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Minnesota Ag Water Quality Program nears 1 million certified acres

Minnesota’s Ag Water Quality Certification Program is nearing a major milestone.

Brad Jordahl Redlin with the Department of Agriculture says since the program began in 2017, nearly 1 million acres have been enrolled.

“We approach this not as a race, this is a service that we provide (and) the growers take whatever time they need to achieve certification. We’ll have certifications that may take two years or two weeks, it’s just going to be whatever the need of that particular grower and the circumstances that they’re in.”

He tells Brownfield the program is free, voluntary, and net farm income on certified farms is $25,000 higher compared to uncertified farms in the state.

“They are working with us to fine-tune their operations and their performance in an environmental sense, but what we’re talking about too is each parcel (and) each crop grown, risks that are present that can not only impact environmental outcomes but also production outcomes.”

More than 1,250 producers and 910,000 acres are ag water quality certified in Minnesota and Jordahl Redlin says those numbers grow every day.

Brownfield interviewed him Monday at the capitol in St. Paul during the kickoff of the Minnesota foreign ag tour hosted by USDA’s Foreign Ag Service and MDA.