Mower County farmers and agricultural landowners whose conservation practices are protecting water quality have a new opportunity from the state offering formal recognition and regulatory certainty.

Those interested farmers and landowners are encouraged during April to contact the Mower Soil & Water Conservation District to learn more or start the process for the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP), which aims to show that the state’s farms and waters can prosper together.

Under the voluntary program, those who implement and maintain approved farm management practices that benefit water quality will be certified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. They also then obtain regulatory certainty for a 10-year period in which they are deemed in compliance with any new water-quality rules or laws.

Certified farmers and landowners also can use their status to promote their ag business as protective of water quality. They will get field signs to show friends and neighbors how they care for Minnesota’s waters.

“Water quality is a major focus right now in Minnesota, and this new program is a great way to recognize farmers who are meeting the state’s expectations for water quality,” said Steve Lawler, Mower SWCD resource specialist and the lead contact for the program in Mower County, in a press release.

MAWQCP is tailored to each farmer’s individual operation and can help everyone from a small organic farmer to a large conventional crop farmer make improvements benefitting water quality.

Producers seeking certification also can obtain specially designated technical and financial assistance to implement practices that promote water quality. MAWQCP certifies farmers and landowners through a comprehensive whole-farm assessment that puts producers together with SWCD staff to determine where risks to water quality exist on their farm, and empowers them to fix those risks when found.

Through the program, Minnesota citizens get assurance that certified producers are using conservation practices to protect the state’s lakes, rivers and streams.

MAWQCP began in four pilot subwatersheds and recently became available to farmers statewide. It is offered by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Local conservation professionals are working with several hundred farms seeking certification across Minnesota. To date, the program has certified 110 farms, covering more than 64,000 acres and generating 229 new conservation practices.

Farmers interested in seeking certification should contact Mower SWCD at 507-434-2603 or go to www.mowerswcd.org or www.mylandmylegacy.com to learn more.

Mower Soil & Water Conservation District

Since 1953, Mower SWCD has provided land and conservation services to Mower County landowners to help manage lands in a way that promotes a sound economy as well as sustains and enhances natural resources that are key to the state’s environmental health. Mower SWCD is one of Minnesota’s 91 SWCDs each are governed by an elected board.

MN Ag Water Quality Certification

Benefits of certification

•Regulatory certainty for a 10-year period of certification.

•Formal recognition for implementing practices that protect water quality.

•Increased priority for technical and financial assistance to implement best management practices.

Minnesotans receive:

Assurance that certified producers are managing operations in a way that does not harm water quality.