Shore Acres Farm in Marty is one of several farms enrolled in the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). Each farm that goes through the program successfully gets a sign to place on their farm. Owners Dave and Jayne Lochen spent about a year going through the process, and Friday morning, March 24, they received their sign.
Presenting them with the sign was State Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson. Making the presentation in the Lochens?Äô kitchen, along with Assistant Commissioner Susan Stokes, Frederickson commeded the Lochens for their participation. ?ÄúThe Lochens and hundreds of other farm families across Minnesota have seen the value of the [MAWQCP}, and we applaud them for their efforts to protect Minnesota ground and surface waters,?Äù said Frederickson. ?ÄúWe can see measured results that will
benefit generations to come.?Äù
The special treatment for the Lochens was warranted because their land includes the 200,000th Acre enrolled in the water protection program. A week after the 200,000th acre was certified, there were already 212,000 acres in the program.
Mark Lefebvre of the SWCD was there. He said the program is a whole-farm assessment, identifying areas for improvement. ?ÄúDave Lochen is a prime example of how the MAWQCP can help farmers identify water quality risks in their farming operation and make continuous improvements,?Äù Lefebvre said. ?ÄúWe were able to identify practices like cover crops and grassed waterways, and make refinements in nutrient management that made an impact to Dave?Äôs farming operation.?Äù
Lochen uses cover crops, and has been experimenting in methods to get more out of each acre. They rotate crops of corn, soy beans, sorghum, seed corn, wheat, and edible peas, and they raise beef cattle.
The Lochen farm is right along Pearl Lake. ?ÄúWe are concerned about the lake,?Äù Jayne explained. ?ÄúWe do everything we can to leave the lake alone, not having runoff. That is a big concern to us.?Äù Lochen worked with Lefebvre and the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to look for ways to protect ground and surface water.
Ag Commissioner Dave Frederickson, Jayne and Dave Lochen, and Asst. Ag Commissioner Susan Stokes, at the Shore Acres Farm near Marty. Dave Lochen holds the new sign indicating their certification, as farm cats Maxine and Callie join the photo group. Staff photo by Jean Doran Matua.
?ÄúI would recommend it to others,?Äù Dave Lochen said. ?ÄúThere is some paperwork, but nothing too overbearing. It was good for me because a lot of the changes that I needed to make to qualify fit in with what I was already planning to do.?Äù
Also on hand was Tom Gregory of the SWCD who had previously been certified through the program. He has been working with their crop consultant since the mid-1990s, and the program identified even more areas for improvement.
There are 360 farms certified now in the state of Minnesota. One year ago, there were 100 farms certified. Certification is valid for 10 years, and certified farms earn preferential consideration with feedlot applications through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA); i.e., their applications come first in line. Certification also is an approved practice that farmers can use to comply with the state buffer law.
The voluntary MAWQCP was started in 2014 by Gov. Mark Dayton. According to the MDA, the practices implemented by farmers in the program have kept more than 12.1 million pounds of sediment out of Minnesota rivers, and saved nearly 17.4 million pounds of soil and 7,414 pounds of phosphorous on Minnesota farms each year.
According to a Monday press release from Gov. Dayton?Äôs office, 74 percent of Minnesota?Äôs counties are 60-100 percent compliant with the buffer law. It is farmers, and programs like MAWQCP that are leading the way toward improving the state?Äôs ground and surface water.
Anyone interested in the program can contact their local SWCD office, or visit MyLandMyLegacy.com online.
State Ag Commissioner Dave Frederickson (far right) and other state and SWCD officials gathered in the Lochen kitchen Thursday morning, March 24, before he presented them with a sign for the farm. Staff photo by Jean Doran Matua