克莱尔·斯特雷姆（Claire Stremple）

大豆在明尼苏达州218号高速公路两侧的阳光下闪闪发光，穿过盛开的草原，向北朝着明尼阿波利斯往北。这是一个炎热干燥的八月，但是割草机土壤和节水区的史蒂夫·劳勒（Steve Lawler）刚刚在克雷尔家庭农场（Krell Family Farm）下雨了1英寸。无论如何，在农场的一个小角落。他正在展示不同的土壤管理技术如何保留雨水。如果听起来很干燥，那是因为潜台词是有趣的部分 - 更好的雨水保留意味着更多的营养物质留在土壤中。对于农民来说，这转化为更好的产量。

This demonstration is part of a Cedar River Watershed Partnership farm event, where a coalition of private, public and nonprofit groups addresses challenges to water resources in the Cedar River Watershed, like flooding and sedimentation. The watershed starts in southern Minnesota and extends across much of eastern Iowa, eventually joining with the Iowa River and feeding into the Mississippi River.

The partnership’s event is being held at the Krell family farm, bringing local growers together to show what a better future for farmland can look like. Justin Krell is a fifth-generation farmer. He works the land alongside his father, Rodney Krell. For a man who walks through generations of tradition every time his boots hit the earth, he’s not afraid of trying something new. “If we can change our practices and get better yields, that’s a win-win,” he says. So far, it’s working on his farm.

他看着劳勒（Lawler）打开头顶软管以模拟雨水。洒水装置开始从不同田地取下厚厚的样品污垢。每个样品在每个样品下悬挂两个水桶，一个用于从顶部延伸的水 - 用它吸收重要的养分 - 另一个用于渗入土壤并被吸收到地球中的水。几分钟后，将水缝入不同的水桶。

Justin talks about dirt the way a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a Minnesotan accent might. The big idea he’s touting is a technique called strip tillage.

当您对农民说“增加产量”时，他们的耳朵可能会有所振奋。这些词意味着价格挥发性玉米世界中的美元迹象。劳勒（Lawler）知道，这些农民有充分的理由保守自己的方法。您不能仅仅告诉农民冒着一年利润的新想法风险，您必须证明它有效。证明是在水桶中 - 传统管理人员从顶部损失了许多深色，土壤丰富的水，但是剥皮的土壤将其浸泡在其中。

新数学

“Ten years ago, if we wanted 200-bushel corn yield, we’d go out and apply 200 to 220 pounds of nitrogen.” Justin says that was common practice. “Now, we’re raising 240-bushel corn and we’re going out with maybe 150 pounds of nitrogen.”

Strip tillage is part of the change. The Krells use a different method of tillage than their neighbors do. The strip-till machine only disturbs the top 8 inches of soil, rather than sinking long blades deep into the ground and turning up huge clods of black dirt. Having machinery and fields that look different is a big risk in a close-knit community where many people do the same job.

但是，生产更多谷物的氮较少意味着在银行里有更多的钱。这在一定程度上要归功于贾斯汀（Justin）节省资金并保持其土壤更健康。这种省钱的管理意味着在流域中潜在的氮潜力较少的氮是一种奖励。

兴奋

With demonstrations like this one, the Cedar River Watershed Partnership hopes to bring everyone to the table in a spirit of teamwork. The morning’s tillage demonstration is designed so that farmers can see for themselves what the tools are and how they might work. In short, they’re opening up resources for farmers and giving them opportunities to see how things work before having to make investments themselves.

他们还提供资源。明尼苏达州农业水质认证计划的布拉德·雷德林（Brad Redlin）说：“这是种植者的增值 - 免费的技术援助，以帮助解决变更管理的关注和经济援助。”

布拉德（Brad）解释说，非政府组织将出现参加参与农场，并帮助农民决定提高遵守新州水质规则的方法。“我们想为一对一的特定网站特定解决方案创建空间。他们想如何做，而不是任何人告诉他们这样做。”他说。

明尼苏达州农业水质认证计划的另一个价值是认可和与该州的10年合同，即该农场将符合可能通过的新法律。

对于像克雷尔（Krells）这样的人来说，耕种不仅是生计，而且是生活。他们不仅仅是他们在谈论的方式，这是您的生活方式。这是激动的。它在小社区中导致身份和荣誉。188bet网址怎么打不开

有益的变革

The coalition wants to get farmers certified with the state to show that they have progressive water practices. “We want to recognize growers for great work and give people certification,” Brad says.

克雷尔农场（Krell Farm）获得了令人垂涎的认证，贾斯汀（Justin）说，这并不难。他也愿意将自己的声誉放在这个想法之后。他告诉小组：“这是每个住在流域中的每个人的集体努力，旨在确保土地的安全，美丽和生产力，以使几代人未来几代人。”

The collaboration began in 2017 and is convened and managed by the Environmental Initiative, a local nonprofit. Hormel Foods is a founding member of Cedar River Watershed Partnership. “It’s right in our backyard,” says Tom Raymond, director of environmental sustainability at Hormel Foods.

Hormel Foods中有什么？对汤姆来说，答案并不明显。该公司已经达到了2020年的目标，该目标是根据2011年的水平将用水量减少10％，并正在努力实现额外的减少。这种关注在其运营和设施中节约水的关注也扩展到了Hormel Foods家族的生产商，因此与公司的价值观保持一致，以帮助资助一项计划，鼓励农民获得水质认证。

这不仅仅是让生产者获得更好实践的举动，它也是更好地代表农民并为他们提供更多分享故事的机会的运动的一部分。

“Thirty years ago, nearly everyone had a grandpa who was farming. As that’s changed, there’s less people with connections to agriculture,” Justin says. So, the challenge is communication between people who work the land and people who eat the bounty.

“我不认识一个不是土地管家的单身农民，因为……”贾斯汀向他身后的郁郁葱葱的绿色田地示意，“这是我们的土地。我们住在这里。我们生活和呼吸。因此，我们不会虐待它。我认为这是与公众更大的误解之一。”

贾斯汀认为，更好的水管理只是更好的业务。没有人需要告诉农民，成为土地的好管家是一项坚实的长期经济战略，但是在诸如农业之类的高风险生计中，传统方法可能很难用新的智慧取代。他说：“有时候，您必须加紧努力并燃烧小径。”

The Cedar River Watershed Partnership

Central Farm Service
访问https://www.cfscoop.com/了解更多。

Hormel Foods
访问HormelFoods.com了解更多。

Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN
访问https://www.landolakessustain.com/了解更多。

明尼苏达州农业部
访问https://www.mda.state.mn.us/了解更多。

The Mower Soil and Water Conservation District
访问https://mowerswcd.org/了解更多。

Environmental Initiative
A nonprofit that convenes and facilitates the partnership, visithttps://environmental-initiative.org/了解更多。