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Minnesota Corn Growers offer free nitrate screenings

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) is offering free nitrate screenings this month.

MCGA field coordinator Cara Soukup says the process is confidential and easy to do.

“You just grab one cup of the sample that you want to bring in.  If it’s under 24 hours (from when the sample was taken), bring it in refrigerated.  If it’s over 24 hours, bring it in frozen.  It only takes about 20 minutes to conduct the whole screening.”

The samples can be taken from wells, ditches, streams or tile outlets.

Soukup tells Brownfield farmers in the state want to have a better understanding of nutrient loss.

“Nitrogen in particular, as that is kind of a buzzword right now.  So this really is an idea to provide a service to growers that we weren’t already doing.”

Minnesota Corn Growers president Noah Hultgren says the nitrate screening is a practical tool farmers can use to make water quality improvements.