This document summarizes activities of the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District. It discusses prioritizing feedlot runoff, education efforts around nutrient management, and financial programs to support improvements. Key partnerships with state and federal agencies are also highlighted. The district uses modeling and field investigations to target feedlots for upgrades. Projects have reduced phosphorus runoff, and outreach includes workshops and demonstration farms.

1. Stearns County
Soil and Water
Conservation District
Dennis Fuchs, Administrator

2. Agenda
 Background
 Prioritizing and targeting resource concerns
 Feedlots and nutrient management
 Education and outreach
 Water quality
 Partners

4. Stearns County
 Population of 150,642 people
 33 cities, 34 townships
 Ranked number one in Minnesota for:
Farm receipts
Milk cows
Cattle and calves
 860,493 total ac
 3368 farms
 708,284 ac farm land
 527 lakes and wetlands
 668 miles of rivers and streams

5. Targeting
 Stearns County livestock feedlots

8. Problem Feedlot Targeting
 Minnesota Feedlot Annualized Runoff Model (MinnFARM)
 An Evaluation System to Estimate Annual Pollutant Loading and
Prioritize Feedlot Pollution Potential
 Developed by USDA-ARS refined by UM
 Proximity to surface waters
 Coarse textured soils
 Impaired waters
 Source Water/Wellhead Protection Area
 USDA-SWCD Local Work Group/SWCD Board/Water Mgmt
Plan/CFO/Producer motivation further refines priorities

11. Positive Impacts
Ken Konz
Vegetated Treatment Area
32 lbs/year of phosphorus reduced

12. Positive Impacts
Triple S Farms
Vegetated Treatment Area
47 lbs/year phosphorus reduced

13. Positive Impacts
Peter Walz
Vegetated Treatment Area
65 lbs/year phosphorus reduced

14. Positive Impacts
Richard Buermann
Animal Waste Storage Facility
62 lbs/year phosphorus reduced

15. Positive Impacts
Klehr Family Farm
Vegetated Treatment Area
56 lbs/year phosphorus reduced

16. Financial Programs
 USDA-NRCS
 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
 Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI)
 Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR)
 State Cost Share
 Feedlot Water Quality
 Clean Water Fund
 EPA/MPCA 319

17. Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP)
$3,000,000
$2,500,000
$2,000,000
$1,500,000
$1,000,000
$500,000
$0

18. EQIP (cont)
 584 contracts
 $15,311,155 (1999-2011)

19. Nutrient Management
 Comprehensive Nutrient
Management Plan (CNMP)
 EQIP provides financial
incentive
 SWCD/NRCS and Certified
Crop Advisors provide
technical assistance

21. Feedlots: Time and Money
 Staff time
 240 hours/animal waste management system
 40 hours/CNMP
 Cost
 Site dependent
 Easy fixes are done
 $50,000-$250,000+
 Feedlots/CNMPs: 15-20 /yr

22. Unpermitted Manure Storage
Basin Investigations
 319 grant pays for basin
investigation
 Liner integrity
 Water table
 Targeted coarse textured
soil and lakeshed areas
 226 investigations
completed/nearing
completion
 Failed basins (>50%)
targeted for repair or
closure (NRCS)

23. Education
 One-on-one
 Field days
 Value of Manure workshops (UM)
 CCA updates
 Discovery Farm
 On Farm Network

24. Manure Management & Equipment Field Day

25. Value of Manure Workshop

26. Certified Crop Advisor/Ag Professional Training

27. Discovery Farm Program
• Nick & Tara Meyer dairy farm
• Includes an edge-of-field
monitoring of surface runoff and
tile drainage water
• Objective: gather water quality
information under real-world
conditions, providing
practical, credible, site-specific
information to allow for better
farm management Mark Lefebvre and Grant Pearson,
decisions, supported by a better Stearns County SWCD, install the wing-
understanding of the relationships wall for the flume which will be used to
between land management and sample surface water runoff
water quality

28. On-Farm Network® Guided Corn Stalk Nitrate Test
 Identify management
activities that will result in
improved nitrogen use
efficiency in corn
production, thereby
reducing the potential for
nitrate loss to groundwater
and surface water.
 In 2010, 16 producers
implemented this practice
on 52 fields in Stearns
County.
 In 2011 over 80 fields
Grant Pearson and Mark Lefebvre, Stearns County
SWCD, take guided corn stalk samples after maturity for an
MRBI participant to determine whether sufficient nitrogen
was available to the crop.

