Dave Legvold, a Northfield-area farmer, measures his corn crop’s success in dollars, not bushels. And that often means limiting nitrogen fertilizer use in ways that save him money while also reducing pollution in the streams and lakes downstream from his fields. View a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency video in which Legvold talks about using an Iowa State University tool to calculate optimal fertilizer application rates.
In late June, the MPCA issued a major report on nitrogen pollution of rivers and streams that said more than 70 percent of the pollution comes from farms. Check out that report and download it or a shorter executive summary, or view video of a news conference announcing the report.
Legvold, a strong supporter of conservation practices that protect water quality, is a member of an advisory committee for Minnesota FarmWise. The program, a partnership between the Freshwater Society, the National Park Service and the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, is working to encourage conservation on farms in the Rice Creek sub-watershed of the Cannon River near Northfield.
Learn more about FarmWise. Read a 2011 Freshwater newsletter article about Legvold and the program.