Smarter Together

When Kevin Kuehner with the MDA knocked on his door, DeWall agreed to take part in the project that included a runoff monitoring station. "We had a perfect location for it, and we also had a drain tile nearby," says DeWall. "The drain tile emptied into a ditch where they could monitor subsurface nitrogen loss, as well as how often and when the tile line ran. Kuehner explained that anytime the water was flowing, we could be losing nitrogen, even in the winter."

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DeWall also began working with Kuehner, the University of Minnesota and CHS on in-field plots looking at various nitrogen rates and timing practices. Plots looked at seven preplant rates and three timing treatments. Applications ranged from 0 to 180 pounds of nitrogen (N) per acre applied in 30 lb N/ac increments and each are replicated four times.

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"Kevin lays out the plots each year, and we work with them," says Drinkall. "He gives me the locations, and when we do our applications, I ensure rates correspond in the plots."

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Drinkall notes that like DeWall, most of the CHS patrons she works with utilize grid sampling and variable rate applications of P & K. Many also use nitrogen stabilizers on their urea, UAN and anhydrous to reduce leaching and volatilization, keeping it in the soil for the crop to use.

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"They realize that with our wet springs and heavy rains, applied nitrogen is at risk," says Drinkall. "Every acre needs to be treated individually, but we try to encourage split N application where possible. We find that combined with variable rate phosphorus, lime and potassium application, it provides the most agronomic benefit."

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Drinkall emphasizes the need for as much information as possible, thus the grid sampling. DeWall's involvement in the Root River Field to Stream Partnership is giving him even more data and is impacting how he farms.

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"We are able to see how much sediment and nitrogen we are losing and when it occurs. The monitoring shows our biggest runoff happens when the ground is still frozen," says DeWall. However, this is not when we see the most amount of sediment and nutrient loss. About 60% of the sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen loss measured occurred in May and June."

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Baseline monitoring was conducted on DeWall's’s field from 2011-2016. Starting in 2017 DeWall began to make changes accordingly. He reduced fall tillage to the use of a ripper, eliminated fall nitrogen applications and put in targeted pollinator habitat/filter strips alongside his private drainage ditch side inlets and the fence line where the monitoring station is installed.

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"We had a good catch last year with the pollinator habitat/filter strip," says DeWall. "It's about 60 feet wide and not quite half a mile long. We expect it to be fully established in about three years."