The Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Center is looking for more farmers to participate in its Discovery Farms Minnesota program.

The application period is open until Friday, June 3.

Discovery Farms Minnesota is a farmer-led effort to gather field-scale information on water quality under real-world conditions. By providing practical credible site-specific information, better natural resource management decisions can be made, say DFM leaders.

Gorans Brothers Farms, Kandiyohi County, is involved in a special project with Discovery Farms Minnesota to assess nutrient and sediment loss from a corn-corn-soybean rotation where nitrogen and phosphorus are supplied from either turkey manure or commercial fertilizer.

There are 10 Discovery Farms currently located across the state. They are in Blue Earth, Chisago, Dodge, Goodhue, Norman, Rock, Renville, Stearns, Wilkin and Wright counties. They represent a mix of crop and livestock businesses and offer opportunity to learn from a variety of diverse landscapes across Minnesota.

On each Discovery Farm, environmental and farm management data are collected. Water samples are automatically gathered at monitoring stations whenever water flows from the field through either surface runoff or drain tile flow. Samples are tested for sediment, nutrients, and other parameters, depending on conditions specific to the farm system.

To participate as a Discovery Farm, requirements include:

- Participation for five to seven years. Baseline data is collected in the first year or two. Best management practices will be identified based on baseline monitoring results. BMP implementation will be monitored for the remainder of the program.

- Farmers must be willing to keep and share farm management records.

- Farmers must be willing to adopt changes in farming practices, if needed, determined by the baseline monitoring.

- Farmers must be willing to participate in field days or meetings to discuss their experiences with other farmers.

In return, participants will receive:

- An annual stipend for time and assistance.

- Installation of monitoring equipment to determine the level of nutrient and sediment loss.

- Annual review and analysis of data collected at the monitoring site.

Interested in applying? Download the application at http://agwaterexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016-Application-for-the-Discovery-Farm-Minnesota-Program-Short.pdf

Email or mail your application to:

Tim Radatz

Discovery Farms Minnesota

3080 Eagandale Place

Eagan, MN 55121

[email protected]

Questions? Call Radatz at 608-443-6587. Or call the MAWRC office at 651-768-2106.