The Future of Farming in Becker County - Phase II

This application expands on the competitive "Future of Farming" CWF Grant that Becker SWCD received in 2022. The project builds resilient agricultural systems and achieves non-point source pollution reductions identified by local and regional water quality monitoring and models. This application will focus on the public water system of the Otter Tail River where the City of Fergus Falls draws their drinking water downstream of Becker County. It will also focus on the groundwater vulnerability of the Straight River located in the Crow Wing River Watershed and the Redeye River Watershed. Operators will have the opportunity to shift towards sustainable practices that reduce overall inputs in their ag production operation. This is accomplished by receiving incentive payments to foster soil fertility, reduce sediment loading to impaired waters, increase water holding capacity of the soil, decrease economic and environmental flood damages, and sequester valuable nutrients and carbon. Participants will: A) Eliminate fall tillage and minimize soil disturbance; B) Increase cover and residue to armor soil; C) Establish living roots through 90% of growing season; D) Add crop diversity, and E) Incorporate livestock where feasible. With a three year commitment, producers can select from tiered incentives to incorporate: Residue and Tillage management, Reduced Till (345), Residue and Tillage Management, No Till (329), Cover Crop implementation (340), Conservation Crop Rotations (328), and Prescribed Grazing (528). Producers must meet the lower level of practices in order to move to the next tier. For example, if someone is already practicing no-till with a 2 crop rotation, they would be eligible for the crop rotation practice. Applicants can enroll up to 160 acres, with priority given to critical areas identified through the PTMApp and local knowledge. Our goal is to implement 4,000 acres (25 producers) through these cost effective conservation practices.