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Fillmore SWCD

Fillmore SWCD

Promoting Natural Resource Stewardship

  • District
    Programs
    • Soil Health
    • Local Water Management
    • Ag Best Management Practices (AgBMP)
    • Well Sealing
    • Windbreaks
    • Buffers
  • State and Federal
    Programs
    • Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
    • Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP)
    • Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
    • Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program – MAWQCP
    • State Cost Share
    • Root River Watershed One Watershed, One Plan
    • Root River Field to Stream
    • Volunteer Nitrate Monitoring (VNMN)
    • Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM)
    • Wetland Conservation Act (WCA)
    • Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network
  • Services
    • Well Water Testing
    • Rain Barrels
    • Tree Sales
    • Grazing Management
    • Nutrient Management
  • Education
    • Envirothon
    • Sixth Grade Conservation Day
    • Conservation Kids
    • Classrooms & Event Presentations
    • Scholarships
  • Root River Watershed
    One Watershed, One Plan
  • Conservationist
    of the Year
  • Everyday
    Conservation
    • Urban Conservation
    • Recreational Conservation Activities
    • Volunteer
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Soil Health

The continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.  Soil is not an inert growing medium. Soil is a living and life-giving natural resource.  It consists of billions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that are the foundation of a symbiotic ecosystem.

The main principles to manage for soil health are

  • Soil Armor- Plant residue, preferably living plants
  • Minimize Soil Disturbance- Reduce physical, chemical & biological disturbance
  • Plant Diversity- Crop rotations & diverse cover crop mixes
  • Continual Live Plant/Root- When “crops” are not growing, cover crops should be
  • Livestock Integration- A balanced return of livestock to the landscape

Conservation Practices for healthy soils

  • No till, strip till, residue management
  • Conservation crop rotation- diversity
  • Cover crops
  • Pest Management- reduced pesticide use
  • Livestock Management- keep on the landscape
  • Compost

Key benefits from healthy soils

  • Increased net profit per acre
  • Decreased inputs
  • Reduced Compaction
  • Increased infiltration
  • Increased drought tolerance- more water holding capacity
  • Increased yield protection & stability
  • Improved water quality
  • Increased soil biology
  • Improved wildlife habitat

For more information about cover crops contact Dean Thomas at (507)765-3878 Ext. 128 or Dean.Thomas@mn.nacdnet.net.

Cover crops may be used on all lands needing vegetative cover for natural resource protection and improvement. They are an excellent tool for helping to improve soil health.

Cover crops are grasses, legumes, forbs, or other herbaceous plants established for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes.  Cover crops protect the soil from erosion during the most vulnerable time of the year from harvest in the fall to the formation of the plant canopy in summer.

Cover crops can reduce fertilizer and pesticide costs.  Cover crops capture nitrogen and release it as the cover crop decays.  Legume cover crops capture nitrogen from the air.  Reduced soil loss retains phosphorus attached to the soil.  Proper timing of cover crops suppresses weeds and breaks disease cycles.

Cover crops can provide supplemental forage for grazing or harvesting.  Winter rye seeded after corn silage or soybeans are harvested can be grazed the following spring.  This allows more time for forage in permanent pastures to become better established before grazing them.  Rye that is aerial seeded in August can sometimes even be grazed in the late fall.  Alfalfa planted after harvesting canning crops can still be harvested once by the end of the season.  Alfalfa seeded later established better and those acres are also available for applying manure.

For more information about cover crops contact Dean Thomas at (507)765-3878 Ext. 128 or Dean.Thomas@mn.nacdnet.net.

  • Cover Crop Benefits
  • Reduce Soil Erosion
  • Improve Soil Health
  • Increase Soil Porosity & Infi ltration
  • Weed Fighter
  • Improve Soil Microbiology
  • Produce/Scavenge Crop Nutrients
  • Reduce Soil Compaction
  • Improve Nutrient Cycling
  • Improve Soil Organic Matter
  • Protect Water Quality
  • Protect the Environment
  • Enhance Wildlife Habitat
Download the
Cover Crop Fact Sheet

Fillmore SWCD District Programs

Soil Health

The continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.
Learn More

Local Water Management Plan

The Local Water Management Plan was developed to coordinate water resource protection efforts between various local, state and federal agencies.
Learn More

Ag Best Management Plan (AgBMP)

The Agriculture Best Management Practices (AgBMP) Loan Program is a water quality program that provides low-interest (3%) loans to farmers, rural landowners, and agriculture supply businesses.
Learn More

Well Sealing

Fillmore SWCD can help take the burden off of sealing unused wells by assisting financially.
Learn More

Windbreaks

Windbreaks are multiple rows of coniferous trees that are planted to protect a farmstead from wind and snow and provide food and cover for wildlife.
Learn More

Buffers

Buffers help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment,
and are an important conservation practice for helping keep water clean.
Learn More

Fillmore SWCD

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