Wadena SWCD Board Supervisor Achieves Water Quality Certification
June 26, 2025 by Alyson Levig
Ken Berg, who has served as a board supervisor for the Wadena Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) since 2000, has recently become water quality certified under the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP). The decade-old program offers a voluntary opportunity for farmers to become certified by implementing conservation-minded practices that protect water quality. Berg’s farm achieved certification in April of 2025, accompanying over 1,500 producers farming over one million accredited acres throughout the program.
“It’s nice to be recognized for the work you do,” Berg said. “Especially when we’re trying to maintain the land for future generations to use.”
Berg’s farm is unique in the sense that it collaborates with two additional local producers, Jon Krause and Twin River Seed Farms, both of which are also water quality certified within the same program, to complete a row crop rotation of edible beans, corn, barley, and potatoes. Vertical tillage is the primary residue management tool while cover crops are utilized after the bean and barley harvests and natural riparian buffers maintained surrounding the meandering ditch. As both fields are sandy, irrigation is consistently applied with the assistance of the irrigation scheduler program through the Wadena SWCD.
Vertical tillage refers to soil tillage of up to 4 inches without direct inversion so that residue isn’t completely incorporated into the soil. This type of tillage aims to enhance soil health by increasing water infiltration and reducing soil erosion. The SWCD’s irrigation scheduler program enables Berg and associates to monitor the soil moisture status of their fields and, in turn, adjust their irrigation water management as needed throughout the growing season, thereby improving water-use efficiency.
“We’ve noticed that the soil moisture probes are fairly accurate,” Berg commented. “Which is great as every growing season is completely different.”
Altogether, Berg’s management practices in his unique collaborative farming operation result in the conservation of natural resources within Wadena County where water quality is protected and soil erosion reduced.
“The MAWQCP program requires farmers to follow good conservation practices to help protect the soil,” Berg said. “Which is great because soil is what farmers are using to generate their incomes.”
For more information about the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Pro-gram, contact the East Otter Tail Soil and Water Conservation office at 218-346-9105 or visit their website: www.eotswcd.org.
Posted In: MAWQCP
