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Funding is intended to incentivize the adoption of new practices. Will not pay for past projects or continuing current practices. Practices that we can currently fund include:
For areas that are not currently row crops. 10-year commitment unless otherwise noted.
- Conservation cover. This involves planting long-term native plant cover – essentially, a prairie restoration. Pollinator planting falls in this category. Rates are $350 per acre for native species and $500 per acre for pollinator species.
- Forage and biomass planting. $150/ac
- Prescribed grazing. $40/ac/yr, 3-year commitment.
- Cover crops $50-$60/ac/yr
- Residue and tillage management. $20/ac/yr
- Conservation tillage. $10/ac/yr
- Conservation crop rotation. $30/ac/yr
Contact Jamie Schurbon at
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ACD has its first agricultural cover crop project underway! A landowner in Linwood Township will plant 40 acres of cover crops each of the next three years. The project benefits soil health, water quality, and habitat. Cover crops are planted with a cash crop or after harvest of a cash crop. It's an alternative to leaving the soil bare for nearly half of the year. Cover crops prevent erosion, scavenge nutrients that might otherwise wash away, build soil structure, and increase infiltration. Common cover crops are oats, rye, turnips, and kale. The cover crops are terminated just prior to planting the next cash crop.
Photo: Cover crop in corn including kale, turnips and oats. Photo is from a recent tour of conservation projects attended by public officials from the Rum River watershed.
To encourage farmers to give cover crops a try, ACD offers incentive payments. These flat rate payments are on a per-acre basis - $50/ac/yr if planting 1-2 species and $60/ac/yr if planting 3+ species. The practice must be implemented annually for three years to qualify for funding. ACD also has incentive payments for other practices including conservation cover, contour buffer strips, filter strips, and no-till/strip-till. For more information contact Jamie Schurbon, Watershed Projects Manager, at
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Nearly a decade after Minnesota's buffer law was enacted in 2015, 99.8% of parcels adjacent to Minnesota waters are in compliance with the law. Buffers are also known as a riparian filter strip adjacent to a stream, river, lake, or wetland. These buffers filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment. Studies completed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency show that buffers are important for protecting and restoring water quality, natural stream functions, and aquatic habitat and life. Buffers are required along public waterways and ditches. Public waterways include lakes, rivers, and streams. This type of waterway requires a 50-foot average buffer. Buffers of 16.5 feet are required along public ditches.
Photo: This map reflects buffer law compliance rates across Minnesota's 87 counties.
ACD was proud to announce that Anoka County was 100% compliance back in fall, 2020. This milestone was achieved through strong partnerships between Anoka County, ACD, local landowners, and BWSR. This achievement doesn't mean that the hard work is over but it does represent a great success and displays the impact that strong environmental policy can have across the state of Minnesota. The next phase, includes another ACD review of properties throughout Anoka County to identify non-compliant parcels. This review began in Spring, 2024 and is based on recently released aerial photos. Compliance status and progress is tracked using the Buffer Compliance and Tracking Tool (BuffCAT), a state developed GIS database and mapping system.
Transfers in property ownership and land management changes, will require ongoing efforts by ACD in order to maintain existing compliance and to bring other parcels into compliance. Many landowners with noncompliant parcels have plans in place to seed the sites, or to implement an alternative conservation practice that provides comparable water-quality benefits this spring. Visit the ACD website to learn more about Buffer law implementation or contact Kris Larson, Water Resource Specialist, at
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The Anoka Conservation District is offering incentive grants to agricultural producers who use land management practices that benefit water quality and soil health. Eligible agricultural practices include cover crops, no-till, strip-till, conservation-tillage, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, and others. Available funding varies by the type of practice. A three-year commitment is required by the landowner to qualify for the program.
For more information about this great opportunity, contact Jamie Schurbon at 763-434-2030 ext. 210 or
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Flooding in a Southwestern MN Ag. Field
Minnesota is one of the states most impacted by climate change. Official precipitation and temperature data has been collected in Minnesota from 1895 through today, showing some striking statistics about our changing climate:
- 13% increase in the size of the heaviest annual rainfall.
- Since 2000, rains of more than 6" are four times more frequent than the previous 30 years prior.
- 65% increase in the number of 3" rains.
- Average temperatures in Minnesota have warmed by 3˚F since 1895.
- Overall, Minnesota's climate is warmer and wetter.
These changes are impacting Minnesota's wildlife, forests, water quality, infrastructure, and outdoor recreation (especially winter sports). Below are some links to MN DNR infographic GIFs that shows the change to our 30-year average winter temperature and 30-year average yearly precipitation:
Sinkhole in Duluth Following a 7"+ Rainfall
As you can see, Minnesota's winters are warming dramatically, with the 9˚ contour moving north by as much as 150 miles. Similarly, the 26" contour for precipitation has migrated roughly 100 miles to the Northwest.
We witnessed the impact of elevated precipitation in 2012 when the most damaging flood in Duluth's recorded history began when heavy rains fell over already saturated ground on June 19th and 20th. At the Duluth National Weather Service (NWS) the rainfall total for those two days was 7.24 inches. A NWS volunteer observer in Two Harbors recorded the storm's largest value of 10.45 inches in 24 hours.
The aftermath included millions of dollars of insurance losses to repair roads, bridges, homes and businesses. Many homes foundations were damaged extensively and the houses were razed. One state highway (MN 23) was closed for 3 years while it was repaired. The City of Duluth has had to adapt their stormwater infrastructure to withstand events that 30 years ago were considered 500-year events, but now happen regularly. In June 2018, just southeast of Duluth, the area received up to 10" of rain and once again damaged Highway 23.
Here in Anoka County, we've witnessed a similar story in 2019, with all of the monitored lakes, rivers, and streams in the County reaching historic water level averages for the year. This increase in precipitation only solidifies the need for comprehensive watershed management to make sure that our infrastructure and waterways can handle the increased erosion and flow produced by this additional rain.
Interested in learning more? Check out MN Pollution Control Agency's Climate Change in Minnesota webpage or the MN Department of Natural Resources Climate Data
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