and all the debate and actually work with growers to optimize their performance,” Jordahl Redlin said.

Other speakers included Tony Runkel, lead geologist for the Minnesota Geological Survey, who shared how nitrogen in deep springs may take several decades to reappear. He described how difficult it is to see improvements in these deep aquifers even as management on the surface is improved. Dave Wall, a hydrologist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, showed how improvements are being seen in many surface waters in the state, but as a whole, the state is far from its goal of a 45% nutrient reduction by 2040. That strategy was put in place in 2014. There will be a revised strategy published this summer for public review, Wall said.

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Minnesota’s long journey to balance productive farming with protecting drinking water

Noah Fish — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 19:00:00 GMT

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Nitrates in water is still the hottest issue facing southeast Minnesota's agricultural industry.

Aune Hall on the Olmsted County fairgrounds reached capacity March 13, with farmers drinking coffee and eating doughnuts to start a daylong meeting on the latest nitrogen management research, along with existing and future policy regarding nitrates in water. The event was put on by University of Minnesota Extension with support from Minnesota Corn.

Pressure in southeast

Southeast Minnesota is one of the most vulnerable regions to nitrate contamination. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Groundwater Protection Rule identified a band in the region, along the bluffs and running parallel to the river, where elevated nitrates are found in a lot of drinking water.

A November 2023 petition filed to the EPA by environmental groups required the state to step up its action to protect water quality in the karst region, which includes Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties.

The region is also where the University of Minnesota began its research to help producers navigate nitrogen management through policy changes.

Brad Carlson, University of Minnesota Extension educator of over 30 years, did some of the initial research, following the Minnesota Groundwater Protection Act in 1989. Carlson worked as an undergraduate intern at the research station in Waseca, where the original nitrogen best management practices for Minnesota were developed.

"They were developed and released in 1994, and I was just kind of grunt labor, pulling soil samples and water samples that went into the development of those," he said. "It goes a long way back."

Nitrogen a contaminant

When the state revealed its Groundwater Protection Act in 1989, which authorized the Department of Health to develop and adopt health-protective guidance, the focus was on pesticides.

"I think most of us remember all the discussion was on our alachlor, simazine, metribuzin, which were the products that were particularly targeted with that," Carlson said.

Nitrogen wasn't considered to be much of a contaminate at the time, he said.

"A lot of folks put on what they call insurance nitrogen, where they put on extra knowing they didn't need it, just in case. We realize now that as an industry, we can't be doing that anymore," he said.

Advances in crop-specific nutrient research show that the majority of crops will suffer if too much nitrogen is applied, Carlson said, which helps decrease the use of it. But that science doesn't apply to corn.

"Most of our crops really incentive to zero in on the exact nitrogen rate, and corn doesn't do that," he said. "If you put on more than it needs, it just doesn't take it up, and it leaves it in the soil. And so from that standpoint, that's a little bit of the problem we've had historically with corn."

Most vulnerable

Today much more is known about how the human body reacts to excess nitrate in drinking water. It can lead to methemoglobinemia, and can also result in elevated resting heart rate, weakness, nausea and sometimes death.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, nitrate in water is almost completely absorbed into the blood, where it can be converted from nitrate into nitrite. Nitrite reacts with blood to create methemoglobinemia.

"As adult humans, most of us have enough bacteria in our guts to process that nitrate, and move it out in our waste," Carlson said. "So the issue is the incidents of adults being affected by this are extraordinarily rare."

That's why public health efforts are focused on infants less than 6 months old. Babies fed formula prepared with water high in nitrate are considered a highly exposed population.

"Babies are born without any of that stuff in their stomachs; they pick that up as they crawl around and stick their fingers in their mouths and whatever for the first 6 months of life," Carlson said.

It doesn't help coordination efforts to know that methemoglobinemia is not a reportable illness in Minnesota, and according to MDH, the state has "no mechanism in place for a provider to report cases to the state health department."

Nutrient Reduction Strategy

Minnesota established a statewide Nutrient Reduction Strategy in 2014 to guide state efforts to reduce nutrient pollution. It's due for a revision this year, which Carlson said is in the later stages.

"It has many elements and includes municipal wastewater discharge and all kinds of other things besides agriculture," he said. "(The revised Nutrient Reduction Strategy) is getting close, and we should expect to see that released for Minnesota by the end of summer."

