Conservation and agriculture are not opposing forces but can in fact work hand in hand to improve the land. The Upper Big Blue NRD has many programs available to help you manage soil and water resources effectively to increase productivity and sustainability on your acres.

Private dams—Imagine a multipurpose pond on your property. In addition to providing storm water storage, flood mitigation, and groundwater recharge, a dam with a conservation pool could be a gathering place for wildlife… and a great place to cast a line. The NRD’s Private Dams Program provides planning, design and financial assistance for the construction or reconstruction of dams located on private property. These dams generally have a cost exceeding $15,000 and have a drainage area of approximately 80 to 640 acres. The NRD has recently increased the amount available to landowners through this program, to 75 percent of the project, up to $75,000.

Cover Crops, grassed waterways, and buffer strips—Your land isn’t worth as much if the soil is blowing or washing away. Since the topsoil layer is essential for maintaining fertility, keep your soil in place with erosion prevention measures such as cover crops. Keeping a growing root in the ground year-round adds carbon to your soil and holds the soil in place. The Upper Big Blue NRD has several programs available to offset the cost of cover crops. Similarly, grassed water ways and buffer strips are an easy way to keep soil and agrochemicals from entering streams and rivers. This is important for water quality, as well as erosion prevention. The NRD also has funding available for these practices.

Chemigation—Chemigation, sometimes called fertigation, uses a center pivot or subsurface drip irrigation system to apply fertilizer and/or pesticides to growing crops.

Chemigation is an environmentally friendly method to apply fertilizer and pesticide to growing crops by spoon-feeding the plant’s nutrient needs based on the yield goal and growth stage of the crop.  It also saves time and labor by not having to go over a field multiple times for equipment applications. When fertilizer is applied before plants are growing as often happens, there is a risk that the fertilizer will leach below the plants’ rootzone if there is a lot of rain prior to the growth period.  Chemigation also mitigates the risk associated with natural disasters, such as a hail event, that could destroy the crop and leave the applied nitrogen left in the soil unused, where it will eventually leach into the aquifer.

Many growers that use chemigation in their operations report that they have noticed an increase in crop yields. A lot of growers especially like having another tool in their toolbox in case mid-season tissue samples show that they are lacking a certain nutrient, or they develop a pest problem.

Ready to try it on your pivots? The NRD’s Chemigation Equipment Cost-Share Incentive Program provides a cost-share rate of 50 percent of the actual cost, up to $1,000 per site, for the purchase of new chemigation equipment and a chemigation permit. Learn more.