DISCOVERY FARMS® PROGRAM

Though we have only connected virtually with many of you in the past year, Discovery Farms® is working hard to bring you our latest research results on agriculture’s relationship to water quality. We know the work that goes in to each farming decision you make, and we put the same care into research and recommendations, and tailor our educational options so that you can apply knowledge and tools to your individual farming systems to protect and preserve our Wisconsin waters.

The Discovery Farms Program is a part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension and it was established in 2001 on the foundation of farmer leadership, credible on-farm research and effective communication of results. We monitor water quality in a variety of ways including at surface edge-of-field runoff collection stations and tile drainage edge-of-field collection stations. We also have a nitrogen use efficiency project which aids farmers in their nitrogen management decisions. Soon, we will begin new projects to monitor groundwater quality.

Fortunately, Discovery Farms was able to continue all of our research efforts in 2020 with the help of our local partners and team of staff to ensure samples from monitoring stations were safely retrieved. In 2018, we began partnerships with Juneau County Land and Water Conservation, Kewaunee County Land Conservation and Ag Source Laboratories in Langlade County to collect water quality samples and complete monitoring site maintenance tasks in their respective counties. We are so grateful to our partners who kept all of our sites actively collecting data for our water quality and nitrogen use efficiency projects in 2020.

Dustin Ladd and Sarah Fleck of the Juneau County Land and Water Resources Department perform sample collection and site maintenance at two edge-of-field monitoring stations. When asked what the most rewarding part of this project is, they answered “Seeing first-hand how conservation efforts in our watershed affect runoff. We have been surprised at how our sites compare to other sites throughout the state. When we installed the two sites I thought that we would see some pretty significant runoff/erosion with our slopes, and so far that hasn’t really happened.”

We’ve seen this sentiment time and time again. It’s very hard to visualize the amount of runoff or soil and nutrient loss until it is quantified with results from a monitoring station. Models are helpful as an analysis of risks associated with certain practices or landscapes, but using local monitoring stations helps to zero in on the subtlety of agriculture’s impact on water quality.

Local monitoring stations also create a lot of buzz and great discussion among landowners. As Chuck Bolte of Ag Source Laboratories who leads site maintenance efforts in Langlade County put it, “Growers are extremely interested in the results so far. This project has been great to accelerate the topic of soil health into a conversation with growers instead of a lecture, as it was in the past. My conversations with growers really show that they care about this long term and value this real data that we are creating here in their backyards.”

One of our goals for 2020 and beyond was to continue to elevate the conversations about runoff and nutrient loss beyond one “perfect” solution or villainizing one practice or another. Discovery Farms data from Wisconsin and Minnesota show

that agriculture’s impact on water quality does not boil down to one successful thing or some failure, but rather the way that practices are applied to a landscape, and the individual daily decisions that go along with farm management. One-sizefits-all is not a model that works very well in a lot of sectors, and especially not in agriculture. However, Discovery Farms will continue to be a source of reliable on-farm water quality research that can empower you to make decisions with confidence.

Discovery Farms offered 18 virtual Training partners in Langlade County how to educational opportunities over the last collect water quality monitoring samples. year. While we miss seeing everyone in person, we were determined to keep Nutrient Loss sharing our research and to get farmers like you access to tools Controlling Nutrient Loss for conservation and water quality improvements. Discovery Farms has learned several key lessons from our

Did you miss our virtual conference series? Did you 200+ site years of edge-of-field surface water quality data. Learn participate in the series but want to revisit one of the topics? how to mitigate nutrient losses from your field based on our No problem! Check out the Discovery Farms and Minnesota findings. Agricultural Water Resource Center YouTube channels for Manure Application through the Seasons recordings of all our virtual events. As a busy springtime fast approaches, it’s time to have your plan ready for manure applications in 2021. Reduce your losses Research to Database to Resource Library with these management considerations. of Results We recently launched a newly-designed website that includes our Resource Library. To see our full collection of research results and tools that can be applied on your farm, visit uwdiscoveryfarms.org/resource-library. Here are just a few items you can find in our library. Nitrogen Use Efficiency: A Guide to Conducting your Own Assessment Are you part of a farmer-led watershed group? Are you looking for a way to track your nitrogen management and learn how to make improvements? Calculating Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) can be relatively simple and offers insight into how N management can be altered in order to achieve Tile Drainage Guide for tile regulation compliance in Wisconsin economically optimum yields while reducing nutrient losses to the environment.

If you have plans for your existing tile drainage lines or would like to make new installations, this guide will walk you through how to be sure you follow regulations.

Spring is a great time to assess your tile drainage system and make necessary repairs. Tile blowouts can introduce soil and nutrients into the tile drainage system and increase the potential for nutrient loss and tile blockage.

UW Discovery Farms @DiscoveryFarms

Discovery Farms Channel, Minnesota