The 2014 strategy set a benchmark of 20% nitrate reduction of the nitrogen running through the Mississippi River by this year, which Carlson said didn't happen. The actual reduction was around 5%, but he chalks it up to factors outside of human control.

"A lot of that is attributable to the increased amount of flow, and the amount of rainfall that's come from the sky," he said. "We've actually seen nitrate concentrations decrease a lot in the water. However, the flow is increased, and it's really offset a lot of the changes that have been made in the last 10 years."

Public comments will be sought on the draft revision in the second half of 2025.

As for how to address the general public becoming more familiar with the issue of nitrates in water, and how agriculture is involved, Carlson said the state deserves to be trusted for the work it is doing now.

"The message is, we're working on it. It's not a very simple problem. It's kind of an artifact of our cropping systems, the fact that we're growing annual crops," he said. "We're going to have to just keep working on this problem, and see incremental improvements, because the way to get an instant improvement would be simply to shut down agriculture."

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Ag programs deal with uncertainty from frozen federal funding

Jenny Schlecht — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 23:06:24 GMT

Programs and universities that have contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are dealing with uncertainty after the Trump administration froze some federal spending.

Among the projects in limbo are the more than 141 projects awarded a collective $3.1 billion through the Commodity Credit Corporation as part of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. North Dakota farmers participating in one of those programs — the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture — are now waiting for payments to fulfill their contracts, according to Matt Perdue, North Dakota Farmers Union government relations director.

“The program is frozen right now," he said.

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture is a pilot project to provide payments to producers in certain parts of Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Virginia for adopting or maintaining practices that curb greenhouse gas emissions, including no till, minimum till, prescribed grazing or cover crops.

Perdue, who is administering the North Dakota portion of the program, said USDA has communicated that it will not offer any producer payments or reimbursements owed to the entities administering the program. He said 300 farmers are under contract with the program just in North Dakota, and some are owed as much as $8,000 under their contracts.

“This decision by USDA — or the lack of clarity from USDA — has left us unsure as to when we’ll be able to deliver those payments to producers," Perdue said.

While $8,000 is not the financial hit some producers have reported taking — including producers awaiting hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursement under programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program — it’s still a hit to farmers who were counting on the money, Perdue said.

“Having received emails from producers, I certainly know some are feeling the stress of that uncertainty,” he said.

Perdue said the program continues to operate, including processing applications that came in by the year two deadline Friday, Feb. 7, “but we’re doing that with uncertainty about the future of the program.” They aren’t moving forward with awarding any more contracts until there is more certainty.

While producers may be taking a hit from not having their contracts fulfilled, Perdue said participating soil conservation districts also will be impacted, as they have used funding to hire for positions to run the program, too.

The freeze on federal spending also is impacting agriculture research. Greg Lardy, vice president for agricultural affairs at North Dakota State University, confirmed NDSU receives federal funding for ag research.

“The reimbursement for work already completed on USDA grants has been paused. Research funded by USDA grants includes work in precision agriculture, plant disease protection, and developing winter hardy alfalfa varieties, among a variety of other activities,” he said.

Lardy said much of the department’s operations are on a cost reimbursement basis.

“Waiting to see what’s going to happen, but for now, from an agriculture, research standpoint, everything is still going ahead as you’d expect,” he said.

If those grants aren’t reimbursed, however, Lardy said the university will have to reevaluate operations and make some “harder decisions.”

“If the federal government happens to stop all grant activity, then we would have a number of students and employees that would be adversely affected,” he said.

Grants currently waiting to be reimbursed pay for several of the department’s operations, from hourly student wages and field work to salaries and laboratory support staff.

“They (the grants) have a fairly long ripple effect,” he said.

Also held up by the freeze is the Inflation Reduction Act’s Clean Fuel Production Credit or 45Z tax credit, which encourages the production of clean transportation fuels. Dr. Adam Schubert, a senior associate at Stillwater Associates, a transportation fuels consulting firm, said a process to bring 45Z to a final rule could take a year, putting the biofuels industry in a situation of uncertainty.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., who is the ranking member on the House Ag Committee, mentioned the problems from the freeze during a committee meeting Tuesday, Feb. 11. Craig was speaking about the need for a new farm bill given the economic uncertainty in the ag industry right now but also veered into the uncertainty created by freezing programs under which farmers also are contracted and putting tariffs on trading partners.

