Mark Enninga, area young farmer, recently achieved the Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification (MAWQCP). Mark joins over 877 Minnesota farming operations that are now Water Quality Certified in this 6-year old voluntary program, which includes small farms as well as large farming operations and represents Minnesota’s diversity of crop and livestock production across the state.
Mark and his wife Elizabeth raise corn, soybeans, and cover crops on their farm in Nobles County. In the last 3 years, they have implemented several changes to their operation with an eye towards improving soil and water quality. Mark stated that they started this journey with strip till, a process that involves tilling a small strip of soil where the subsequent crop will be planted and placing variable rate fertilizer in the same spot so it is readily available for the plant. They followed up their strip till test by interseeding cover crops into both corn and soybeans late in summer and planting soybeans into a living green cover crop without tillage.
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