For 25 years Jim and Sherri Ladd grew corn and soybeans south of Luverne along County Road 9.
The 110 acres of row crops grew atop three wells supplying the Rock County Rural Water System, and modern-day
farming practices were affecting the water.
Specifically, nitrogen runoff ended up in the county’s water supply.
During the growing season, nitrogen levels in the wells under the Ladd farm spiked over the 10 parts per million drinking water standard.
Jim said he spoke often through the years with Land Management technicians about solutions, but they often meant taking out of production the land he relied on to make a living.
Reinvest In Minnesota, for example, allowed no farming practices or ways to generate a living from the ground.
“I kept telling them I’m not going to put my farm into dead ground,” Jim said.
Sherri said, “There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears — and legacy — in our farm.”
But last year, a new opportunity arose that allowed the Ladds to transition their crop ground into a managed grazing system and pollinator planting.
Last year they planted oats instead of row crops, and last fall they planted legumes and a mix of grasses to rotationally graze their cows and calves plus flowering vegetation that supports birds, bees and other pollinators.
Funding through state and federal soil and water agencies helped the Ladds with the costs of the transition, such as seed, fencing, waterers and other infrastructure.
This spring, for the first time in 30 years, the Ladds didn’t till and plant their soil.
“It kinda leaves an empty spot, to tell you the truth,” Jim said. “And it’s tough now with corn and soybean prices higher. … But their input costs are twice or three times as high as before, too.”
Sherri, who heads up the couple’s cow-calf operation, has a different perspective.
“It’s an excellent switch,” she said about converting their row crops to pasture.
“I am much more fond of cattle than crops. I love looking out as far as I can see and only seeing pasture and cattle. … And there are so many birds and butterflies.”
What the Ladds are losing in corn and soybean income they’re partially gaining in government lease payments and expanded cattle production.
They’re gearing up to 70 head compared with 20 to 25 before, because they’re now growing nutrient-rich pastureland.
“I am thankful,” Sherri said about their farming shift.
“I don’t regret it one bit. … We needed this opportunity. It’s been a few years coming down the pike, but we feel the Lord has guided us to this point.”
Their youngest daughter, Jo-Hannah Hamann and her husband, Zachary, encouraged them to make the shift, and they see their decision as an investment in her future.
“At least we still get to be on the land, and we can still do stuff with it,” Jim said.
Making a difference
The Ladds’ commitment to cleaner water is paying off, according to Doug Bos with the Rock County Land Management Office.
“The work we have done and the changes the farmers have made in the Rock County Rural Water wellhead area have stabilized the nitrogen peaks in the aquifer,” he said.
Before converting the Ladd crops to pasture, he said nitrogen in the wells on the east side of the river would spike to over 10 parts per million. Now, those growing season spikes have leveled off.
“The wells on the west side of the river are still spiking from 12 to 18 parts per million but with the lower nitrate levels in the wells next to Jim and Sherri’s ground, we are able to blend the western wells with the eastern wells to meet drinking water standards,” Bos said.
“The nitrogen management changes the farmers have made, along with Jim and Sherri’s changes, have made a difference in lowering nitrate levels and taken out the spikes and peaks during the growing season.”
During the June 15 meeting of Southwest Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Ladd farm was toured as an example of what can be accomplished with funding, technical assistance and farmer cooperation.
(See the related story.)