“Consider: grants dollars to farmers appropriated by Congress and already under contract with USDA have been frozen, trade wars with our largest trading partners — and largest export markets — have been threatened, food grown in America is rotting in a warehouse in Texas,” she said.

The rotting food is in reference to holds on programs through the U.S. Agency for International Development, through which some U.S. crops are sent to foreign countries. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — which is not a government department but an effort set up by an executive order from President Donald Trump — halted work by USAID, including some food assistance programs.

“The uncertainty caused by Elon Musk’s attacks on USAID hurts the rural economy and damages the proud heritage of American farmers feeding the world,” Craig said in a statement Feb. 3.

Forum reporter Peyton Haug contributed to this report.]]>

Sartell farmer a finalist for Farmfest’s Woman Farmer of the Year

Michael Johnson — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:00:00 GMT

SARTELL, Minn. — The fifth-generation Udermann family farm, Meadowbrook Farm, near Sartell, in central Minnesota, includes an 80-head dairy, 300 feeder steers, 1,000 acres of row crops (corn, soybeans, small grains and rye) and a custom no-till planting and manure hauling business as well. All these parts are kept running by three farm families each doing their part.

One part of the operation is Kirsten, who joined the family in 2017 when she married Alex Udermann. In her time on the farm she has proved herself as a glue that holds things together, yet continues to move things forward toward increased efficiencies and sustainability.

Her dedication has earned her a spot as a finalist for Minnesota Farmfest's Farm Woman of the Year. The award winner will be named Thursday, Aug. 8, at Farmfest in Morgan, Minnesota.

The sustainability work at the Udermann farm can be seen upon entering their property, where you’ll see they’ve earned five Ag Water Quality Certification endorsements. They were the first in the state to do so. They also made the move to 100% no-till on their land in the last couple of years and have been advocates of the soil health opportunities that the switch has provided.

“It comes down to where we’re at. A lot of open areas,” Kirsten Udermann said of their move to no-till. “And watching the top soil blow away. Planting into powder, just kind of got sick of it.”

They started by giving no-till beans a try. Then they planted cover crops. Then they planted right into the cover crops.

“And that’s been working well for us,” she said. They saw far fewer washouts and standing water in their fields compared to other conventional fields in their area after heavy rains this spring. “So once you see the benefits on the soil, you keep going, and you keep finding new ways to get regenerative.”

It’s an approach that’s working now and one they hope works to keep the next generation of Udermanns farming.

“We’ve got three little girls right now (another Udermann is on the way) and they are obviously showing an interest in farming right now, and we want to do better for them and make sure there’s something here for them to take over when they get to that age," Kirsten Udermann said.

Alex said women like Kirsten don’t get enough credit for the work they do to keep farms functioning. Kirsten handles all things cattle for the farm. A former Select Sires employee, Kirsten gives vaccinations, orders medicine, feeds and handles inventory sheets. She’ll help out chauffeuring equipment around for their custom work or run a grain cart in the fall. She was instrumental in the move to building a heifer pen and transitioning away from using a bull, instead utilizing artificial insemination with sexed semen. They’re improving their herd genetics and are better able to boost their steer numbers when the dairy has enough milk cows. These are some steps helping to keep them sustainable when one area of the operation is seeing a down year.

“It's one of those things like anywhere I go, whether it's Soil and Water, FSA or the co-ops, the parts, the equipment dealers, it's all women behind the counters doing all the office work and phone calls and ordering stuff,” Alex Udermann said. “So women are a huge role in the ag community. I don't think we put enough praise on them, in my opinion.”

Alex said women are often behind the scenes “making sure the circus is in order” — and their circus is all the more in order because of her.

Alex said Kirsten's vision of breeding more intentionally and keeping cattle health at top of mind are money saving and money producing efforts that are paying off. On the crop side of the operation, the switch to no-till and cover cropping has allowed them to sell their four-wheel drive equipment and tillage equipment.

“And it’s less labor, less machinery depreciation and higher quality feed and better soil, less fertilizer, less fuel, less herbicides,” he added. “I think we’ve got things dialed in pretty darn good for the size of our operation.”

