By Dave Frederickson

The state and federal partnership gearing up to develop the new Minnesota Agriculture Water Quality Certification Program is generating a lot of buzz. I am excited about the program’s potential to improve water quality by accelerating voluntary adoption of on-farm water-quality practices. Equally important, the program will help participating farmers by giving them greater certainty about future conservation requirements.

One of the biggest questions people have asked is what kind of process would be set up by the agencies working on the project to ensure adequate input from the many interested stakeholder groups – particularly the farmers on whom the program will ultimately depend.

This input is crucial to the success of the program. We want to talk with the people who will use the program and make sure it works for them before anything is finalized.

We also need to include technical experts who understand the science behind water and agricultural systems to help us develop a program that has real value. If farmers are going to make the effort to participate in a new program, we need to make sure that what they are volunteering to do will actually make a difference in the quality of our water resources.

To bring in that outside expertise, we will be establishing an advisory committee made up of farmers, scientists and other experts who will meet over the coming months to discuss program options and make recommendations to me. The MDA staff and I will use the committee’s input as we develop the program and its features.

The committee will have members drawn from agriculture, conservation, research and other groups. Candidates will be nominated by the public through an established process with the Secretary of State’s office. I will select committee members from among those nominated. For more information about the nominations process and the program in general, please visit our website at http://www.mda.state.mn.us.

The January 17 signing ceremony with Governor Dayton and federal officials was just the first step – an agreement to development a program. Establishing this advisory committee is the next crucial step toward refining the program details. As more information becomes available, we will be sure to share it.

We are committed to making this a good program not only for farmers but for the entire state. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but in the end the Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification Program will be a major advance for water quality and agriculture. 

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