Join Wisconsin and Minnesota Discovery Farms for a Water Quality & Farm Equipment Field Day July 20 from 5-7 p.m. at Spring Creek Farms, North Branch.

Spring Creek Farms is a 1,400-acre corn and soybean operation in Chisago County near the St. Croix River. John and Jewell Peterson have owned and operated the farm since the mid-1970s.

For 20 years, they used traditional tillage methods. However, for the past 20 years, they have used no-till.

At this event that connects across state lines, you’ll view equipment and take an in-depth look at the soils. John will talk about how he deals with excessive rocks and how using no-till on cold Minnesota soils impacts yields.

Minnesota Discovery Farms to co-host field day near North Branch

At this location, attendees will have a chance to see one of Minnesota’s Discovery Farms monitoring sites and to hear from Minnesota and Wisconsin participants. Learn about how Spring Creek Farms has kept their average annual soil loss to 84 pounds per acre over the past five years and about what they are doing to minimize dissolved phosphorus losses.

There will be ample time for discussion while enjoying an evening meal and touring the farm.

The agenda for that Wednesday night is:

5:00 pm -- Tour of farm and monitoring site

6:00 pm -- Dinner and equipment discussion

The farm is located at 38157 Oriole Ave., North Branch, MN 55056

RSVP by July 15 by contacting Tim Radatz at [email protected] or 608.443.6587.

Discovery Farms Minnesota is a farmer-led effort to gather water quality information from different types of farming systems across the state. There are currently 10 farms involved with long-term studies located in Blue Earth, Chisago, Dodge, Goodhue, Norman, Renville, Stearns, Wilkin and Wright counties.

To learn more about MDF, visit www.discoveryfarmsmn.org