It’s been a big year for the Udermanns, who were also chosen as Young Cooperator of the Year by First District Association, a dairy cooperative that manufactures dairy products from family farms in Minnesota. That award is given to a couple or individual who exhibit a strong passion for the dairy industry and are actively involved on their farm, in dairy and other agriculture-related organizations, and in their local community.

Kirsten said she’s honored to be selected for these accolades. She’s worked with so many other women in ag that she has looked up to. Many were the backbone of the operations.

The Udermanns hosted a field day at their farm in July where they shared their story about staying sustainable today and into the future. They have another transitioning to no-till event planned at their farm on Aug. 9. That's an event led by Practical Farmers of Iowa. Alex said every operation, no matter the size, can find places to implement regenerative practices. At the same time, anyone who gets to work with a woman in agriculture should be thanking them, he added.

“Thank a woman. They’re usually making sure the circus is organized behind you when you’re out in the field or doing whatever you’re doing,” he said.

The Udermann farm has been in the family since 1916. Alex and Kirsten, along with Alex’s brother Jake, are the fifth generation on the farm. They also still work daily with their father, John. With all of the family members earning a wage, they know that diversifying is the key.

Kirsten is currently serving on the Young Cooperators Board with First District Association. She volunteers at their county fair’s malt stand and has been a coach for Princess Kay contestants. She has helped host numerous farm tours and field days at Meadowbrook Dairy Inc. to showcase their operation and conservation work. She also donates beef to their church every year including steak bundles and hamburgers for grilling and auctioning off.

Making it to Farmfest

You can see Kirsten at Farmfest on Aug. 8 alongside the other finalists for Woman Farmer of the Year. Other finalists include Erika Goette, of Bricelyn; Jane Imker, of Lamberton; Melissa Runck, of Avoca; and Marles Lange, of Windom. The women will be honored at 10:30 a.m. with special guest speaker Amanda Nigg, also known as FarmFitMomma on social media platforms.

The Farmfest Woman Farmer of the Year Award honors the hard-working female farmers across Minnesota who selflessly give their time to growing the crops and raising the livestock needed to feed the world.

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Minnesota producers in eight counties can now apply for climate-smart ag funding

Michael Johnson — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 13:00:00 GMT

PARKERS PRAIRIE, Minn. — Applications for a new USDA program that rewards producers for their conservation practices are expected to pour in from July 15 to Aug. 16 in eight counties in Minnesota.

Producers in East Otter Tail County and Wadena County heard about the opportunity to earn $100 per acre or $100 per animal unit if their applications are selected for enrollment in the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture program during an informational meeting on Thursday, July 11, at three separate East Otter Tail and Wadena Soil and Water Conservation District meetings.

Producers learned that they must apply and be selected in a lottery process handled by Virginia Tech University. To qualify for enrollment they must implement a conservation practice that delivers public value through carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, improved soil health, water quality, water conservation and other environmental services. That could include practices such as cover crops, conservation crop rotation, residue and tillage management, pasture and hay planting, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, silvopasture, feed management and more.

East Otter Tail and Wadena County Soil and Water Conservation District manager Darren Newville led the meeting and shared that there has been a lot of interest in the funding opportunity and many questions since it was first announced.

“So this program was announced about a year ago … we had people contacting us then and we didn't know anything about it,” Newville said. Again more announcements came through the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources earlier in the year and more people reached out. When they announced the informational meetings, another deluge of people reached out. Between meetings in Perham and Parkers Prairie, nearly 50 people showed up to hear more. As it is a pilot program led by an outside agency, the SWCD is learning as they go.

Newville felt most producers are likely to jump on the cover crop practice as it’s something that many are already set up to use in their operations.

“It’s something that they’ve done a little bit with, and I think that with this it will allow them to do a little bit more,” Newville said.

And while farmers like Steve Inwards of Parkers Prairie were already implementing some conservation practices into their rotation, he understood that to qualify, these had to be new practices. That means he can’t enroll acreage on which he is already implementing these qualifying practices, but he can select acres that he’s not doing those practices — up to 160 acres per farm.

“Cover crops are catching on fast in this area,” Inwards said. He said reduced tillage is on people’s minds, but due to the high expense of the equipment, it’s one that few have access to. He was encouraged by the fact that funds would be flowing in to encourage good land stewardship. He said that’s an area that East Otter Tail County has been focused on progressing towards.

