Farming for Soil Health and Water Quality Resources

Concern for ecosystems, soil health and water quality aren’t new concepts but rather traditions and values of many ancient and modern indigenous people from across the globe. The foundational practices and principles of organic, sustainable and regenerative farming are rooted in indigenous worldviews and lifestyles. The resources below outline the studied benefits, drawbacks and nuances of many of these practices in a Euro-centric academic and agricultural environment in the Upper Midwest. 

Soil Health Information:

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• The Role of Healthy Soil: Soil Health | NRCS Soils. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/health/

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• Managing Soil Health: Soil Health Management | NRCS Soils. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/health/mgnt/

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• ​Examining Soil Health Perceptions. Soil Health Nexus. https://soilhealthnexus.org/files/2019/06/soilhealthnexus-Examining-Soil-Health-Perceptions_FINAL.pdf

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• Soil Health Case Studies. RSDP (2018, 2020) https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/201784 https://www.sfa-mn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020-Case-Studies-Draft-FINAL.pdf 

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Water Quality Information:

• The Agricultural BMPs Handbook for Minnesota. MN Department of Agriculture, Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment.

  • 2012, First Edition: Miller, T. P. , J. R. Peterson, C. F. Lenhart, and Y. Nomura. 2012. The Agricultural BMP Handbook for Minnesota. Minnesota Department of Agriculture. https://www.leg.mn.gov/docs/2013/other/130089.pdf

  • 2017, Second Edition: Lenhart, C., Gordon, B., Peterson, J., Eshenaur, W., Gifford, L., Wilson, B., Stamper, J., Krider, L,. and Utt, N. 2017. Agricultural BMP Handbook for Minnesota, 2nd Edition. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Agriculture.https://bbe.umn.edu/sites/bbe.umn.edu/files/agricultural-best-management-practices-handbook-for-minnesota-second-edition.pdf​

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• Minnesota Digital Water Research Library https://wrl.mnpals.net

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• Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center & Webinars. Available on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MinnesotaAgriculturalWaterResourceCenter or their website https://mawrc.org/events/

Minnesota Best Management Practices: 

• MN BMPs for nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, turfgrass, potatoes, pollinator habitat and pest control without pesticides are available here: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/pesticide-fertilizer/best-management-practices-bmps. 

  • ​These BMPs take into account economic viability as well as environmental protection, seeking to maximize yield while minimizing environmental consequences. For fertilizer BMPs this includes price/value ratios and previous crop information.These are formally designated state-wide and regional management practices based on research and are updated regularly. Specifics to many more nuanced conditions are available too.

• Crop-specific fertilizer recommendations can be found here: https://extension.umn.edu/nutrient-management/nitrogen 

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Top Three Management Practices:

Cover Crops:

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• SARE Cover Crop Articles (nuances - with organic, with no till, with both, for pest management, etc. ) https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Topic-Rooms/Cover-Crops 

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• Minnesota Cover Crop Research. University of Minnesota Office of Soil Health. https://mosh.umn.edu/management/minnesota-cover-crop-research

Conservation Tillage:

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• On-farm Comparison: Conservation Tillage Systems. UMN Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/soil-management-and-health/farm-comparison-conservation-tillage-systems. 

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• Reduce Wind Erosion for Long Term Profitability. UMN Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/soil-management-and-health/reduce-wind-erosion-long-term-profitability

Grazing:

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• “Farming with Well-Managed Grazing & Continuous Living Cover Enhances Soil Health & Addresses Climate Change,” Land Stewardship Project. https://landstewardshipproject.org/repository/1/3241/clc_mrg_climate_change_lsp_bd_6_11_20.pdf 

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• Integrating Livestock and Crops: Improving Soil, Solving Problems, Increasing Income. ATTRA. https://attra.ncat.org/viewhtml/?id=481#1

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Top Three Conservation Practices Overview:

This section in progress, please check back later!

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Cover Crops:

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Conservation Tillage: 

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Integrating Livestock:

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Buffers:

Minnesota’s Buffer Law: “Minnesota's Buffer Law requires perennial vegetative buffers of up to 50 feet along lakes, rivers, and streams and buffers of 16.5 feet along ditches. These buffers help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment.” - Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR)

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Minnesota’s Buffer Law: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/103F.48

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Comprehensive literature review by BWSR

Research on the benefits: ​

• Buffers reduce movement of applied nitrates from tile drainage

  • Jaynes, D. B., & Isenhart, T. M. (2014). Reconnecting Tile Drainage to Riparian Buffer Hydrology for Enhanced Nitrate Removal. Journal of Environmental Quality, 43, 631–638.

• Water quality, hydrologic function biodiversity of wetlands (MNDoT)

• Buffers trap sediment and phosphorus 

  • Hoffmann, C. C., Kjaergaard, C., Uusi-Kämppä, J., Hansen, H. C. B., & Kronvang, B. (2009). Phosphorus retention in riparian buffers: review of their efficiency. Journal of Environmental Quality, 38(5), 1942–1955.

• Using lime or iron to reduce phosphorus release

  • Kirkkala, T., Ventelä, A.-M., & Tarvainen, M. (2012). Long-Term Field-Scale Experiment on Using Lime Filters in an Agricultural Catchment. Journal of Environment Quality, 41(2), 410.

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While a bit dated, we highly recommend checking out this chart from the 2012 edition of the Agricultural BMP Handbook as an overview of the status of conservation practice research as of 2012.