Nitrogen is a valuable crop input for southeast Minnesota farmers. At the same time, excess applied nitrogen can enter both surface and groundwater, threatening human health and the environment.
WHAT ARE WE LEARNING IN 2019?
This series of articles showcases farmers and agronomists who are working with neighbors, suppliers, and third party, private and public researchers to define optimum rates and ways to manage and apply nitrogen. Collaborations and findings are different in every place, but the mission is the same: to support growers in making decisions for their families, farm businesses, land, water, and communities.
LOCATIONS
People featured in these stories are working across a diverse southeast Minnesota landscape, on broad upland fields and rolling bluffland slopes. The location of each collaboration is shown on the map below.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This series of articles began in conversations with retail crop advisors who were looking for ways to support customers, increase nutrient efficiency, and address water quality concerns.
This project is collaborative southeast Minnesota work funded by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Minnesota's Clean Water Land and Legacy Fund, administered by Winona County and led by NewGround, an independent strategic communications group focused on community and watershed health.
Series author JIm Ruen is an agricultural journalist who lives and works on a small farm outside La Crescent, Minnesota. “I have had the good fortune to spend the bulk of my career sharing the work of exceptional farmers and their agronomists, as well as public and private researchers, working in agriculture and related fields throughout the U.S. and Canada. The farmers and agronomists in these stories, as well as the researchers working with them, are committed to making a difference on their farms and in their communities and sharing what they learn with other farmers and the public at large.”