He was glad to see producers finally seeing some reward for these efforts, though he thought the government could do better at rewarding those who have already been implementing these practices for many years without outside incentives.

“I think they are making a mistake at the federal level by not rewarding those that have already done it out of their own pocket,” Inwards said.

Newville noted that farmers can enroll up to two farms for a maximum of 320 acres and a maximum return of $32,000.

That’s not a small amount and some producers shared that they would be foolish not to apply.

Yes, there is a time commitment involved as this work requires self-reporting and self-verification during the year of enrollment. Some enrollees can be selected at random for review by the overseeing agency.

The goal is that these practices would contribute toward reduced emissions, enhanced climate resilience and increased productivity. Newville said while the naming of the funds is off putting for some because of the climate focus, he sees climate funding as conservation funding.

“I always say, conservation programs are conservation programs, it doesn’t matter where the funds are coming from or what you’re calling it,” Newville explained. “So it really does help us with our mission of helping landowners adopt conservation practices on their land."

There were some signs of apprehension from some farmers in the group who raised questions about why the government wasn't spending the money on road repair. Others expressed concerns over having to apply online. Newville’s response was that he didn’t have a say about how the federal dollars were spent, but if they are going to be available, producers might as well apply and get some money back into farming. He added that SWCD staff are available to help walk producers through the process and answer questions all along the way either over the phone or in person.

“So we’re really encouraging people to contact our offices and let us help them through that process,” Newville said.

While this is just a pilot program and rewards enrollees for one year of implementing the practice, Newville said long term he hopes that the conservation practices stick.

“So hopefully that’s what happens with this is — they try it, they see the benefit of it and they continue to do that in their operation moving forward,” Newville said.

Are you eligible

Other participating Minnesota counties eligible to apply until August 16 include Fillmore, Houston, Kandiyohi, Redwood, Renville and Stevens.

The minimum to enroll is 3 acres or 10 animal units within one of the approved districts.

Enrollees must have a verified Farm Service Agency (FSA) number and:

Confirm that the land enrolled and the practice(s) requested will not also be enrolled in a USDA conservation program or other program associated with the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities sponsored grant program. Confirm that the land enrolled and the practice(s) requested will not be dually enrolled in a cost-share program. Confirm that the producer will have control of the land for the term of the producer agreement. The producer must consent to report total greenhouse gas benefits using COMET, Fieldprint and/or RUSLE2.

Applications will be at www.allianceforcsa.org during the open enrollment period. Hard copies will be available at district offices.

Statewide, producers can contact David Weirens at BWSR at either david.weirens@state.mn.us or at 763-229-4308.

Funding

Funding for the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture comes from $3.1 billion that the USDA committed through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. This is one of 141 programs being funded through this funding source. About $12 million is available to producers in Minnesota through the new program. That’s out of $80 million total that’s part of the three–year pilot program available to producers in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Virginia.

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Cloverleaf Grass Farm offers homegrown grass-fed products directly to consumers

Emily Beal — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 13:00:00 GMT

WADENA, Minn. — More and more Americans are looking to combat health problems by altering what they put on their plate and Dayle Reinke is no different. After having thyroid issues, Dayle Reinke decided to to change what she was putting on her family’s dinner table.

After trying it out for themselves, the Reinkes began raising and selling their own grass-fed meat and never looked back.

Gearing up for grass fed

Though Dayle Reinke was keen on the idea to sell grass fed products directly to consumers, her husband, Ivan, still needed some convincing.

“Dayle came to me with this idea that we should start raising grass fed beef, because at the time, we had just raised our calves and then sold them off the farm to people,” Ivan Reinke said. “She convinced me that we should do that route. And I said, ‘Well, where's the market for this?’ And she said, ‘Well, it's here.’ But, she had to show it to me.”

The couple did some experimenting and tried side-by-side comparisons of some conventional beef and some grass-fed beef. They wanted to make sure their product did not lose any of its quality and still taste like beef.

“We did not want our beef to taste like venison, you know, we didn't want some super lean junk,” Dayle Reinke said. “We actually preferred the grass-fed over the corn-fed beef that we tried. So it was a fun experiment. We haven't looked back. There's been a huge demand for it.”

