“An attendee at a past [watershed group] event asked us if we were seeing any decrease in yields with planting cover crops, and nobody could really answer that question. And there’s been a lot of talk that the cover crop ties up nitrogen and can hamper your yield, so we’re doing this study to find out if cover crops have a detrimental effect on your cash crop. 

Because of this research, now we’ve had a few other farmers that would like to get involved in our group. So for next year, we’re looking at doing a Return on Investment (ROI) study with less sampling just to get some of the members looking at the numbers because we’ve got to make money at some point in time.” 

— Jim Luedtke, farmer in Winnebago County and Muddy Bottom Farmers producer-led watershed group president 

“Producers within Dodge County and the Upper Rock River Basin farm areas are dominated by dolomitic bedrock, which are prone to groundwater pollution. Reducing groundwater contamination is a major concern for Dodge County farmers and was one of the main reasons the [producer-led watershed] group was formed, as this area is already experiencing high levels of groundwater nitrates. 

Our long term goal is to identify strategies that reduce losses of nitrogen to the environment and balance profitability for farmers while preserving groundwater quality. Instead of capturing specific practices, the strength of our project will provide a wide variety of management, tillage, rotation, and soils across a large geographic area and participating farmers over two (or more) years, using field-scale farm equipment and plots.” 

— Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soil and Healthy Water producer-led watershed group 

“We found that, through some of our watershed’s groundwater sampling, we’ve had some wells that came back high in nitrate. In general, we have found some of our sandier soils, primarily in this region closer to the Red Cedar [River] have been a little bit higher in nitrate, so if we can better optimize our nitrogen recommendations through the NOPP group, we might have some new interesting findings that we can share with the group and surrounding areas. 

Working with UW and with the Red Cedar Conservation Farmers group has been good, and we’ve got a few different producers – Mike, myself, Jeco, and Bill. All of us have different fields that are conducting trials to increase nitrogen efficiency while considering the effect of other management practices such as cover crops, tillage, etc..” 

— Tryston Beyrer, farmer in Dunn County and Red Cedar Conservation Farmers producer-led watershed group member

“A motivating factor for pursuing NOPP funding is the opportunity to conduct local on-farm, field-scale research within the driftless region of Wisconsin. Due to a high risk of soil and nutrient runoff and nutrient leaching in this geography, this project will evaluate the N management requirements necessary to increase acres of cover cropping and no-till across the region. In addition, the ability for producers to conduct field-scale research on-farm offers increased validity and acceptance amongst growers compared to remote, small-plot research.” 

— Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance producer-led watershed group 

“Our rich soil and water resources are among our state’s greatest assets. As stewards of the land, Wisconsin farmers understand the value of those natural resources and work hard day after day, year after year to ensure that our farmland is properly maintained for future generations. NOPP grants provide yet another opportunity for farmers across the state to actively preserve those soil and water resources, and to explore and better understand how their work impacts both. 

By encouraging them to ask questions and seek answers through data-driven research, Wisconsin farmers are identifying new methods and opportunities in nitrogen optimization and are passing on their findings to others in the agricultural community. This helps to further improve those resources, strengthen the knowledge base for future generations, and inform the kinds of agricultural practices Wisconsin farmers will adopt and implement in the years to come.” 

— Susan Mockert, Conservation Grants Supervisor, DATCP