Today on the show we join a panel of 5 specialists, practitioners, Extension educators to discuss nitrates and water quality in southeast Minnesota. What is the current situation with nitrates and water quality in southeast Minnesota? Is the situation improving over time? What are some key factors affecting nitrate concentrations? What should growers in the region be thinking about in terms of nitrogen best management practices? What are some other ways that farmers in southeast Minnesota can help improve water quality? What else should we be thinking about related to N BMPs and nitrate water quality issues in southeast Minnesota? What resources (financial and otherwise) are available to farmers in southeast Minnesota? All this and much more today's Nutrient Management Podcast from University of Minnesota Extension.

Video of this podcast will be posted to our YouTube channel at a later date.

Guests:

• Mary Nesberg, Extension educator (Rochester)
• Daniel Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist (St. Paul)
• Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato)
• Kevin Kuehner, Hydrologist, Minnesota Department of Agriculture (Preston)
• Jeff Vetsch, U of M researcher (Waseca)

Additional Resources:

• Improved understanding of groundwater age and nitrate trends
• GreenCovR: Cover crop management tool provides local information on green cover achieved by management
• Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program
• Tap-In: Safe Drinking Water for SE Minnesota
• Grain Gathering 2026
• Olmested County SWCD
• Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator
• Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy
• Nitrates and drinking water: Resources for southeast Minnesota well users, farmers
• Southeast Minnesota nitrogen meeting presentations now available online
• z.umn.edu/NitrogenSmart
• Addressing nitrate in southeastern Minnesota
• Extension addresses nitrate water quality issues in southeast Minnesota
• What decade are we measuring? Improved understanding of groundwater age and nitrate trends (YouTube video)

We return to first principles with a detailed discussion about nitrogen loss on today's Advancing Nitrogen Smart Podcast episode. The five terms that describe how nitrogen is lost from the soil are: leaching, denitrification, volatilization, crop removal and soil erosion & runoff. But what do those terms actually mean? How does nitrogen's chemistry change during loss? Do N loss processes (also called pathways) happen at the same speed? How do temperature and precipitation affect N loss pathways? How might farmers hedge against the risk of loss by incorporating the 4Rs into their N planning? All of this and much more on today's show.

Guests

• Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato)
• Dan Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist (St. Paul)

Additional resources

• Nitrogen Conference (held annually in February; past videos are available online)
• Four things I’ve learned about nitrogen management for corn based on a decade of research in Minnesota
• Nitrogen Nuggets (YouTube playlist)
• Understanding nitrogen in soils
• Nitrogen Smart

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For the latest nutrient management information, subscribe to the Nutrient Management Podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to the Minnesota Crop News daily or weekly email newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like UMN Extension Nutrient Management on Facebook, follow us on X (formerly twitter), and visit our website.

If you have questions or comments, please email us at nutmgmt@umn.edu.

Advancing Nitrogen Smart is proud to be supported by the farm families of Minnesota and their corn check-off investment through Minnesota Corn.

It's December and we're rounding out the year with an in-depth discussion on cover crops here on the Nutrient Management Podcast. What are panelists' observations regarding covers with lower seeding rates? What are some pros and cons relating to erosion or nutrient uptake? Does planting early at a lower seed rate vs. planting later with a higher seed rate result in the same outcome? What are some weed control characteristics of cover crops? What advice do our panelists have for farmers new to cover crops? What kinds of state and local resources are available for growers? All this and lots more on today's show so be sure to tune in.

Guests:

• Anna Cates, Extension soil health specialist (St. Paul)
• Ryan Beutow, Minnesota NRCS State Agronomist (St. Paul)
• Eric Yu, Extension educator (Farmington)

Additional Resources:

• UMN Cover Crops row crops
• UMN Cover crops in vegetables
• Cover crop Academy
• MN Agronomy Technical Note 33
• Single species cereal rye cover crop implementation requirements
• Cover Crop Termination Guidelines
• MN NRCS Cover Crop Design Tool
• Midwest Cover Crop Council
• SARE Managing Cover Crops Profitably
• MN Field Office Technical Guide folder on cover crops

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For the latest nutrient management information, subscribe to the Nutrient Management Podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to the Minnesota Crop News daily or weekly email newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like UMN Extension Nutrient Management on Facebook, follow us on X (formerly twitter), and visit our website.

If you have questions or comments, please email us at nutmgmt@umn.edu.

Support for the Nutrient Management Podcast is provided by Minnesota's fertilizer tonnage fee through the Agricultural Fertilizer Research & Education Council (AFREC). Learn more at MNsoilfertility.com.