30. Agricultural Environmental Quality Assurance
 A voluntary program for
producers to assist
producers in the
assessment of their
management practices
for water, soil, odor &
air, habitat and
community image
concerns
 Provide assurance to
governmental
entities/public that farms
are managed to protect
the environment.

31. Anaerobic Digester
 Pilot research demonstration
on averaged sized dairy (50 to
300 cows)
 Reduce environmental
concerns and provide
economic benefits to farmers
and rural communities.
 Funding by
 (LCCMR)
 NRCS Environmental Quality Linda & Jerry Jennissen
Incentives Program Jer-Lindy Farms
 North Fork Crow River
Watershed District
 Stearns County SWCD.
 Field Day was held for
participants with over 325
people are estimated to have
attended.

32. Discovery Farm Field Day
July, 2011

33. Media, Environmental Stressors
and Water Quality Trends

34. What are the headlines saying today?

35. Population
160,000 150,642
140,000
120,000
100,000 95,400
1970
80,000
2010
60,000
40,000
20,000
0

36. Crop Production (bu)
Corn (Grain)
25
Millions (bu)
20
15
10
5
0
1950's 2000's

37. Crop Production (ac)
Corn (Grain)
180
Thousands (ac)
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1950's 2000's

38. Milk Production
Milk
1400
Thousands (lbs)
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1950's 2000's

39. Number of Cows
70
Thousands (no.)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1950's 2000's

40. Water Quality Trends
 The 2010 MPCA’s Citizen Lake Monitoring Program
 4 lakes show water quality declining
 22 show no water quality trends
 20 show water quality improvement
(In 2003, only 5 lakes showed water quality trend
improvement)

41. The historical annual TP load from the Melrose Sewage
Treatment Plant (STP) discharge was estimated at 75
mt/yr (MPCA, 1985). If it were evenly distributed across
months, the May-September STP load would have been
31 mt, as compared with the apparent 46 ± 10 mt
reduction in the SRCL inflow load. While the difference
may not be significant in the context of uncertainties in the
flow and load data, it is possible that the additional load
reduction reflected implementation of nonpoint source
controls in the watershed over this same period. The
divergence of the load vs. flow regressions at high
flows shown in Figure 9 supports that hypothesis
because nonpoint sources would be expected to
dominate under those conditions.
- Walker, William. Development of Phosphorus TMDL for The Sauk River
Chain of Lakes, Minnesota, 2009

43. Water Quality Trends – P
(Sauk River Chain of Lakes)
500
440
400
Phosphorus (ppb)
300
200 177
121
100
0
1983 1995 2005
Goal 60 ppb?

44. Hoboken Creek Watershed
Stearns County SWCD received a grant
in 2010 to identify which Best
Management Practices would
adequately improve the quality of
runoff from agriculture watersheds
with impaired waters. The Hoboken
study concluded that achieving the 65
percent phosphorus reduction goal for
the Sauk Lake TMDL may be
unattainable, even if the entire
watershed were to be planted to
native grasses.

45. Partners
USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) Staff

46. Partners: State Agencies
 Board of Water and Soil Resources
 Minnesota Department of Agriculture
 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
 Minnesota Department of Health

47. Partners
Pheasants Forever (PF)
Farm Bill Biologist

48. West Central Technical Service
Area Staff

51. Partners NGOs
 Environmental Initiative
 Minnesota Waters
 The Nature Conservancy
 Ducks Unlimited
 Great River Greening
 Resource Conservation and Development Councils
 Engineering firms
 And many others!

52. Stearns County Commissioners

53. Stearns County SWCD
2011 Budget
Total = $1,297,260
$50,000 $187,260
County
State
$160,000
Fed
$950,000 Other

54. Stearns County SWCD Board
1 2
3
4 5

55. Stearns SWCD Staff

56. Stearns County SWCD
110 2nd St. S., Suite 128,
Waite Park, MN 56387
320-251-7800 #3
www.StearnsCountySWCD.net