The potential health benefits of grass-fed beef were the original reasons for the Reinkes' experiments. Grass-fed beef has a reputation as being leaner and healthier than meat from cattle raised on conventional diets that involve finishing with grains.

“My sister in law was having some other issues too,” Reinke said. “She and I were talking…and just with the health stuff that we were learning, we learned that grass fed and finished beef was a little bit better.”

As with any single component of nutrition, solid research is scarce on the health impacts of switching from conventional beef to grass-fed beef. Texas A&M, which has done several studies on the differences between conventional and grass-fed ground beef, found a give-and-take between the beef varieties. For instance, ground beef from grass-fed cattle grazing on native Texas pasture was slightly higher in Omega-3 fatty acids but slightly lower in oleic acid as well as higher in total saturated fat and trans-fat than ground beef from conventionally fed cattle. Other studies have shown fat content as more important to things like cholesterol than the diets of the cattle.

The Reinkes raise cattle, hogs and sheep on their grass pastures. They say the hogs have especially better flavor when they are able to dig and eat what they find in nature. It has also made their hogs healthier.

As for cattle, their herd mainly consists of Black Angus. When they made the switch over to grass-fed beef, the Reinkes went searching for a forage developed bull to bring into their herd. According to Ivan Reinke, they wanted an animal that would be fat from eating grass, which is a lower quality forage than the high starch forages that the bull would be getting if they were in a feedlot.

Environmental factors

Besides working on Cloverleaf Grass Farm, Ivan Reinke also works for the Minnesota office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. With the implementation of grass-fed animals on their farm, the Reinkes were also able to use Ivan’s knowledge about conservation and apply it to their operation.

The couple fenced their property and built a rotational grazing system. With their rotational grazing system, their grass has a chance to grow after the cattle have grazed it. They have also added diversity into their pastures, such as legumes, and are planning to add pollinators in as well.

“I have a passion for the land with water quality, wildlife habitat, growing grass, and forages. So matching that with rotational grazing was really what we wanted to do,” Ivan Reinke said. “By rotating them like that and producing forage with deep roots, we're creating better water quality, soil health, but stronger forage so that we won't have to tear it up and replant that.”

Dayle Reinke has a degree in animal science. Her and Ivan’s collegiate degrees have allowed them to excel in their grass-fed enterprise.

“Our education really marries well with what we're doing. And that was just a passion that we wanted to raise livestock and do rotational grazing on grass,” she said.

Cloverleaf Grass Farm’s soil is very sandy and was not very productive originally. Through their management practices, they have been able to turn their soil's health and productivity around.

“We raise grass, and the cattle are kind of a byproduct of the grass that we raise. And so it's been just neat,” Dayle Reinke said.

Knowing your farmer

Both Dayle and Ivan have been blown away with the demand their products have been met with. Dayle Reinke says the pandemic seeded a deep-rooted fear in many consumers. During this time of uncertainty in 2020, their inboxes were flooded with requests for their homegrown, grass-fed meat.

“Knowing their farmer is one of the biggest things our customers are passionate about,” she said.

Cloverleaf Grass Farm sells their products locally, but the meat can be delivered throughout the whole state of Minnesota. They even make trips down to the Twin Cities, where there is quite a demand for their products.

The Reinkes use three different processors for their products. Their pork processor uses organic spices and seasonings, and no nitrites. This has been a huge hit with their customers and something they are looking for.

“The demand and the relationships that we've been building have been really, really great. That we can help people and provide good food, healthy food for their families, something they know that they trust. That's been super,” Ivan Reinke said.

But, the relationships have not been one-sided.

“It's been a real pleasure getting to know our customers. We've developed some amazing friendships,” Dayle Reinke said.

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AgSpire’s SustainAg Network connects ag producers with resources to become more sustainable

Kennedy Tesch — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 12:00:00 GMT

HENDRICKS, Minn. — Mitch Pederson grew up near Hendricks, Minnesota, and first started his farming venture by purchasing 80 acres of land from his great uncle and moving his family of five onto the farm.

Getting a start in farming can be tough, so Pederson decided to try and implement some alternative strategies to make the transition a bit easier.

“It's really hard for a young producer to get started on just corn and soybeans, so I was looking at a lot of conservation programs for the soils that I have here. The ground, the way it is, I needed some alternative options on some of my acres,” Pederson said.

