The Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center, University of Minnesota Extension and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture hosted two nutrient management conferences in February, highlighting the latest findings in nutrient and soil research.

The 2024 conferences included the 10th Annual Nitrogen: Minnesota’s Grand Challenge and Compelling Opportunity Conference, held Feb. 13, and the 16th annual Nutrient Management Conference, held Feb. 20. Nearly 400 farmers, crop advisers and natural resource professionals participated in the two conferences to learn more about nutrient management research and water quality challenges. Cumulative attendance since 2009 now exceeds 5,500.

Conference programming intentionally provides a forum for the dissemination of farmer-funded research results, along with other soil and nutrient management research in Minnesota and across the Midwest. Most projects are funded through the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council, the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, the Minnesota Soybean Research and Education Council or the Minnesota Wheat Research and Education Council. Careful oversight by these various councils and MDA ensure that funds are spent appropriately and in line with the objectives of each funding group.

In addition to basic nutrient research, topics in recent years have included cover crops, biologicals, variable-rate nitrogen and water management for irrigation, tile drainage, climate effects and innovative manure application strategies.

Pace of topics evolves dramatically

The evolution of topics parallels the rapidly advancing world of nutrient management on farms across Minnesota. Agriculture has changed dramatically during the past 150 years, but the pace of change during the most recent 20-year period is remarkable. The combined study of nutrient and soil management, technology and biology supports continued advances in reducing crop inputs, improving crop production margins and reducing environmental impacts.

These annual events have become widely recognized within the agricultural community for providing useful, credible, timely research information. Farmers and agronomy professionals report significant improvements over time in their nutrient management efforts, contributing both economic and environmental benefits.

In the postconference surveys, 100% of farmer-attendees agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “What I learned will help me make better decisions to protect the environment.” Farmers were also in complete agreement that these research funds are important to generate the information presented at the conferences.

This year’s conferences were attended by nearly 400, both in-person and online, with video recordings of all presentations available at youtube.com/@themawrc. Videos for previous conferences can be found there also.

Plans are underway to continue both conferences in 2025.