2017 SWCS Annual Conference July 30-August 2, 2017 Monona Terrace Convention Center

1. Using Farmer Engagement and Decision Tools
to Increase Continuous Living Cover in
Midwest Watersheds
Aaron Reser
Green Lands Blue Waters
8/1/2017
Soil & Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting
Madison, WI

2. greenlandsbluewat
ers.net
Green Lands Blue Waters Regional Partnership

3. July 13 - 26
Areas of annual row cropping
April 20 – May 3
Areas of perennial vegetation
October 3 - 18

4. Continuous Living Cover
water quality, soil health, GHG mitigation and
climate adaptation, wildlife & pollinator habitat
agroforestry, biomass, cover crops,
perennial forage, perennial grains
and new economic opportunities

5. Winter Annual
(Cover) Crops
Watershed
Agroforestry
Perennial
biomass
Perennial
forage
Perennial
grains
Environmental
Outcomes
Economic
Outcomes
Social
Outcomes
Placement &
Management
Perennial
grains

6. Watershed
Initiative

7. greenlandsbluewaters.net
GLBW Watershed Initiative
What is the Watershed Initiative?
• A regional collaboration of practitioners
working in agricultural watersheds
sharing tools, resources and strategies to
increase continuous living cover.
Why a Watershed Initiative?
• Scale and integration:
demonstrating that through collaboration,
field-level practices can lead to
LANDSCAPE level change.
“it’s about what we can do differently
than what we’ve done for the past 30
years” –George Boody, chair
map from https://www.nps.gov/miss/images/watershed.png

8. greenlandsbluewaters.net
Watershed-Based Tools & Methods
Sharing Tools & Resources
Three Examples:
Chippewa River Watershed (MN)
1. Cropping Systems Calculator - economic
analysis of alternative cropping systems.
2. Mapping Tools- field and landscape mapping
for targeting cropping systems and monitoring
results
Upper Macoupin Creek & Vermilion Headwaters (IL)
3. Conservation Baseline Interviews- Using face-
face interviews to design outreach &
communication in two MRBI watersheds

9. Chippewa
10% Project
Chippewa
River
Watershed

11. Input Page

12. Calculator Main
Page

13. Farmer
Revelations
“If you put in honest numbers, you’ll get
honest numbers back about your operation”
The intrigue of a
tillage radish
Finding a way to
make conservation
pay
Taking a short term
loss for long term
benefits
Continuing a
conversation around
land use change
“I wish my
banker could
see this”

14. To Download the Calculator
Questions? Contact Rebecca Wasserman-Olin at rebeccaw@landstewardshipproject.org

15. Land Stewardship Project and C10 Project.
Mapping Tools:
Targeting,
Engagement and
Tracking
For tool or questions contact:
Steve Ewest at sewest@landstewardshipproject.org

16. Maps used 1-on-1 with farmers

17. Soil
Erosion
by Water
(RUSLE)
Below is an example map of RUSLE with
running different scenarios.
This field average slope 6%, average
rainfall 21-25in/yr.

18. This is an example map of a
single-storm rain event
comparing managed grazing
compared to corn/soybean.
This is 150 acre field has an
average slope of 1.5% and it is
based on a 100 year storm from
Benson MN area.
Single
Storm
Event
(MUSLE)

19. Two ArcGIS python script tools for
mapping soil erosion by water for a
farm field.
RUSLE MUSLE
Runoff volume
Runoff rate
Inputs:
Inputs:
3-meter DEM (LiDAR)
R factor- rainfall Factor
K factor- soil
C factor- cover/management practices
P factor- conservation practices
3-meter DEM (LiDAR)
R factor- rainfall Factor
K factor- soil
P factor- conservation practices
C factor- cover/management practices

20. SWCS Annual Conference: July 26, 2016
Jennifer Filipiak, Associate Midwest Director
American Farmland Trust
Dr. Angie Carter, Fellow Assistant Professor of Sociology,
Augustana College
Using face-face interviews to design
outreach & communication in two new
MRBI watersheds in Illinois

21. Vermilion Headwaters
Watershed
Watershed characteristics:
• 254,319 acres
• ~420 producers
• 93% row crops
Watershed characteristics:
• 67,842 acres
• ~308 producers
• 60% row crops
• 22% forested
Upper Macoupin Creek

22. Goal: Establish conservation participation baseline
How many farmers have already adopted conservation practices?
What kinds of practices?
Who has adopted conservation practices?
Rogers’ (2013) Diffusion of Innovation theory

23. I do everything I can
to keep nitrates out
of the water leaving
my farm
I’m not pro or against
cover crops – let the
neighbors try it for 5
years and see
I leave
residue so I
don’t see
black snow
The profitability of
farming has been
good so I’m not taking
land out of
production.
I don’t need to
use cover crops, I
have good soil –
Pella and Bryce.
My biggest concern is
keeping our farm
better than when we
started farming
Innovator? Early majority? Non adopter?
Social
networks

24. Environmental awareness/responsibility
Question % Strongly
disagree or
disagree
%
Neutral
% Agree or
strongly
agree
(Vermilion/Macoupin)
It is my personal responsibility to help
protect water quality
0
0
10%
4%
91%
96%
I would be willing to pay more to improve
water quality (e.g. local taxes)
23%
24%
53%
47%
24%
27%
I would be willing to change management
practices to improve WQ
1%
1%
32%
26%
68%
73%
Environmental
awareness/
responsibility

25. greenlandsbluewaters.net
Watershed Initiative
Why Network Watersheds?
• practitioner peer group is important- a network for
the networkers
• sharing our best tools, resources, methods
• trouble shooting shared challenges
• advancing a shared goal
• increasing Continuous Living Cover in
agricultural watersheds for landscape level
change
• what’s next?
• shared metrics
• tracking greenness?
• narrative project
• open up our calls- join us!

26. greenlandsbluewaters.net
Green Lands Blue Waters Annual Conference
Save the Date
Nov 28th & 29th, 2017
Pyle Center- Madison, WI
Continuous Living Cover: Bridging
the Gaps with Livestock
Hosted by the Center
for Integrated Ag.
Systems

27. Contact us!
Watershed Initiative Coordinator
Aaron Reser
areser@umn.edu
Interested in Joining the Watershed Initiative?