While researching ways to get his operation off the ground, Pederson came across AgSpire’s SustainAg Network which offered him the resources and solutions he was looking for.

“They had a platform for me to kind of see what I was maybe interested in or what would fit my operation,” he said. “I was able to choose different conservation programs and not be tied in long-term or have so much red tape, so it really gave me the flexibility to try some things short-term. Now some of them are going to be, hopefully, a continuous part of my operation.”

Pederson is currently utilizing the Grass is Greener program to fund the transition of about 100 row crop acres on his farm to forage for his cow/calf herd. Starting the transition by seeding a forage cover crop mix to graze this fall, Pederson plans to follow the cover crops with a perennial forage seed mix.

Because his farm is located in the Prairie Pothole region, Pederson’s ultimate goal is to transition all of his row crop acres to perennial grasses and use his cattle to harvest them. He is using the Grass is Greener and other SustainAg Network programs to help cover the costs.

AgSpire offers short-term contracts — one to five years, depending on the practice — so that producers like Pederson can make management decisions based on how the program outcomes align with their overall goals.

In addition to helping cover the costs associated with establishing the perennial forages, AgSpire connected him with one of their technical advisors to maximize success. And because Pederson is enrolled in the Grass is Greener program, he will also receive a per-head premium for cattle that graze on the pastures where he implemented the practice.

“It just gives you that boost of confidence having one of those guys work with you and look at your operation and they kind of have an outside opinion or idea and you can take it or leave it,” Pederson said. “The other good thing is, they have some program incentives for you to try cover crops if you want to try them and then if it isn't for you or didn't work on that farm, or something changed, you're not tied into it long term. It's really flexible to work with, so in the farming world, it's hard to not take a chance on a program like what they have.”

Grass is Greener is just one of six programs offered by AgSpire through the SustainAg Network. According to the recently released SustainAg Insights quarterly report, there are around 278 producers from across the United States who make up AgSpire’s newly formed SustainAg Network of farmers and ranchers interested in adopting sustainable land and livestock management practices.

Once a producer selects and enrolls in a program, they connect with an advisor who helps them figure out the details and best practices for success in their growing conditions. Advisors also verify the practice and streamline incentive or premium payments.

Kristina Porter is one of the technical advisors at AgSpire who supports producers by understanding the operations’ existing management practices and overall herd health to determine if there are any operational efficiencies that could be gained through enhanced genetics or implementation of other customized management practices, like interseeding rangeland or pastures with native or non-native perennial grasses.

Porter grew up near Huron, South Dakota, and after earning her doctorate of veterinary medicine from Kansas State University moved back to her home state with her husband where they have been practicing veterinary medicine for the last 15 years.

After originally joining as a producer when the SustainAg Network launched in January 2024, Porter was excited about the work AgSpire was doing and realized she wanted to join in on helping producers make a plan and utilize their resources wisely. Currently, Porter is working specifically with the Ranching for the Future program.

“My work as a technical service advisor is very small, just with a cow/calf role,” she said. “But, when you combine that with a grazing specialist and agronomist, it's really amazing what we can come up with as we all sit around the table and the ideas and innovative practices that we can offer to the producers have been really exciting.”

Ryan Eichler, AgSpire’s director of producer programs and a Lake Preston, South Dakota, cattle producer, said the SustainAg Network’s mission is to be a trusted source for producers across the country to help them navigate the emerging sustainability space in agriculture.

“It's really our intention to be the most producer focused, really, of any group that is in this space,” Eichler said. “We developed this SustainAg Network with the intent of educating producers about opportunities that exist both with public and private finance programs and our goal is to match them with the programs that make the most sense for their operations.”

Producers can visit the SustainAg Network website to view all program offerings and learn more.

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The media driving a regenerative poultry system

Noah Fish — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 13:00:00 GMT

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Wil Crombie, co-founder of Tree-Range farms, was a filmmaker before he was a farmer. Now that he's both, he feels like he's in the right position to help take the brand to the next level.

Crombie, also the owner of Man Alone Media, is a farmer at the first commercial-scale site for the Tree Range company, and documentarian for both the brand and nonprofit organization, Regenerative Ag Alliance.

At the third annual Regenerative Poultry Convergence in Northfield on March 21-22, Crombie conducted interviews with several of the attendees. It's something he's done at each of the convergences held by the organization.

