Tracking the use of practices like reduced tillage and cover crops that promote healthy soil is challenging but critical to gauge progress towards regional and state goals. By combining remote sensing, USDA Agricultural Census data, and state-reported cost-share, we’ve pulled together a county-level dataset that can serve as a baseline for comparison to track changes in Minnesota’s ag practices over the coming years. Here’s a quick peek at the current state of Minnesota’s soil health.
Minimizing disturbance
Producers minimize disturbance by decreasing the number and intensity of tillage passes across their fields. According to the USDA, minimizing disturbance is used on over one-third of agricultural acres (around 8 million acres) statewide. Strict no-till practices show significant variability across the state. In 2022, No-till use ranged from 0.4% in Pennington County to 19.6% in Ramsey County. The state average was 5%, up from 1,091,007 acres in 2017 to 1,194,987 acres in 2022. Of those no-till acres, only just over 88,000 acres per year were enrolled in government incentive programs for reducing tillage.
Maximizing cover and living roots
Reducing tillage should increase the amount of residue on the soil surface, which we can evaluate with satellite imagery. We are seeing increasing residue cover in Minnesota, from an average of 36% of the field covered by residue in 2016 to 64% in 2020 (MN Geospatial Commons Remote Sensing Data, 2020). 64% residue coverage is consistent with either no-till after soybeans or minimal- or strip-till practices following corn.
Despite greater cover crop use and an increase in spending on cover crops ($12,103,000 was spent on cover crop seeds in 2017 and $20,527,000 in 2022), we still have room to grow. Only 2.28% of cropland acres saw cover crops statewide, and these acres are not evenly distributed across the state. Remote sensing detected only 358,000 acres of fall cover crop emergence, showing that not all cover crop seed planted may effectively germinate and survive to provide ground cover and scavenge nutrients. Differences could be due to planting conditions as well as management practices that increase successful cover crop establishment.
Another way to keep your soil covered is through year-round cover, which includes alfalfa, pasture forage, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and perennial crops. We saw a reduction in acres receiving government incentives for forage and biomass planting from 2017 to 2022, from 3,080 acres to 1,324 acres (annual average was 2,343 acres) (MPCA BMP Funding Info dataset).
Maximizing biodiversity
Producers maximize biodiversity by including alternative crops in their rotation, integrating livestock into their fields, and using a mix of species in the field and at the edge of the field.In Minnesota, we are seeing a reduction in number of farms with cattle (20,969 farms with cattle in 2017 to 14,574 farms in 2022) and number of cattle (2,337,505 cattle in 2017 to 2,121,625 cattle in 2022) in the state since 2017. Of the 2022 cattle numbers, 17.2% (364,629 cows) are beef cattle, 21.7% (459,536) are milk cows, and the remaining 61.6% (1,297,460 cows) are reported as “other cattle” (Ag Census Data). Stearns County had the most cattle out of any county, as reported in the 2017 Agricultural Census and the number within registered feedlots.
Reported acres of pastureland (excluding woodland and cropland in pasture) remain relatively stable around the state. Only 12 counties showed an increase in pastureland. Rotational grazing, which maximizes forage use efficiency and benefits soil health, is used by 8% of all farms in Minnesota.
About 8% of Minnesota cropland receives manure, with the highest rates in Morrison, Stearns, Winona, and Houston counties. Houston County reported the highest application of manure at 26% of all cropland.
Maximizing conservation funding and plans
Producers are increasing their use of the many options for funding these conservation practices on their land. Some examples include BWSR Competitive Grant Programs, MDA BMP Loan Program, MDA Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) BMPs, MPCA Section 319 & Clean Water Partnership, NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program, and NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Conservation cover is the highest funded practice (majority by BSWR – Conservation Easement Funding), followed by cover crops. While conservation program use is increasing, our data shows clearly that this number underestimates soil health practice adoption in Minnesota, where producers may be voluntarily using these practices or using private funding available through Carbon markets.Multiple strategies and plans in Minnesota contribute to an increase in conservation practices. This includes the MN Nutrient Reduction Strategy (2014, revised version coming out in 2025), the 2020 State Water Plan: Water and Climate, the Clean Water Council Strategic Plan (2020), and the Climate Action Framework (2022).
Key takeaways from this data
Farmers are reducing tillage and increasing soil cover. We see more residue cover on the field, nearly doubling from 36% in 2016 to 64% in 2020. More farmers are no-till: No-till practices increased by 16.7%. And more farmers are using cover crops: there has been a 24% increase in cover crop acreage since 2017. But it’s important to put these numbers in perspective: only 5% of Minnesota cropland uses no-till and cover crops are used on only 2.28% of acres. In addition, fewer than half of planted cover crops successfully emerge in the fall. The takeaway? Farmers are adopting soil health practices, but we still need to continue scaling up these practices.
How to start with new practices on cropland?
Producers can successfully protect their greatest asset - their soil - by integrating soil health principles into their operation. Remember that context is vitally important when selecting when/how to integrate soil health practices. Don’t work in isolation - work with your local Extension educator, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and your neighbors!The data come from several publicly available sources:
- The USDA Agricultural Census for 2017 and 2022 provides the self-reported number of farms and acres planted to cover crops, alfalfa harvested, no-till practices used, pastureland, manure application, dollars spent on cover crop seeds, and numbers of livestock.
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) compiles information about spending and participation in government incentive programs run by multiple state and federal agencies, including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR).
- Soil scientists at the University of Minnesota, funded by the Board of Water and Soil Resources, analyze satellite images to estimate spring residue cover and fall cover crop emergence.
- MPCA tracks the number of permitted feedlots.
- Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) shared data on participation rates.
Additional resources:
Funding for this project was provided by the McKnight Foundation.
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