The Tree-Range Farms label is now on chicken sold mostly in Minnesota, but Crombie said the goal is to expand in the Midwest and beyond.

"As we build that stronger brand with Tree-Range Farms, definitely comes the need for more media production," he said. "We need storytellers. We need farmers, and we need leaders in this community to help guide, focus this work that we're doing."

Last year at the convergence, Crombie interiewed some of the "key players" in the ecosystem and put together a film shown at this year's event.

"I think it was a really unique opportunity to start this year's convergence with last year's thoughts, to kind of ground the attendees here on where we were at a year ago, and where we're going in the future, and setting the intentions for this year," Crombie said. "For some people who attended this year's convergence, this is their first time they've ever been here, so they get to see the momentum."

Organic Compound

Crombie met Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, CEO of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, around 2015. When Haslett-Marroquin told Crombie he wanted to start a food business, Crombie offered up his family's farm in Northfield, which operated as a dairy for many years. He said despite coming from a line of farmers, he wasn't always interested in the line of work.

"When I started to gain an interest in agriculture, and local food and farming, I started looking for different elders and mentors in the area, and started learning about tree crops and learning about different production systems," Crombie said. "My neighbor introduced me to the work that Regi was doing, and so I said 'oh, this is great, that makes sense to me — how do I get a hold of this guy so that we can do this on my family's land?'"

Crombie's farm — Organic Compound — grew from being a communal garden to in 2016, becoming the first commercial-scale site for the Tree-Range brand. Over 20,000 trees and shrubs were planted on 40 acres along with perennial and annual alley crops.

"This is what gave me confidence to take over 40 acres of land, and to work with a team to build thousands of tree crops that we have now, and the thousands of chickens that we're raising every year on our farm," he said. "I always had a passion for soil and growing things, but now I get to call myself a farmer."

The path that he took is one he hopes to inspire in future farmers.

"The hardest part was building that confidence to be like 'yeah, I can do that,' but we can do that with our lives — we can be farmers," Crombie said. "I just want to be able to tell that story."

He said that story is possible for beginning farmers in the system that they've created.

"When you have this community of people holding your hand and guiding you into a system of farming, it's really helpful," he said.

Outside media

The Northfield-based regenerative poultry system has garnered attention from media projects including Common Ground — a documentary film on the regenerative farming movement. Crombie said their footage didn't make the final cut of that film, but they welcome all outside media coverage.

"We need a diversity of voices. We need a diversity of perspectives, and when other people come in with their tools for telling stories, it can only amplify the work that we're doing," Crombie said.

One of those voices will be Matt Wechsler, a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker and founder of Hourglass Films, who was shooting video at the convergence in Northfield. His last three films addressed the conventional food and farming systems, and he said he's spent the last decade diving into the food system and making films about it.

"This is an example of an alternative food system that works within ecosystems, that works within the environment, as opposed to working against it," Wechsler said of the regenerative poultry system. "The majority of agriculture that is taking place across the United States just works against the environment."

His film "Sustainable" was about the dichotomy between small-scale farming and industrial operations. "Right to Harm" was a film on environmental injustice, he said, for rural residents living in communities near factory farms.

"We did close to 200 screenings, and we did a number of screenings right along the border Mississippi between here in Wisconsin, and there was a lot of interest in that film," he said of "Right to Harm," which focused on areas in southeast Minnesota.

Wechsler said he's trying to create "lasting change" through his films.

"I'm trying to use film as the art medium for showing what's going on," he said. "Creating ways to be empathetic with those who are victims of the commodity aspect of agriculture."

The conventional and industrial farming industry would classify Wechsler's films as being anti-agriculture.

"100%, that's what the industry thinks of my films," he said. "I've never been sued, thankfully, but I've received death threats and letters, and when I was on social media I received a lot of not nice messages."

His next film will feature the regenerative poultry ecosystem that began Northfield, and examine the parallel between the current U.S. meat industry and the one in early 1900s, when five meat companies referred to as the “Meat Trust” dominated the market.

"This film has taken almost four years to make, and it involves a lot of passion and sweat equity," said Wechsler, operating as a one-man crew at the convergence. "That's kind of the role of the independent filmmaker, and what has to happen, but thankfully I've known a lot of the people in this room for a number of years, to know that they support me and I support them in what we're doing."

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